Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Broadcom To Acquire Brocade Communications For $5.9B

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.08 percent to 18,022.65 while the NASDAQ declined 0.08 percent to 5,149.54. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.13 percent to 2,109.05.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.56 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 1.53 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Calpine Corporation CPN, down 5 percent, and NRG Energy Inc NRG, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Broadcom Limited AVGO and Brocade Communications Systems Inc. BRCD disclosed a definitive deal through which the former would acquire the latter for $12.75 a share in cash. This would translate into a valuation of about $5.9 billion, including $0.4 billion of net debt.

The transaction would be immediately accretive to Broadcom's adjusted earnings.

Equities Trading UP

Novocure Ltd NVCR shares shot up 20 percent to $7.15 after the company posted a narrower-than-expected Q3 loss.

Shares of AveXis Inc AVXS got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $56.01 after the company disclosed a single-arm design for its pivotal study of AVXS-101 in SMA Type 1 patients.

Office Depot Inc ODP shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $3.49 on better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Adeptus Health Inc ADPT shares dropped 62 percent to $10.10 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results and lowered its FY16 EBITDA outlook.

Shares of Tandem Diabetes Care Inc TNDM were down 45 percent to $2.94 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results.

Dynegy Inc. DYN was down, falling around 24 percent to $8.11. Dynegy reported a Q3 loss of $1.81 per share on revenue of $1.184 billion.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.71 percent to $45.87 while gold traded up 1.06 percent to $1,301.60.

Silver traded up 1.04 percent Wednesday to $18.61, while copper fell 0.43 percent to $2.22.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.51 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.11 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.40 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.86 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.68 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.56 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity declined 1.2 percent for the week ending October 28, 2016.

Private-sector employers added 147,000 in October, ADP Inc. reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 165,000 jobs.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.