Housing starts climbed in November to lift the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 42 points to 24,834. Nasdaq slipped 3 points to 6,991.

On the upside

Navistar (NYSE: NAV) reversed year ago losses to post a stronger than expected profit for the fourth quarter as revenue rose.

Starboard Value acquired a 9.9% stake in Cars.com (NYSE: CARS).

Crown Holdings (NYSE: CCK) will acquire Signode Industrial Group Holdings in a deal valued at approximately $3.91 billion.

On the downside

McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) will acquire Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) in an all stock transaction valued at approximately $6 billion.

Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE: TEVA) workers began a strike to protest the generic drugmaker's proposed plan to cut 14,000 jobs.

Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) will be acquired by Humana (NYSE: HUM) and two private equity firms.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 9 to 8 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 added 2 points to 2,692. Bitcoin crashed $840 to $17,859.