Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Sherwin-Williams To Buy Valspar For $113/Share

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.15 percent to 17,575.59 while the NASDAQ declined 0.02 percent to 4,794.91. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.16 percent to 2,046.39.

On Monday, healthcare shares rose by 0.46 percent. Top gainers in the sector included

,

, and

. In trading on Monday, utilities shares dipped by 0.42 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 3 percent, and

, down 2 percent.

agreed to acquire Valspar for an enterprise value of around $11.3 billion. Sherwin-Williams will pay $113 per share to buy Valspar.

shares shot up 19 percent to $13.74 after the company reported the completion of internal review. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 24 percent to $104.01 after Sherwin-Williams agreed to acquire Valspar for $113 per share.

shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $31.97 as IHS Inc.

agreed to buy Markit.

shares dropped 14 percent to $4.60 as the company priced $8.0 million underwritten public offering. Shares of

were down 10 percent to $14.39. Affymetrix executives, announced Friday, that it submitted a proposal to acquire Affymetrix, Inc. for $16.10 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $1.5 billion. However, Affymetrix announced Sunday, that it was rejecting the Origin offer in the belief that this newly formed entity would be unable to close the deal.

was down, falling around 6 percent to $35.52 as the company reported a 9.6 million share offering by selling shareholders.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.96 percent to $39.06, while gold traded down 0.85 percent to $1,243.60. Silver traded down 0.35 percent Monday to $15.76, while copper rose 0.26 percent to $2.29.

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 0.13 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.09 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.76 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.41 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.23 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.10 percent.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index slipped to -0.29 in February, versus a prior reading of 0.41. US existing-home sales declined 7.1 percent to an annual rate of 5.08 million in February, the National Association of Realtors reported. However, economists were expecting a rate of 5.34 million.