Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Acquisitions Dominating the Headlines as Markets Remain in the Green

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.13 percent to 14,828.55 while the NASDAQ surged 0.65 percent to 3,613.88. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.40 percent to 1,639.93.

Top Headline
Shares of Nokia NOK jumped more than 38% after the company announced its plans to sell its cellphone business to Microsoft MSFT for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion).

The transaction is likely to close in the first quarter of 2014. Nokia now has a 15 percent share in the handset market, and just a 3 percent share in smartphones market.

Equities Trading UP
Nokia NOK shot up 31.85 percent to $5.14 after the company agreed to sell its cellphone business to Microsoft MSFT for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion).

Shares of Rogers Communication RCI got a boost, shooting up 7.07 percent to $42.40. National Bank upgraded the stock from Sector Perform to Outperform.

Jarden Corp JAH was also up, gaining 9.48 percent to $47.02 after the company announced it would buy Yankee Candle for $1.75 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Verizon Communications VZ were down 2.93 percent to $45.99 after the company agreed to buy Vodafone Group's VOD 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion deal.

Microsoft MSFT shares tumbled 4.96 percent to $31.75 after the company announced its plans to buy Nokia's NOK cellphone business for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion).

LeapFrog Enterprises LF was also down, falling 7.95 percent to $8.85 after BMO Capital downgraded the company to a Market Perform rating while lowering its price target to $10.00. The report stated that the new product was less than impressive and contained significant bugs.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.85percent to $108.57, while gold traded up 1.22 percent to $1,413.90. Silver traded up 0.77 percent Tuesday to $24.33, while copper rose 2.35 percent to $3.30.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.19 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.28 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.77 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 0.80 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.58 percent. Economics
The final reading of Markit manufacturing PMI declined to 53.10 in August, versus a flash reading of 53.90. The ISM manufacturing index rose to 55.70 in August, versus a prior reading of 55.40.

However, economists were expecting a reading of 54.00. Construction spending rose 0.60% in July, versus economists' expectations for a 0.30% rise.