Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Market Holds Awaiting Public Address From Congressional Leaders

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.36 percent to 15,291.36 while the NASDAQ gained 0.56 percent to 3,813.96. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.35 percent to 1,709.21.

Facebook

has acquired mobile tech startup Onavo for an undisclosed sum. Onavo was founded in 2010 and has around 40 employees. It will become Facebook's first office in Israel.

Antares Pharma

shot up 4.19 percent to $4.73 after the company announced the

of OTREXUP injection. Shares of Benefitfocus

got a boost, shooting up 12.40 percent to $47.05 after

initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating. Kulicke and Soffa Industries

was also up, gaining 9.26 percent to $13.21 following a bullish piece in Barron's over the weekend.

Shares of Expedia

were down 6.28 percent to $48.48 after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and lowered target price from $66 to $51. Fair Isaac

shares tumbled 4.62 percent to $54.68 after the company lowered its FY13 outlook. Whirlpool

was down as well, falling 6.01 percent to $131.97 following a report out of Cleveland Research forecasting much lower than expected demand in the US for appliances.

In commodity news,

to $102.24, while gold traded up 0.61 percent to $1,275.90. Silver traded up 0.24 percent Monday to $21.39, while copper rose 1.01 percent to $3.30.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.28 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.19 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.01 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.07 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.32 percent.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to speak at 8:00 p.m. ET.