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.

On Monday, telecommunications services shares rose by 0.25 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 5 percent, and

up 3 percent. In trading on Monday, energy shares fell by 2.75 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 14 percent, and

, down 9 percent.

announced plans to acquire

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.

shares shot up 45 percent to $54.00 as

announced plans to acquire Alere for $5.8 billion. Shares of

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.

shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $24.89 as

agreed to buy Questar for around $4.4 billion.

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

were down 7 percent to $163.04 after the company reported downbeat Q4 results and issued a weak earnings forecast.

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.

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.

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.

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.