Stocks turned mixed at midday

Investors hope for another big pharmaceutical merger

4/28/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Stocks are mixed at midday as traders hope for another blockbuster deal in the health care industry.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 36 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,400 at noon today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged down one point, or 0.2 percent, to 1,862. The Nasdaq composite dropped 26 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,049.

Pfizer led other health care companies higher after it renewed its push to buy British rival AstraZeneca. Pfizer rose 3 percent.

Bank of America slid 5 percent after the Federal Reserve forced the bank to suspend plans to increase its dividend and buy back more of its own stock.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.69 percent.