Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Continue to Decline on Disappointing ISM Number Among Other Factors

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 1.94 percent to 15,394.26 while the NASDAQ tumbled 2.55 percent to 3,999.12. The S&P also fell, dropping 2.18 percent to 1,743.72.

Top Headline
Smith & Nephew PLC SNN announced its plans to buy ArthroCare ARTC for $1.7 billion in cash. Smith & Nephew will pay $48.25 per share in cash to acquire ArthroCare, representing a 6.3% premium to ArthroCare's closing price on January 31.

Equities Trading UP
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions KTOS shot up 7.19 percent to $7.75 after the company reported that it has been awarded a five-year seaport-e contract.

Shares of ArthroCare ARTC got a boost, shooting up 7.86 percent to $48.81 after Smith & Nephew PLC SNN announced its plans to buy ArthroCare for $1.7 billion in cash.

Taser International TASR was also up, gaining 6.54 percent to $17.11 after the company announced it was set to join the S&P SmallCap 600 index.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Ford Motor Co F were down 2.47 percent to $14.59 after the company reported a 7% drop in its U.S. sales in January.

SunPower Corporation SPWR was also down, falling 9.56 percent to $29.27 despite little news on the primary wires on a group of solar names showing weakness.

Mattel MAT was down, falling 4.55 percent to $36.12 after B. Riley & Co downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and lowered the target price from $55 to $41.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.96 percent to $96.55, while gold traded up 1.32 percent to $1,256.20.

Silver traded up 1.15 percent Monday to $19.41, while copper fell 0.61 percent to $3.18.

Eurozone
European shares were lower today.

The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.96 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 2.63 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX tumbled 1.29 percent and the French CAC 40 slipped 1.39 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.11 percent.

Economics
The final reading of the Markit PMI manufacturing index came in at 53.7 in January, versus a reading of 55.00 in December.

The ISM manufacturing composite index fell to 51.30 in January, versus economists' expectations for a reading of 56.00.

U.S. construction spending rose 0.10% to an annual rate $930.5 billion in December, versus economists' estimates of a 0.00% gain.