Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Medtronic To Acquire HeartWare For $58/Share

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 1.34 percent to 17,167.63 while the NASDAQ fell 1.61 percent to 4,632.12. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.37 percent to 2,009.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, utilities shares fell by just 0.2 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Delta Natural Gas Company, Inc. DGAS and Pampa Energia S.A. (ADR) PAM.

In trading on Monday, financial shares dipped by 2.6 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR), down 16 percent, and Barclays PLC (ADR), down 21 percent.

Top Headline

Medtronic PLC announced its plans to acquire HeartWare International Inc for $58 per share in cash.

Medtronic will buy HeartWare in a transaction valued at around $1.1 billion.

Equities Trading UP

HeartWare International Inc HTWR shares shot up 92 percent to $57.52 after Medtronic PLC MDT announced its plans to acquire HeartWare for $58 per share in cash.

Shares of Akers Biosciences Inc AKER got a boost, shooting up 41 percent to $2.71 after the company reported that it has signed its distribution agreement for BreathScan OxiChek™ with Aero-Med.

Suffolk Bancorp SCNB shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $30.36 after the company agreed to be acquired by People's United Financial, Inc. PBCT for $33.55 per share in an all-stock deal.

Equities Trading DOWN

Barclays PLC (ADR) BCS shares dropped 21 percent to $7.03 after declining 20.48 percent on Friday. BofA/Merrill Lynch downgraded Barclays from Buy to Neutral, while JP Morgan also downgraded the stock to Neutral.

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) LYG were down 16 percent to $2.79 after dipping 23.27 percent on Friday. JPMorgan downgraded Lloyds Banking from Overweight to Neutral, while BofA/Merrill Lynch also downgraded the stock to Underperform.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC RBS was down, falling around 13 percent to $4.70 after dropping 27.55 percent on Friday. JPMorgan downgraded Royal Bank of Scotland from Neutral to Underweight, while BofA/Merrill Lynch also downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.68 percent to $46.84 while gold traded up 0.61 percent to $1,330.50.

Silver traded up 0.20 percent Monday to $17.88, while copper rose 0.57 percent to $2.13.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 3.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.41 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 2.81 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 2.05 percent, and the French CAC 40 tumbled 2.10 percent, while U.K. shares fell 2.06 percent.

Economics

The U.S. trade gap in goods increased to $60.59 billion in May, versus a prior reading of $57.53 billion. However, economists were expecting a $59.1 billion gap. Imports surged to $179.63 billion from $176.82 billion, while exports slipped to $119.04 billion from $119.29 billion.

The Markit Services PMI came in unchanged at 51.30 for June, versus a prior reading of 51.30.