Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higehr; Pfizer To Acquire Anacor Pharmaceuticals For $5.2B

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.31 percent to 17,589.73 while the NASDAQ surged 0.38 percent to 4,735.42. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.30 percent to 2,052.80. Leading and Lagging Sectors Basic materials shares rose around 2.01 percent in trading on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX, United States Steel Corporation X, and Teck Resources Ltd (USA) TCK. In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell by 0.25 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Korea Electric Power Corporation (ADR) KEP, down 1.5 percent, and Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. CWCO, down 2 percent. Top Headline Pfizer Inc. PFE announced plans to buy Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc ANAC rose for $99.25 per share in cash. The total transaction value, net of cash, is estimated to be approximately $5.2 billion, which assumes the conversion of Anacor's outstanding convertible notes. Equities Trading UP Tribune Publishing Co TPUB shares shot up 19 percent to $13.65 as Gannett Co Inc GCI increased its offer to buy Tribune Publishing to $15 per share from $12.25 per share. Shares of Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc ANAC got a boost, shooting up 55 percent to $99.02 after the company agreed to be acquired by Pfizer Inc. PFE for $99.25 per share. Nanosphere, Inc. NSPH shares were also up, gaining 71 percent to $1.33 after the company agreed to be acquired by Luminex Corporation LMNX for $1.35 per share. Equities Trading DOWN Aduro BioTech Inc ADRO shares dropped 26 percent to $7.89 after the company reported that its Phase 2b ECLIPSE trial has missed primary endpoint. Shares of Versar Inc. VSR were down 31 percent to $1.75. Versar reported a Q3 loss of $1.34 per share on revenue of $36.5 million. Trevena Inc TRVN was down, falling around 9 percent to $6.23 as the company reported that TRV027 did not achieve primary or secondary endpoints. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 2.21 percent to $47.23 while gold traded up 1.12 percent to $1,286.90. Silver traded up 1.33 percent Monday to $17.36, while copper rose 0.41 percent to $2.08. Eurozone European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.87 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.20 percent. The French CAC 40 declined 0.68 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.36 percent. Economics The Empire State general business conditions index dropped to negative 9.02 in May, compared to positive 9.56 in April. However, economists were expecting a reading of positive 6.50. The NAHB housing market index was unchanged at 58 in May. However, economists were projecting a reading of 59.