A drop in the nation’s productivity along with disappointing job growth sent the markets tumbling to a sharply lower open with Dow plunging 90 points to 17,837. Nasdaq lost 16 points to 4,923.

On the upside

PlasmaTech Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PTBI) will acquire Abeona Therapeutic for approximately 3.98 million common shares.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN) will pay a premium of approximately $8.4 billion in cash and stock to acquire Synageva BioPharma (Nasdaq: GEVA).

Borderfree (Nasdaq: BRDR) will be acquired by Pitney Bowes for a premium of approximately $395 million in cash.

On the downside

Zulily (Nasdaq: ZU) reported a loss for the first quarter and lowered it full year revenue outlook.

Anadigics (Nasdaq: ANAD) narrowed losses for the first quarter but revenue fell.

Noodles & Co. (Nasdaq: NDLS) fell to a loss for the first quarter and forecast full year revenue below expectations.
 
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 lost 7 points to 2081. Bitcoin eased to $234.