The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow rising 36 points to 17,178 as crude oil prices advanced. Nasdaq gained 7 points to 4,877.
On the upside
SFX Entertainment (Nasdaq: SFXE) founder and chief executive officer Robert Sillerman offered to take the company private.
Shares of Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) climbed on news that Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) offered to acquire Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU).
Bargain hunters lifted shares of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: KERX).
On the downside
WaferGen Bio-systems (Nasdaq: WGBS) priced its public offering of 3.92 million common shares at the discounted price of $1 per share.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Spirit Airlines (Nasdaq: SAVE) from an Overweight rating to an Equal Weight rating and slashed its price target from $66 to $53.
Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) chief financial officer Martin Klein resigned.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by more than 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 added 4 points to 2,027. Bitcoin gained $8 to $262.
