Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower, Perrigo To Acquire Elan For $8.6B

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.23 percent to 15,522.77 while the NASDAQ dropped 0.05 percent to 3,611.36. The S&P also fell, declining 0.24 percent to 1,687.65.

Perrigo

announced its plans to buy Elan Corporation plc

for $8.6 billion. Perrigo will pay $6.25 per share in cash and $10.25 per share in stock to buy Elan. The deal price of $16.50 per share represents a 10.5% premium to Elan's closing price on Friday. Perrigo projects the transaction to close by year-end.

Omnicom Group

shot up 7.82 percent to $70.20 after the company announced its plans to merge with Publicis Group. Shares of Elan Corporation plc

got a boost, shooting up 6.03 percent to $15.83 after Perrigo

announced its plans to buy the company for $8.6 billion. Saks

was also up, gaining 3.66 percent to $15.87 after Hudson's Bay announced its plans to buy the company for $16 per share.

Shares of Sohu.com

were down 7.89 percent to $64.48 on Q2 results. Hertz Global Holdings

was down, falling 4.56 percent to $25.67 after the company reported a 31% rise in its second-quarter profit. Shanda Games

shares tumbled 18.72 percent to $5.08 after the company acquired platform-related affiliates.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.38 percent to $105.10, while gold traded up 0.57 percent to $1,329.40. Silver traded up 0.53 percent Monday to $19.88, while copper fell 0.24 percent to $3.10.

European shares were mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.38 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.76 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.20 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.21 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.29 percent.

Pending home sales declined 0.4% in June, the National Association of Realtors reported. The Dallas Fed general business activity index for July will be released Monday. The Treasury is set to auction 3- and 6-month bills.