U.S. shares pared opening gains after a report on monthly retail sales came in weaker than expected. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) inched up 0.1 percent to 2,102 at 11:44 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was up 0.1 percent at 18,077, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) gained 0.2 percent to 4,987. Most followed shares included Macy’s, Delta, Zillow, AmEx, HortonWorks, Zebra, GoDaddy, Danaher, Pall, Vertex, Orexigen, Williams Partners, and Owens-Illinois.
In consumer shares, Macy's (NYSE:M) slid 2.7 percent to $63.60 after the U.S. department-store chain reported weaker-than-expected sales and profit in the first quarter, as some of its merchandise shipments were snarled in clogged West Coast ports and severe winter weather damped sales.
McKesson (NYSE:MCK) rose 2.2 percent to $234.50 as the drug distributor earned an adjusted $2.94 per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates of $0.20.
In industrials, Danaher (NYSE:DHR) climbed 1.9 percent to $87.60 and Pall (NYSE:PLL) added 4.7 percent to $124.24 after Danaher agreed to buy the water-systems maker for $13.8 billion. Danaher will also split itself into two independent companies.
Delta Airlines (NYSE:DAL) rose 2.4 percent to $47.18 after announcing a $5 billion buyback program and raised its quarterly dividend to 13.5 cents per share from 9 cents.
In financials, Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) fell 2.1 percent to $95.91 even as the real estate website operator reported profit of $0.05 per share, better than the consensus analyst forecast of an 0.11 per share loss. Revenue was also better than expected on improved ad sales.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) rose 0.8 percent to $79.70. The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.29 per share from $0.26, and announced it will buy back 150 million of its shares. That program replaces a prior authorization which still had 45 million shares remaining.
In technology shares, HortonWorks (NASDAQ:HDP) added 1 percent to $22.01 after the data-software company’s second-quarter revenue forecast beat analysts’ estimates, while reporting a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss.
Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) jumped 12 percent to $104.89 after the Lincolnshire, Illinois-based company said its first-quarter sales soared, helped by a recent acquisition and saw growth in its legacy business.
GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) rose 2.2 percent to $27.35 as the web-hosting company which manages nearly a fifth of the world’s internet domains reported a higher-than-expected 18 percent increase in first-quarter revenue, aided by customer addition.
In health-care stocks, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) surged 3.4 percent to $128.08 after a panel of external advisers said its experimental cystic fibrosis combination should be approved by U.S. regulators.
Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OREX) plunged 13.8 percent to $5.10 as Takeda Pharmaceutical (OTCMKTS:TKPYY) threatened to end its collaboration with the drugmaker after a safety study of its obesity medicine was halted.
In other stocks, Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) surged 21 percent to $57.33 after gas infrastructure company Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) announced an agreement to buy the public equity of Williams Partners in a stock deal valued at $13.8 billion.
Owens-Illinois (NYSE:OI) rose 9.5 percent to $26.04 after the glass container maker said it would buy the food and beverage glass container business of Mexico's Vitro SAB de CV for $2.15 billion.