Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; GE To Acquire Thermo Fisher Assets For $1.06B

Top Headline
General Electric Co GE announced its plans to acquire some assets from Thermo Fisher TMO for around $1.06 billion. Thermo Fisher will sell its cell culture, gene modulation and magnetic beads businesses to GE Healthcare. The deal is expected to close early this year.

Equities Trading UP
Shares of SolarCity SCTY got a boost, shooting up 11.84 percent to $66.29 after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its Conviction Buy list. XPO Logistics XPO shot up 8.85 percent to $30.51 after the company announced its plans to acquire Pacer International PACR in a deal valued at $335 million.

Sirius XM Holdings SIRI was also up, gaining 7.14 percent to $3.83 after Liberty Media LMCA offered to acquire Sirius in a stock swap deal valued at $3.68 per share. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Select Comfort SCSS were down 17.99 percent to $17.51 on weak Q4 guidance.

Sarepta Therapeutics SRPT tumbled 8.14 percent to $18.78 after Citigroup downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell. First Solar FSLR was down, falling 5.96 percent to $53.36 after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from Buy to Sell.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.11 percent to $94.06, while gold traded up 0.13 percent to $1,240.20. Silver traded down 0.23 percent Monday to $20.17, while copper fell 0.30 percent to $3.35.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.03 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.90 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.27 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.08 percent while U.K. shares climbed 0.23 percent. Economics
The ISM non-manufacturing index declined to53.00 in December, versus a prior reading of 53.90. However, economists were expecting a reading of 54.70.

U.S. factory orders rose 1.80% in November, versus economists' estimates for a 1.70% growth. The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.