Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Head Down Sharply, Barnes & Noble Remains Up

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow was down 0.90 percent to 13,874.03 while the NASDAQ fell 0.82 percent to 3,135.89. The S&P also fell, declining 1.17 percent to 1,497.58.

The S&P 500 looks poised to defend the 1,500 mark while holding a support of 1,497, with 1,531 as the new resistance. 1515 will be a key area to watch for today. The Dow is set up today with support at 13,860 as it looks to re-test its 14,058 highs. The NASDAQ is poised to defend its 3130 support and its daily 50 EMA at 3,122.5 as it tries to regain a breakout over its September highs of 3,197. The RUT is set to find support at 900 while regaining its 50 EMA at 910.40. The resistance looks to be set at 932 for the session.

Barnes & Noble's

Chairman Leonard Riggio plans to bid for all the retail assets of the company, excluding the Nook digital reader business.

Zynga

rose 7.99 percent to $3.45 after Nevada legalized first interstate online poker. Shares of Endo Health Solutions

got a boost, shooting up 8.13 percent to $30.32. Endo Health appointed Rajiv De Silva as its new President and Chief Executive Officer.

Affymax

shares tumbled 85.29 percent to $2.43. Affymax and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company decided to voluntarily recall all lots of OMONTYS Injection. Dynavax Technologies

was also down, falling 30.81 percent to $2.06 after the US FDA rejected Dynavax's HEPLISAV, an adult hepatitis B vaccine. Shares of Dillard's

were down 9.35 percent to $76.98, after the company reported downbeat Q4 results.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.08 percent to $93.06, while gold traded up 1.50 percent to $1,596.80. Silver traded up 0.61 percent Monday to $29.07, while copper lost 0.001 percent to $3.5465.

European shares were higher after exit polls from Italy's election. Moody's downgraded U.K.'s sovereign credit rating to Aa1 from AAA. The Bank of Greece sees the Greek economy contracting 4.5 percent in 2013 with growth finally returning in 2014. The Spanish Ibex surged 0.80 percent, while the Italian MIB index jumped 0.73 percent. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.06 percent, London's FTSE 100 Index surged 1.01 percent, French CAC 40 Index rose 0.41 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 1.45 percent.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to -0.32 in January, versus 0.25 in December, missing economists' estimates of 0.02. The Dallas Fed general business activity index declined to 2.2 in February, versus 5.5 in January. The Treasury is set to auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart will speak on the economic outlook in Knoxville, Tennessee.