Stock Market News for December 03, 2014 - Market News - Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Benchmarks ended in the green as healthcare and energy shares rallied on Tuesday to post solid gains. Moreover, merger and acquisition news involving Japan based Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Avanir Pharmaceuticals, and Cypress Semiconductor and Spansion Inc. also boosted investor confidence. Additionally, encouraging reports of domestic vehicle sales and construction spending had positive impact on benchmarks. The S&P 500 posted its best one-day gain since Oct 31.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.6% to close at 17,879.55. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) also increased 0.6% to close at 2,066.55. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 4,755.81; gaining 0.6%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined 10.1% to settle at 12.85. A total of about 6.6 billion shares were traded on Tuesday. Advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 65% stocks that advanced, 32% declined.

On Tuesday, shares of Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) jumped 6.4% after revealing its plan to start phase III trial of its drug, BIIB 037, which has been developed to treat Alzheimer patients. Company's executive vice president of R&D, Dr. Douglas Edward Williams said initial trial of the drug had impressive effect on the patients which encouraged them to skip phase II trial to commence late stage trial of the drug. Biogen was the biggest gainer among healthcare companies listed in the S&P 500 yesterday.

Rally in Biogen shares had positive impact on the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) that gained 1.1% on Tuesday. The sector was the best performer among the S&P 500 sectors. Key healthcare stocks including Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALXN), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT) rose 4.3%, 3.1%, 1.8% and 2%, respectively. All the S&P 500 sectors registered gains yesterday.

Moreover, energy shares posted solid gains on Tuesday despite slide in oil prices. The prices of WTI crude oil and Brent crude oil declined 3.2% and 2.8% to $66.88 per barrel and $70.54 per barrel, respectively. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) gained almost 1.1% and was the second biggest gainer among the S&P 500 sectors. Key energy stocks including Chevron Corporation (CVX), Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) and Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) rose 2.1%, 2%, 3.5% and 2.6%, respectively.

Additionally, shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AVNR) surged 12.8% following news that Japanese drug manufacturer Otsuka Pharmaceuticals will acquire Avanir for around $3.5 billion. Reportedly, Otsuka will buy Avanir at $17 per share, 13% higher than Monday's closing price. Moreover, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (CY) struck a definite agreement with Spansion Inc. (CODE) to merge in a $4 billion all-stock, tax-free deal. The merger is expected to generate more than $2 billion in annual revenues. Shares of Cypress Semiconductor and Spansion jumped 14.3% and 21.9%, respectively.

Autodata Corp. reported on Tuesday that domestic sales increased at 4.6% rate in November from the year ago level to 1.3 million. It was also reported that annualized sales rate in November increased to around 17.2 million vehicles from October's sales figure of 16.5 million. This was also the strongest rate in this month since 2003. Automakers including General Motors Company (GM), Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC) reported year-over-year increase in sales. However, Ford Motor Co. (F) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (NSANY) experienced declines in the same.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that construction spending rose 1.1% in October to $971.0 billion from September's tally of $960.3 billion, significantly beating the consensus estimate of 0.6% gain. This was also the highest pace since May.

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