Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Pfizer To Buy Allergan

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.09 percent to 17,808.48 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.13 percent to 5,111.70. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01 percent to 2,089.42. Leading and Lagging Sectors In trading on Monday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.40 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN, up 8 percent, and Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC, up 3 percent. Telecommunications services sector was the top loser in the US market on Monday. Top losers in the sector included Internet Gold Golden Lines Ltd IGLD, B Communications Ltd BCOM, and Telefonica S.A. (ADR) TEF. Top Headline Pfizer Inc. PFE agreed to buy Allergan PLC AGN in a $160 billion deal. The transaction is valued at $363.63 per Allergan share, based on the closing price of Pfizer stock of $32.18 on November 20. Equities Trading UP TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. TSYS shares shot up 13 percent to $4.94 after Comtech Telecomm. Corp. CMTL announced plans to acquire TeleCommunication Systems for $430.8 million. Shares of Novocure Ltd NVCR got a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $24.28 after new Phase 3 data showed that "glioblastoma patients who received TTFields in combination with chemotherapy at first recurrence lived significantly longer than patients who received chemotherapy alone." Peabody Energy Corporation BTU shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $12.37 after the company agreed to divest coal assets in New Mexico and Colorado for $358 million. Equities Trading DOWN ProQR Therapeutics NV PRQR shares tumbled 22 percent to $10.17. ProQR Therapeutics reported a Q3 loss of $0.29 per share and issued an update on clinical trials. Shares of Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. PARR were down 13 percent to $24.17 after the company reported a $74.8 million registered direct offering. GameStop Corp. GME was down, falling 15 percent to $33.30 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for the third quarter. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.67 percent to $41.20, while gold traded down 0.46 percent to $1,071.30. Silver traded down 0.54 percent Monday to $14.05, while copper fell 2.18 percent to $2.01. Eurozone European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.47 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.30 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.64 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.72 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.51 percent. Economics The Markit manufacturing PMI declined to 52.60 in November, versus a prior reading of 54.10. However, economists were expecting a reading of 53.90. Sales of existing homes in the U.S. dropped 3.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.36 million in October. However, economists were projecting a decline of 2 percent.