The markets opened lower with the Dow falling 25 points to 20,929 as the nation's trade deficit soared 9.6% to $48.5 billion in January. Nasdaq lost 7 points to 5,841.
On the upside
Hewlett Packard Enterprises (NYSE: HPE) offered a premium of approximately $1.09 billion in cash to acquire Nimble Storage (NYSE: NMBL).
MeetMe (Nasdaq: MEET) impressed with sharply higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue.
Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT) named Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) chief financial officer Mark McCollum to the position of president and chief executive officer.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Rennova Health (Nasdaq: RNVA).
Profit taking weighed down shares of BioScrip (Nasdaq: BIOS).
Second quarter earnings for Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) fell short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index lost 5 points to 2,370. Bitcoin plunged $37 to $1,229.
