Mid-Day Market Update: Nordion Surges On Acquisition News; BlackBerry Shares Decline

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.57 percent to 16,416.76 while the NASDAQ surged 1.01 percent to 4,197.81. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.63 percent to 1,869.26.

Monday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Nordion

and Insmed

. Energy shares dropped by 0.26 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Endeavour International

was down more than 5.6 percent, while Pacific Ethanol

tumbled around 2.2 percent.

UTi Worldwide

reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. UTi Worldwide posted a quarterly net loss of $50.7 million, or $0.48 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $142.8 million, or $1.38 per share. Excluding items, UTi lost $0.15 per share. Its revenue slipped 2.1% to $1.08 billion. However, analysts were estimating a loss of $0.11 per share on revenue of $1.09 billion.

Nordion

shares shot up 11 percent to $11.56 after the company agreed to be acquired by Sterigenics for $11.75 per share. Shares of Cal-Maine Foods

got a boost, shooting up 8.61 percent to $62.46 after the company reported a rise in its fiscal third-quarter profit. ING Groep NV

was also up, gaining 3.35 percent to $14.18 after the company announced its plans to resume paying dividends in 2015.

Shares of GenCorp

were down 3.97 percent to $17.86 after the company reported Q1 results. GenCorp reported a Q1 loss of $0.03 per share. BlackBerry

shares tumbled 2.41 percent to $8.21 after falling 7.07% on Friday. Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded BlackBerry from neutral to underperform and lowered the target price from $7 to $6. UTi Worldwide

was down, falling 9.86 percent to $10.15 after the company reported a

fourth-quarter loss.

In commodity news,

to $101.10, while gold traded down 0.44 percent to $1,288.60. Silver traded up 0.03 percent Monday to $19.80, while copper fell 0.54 percent to $3.03.

European shares

today. The German DAX declined 0.34 percent, the French CAC 40 fell 0.45 percent and U.K. shares dropped 0.02 percent.

US Chicago PMI fell to 55.90 in March, versus a prior reading of 59.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 59.00. The Dallas Fed general business activity index rose to 4.90 in March, versus a prior reading of 0.30. However, economists were expecting a reading of 3.00.