Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Fall; Liberty Interactive To Acquire Zulily For $2.4B

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.56 percent to 17,378.79 while the NASDAQ declined 0.33 percent to 5,031.67. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.41 percent to 2,082.90.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares gained by 0.8 percent in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Genie Energy Ltd GNE, Oneok Partners LP OKS, and Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. CWCO.
In trading on Monday, energy shares dipped by 0.38 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Legacy Reserves LP LGCY, down 8 percent, and SandRidge Permian Trust PER, off 7 percent.

Top Headline
Liberty Interactive Group QVCA announced its plans to buy Zulily Inc ZU in a deal valued at $2.4 billion.
Liberty Interactive would acquire Zulily for $18.75 per share, or $9.375 in cash and 0.3098 newly issued shares of QVCA for each ZU share.
Equities Trading UP
Zulily Inc ZU shares shot up 47 percent to $18.53 after Liberty Interactive Group QVCA announced its plans to buy Zulily in a deal valued at $2.4 billion.

Cellcom Israel Ltd. CEL shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $6.99 as the company announced Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on October 7, 2015.

Shares of Tesla Motors Inc TSLA got a boost, shooting up 4 percent to $252.16. Analysts at Morgan Stanley maintain their Overweight rating for Tesla Motors and raised target price from $280 to $465.
Equities Trading DOWN
The Fresh Market Inc TFM shares tumbled 3 percent to $28.90. BMO Capital downgraded Fresh Market from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $44.00 to $28.00.
Shares of Estee Lauder Companies Inc EL were down 2 percent to $86.79. Estee Lauder reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter. However, the company issued a weak forecast.
Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc AQXP was down, falling 7 percent to $20.47 after gaining 9.07 percent on Friday.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.41 percent to $41.90, while gold traded up 0.81 percent to $1,121.70.
Silver traded up 0.93 percent Monday to $15.36, while copper fell 1.55 percent to $2.32.

Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.36 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.51 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.30 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.97 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.33 percent while UK shares fell 0.55 percent.

Economics
The Empire State manufacturing index slipped to a reading of -14.92 in August, versus a prior reading of 3.86. However, economists were expecting a reading of 5.00.
The NAHB housing market index gained 1 point to 61 in August. However, economists were projecting a reading of 61.