Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Given Imaging Rallies on Acquisition; Markets Mixed

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 16,019.65 while the NASDAQ surged 0.06 percent to 4,064.79. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.12 percent to 1,807.91. Top Headline
Covidien PLC COV announced its plans to acquire Given Imaging GIVN for a total of $860 million Covidien will buy all the outstanding stock of Given Imaging for $30.00 per share in cash, representing a 27% premium to the company's closing price on Friday. The deal is likely to be completed by March 31. Equities Trading UP
Given Imaging GIVN shot up 27.12 percent to $30.07 after Covidien PLC COV announced its plans to acquire Given Imaging for $30.00 per share in cash. Shares of Sysco SYY got a boost, shooting up 10.41 percent to $37.88 after the company announced its plans to buy US Foods for around $3.5 billion in cash and stock.. InterOil IOC shares rallied on Monday's session, gaining 9.73 percent to $60.90 following a massive sell off Friday. The drop triggered a series of articles and notes suggesting it may be a buying opportunity, which seemed to be fueling a relief rally on the session. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of EZCORP EZPW were down 6.31 percent to $10.31 after Sterne Agee downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and lowered the target price from $15.50 to $12. Newfield Exploration NFX was also down, falling 8.44 percent to $24.20 after it lowered its expected 2014 net production below street expectations. McDonald's MCD was down, falling 1.20 percent to $95.64 after the company reported a 0.8% drop in its US sales in November. McDonald's also reported a 0.5% rise in its global comparable sales in the month. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.12 percent to $97.53, while gold traded up 0.96 percent to $1,240.80. Silver traded up 1.91 percent Monday to $19.88, while copper rose 0.25 percent to $3.26. Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.83 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.49 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.18 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.01 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.02 percent. Economics
The TD Ameritrade IMX for November will be released today.