Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Shire To Acquire ViroPharma For $4.2B

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.13 percent to 15,781.64 while the NASDAQ surged 0.06 percent to 3,921.71. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.09 percent to 1,772.17.

Top Headline
Shire plc SHPG announced its plans to buy ViroPharma VPHM for $4.2 billion.

Shire will pay $50 per share in cash for ViroPharma, representing a 27 percent premium to ViroPharma's closing price on Friday.

Equities Trading UP
ViroPharma VPHM shot up 25.44 percent to $49.40 after the company agreed to be acquired by Shire SHPG for $50 per share.

Shares of Gogo GOGO got a boost, shooting up 16.91 percent to $21.92 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and raised its FY13 revenue forecast.

Grifols SA GRFS was also up, gaining 5.97 percent to $31.75 after the company announced its plans to acquire Novartis' NVS diagnostic business for $1.7 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Tata Motors TTM were down 4.36 percent to $29.43 after Nomura downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.

CDW CDW shares tumbled 3.66 percent to $22.11 after the company Twitter TWTR was down, falling 2.95 percent to $40.42 after surging more than 70 percent on its NYSE debut. Twitter priced its IPO at $26 per share. Analysts at Sterne Agee initiated coverage on shares of Twitter with a Neutral rating.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.24 percent to $94.37, while gold traded down 0.18 percent to $1,282.30.

Silver traded up 0.25 percent Monday to $21.37, while copper fell 0.06 percent to $3.25.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.53 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.48 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.26 percent and the French CAC 40 surged 0.52 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.30 percent.

Economics
On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.