Mid-Day Market Update: US Stocks Turn Lower; Affymetrix Shares Surge On Acquisition News

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.20 percent to 16,313.24 while the NASDAQ dipped 0.63 percent to 4,614.51. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.41 percent to 1,914.18. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Monday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.30 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Kona Grill Inc KONA, up 18 percent, and Entravision Communication EVC, up 4 percent. In trading on Monday, energy shares tumbled by 1.46 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included CONSOL Energy Inc. CNX, down 11 percent, and Bill Barrett Corporation BBG, down 11 percent. Top Headline Baxalta Inc BXLT agreed to be acquired by Shire PLC (ADR) SHPG for $32 billion. Equities Trading UP Acorn International, Inc. (ADR) ATV shares shot up 119 percent to $8.78 after the company reported a share repurchase program of $2 million. Shares of Affymetrix, Inc. AFFX got a boost, shooting up 49 percent to $13.72 as Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO agreed to acquire Affymetrix for $1.3 billion in cash. Anavex Life Sciences Corp. AVXL shares were also up, gaining 7 percent to $4.92 after the company reported positive dose-response data for ANAVEX 2-73 in Alzheimer's disease patients. Equities Trading DOWN Qiagen NV QGEN shares dropped 11 percent to $22.82 after the company reported weak preliminary fourth quarter and full-year 2015 results. Shares of Diana Shipping Inc. DSX were down 15 percent to $2.92 after the company reported the signing of a term loan facility for up to $75.7 million with the Export-Import Bank of China. EXACT Sciences Corporation EXAS was down, falling around 14 percent to $6.90 after the company issued a weak sales forecast. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 3.02 percent to $32.16, while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,098.20. Silver traded up 0.34 percent Monday to $13.97, while copper fell 2.52 percent to $1.97. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.30 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.49 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.37 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.58 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.34 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.14 percent. Economics On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.