Mid-Afternoon Market Update: EZchip Falls On Lowered Sales Forecast; Durata Therapeutics Shares Jump

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.20 percent to 16,975.82 while the NASDAQ declined 0.42 percent to 4,457.05. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21 percent to 1,963.86.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Monday, basic materials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.05 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Handy & Harman HNH, up 7.2 percent, and Rio Tinto plc RIO, up 5.7 percent.

Industrials shares fell by 0.73 percent on Monday. Top losers in the sector included Amtech Systems ASYS, down 6.1 percent, and Knightsbridge Tankers VLCCF, off 5.5 percent.

Top Headline

Hewlett-Packard Company HPQ announced its plans to split the company into HP Inc and HP Enterprise.

Hewlett-Packard will separate its PC and printer businesses from its corporate hardware business and other units.

Equities Trading UP

Durata Therapeutics DRTX shares shot up 72.84 percent to $23.99 after Actavis ACT announced its plans to buy Durata Therapeutics for around $616.4 million.

Shares of CareFusion CFN got a boost, shooting up 23.31 percent to $56.93 after Becton Dickinson & Co BDX announced its plans to acquire CareFusion for $12.2 billion in cash and stock.

Petrobas PBR shares were also up, gaining 14.32 percent to $15.97 as the company announced the discovery of gas accumulation at Espírito Santo Basin.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of EZchip Semiconductor EZCH were down 10.66 percent to $22.09 after the company lowered its Q3 sales forecast.

H&R Block HRB shares tumbled 5.18 percent to $30.02 as the company announced that the regulatory approval process for the company’s deal with BofI Federal Bank won't be completed this year.

GT Advanced Technologies GTAT was down, falling 90.32 percent to $1.07 on bankruptcy news.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.51 percent to $90.20, while gold traded up 1.25 percent to $1,207.80.

Silver traded up 2.73 percent Monday to $17.29, while copper rose 1.35 percent to $3.04.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index jumped 0.74 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.40 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.15 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.11 percent while UK shares rose 0.55 percent.

Economics

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.