Stocks Go Green
The Dow is up 30 points, the S&P 500 is up 4 points, and the Nasdaq is up 18 points.
The economic calendar is light, with the U.S. trade deficit narrowing in June to $41.5 billion. This report has also spurred several Wall Street economists to raise their expectation for the first Q2 GDP revision, which they expect will now be better than the 4% initial reading reported last week.
In corporate news, the biggest story is the breakdown of two potential mergers.
Last night 21st Century Fox said it was withdrawing an offer to acquire Time Warner, with reports also saying that Sprint is no longer seeking to acquire T-Mobile.
Following the news, Time Warner shares were down 11%, T-Mobile shares were down 7%, and Sprint shares were down 18%.
Shares of 21st Century Fox, however, were up 5%.
Walgreen also said it would acquire the remaining stake in European pharmacy chain Alliance Boots it does not already own, and would not execute a controversial tax inversion as part of the deal. Shares of the pharmacy giant were down 12% following the news.
Bank of America got approval from the Federal Reserve on its capital plan for 2014, and the company announced a 400% increase in its quarterly dividend, to $0.05 from $0.01 per share.
Shares of direct selling company Nu Skin are taking a beating, down 24% after its earnings and revenue disappointed. Direct selling peer Herbalife also saw shares fall to a 52-week low.