U.S. shares seesawed as a drop in energy shares overshadowed gains in small-cap companies. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) slid 0.1 percent to 2,113 at 11:40 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) slipped 0.1 percent to 18,166, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) added 0.1 percent to 5,007. Most followed shares included Noble Energy, Rosetta Resources, GlaxoSmithKline, Zulily, Actavis, Salesforce, Noble Energy, Dish Network, Sotheby’s, Dean Foods, FXCM, Wayfair, Hilton Worldwide, and United Continental.
In energy shares, Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) fell 7.2 percent to $45.58 after the natural gas and oil producer agreed to acquire its smaller rival Rosetta Resources (NASDAQ:ROSE) for $2.1 billion in stock. Shares of Rosetta surged 26 percent to $24.33. The deal will give Noble entry into the Eagle Ford Shale field and the oil and gas region of Permian Basin in Texas. Noble will acquire Rosetta in an all-stock transaction, the Houston, Texas-based companies said in a statement today. Noble will also assume Rosetta’s $1.8 billion in net debt.
In health-care shares, GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) climbed 1.5 percent to $45.96 after the U.K. drugmaker said it will invest $20 million over five years to develop a cure for AIDS. Glaxo will fund a joint venture with the University of North Carolina (UNC), the two announced late yesterday. Research scientists from both entities will work together in an HIV Cure center to be housed at UNC.
Actavis (NYSE:ACT) rose 3.5 percent to $303.03 after the drugmaker's revenue jumped almost 60 percent, helped by higher sales of its branded drugs in North America.
In technology shares, Sotheby’s (NYSE:BID) advanced 1.1 percent to $44.20 after profit and revenue topped forecasts.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) fell 1.2 percent to $71.54 after Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) said it was currently not weighing an offer for the cloud software maker.
In consumer shares, Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) inched down 0.8 percent to $66.31 after the pay-TV provider said profit doubled although it lost subscribers.
Dean Foods (NYSE:DF) surged 5.4 percent to $17.17, after the food and beverage company beat first-quarter profit and sales expectations, and provided an upbeat second-quarter outlook.
Zulily (NASDAQ:ZU) jumped 11 percent to $14.72, after Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) bought a 9 percent stake in the online retailer. Alibaba was down 0.7 percent to $86.53.
Wayfair (NYSE:W) fell 1.9 percent to $30.19, erasing an earlier rally. The online home-goods retailer said its loss narrowed in the first quarter, as increases in marketing and advertising spending helped drive stronger-than-expected sales growth.
Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) fell 1.2 percent to $29.73 as the hotel operator announced a 90 million share secondary offering, with the shares coming from stockholders affiliated with Blackstone Group. Hilton will not receive any proceeds from the offering.
In other stocks, FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) tumbled 10.7 percent to $1.92 after the online provider of foreign exchange trading posted a $426.8 million net loss for the first quarter, hurt by several items stemming from surge in the Swiss franc after the Swiss National Bank in January removed the cap on the currency’s value.
United Continental Holdings (NYSE:UAL) rose 0.9 percent to $62.97 after reporting higher traffic and capacity in April, but the airline said more of its seats were empty.