Mid-Day Market Update: Tribune Publishing Jumps Following Gannett's Takeover Proposal; TrovaGene Shares Drop

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.72 percent to 17,874.31 while the NASDAQ declined 0.45 percent to 4,884.22. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.59 percent to 2,079.24. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Monday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. In trading on Monday, basic materials shares fell by 1.77 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (ADR) SID, down 7 percent, and Vale SA (ADR) VALE, down 6 percent. Top Headline Xerox Corp XRX reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Monday. The company's net income declined to $34 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to $225 million, or $0.19 per share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $0.22 per share. Its revenue dropped to $4.28 billion from $4.47 billion. However, analysts were projecting a profit of $0.23 per share on revenue of $4.24 billion. Equities Trading UP Tribune Publishing Co TPUB shares shot up 58 percent to $11.85 as Gannett Co Inc GCI offered to buy Tribune Publishing for $12.25 per share in cash. Shares of First Data Corp FDC got a boost, shooting up 6 percent to $13.78. First Data reported Q1 adjusted EBITDA of $636 million and segment sales of $1.7 billion. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX shares were also up, gaining 4 percent to $37.34. Valeant named Joseph Papa as its new CEO and Chairman. Equities Trading DOWN TrovaGene Inc TROV shares dropped 16 percent to $5.23. TrovaGene named Bill Welch as its CEO, effective immediately. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded TrovaGene from Buy to Hold. Shares of Perrigo Company plc Ordinary Shares PRGO were down 13 percent to $105.55 as the company named John T. Hendrickson as its CEO. The company reported weak preliminary Q1 financial results, and also lowered its full year outlook. First Foundation Inc FFWM was down, falling around 5 percent to $21.33 on Q1 results. First Foundation reported Q1 earnings of $0.23 per share on revenue of $26.3 million. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.07 percent to $43.26 while gold traded up 0.96 percent to $1,241.80. Silver traded up 0.88 percent Monday to $17.10, while copper fell 0.15 percent to $2.27. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.66 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.10 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 1.64 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.96 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.72 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.87 percent. Economics New home sales declined 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 511,000 in March. However, economists were expecting a 527,000 pace for the month.