Stocks Open Lower; US Housing Starts Jump

U.S. stocks fell in the early trading on Friday despite the news that construction of new homes in the
U.S. surged to the fastest pace in five months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately was down 5.33
points, or 0.03%, at 16,441.48. The S&P 500 was off 2.17 points, or 0.12%, at 1,868.68. The Nasdaq
Composite slipped 13.38 points, or 0.33%, to 4,055.91.

The pace of U.S. home construction jumped in April to its highest level since November, led by a jump
in starts on multifamily projects. Housing starts climbed 13.2 percent to a 1.07 million annualized
rate following March’s 947,000 pace, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington.

Darden Restaurants said Friday it agreed to sell Red Lobster and related real estate assets to
investment firm Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion, shedding its worst performing chain to pay off
some company debt.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT), the largest maker of heart stents and adult nutritional beverages, joined
the dealmaking sweeping the health-care industry with a $2.9 billion agreement to acquire Chile’s CFR
Pharmaceuticals SA. (CFR)