(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. shares dipped after a mixed bag of U.S. economic data underscored investor concerns about the recent pace of economic growth. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) fell 1 percent to 2105 at 11:56 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) slipped 1 percent to 18047 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) lost 1.1 percent to 5033. Most followed shares included Cable Ctrip Priceline LivePerson First Solar GM Qualcomm Wal-Mart and .
In consumer shares () dropped 1.3 percent to $173.12 paring an earlier gain after it agreed to buy its much larger competitor Cable () for $56.7 billion in a deal that would transform the company into one of America’s largest cable and broadband operators and to better compete against market leader (). Charter in which billionaire industry legend John Malone-chaired Liberty Broadband Corp owns about 26 percent is offering about $195.71 in cash-and-stock for each Cable share based on Charter's closing price on May 20 the companies said in a statement today. climbed 4 percent to $178.00.
() inched up 0.1 percent to 689.87 after the retailer of automotive replacement parts said third-quarter same-store sales rose 2.3 percent while earnings per share climbed 13 percent to $9.57.
Wal-Mart () skidded 0.7 percent to $75.31. Wal-Mart auditor Ernst & Young allegedly knew of bribery allegations against the retailer in Mexico long before Wal-Mart disclosed that news. That accusation comes from pension fund advisor CtW Investment Group.
General Motors () edged down 0.5 percent to $35.52. GM was approached by Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne about a possible merger in March according to the New York Times but GM CEO Mary Barra was not interested in such a deal. Separately GM is close to facing criminal charges over its ignition switch issues according to The Wall Street Journal.
ADRs of Ctrip.com (NASDAQ:CTRP) fell 3.2 percent to $82.36 reversing an earlier increase after Priceline said it will invest an additional $250 million in the Chinese online travel broker.
In technology stocks LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) surged 12.4 percent to $10.05 after an Israeli website reported software provider Nice Systems was in talks to acquire the chat software firm.
(NYSE:) fell 2.2 percent to $26.25 after the IT service provider announced a deal to acquire privately-held cloud software and services company Virtustream in a cash deal valued at $1.2 billion.
Qualcomm () fell 0.6 percent to $69.14. The chip maker has struck a mobile technology partnership with automaker involving the recharging of mobile devices as well as electric cars.
In other stocks First Solar () tumbled 7.2 percent to $51.12 after media reports said RBC Capital analysts downgraded the stock to underperform.
Cerulean Pharma (NASDAQ:CERU) jumped 2 percent to $6.20 after the biotech company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to its CRLX101 drug a treatment for ovarian cancer.
() fluctuated between gains and losses. The microblogging site has held talks to acquire news app Flipboard in a stock deal that would value the news app at more than $1 billion according to Re/Code.
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