Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Arena Pharma Gets a Boost on Jefferies Report as Markets Rise

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.13 percent to 15,782.17 while the NASDAQ rose 0.12 percent to 3,918.85. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.08 percent to 1,771.13.

Top Headline
Shire plc SHPG announced its plans to buy ViroPharma VPHM for $4.2 billion.

Shire will pay $50 per share in cash for ViroPharma, representing a 27 percent premium to ViroPharma's closing price on Friday.

Equities Trading UP
ViroPharma VPHM shot up 25.46 percent to $49.40 after the company agreed to be acquired by Shire SHPG for $50 per share.

Shares of Gogo

GOGO

got a boost, shooting up 27.64 percent to $23.90 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and raised its FY13 revenue forecast.

Arena Pharmaceuticals ARNA was also up, gaining 10.65 percent to $5.30 after Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and $12 price target on the company Monday morning.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Tata Motors

TTM

were down 5.17 percent to $29.18 after Nomura downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.

Denbury Resources DNR was also down, falling 5.89 percent to $18.21 after a proposal for the company to become an MLP was rejected.

8x8

EGHT

was down, falling 6.95 percent to $9.91 after the company announced a public offering of 12,500,000 shares of its common stock. The company also announced its

plans to acquire e

UK-based Voicenet Solutions for $18.4 million in cash.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.56 percent to $95.13, while gold traded down 0.13 percent to $1,282.80.

Silver traded down 0.57 percent Monday to $21.39, while copper rose 0.05 percent to $3.25.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.44 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.77 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.42 percent and the French CAC 40 surged 0.70 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.33 percent.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.

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