Mid-Afternoon Market Update: JC Penney Drops as S&P Looks to Hold on Above 1800

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.93 percent to 16,252.35 while the NASDAQ surged 0.84 percent to 4,299.92. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.85 percent to 1,851.10. Leading and Lagging Sectors
Telecommunications services sector surged 2.44%, saw Vodafone Group Public Limited Company VOD as the top gainer. Gainers in the sector included NQ Mobile NQ, with shares up 3 percent, and Allot Communications ALLT, with shares up 4.7 percent. In trading on Monday, basic materials shares gained 0.32 percent. Among the sector stocks,Cliffs Natural Resources CLF was down more than 2.2 percent, while KMG Chemicals KMG tumbled around 5.7 percent. Top Headline
Men's Wearhouse MW raised its cash tender offer for Jos. A. Bank Clothiers JOSB to $63.50 per share from $57.50 per share. Equities Trading UP
J.C.Penney JCP fell on Monday's session, dropping 6.74 percent to $5.255 after a Clevland Research report published midway through the morning said the company was “well positioned to increase promotions in the first half of 2014”, which appeared to upset the street. Shares of GT Advanced Technologies GTAT got a boost, shooting up 14.79 percent to $13.90 after the company reported upbeat Q4 earnings. TriQuint Semiconductor TQNT was also up, gaining 27.19 percent to $11.74 after the company and RFMD RFMD announced their plans to combine in an all-stock deal. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Cogent Communications Group CCOI were down 5.52 percent to $38.01 after FBR Capital downgraded the stock from Market Perform to Underperform. Armstrong World Industries AWI shares tumbled 9.60 percent to $53.58 after the company reported downbeat Q4 earnings. 3D Systems DDD was also down, falling 6.12 percent to $75.80 after the company caught a downgrade to an Underperform rating at Bank of America and a drop in price target from $90 to $65. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.58 percent to $102.79, while gold traded up 1.04 percent to $1,337.80. Silver traded up 1.18 percent Monday to $22.05, while copper fell 0.72 percent to $3.23. Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.21 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.42 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.54 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.87 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.41 percent. Economics
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index came in at -0.39 in January, versus economists' expectations for a reading of -0.20. The Markit Services PMI fell to 52.7 in February, versus a prior reading of 56.7. However, economists were expecting a reading of 56.9. The Dallas Fed general business activity index fell to 0.30 in February, versus a prior reading of 3.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 3.00.