Shares of Cree Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) were trading down by 5.73 percent to $32.75 in pre-market trading today. The company said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Ruud Lighting Inc. in a cash-and-stock transaction, valuing the company at $583 million.

Global Markets: FTSE, CAC40, DAX, Nikkei 225, Straits Times, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite Index, BSE 30

Asian markets closed lower today. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed lower by 272.76 points, or 1.34 percent, to 20,016.27; India's BSE 30 closed down by 371.01 points, or 2.20 percent, to 16,469.79; Singapore's Straits Times closed down by 3.57 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,824.96; China's Shanghai Composite Index closed down by 41.79 points, or 1.61, percent, to 2,559.47; and Japan's Nikkei 225 closed lower by 113.50 points, or 1.25 percent, to 8,943.76.

The European indexes were trading lower mid-day Thursday. Britain's FTSE 100 was trading lower at 5,208.01, losing 123.59 points, or 2.32 percent; Germany's DAX was trading at 5,712.47, down 236.47 points, or 3.97 percent; and France's CAC40 was trading lower by 83.39 points, or 2.56 percent, to 3,170.95.

Oil drops below $86 mark as gold rises

Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil was lower by 1.78 points, or 2.03 percent, to $85.80 per barrel. Gold stood at 1,807.30, up 16.10 points, or 0.90 percent, on Thursday.

In the currency market, the euro was trading lower by 0.42 percent to 1.4365 against the U.S. dollar. The dollar was trading lower at ¥76.5850, down 0.02 percent against the Japanes yen. The British pound was trading lower by 0.27 percent to $1.6496 against the dollar on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Wall Street closed flat. The Dow Jones industrial average closed higher by 4.28 points, or 0.04 percent, to settle at 11,410.21, over Tuesday's close. Nasdaq ended lower by 11.97 points 0.47 percent at 2,511.48. Standard & Poor's 500 ended higher by 1.12 points 0.09 percent at 1,193.88.