Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Tumbles 1.2%; Dresser-Rand Gains On Announcement Of Deal With Siemens

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.33 percent to 17,222.49 while the NASDAQ dropped 1.21 percent to 4,524.24. The S&P also fell, declining 0.69 percent to 1,996.56.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Monday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped by just 0.21 percent. Top gainers in the sector includedThe Clorox Company CLX, up 7.1 percent, andWeight Watchers International WTW, up 2.1 percent.

Energy sector was the top decliner on Monday. Top losers in the sector includedCARBO Ceramics CRR, down 18 percent, andWalter Energy WLT, off 8.6 percent.

Top Headline

Germany’s Merck KGaA MKGAY announced its plans to acquire Sigma-Aldrich SIAL for $17 billion in cash.

The offer price of $140 per share represents a 37% premium to Sigma-Aldrich’s closing price of $102.37 on September 19.

Equities Trading UP

Sigma-Aldrich SIAL shares shot up 33.28 percent to $136.44 after Germany's Merck KGaA MKGAY announced its plans to acquireSigma-Aldrichfor $140 per share in cash.

Shares ofViasystems Group VIASgot a boost,shooting up 36.50percent to $15.97 after TTM Technologies TTMI announced its plans to buyViasystems fora total value of $16.46 per share.

Dresser-Rand Group DRC shares werealso up, gaining 2.62 percent to $82.00 after Siemens AG SIEGY announced its plans to acquire Dresser-Rand for $7.6 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares ofTriMas TRSwere down 11.98 percent to $26.00 after the company cut its full-year profit outlook.

CARBO Ceramics CRRshares tumbled 18.05 percent to $69.26after the company provided an update concerning marketplace conditions and related impact to sales volumes.

Yahoo! YHOO wasdown, falling 5.20percent to $38.80 after Bank of Americadowngradedthe stockfromBuytoNeutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.87 percent to $91.61, while gold traded down 0.22 percent to $1,213.90.

Silver traded down 0.95 percent Monday to $17.68, while copper fell 1.86 percent to $3.03.

Euro zone

European shareswere lowertoday.The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.53 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.50 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.32 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.47 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.48 percent while UK shares dropped 0.70 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Indexdeclined to negative 0.21 in August, versus positive 0.26 in July.

Sales of existing homes fell 1.8% to an annual rate of 5.05 million in August. However, economists were estimating the sales rate to rise to 5.2 million.