US stocks mostly fell Tuesday, but the Nasdaq stayed in positive territory as Israel's Teva announced a $40.1 billion cash-and-stock bid for generic drug maker Mylan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 85.34 points (0.47 percent) at 17,949.59.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 3.11 points (0.15 percent) to 2,097.29.

But helped by Mylan's 8.9 percent surge, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 19.50 (0.39 percent) at 5,014.10.