The markets opened mixed with the Dow rising 20 points to 15,016 while Nasdaq eased 2 points to 3398 as investors continued to monitor global economic developments.

On the upside

Newspaper publisher Gannett (NYSE: GCI) will pay a premium of approximately $1.5 billion in cash to purchase television station owner Belo (NYSE: BLC).

Canadian grocery chain Sobeys will pay $5.7 billion to acquire the Canadian assets of Safeway (NYSE: SWY). 

Celsion (Nasdaq: CLSN) said that a Seeking Alpha article about the company was misleading.

On the downside

Royalty Pharma warned that its acquisition offer for Elan (NYSE: ELN) may lapse.

Innolux began selling more than 22 million American Depositary Shares of Himax (Nasdaq: HIMX).

Investors locked in profits on Gigamon (NYSE: GIMO).

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index added a point to 1614.