Mid-Day Market Update: McDonald's Drops On Weak November Sales; Acceleron Pharma Shares Jump

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.06 percent to 17,947.46 while the NASDAQ surged 0.02 percent to 4,781.87. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11 percent to 2,073.17.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Healthcare shares gained around 0.74 percent in Monday’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cubist Pharmaceuticals CBST, up 35.5 percent, and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals ALNY, up 9.8 percent.
In trading on Monday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 3.27 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Rex Energy REXX, down 16 percent, and Niska Gas Storage Partners LLC NKA, off 14.2 percent.

Top Headline
Merck MRK announced its plans to buy Cubist Pharmaceuticals CBST in a transaction with a total value of roughly $9.5 billion..
Merck will pay $102 per share for Cubist, representing a 37% premium to its closing price of $74.36 on Friday.
Equities Trading UP
Cubist Pharmaceuticals CBST shares shot up 35.56 percent to $100.80 after Merck MRK announced its plans to acquire Cubist for $102 per share in cash.
Shares of Acceleron Pharma XLRN got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $45.83. Celgene CELG and Acceleron announced new data from Luspatercept Phase 2 clinical trial in beta-thalassemia.

Celgene CELG shares were also up, gaining 4.37 percent to $119.12 after the company and Acceleron Pharma XLRN announced new data from Luspatercept Phase 2 clinical trial in beta-thalassemia.

Equities Trading DOWN

TASER International TASR shares tumbled 9.83 percent to $22.38 after Ladenburg Thalmann downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.
Shares of Liquidity Services LQDT were down 25.73 percent to $7.62. Liquidity Services reported that it has received a two-month contract extension for U.S. Department of Defense surplus property sales.
McDonald's MCD was down, falling 3.55 percent to $92.89 on weak November sales. McDonald's reported its global-comparable-store sales fell 2.2% in November

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 3.84 percent to $63.31, while gold traded up 0.21 percent to $1,192.90.
Silver traded down 0.05 percent Monday to $16.25, while copper fell 0.62 percent to $2.88.

Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.67 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.88 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.68 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.72 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 1 percent while UK shares slipped 1.05 percent.

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