The markets closed flat with the Dow slipping 6 points to 12,393 after the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes indicated a split among members whether to raise interest rates or hold rates steady. Nasdaq added 2 points to 2791.
On the upside
Merck (NYSE: MRK) announced a $430 million deal to acquire Inspire Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISPH).
Rising gold prices lifted shares of Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) and U. S. Gold (NYSE: UXG).
Investor optimism that Fairchild Semiconductor (Nasdaq: FCS) may be the target of an acquisition lifted shares of the semiconductor.
On the downside
Allied Irish Banks(NYSE: AIB) and Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) willl maintain approximately 12 billion euros worth of bad loans rather than transferring them to the state- run National Asset Management Agency.
President and chief executive of Wright Medical Group (Nasdaq: WMGI) Gary Henley resigned effective immediately and the company announced the termination of chief technology officer Frank Bono.
SemiLEDs (Nasdaq: LEDS) disappointed by swinging to a greater than expected loss for the second quarter as expenses surged.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 10 to 9 on the NYSE while advancers barely edged out decliners by slim margin on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 3 points to 853.
