Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Look to be Closing in the Red for the Third Straight Session; First Solar Drops on Secondary Offering

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.77 percent to 15,005.04 while the NASDAQ dropped 1.03 percent to 3,401.55. The S&P also fell, declining 0.72 percent to 1,614.65.

India's Apollo Tyres announced its plans to acquire Cooper Tire & Rubber Co

for about $2.5 billion. Shareholders of Cooper Tire will receive $35 per share in cash, representing a 42% premium to Cooper Tire's closing stock price on Tuesday. The transaction is likely to close in the second half of this year.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co

shot up 40.55\1 percent to $34.51 after India's Apollo Tyres announced its plans to acquire the company for $35 per share or about $2.5 billion. Shares of Spectra Energy

got a boost, shooting up 11.07 percent to $33.68 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from “equal-weight” to “overweight.” Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance

was also up, gaining 14.90 percent to $96.66 after the company reported upbeat first-quarter earnings.

First Solar

took a hit at the open Wednesday morning, falling 9.10 percent to $15.28 throughout the day after the company announced an 8.5 million share secondary offering. The offering is expected to price after the close tonight. Shares of First Solar

were down 9.70 percent to $47.24 after the company announced a public offering of 8.5 million shares of common stock. Take-Two Interactive Software

shares tumbled 9.10 percent to $15.29 after the company announced a proposed offering of $250 million of convertible senior notes.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.51 percent to $95.87, while gold traded up 0.70 percent to $1,386.10. Silver traded up 0.47 percent Wednesday to $21.77, while copper rose 2.55 percent to $3.22.

European shares were mostly lower. Industrial production in the eurozone rose faster than expected in April. Industrial production rose 0.4 percent in April vs. an expected drop of 0.2 percent however March's figure was revised slightly lower to +0.9 percent from +1.0 percent. On an annualized basis, industrial production fell 0.6 percent vs. a 1.2 percent expected drop. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.43 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.61 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.96 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.44 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.64 percent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of mortgage application activity surged 5% in the week ended June 7, versus an 11.5% drop in the previous week. US crude-oil supplies climbed by 2.5 million barrels to 393.8 million barrels for the week ended June 7, the Energy Information Administration reported. The U.S. Treasury monthly budget report for May will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.