Slowing manufacturing growth weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 39 points to 17,650. Nasdaq added 6 points to 5,134.

On the upside

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LXRX) reported positive results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of oral telotristat etiprate to treat cancer patients with carcinoid syndrome.

CDW (Nasdaq: CDW) reported higher second quarter earnings and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations.
 
Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) fell to a loss for the second quarter but the company expects cash flow to increase.
 
On the downside

RBC Capital Markets downgraded Linn Energy (Nasdaq: LINE) from an Outperform rating to a Sector Perform rating.

Investors locked in profits on Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK).

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped a point to 2102. Bitcoin added $1 to $281.