Stock Value Sinks After 'Deal Made in Heaven'

Stocks shook off early losses and managed to end mostly higher on Wall Street, even as weakness in technology companies weighed on major US indexes, the AP reports. The S&P 500 edged up 0.2% Wednesday after trading lower for much of the day. The Nasdaq fell slightly and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.2%. Salesforce.com sank after announcing a deal late Tuesday—which it called "a deal made in heaven"—to buy messaging platform Slack for $27.7 billion. The mixed trading came as investors become more optimistic that coronavirus vaccines could start driving a stronger economic recovery. Treasury yields rose and crude oil prices ended higher. Among stocks that moved heavily or traded substantially Wednesday, per the AP:

• Salesforce.com Inc., down $20.57 to $220.78. The business software pioneer is buying work-chatting service Slack for $27.7 billion.
• NetApp Inc., up $5.07 to $59.23. The data storage company's fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue handily beat analysts' forecasts.
• Box Inc., down $1.63 to $16.91. The online storage provider gave investors a disappointing revenue forecast.
• Visa Inc., down $1.02 to $210.18. The global payments processor said volume growth in the U.S. slowed in November.
• JetBlue Airways Corp., down 45 cents to $14.97. The airline is raising about half a billion dollars in a stock offering priced at a discount to its previous closing price.
• FuboTV Inc., up 66 cents to $27.40. The live sports streaming platform is buying Balto Sports, which makes fantasy sports software.

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