Courtesy of Benzinga.
Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.30 percent to 16,725.65 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.30 percent to 4,297.53. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.24 percent to 1,931.60.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares gained around 0.83 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Consolidated Water Co (NASDAQ: CWCO), up 4.3 percent, CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP), up 2.1 percent.
In trading on Monday, telecommunications services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.48 percent. Top losers in the sector included Telecom Argentina SA (NYSE: TEO), down 6.1 percent, and NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), off 6.8 percent.
Top Headline
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) announced its plans to buy Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) for $42.9 billion in cash and stock.
Medtronic will offer $93.22 per share for Covidien, representing a 29% premium over Covidien's closing price on Friday.
Equities Trading UP
Bluebird Bio (NASDAQ: BLUE) shares shot up 33.61 percent to $34.86 following the presentation of positive data on LentiGlobin BB305 at the European Hematology Association (EHA).
Shares of Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) got a boost, shooting up 20.90 percent to $87.07 after Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) announced its plans to buy Covidien for $42.9 billion in cash and stock.
Fusion-io (NYSE: FIO) shares were also up, gaining 23.11 percent to $11.43 after SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) announced its plans to buy Fusion-io for $11.25 per share in cash.
TW Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) jumped 7.04% to $38.90 after the company agreed to be acquired by Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $40.86 per share.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Karyopharm Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KPTI) were 9.45 percent to $42.67 after the company announced that the FDA has found the effectiveness and safety for KPT-335.
Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) shares tumbled 4.95 percent to $35.11. Alibaba reported revenue for the year ending March 31 of $8.47 billion and reported Yahoo stake in Alibaba of 22.5% versus 22.6% as of December 31, 2013.
DreamWorks Animation SKG (NASDAQ: DWA) was down, falling 12.43 percent to $23.95 after the company announced the launch on YouTube.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.07 percent to $106.99, while gold traded up 0.51 percent to $1,280.60.
Silver traded up 0.15 percent Monday to $19.69, while copper rose 0.46 percent to $3.04.
Eurozone
European shares were lower today.
The eurozone’s STOXX 600 tumbled 0.37 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.84 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.77 percent.
Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.20 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.58 percent while UK shares dropped 0.25 percent.
Economics
The Empire State manufacturing index rose to 19.28 in June, versus a prior reading of 19.01. However, economists were expecting a reading of 15.00.
Industrial production rose 0.6% in May, after dropping 0.3% in April. However, economists were projecting a 0.5% growth in May.
The NAHB housing market index surged to 49.00 in June, versus a prior reading of 45.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 47.00.
Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Commodities FDA M&A Economics Markets
