Mid-Afternoon Market Update; Icahn's 9% Stake In Family Dollar, Tyson Foods Wins Bid For Hillshire Brands

Monday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 16,925.92 removing the gains from the morning session. The NASDAQ stands up 0.14 percent to 4,327.30. The S&P turned a green morning into a red afternoon, shaving 0.03 percent of its open and currently at 1,948.87.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares surged around 0.62 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included Hittite Microwave HITT, up 28.60 percent, and Sigma Designs SIGM, up 8.01 percent.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.37 percent. Top losers in the sector included Korea Electric Power KEP, and NextEra Energy NEE.

Top Headline

Carl Icahn reported a stake of 9.393% in Family Dollar FDO. Shares traded to $66.68 before the 8PM EST after-hours closing on Friday and rose further on Monday to a high of $70.30 on the news.

The company's performance has struggled over the past 9 months keeping with a theme we've seen of discount retailers underperforming while luxury retailers outperform.

Equities Trading UP

Idenix Pharmaceuticals IDIX shares rose 231.33 percent to $23.95 after Merck MRK announced its plans to acquire Idenix for $24.50 per share in cash.

Shares of Hittite Microwave HITT got a boost, gaining 28.60 percent to $77.88 after Analog Devices ADI announced its plans to buy Hittite Microwave for $78 per share in cash.

Tyson Foods TSN announced it has submitted a unilaterally binding offer to buy The Hillshire Brands Company HSH for $63 per share in cash. The deal is valued at around $8.55 billion, including net debt.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Comverse CNSI were down 8.43 percent to $22.85 on Q1 results. The company reported a Q1 loss of $0.72 per share on revenue of $119.0 million.

Pilgrim's Pride PPC shares lost 6.28 percent to $24.62 after Tyson Foods TSN outbid Pilgrim's Pride for Hillshire Brands HSH.

Ferrellgas Partners LP FGP was down, falling 1.01 percent to $26.44 after the company reported weaker-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.68 percent to $104.38, while gold traded up 10 basis points to $1,253.80.

Silver traded up 0.34 percent Monday to $19.06, while copper fell 0.15 percent to $3.05.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today.

The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.90 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.82 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.21 percent and the French CAC 40 surged 0.17 percent while UK shares gained 0.24 percent.