Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Drops Over 4%; Alere Shares Gain On Acquisition News

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.43 percent to 16,396.27 while the NASDAQ dipped 0.35 percent to 4,597.86. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.46 percent to 1,931.22. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Monday, telecommunications services shares rose by 0.25 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included NTT Docomo Inc (ADR) DCM, up 5 percent, and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (ADR) NTT up 3 percent. In trading on Monday, energy shares fell by 2.75 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC VNR, down 14 percent, and NGL Energy Partners LP NGL, down 9 percent. Top Headline Abbott Laboratories ABT announced plans to acquire Alere Inc ALR for $5.8 billion. Abbott will pay $56 per share in cash, representing a premium of around 51 percent over Alere's closing price of $37.20 on Friday. Equities Trading UP Alere Inc ALR shares shot up 45 percent to $54.00 as Abbott Laboratories ABT announced plans to acquire Alere for $5.8 billion. Shares of AMAYA INC AYA got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $12.99 after the company's CEO David Baazov announced intention to acquire Amaya for C$21 per share. Questar Corporation STR shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $24.89 as Dominion Resources, Inc. D agreed to buy Questar for around $4.4 billion. Equities Trading DOWN Nokia Corporation (ADR) NOK shares dropped 12 percent to $6.33 after the company reported a court decision in patent license arbitration versus Samsung Electronics Co. Bank of America downgraded Nokia from Buy to Neutral. Shares of Roper Technologies Inc ROP were down 7 percent to $163.04 after the company reported downbeat Q4 results and issued a weak earnings forecast. Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc RH was down, falling around 4 percent to $59.11. Cowen & Company downgraded Restoration Hardware from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target to $64.00. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 4.43 percent to $32.13, while gold traded up 0.96 percent to $1,127.10. Silver traded up 0.79 percent Monday to $14.36, while copper fell 0.75 percent to $2.05. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.77 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dipped 0.78 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.42 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.10 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 1.06 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.98 percent. Economics US consumer spending came in flat in December, versus economists' expectations for a 0.1 percent growth. The ISM manufacturing PMI rose to 48.2 in January, versus a previous reading of 48.00. Economists were expecting a reading of 48.00. The manufacturing PMI slipped to 52.4 in January, versus a prior reading of 52.70. However, economists were expecting a reading of 52.70. US construction spending rose 0.1 percent in December, versus economists' expectations for a 0.6 percent growth.