Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Up Despite More Crimea Fears

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 1.11 percent to 16,243.35 while the NASDAQ gained 0.87 percent to 4,282.04. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.98 percent to 1,859.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Industrials stocks gained Monday, with Schawk SGK leading advancers after Matthews International MATW announced its plans to acquire Schawk. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Watts Water Technologies WTS, with shares up 4.2 percent, and China Recycling Energy CREG, with shares up 31 percent. Energy shares gained by just 0.43 percent in the US market today.

Top losers in the sector included Harvest Natural Resources HNR, off 6.3 percent, and Vaalco Energy EGY, down around 5.5 percent.

Top Headline
JA Solar Holdings Co JASO reported a profit in the fourth quarter. The company also expects higher shipments for 2014. JA Solar projects shipments of 2.7 GW and 2.9 GW for the full year, versus 2.1 GW in 2013. JA Solar posted a quarterly net profit of $23 million, or $0.32 per American depositary share, versus a year-ago net loss of $102.4 million, or $2.65 per ADS. Its revenue surged 33% to $357.3 million.

Equities Trading UP
Schawk SGK shares shot up 35.85 percent to $20.01 after Matthews International MATW announced its plans to acquire Schawk for $20 per share.

SINA Corp SINA also gained on Monday's session, rising 6.80 percent to $68.98 after it was announced that its Weibo unit had filed for a New York IPO.

Kandi Technolgies Group KNDI was also up, gaining 24.16 percent to $21.55 after the company reported fourth-quarter results. Kandi Technologies posted its Q4 adjusted profit of $4.6 million on revenue of $50.60 million.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of VeriSign VRSN were down 6.12 percent to $51.49 after Cowen & Company downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform and cut the price target from $63.00 to $49.00.

Gray Television GTN shares tumbled 11.37 percent to $9.31 after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

McEwen Mining MUX was also dropping off to the downside, falling 12.22 percent to $3.125 after news broke that it was holding back production on its second Mexico mine.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.85 percent to $98.05, while gold traded down 0.98 percent to $1,365.70.

Silver traded down 1.13 percent Monday to $21.17, while copper rose 0.08 percent to $2.95.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today.

The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.73 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 2.46 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX jumped 1.36 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.32 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.63 percent.

Economics
The Empire State manufacturing index rose to 5.61 in March, versus a prior reading of 4.48. However, economists were expecting a reading of 6.00.

US industrial production rose 0.80% in February, versus economists' expectations for a 0.20% gain.

The NAHB housing market index rose to 47.00 in March, from a prior reading of 46.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 50.00.