An increase in May factory production lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow adding 11 points to 16,786. Nasdaq gained 10 points to 4,320.
On the upside
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) will acquire Covidien (NYSE: COV) for a premium of approximately $42.9 billion in cash and stock.
SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) will pay a premium of approximately $1.1 billion to purchase Fusion-io (NYSE: FIO).
Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) will buy the 50% general partner interest in Access Midstream that the company does not already own for nearly $6 billion.
On the downside
DreamWorks (Nasdaq: DWA) launched DreamWorksTV on YouTube to deliver original content for families but the stock price dropped.
Investors locked in profits on Karyopharm Therapeutics (Nasdaq: KPTI).
Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq: LVLT) will acquire tw Telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC) in a cash and stock deal valued at approximately $5.64 billion.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 added 3 points to 1940. Bitcoin gained $18.39 or 3.11% to $590.64.
