Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; H-P Plans To Split Into Two Companies

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.41 percent to 17,078.82 while the NASDAQ gained 0.25 percent to 4,486.65. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.38 percent to 1,975.35.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Monday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.23 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Petrobas PBR, up 14 percent, and Ultrapar Holdings UGP, up 8 percent.

Healthcare shares rose by just 0.16 percent on Monday. Top losers in the sector included Sunesis Pharmaceuticals SNSS, down 68 percent, and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals BCRX, off 9.9 percent.

Top Headline

Hewlett-Packard Company HPQ announced its plans to split the company into HP Inc and HP Enterprise.

Hewlett-Packard will separate its PC and printer businesses from its corporate hardware business and other units.

Equities Trading UP

Durata Therapeutics DRTX shares shot up 70.16 percent to $23.62 after Actavis ACT announced its plans to buy Durata Therapeutics for around $616.4 million.

Shares of CareFusion CFN got a boost, shooting up 23.09 percent to $56.83 after Becton Dickinson & Co BDX announced its plans to acquire CareFusion for $12.2 billion in cash and stock.

Petrobas PBR shares were also up, gaining 14.42 percent to $15.99 as the company announced the discovery of gas accumulation at Espírito Santo Basin.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of EZchip Semiconductor EZCH were down 12.29 percent to $21.69 after the company lowered its Q3 sales forecast.

H&R Block HRB shares tumbled 5.34 percent to $29.97 as the company announced that the regulatory approval process for the company’s deal with BofI Federal Bank won't be completed this year.

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals SNSS was down, falling 69.05 percent to $2.06 as pivotal Phase 3 VALOR trial of acute myeloid leukemia treatment did not meet primary endpoint.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.09 percent to $89.82, while gold traded up 0.39 percent to $1,197.60.

Silver traded up 1.54 percent Monday to $17.09, while copper rose 0.82 percent to $3.02.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.71 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index jumped 1.42 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.72 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.14 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.62 percent while UK shares rose 0.69 percent.

Economics

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.