Stocks opened higher following economic reports, including monthly retail sales figures and weekly jobless claims data, that were better than expected. The ECB also kept its interest rates unchanged and gave details on its plan to pare down and then end its asset buying program. While the Dow has been unable to hold its gains and is now little changed, the Nasdaq has gotten stronger and is now up nearly 1%. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., retail sales climbed 0.8% in May, and gained 0.9% excluding autos, both of which were better than expected. Initial jobless claims declined 4,000 to 218,000 in the week ended June 9. Import and export prices rose 0.6% in May, both of which were stronger than expected gains. Business inventories rose 0.3% in April with sales up 0.4%, as forecast. In Europe, the ECB announced that it will continue to make net purchases under the asset purchase program at its current monthly pace of EUR30B until the end of September, after which it expects the monthly pace will be reduced to EUR$15B until December, and then ended. The ECB also kept its key interest rates unchanged and said it expects them to remain at their present levels “at least through the summer of 2019 and in any case for as long as necessary” to make sure inflation remains on the expected adjustment path. COMPANY NEWS: Comcast (CMCSA) announced last night, as widely expected, that it has made a “superior proposal” to acquire the businesses that Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) has agreed to sell to Disney (DIS) for $35 per share in cash, which it said represents a premium of approximately 19% to the value of Disney’s all-stock offer. The $35 per share offer reflects a $65B equity value for 21CF, after giving effect to the proposed spinoff of “New Fox,” Comcast stated. Several Wall Street analysts, including ones at Nomura, Oppenheimer and Loop Capital, said they expect expects Disney (DIS) will counter Comcast’s offer… Mylan (MYL) shares are down 4.5% near noon after the company disclosed that the FDA has identified “minor deficiencies” in its application for approval of generic Advair Diskus. Upon receipt of the official FDA complete response letter, Mylan will determine what, if any, impact that it could have on its FY18 outlook, the company noted. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Etsy (ETSY), which surged 34% after it revised its transaction fee structure and updated its fiscal 2018 guidance. Also higher was Insys Therapeutics (INSY), which gained 13% after it said its investigational epinephrine nasal spray showed promise in an early clinical trial. Among the notable losers was Bitauto (BITA), which slipped 12% after Macquarie analyst Wendy Huang downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform. Also lower was Tailored Brands (TLRD), which fell 22% after it reported quarterly results and provided a conservative outlook for fiscal 2018. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 1 point to 25,200.20, the Nasdaq was up 61.37, or 0.80%, to 7,757.07, and the S&P 500 was up 7.45, or 0.27%, to 2,783.08.