Potential tariffs on steel and aluminum continued to weigh on investors who sent the markets down to a lower open with the Dow falling 67 points to 24,471. Nasdaq lost 35 points to 7222.

On the upside

AXA will acquire XL Group (NYSE: XL) for a premium of approximately $15.3 billion.

Deutsche Bank upgraded Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) from a Hold rating to a Buy rating.

Clearside Biomedical (Nasdaq: CLSD) reported positive results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of suprachoroidal CLS-TA in patients with macular edema associated with non-infectious uveitis.

On the downside

Police in Brazil initiated a new phase of its investigation into BRF (NYSE: BRFS) for evading food safety checks.

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (NYSE: BW) established March 15, 2018 as the record date to determine which shareholders would be entitled to participate in the company's common stock rights offering.

Dermira (Nasdaq: DERM) reported disappointing results from two Phase 3 trials of olumacostat glasaretil in patients nine years of age and older with moderate to severe acne vulgaris.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 fell 10 points to 2,681. Bitcoin climbed $119 to $11,504.