Market Wrap For Wednesday, September 4: Markets Increase Slightly As M&As Continue To Rise

Staying on course for yesterday's acquisition frenzy, several mergers and acquisitions were announced on Wednesday, September 4. Major Averages The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 96.91 points, or 0.65 percent, to 14,930.87. The S&P 500 rose 13.31 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,653.08. The Nasdaq improved upon yesterday's gains after rising 36.43 points, or 1.01 percent, to 3,649.04. The Russell 3000 continued to rise as well, gaining 7.99 points, or 0.81 percent, to 988.84. Acquisitions And Purchases Shortly after the market close, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation LPX announced that it will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. for a total consideration that equates to C$3.76 per Ainsworth common share. This is based on the closing price of Louisiana-Pacific's common shares on September 3, 2013. Meritage Homes Corporation MTH announced that it will enter the Nashville, Tennessee market after acquiring the assets and operations of Phillips Builders. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust WHLR revealed its plans to acquire Tampa Festival and Forrest Gallery for $23.4 million. Newcastle Investment Corp. NCT announced today that it has acquired the Dow Jones Local Media Group from News Corp. NWS for $87 million. Independence Holding Company IHC announced that it has commenced a tender offer to purchase as many as 762,640 shares of the common stock of American Independence Corp. AMIC. The deal could provide American Independence with $10 cash per share. MGT Interactive, a subsidiary of MGT Capital Investments, Inc. MGT, acquired some assets from Gioia Systems LLC. No terms were disclosed. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG will acquire the Giles Group of companies headquartered in London, England for an undisclosed sum. Rochester Medical Corporation ROCM announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with C. R. Bard, Inc. BCR. The deal is worth approximately $262 million or $20 per share. Broadcom Corporation BRCM will acquire LTE-related assets from affiliates of Renesas Electronics Corporation RNECY for $164 million. Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. SPRD received shareholder approval to be acquired by Tsinghua Unigroup. Biggest Stock Gainers Ciena CIEN gained 13.83 percent and closed at $23.54 after posting a positive third-quarter profit. E*TRADE Financial ETFC closed at $15.71 -- an 8.05 percent gain -- after E*TRADE Bank (a subsidiary) received regulatory approval to dividend capital to the parent company. Micron Technology MU rose 5.3 percent to $14.75 after Sterne Agee's Vijay Rakesh made some bullish comments on the stock. Last but not least, SouFun Holdings SFUN soared 6.26 percent to $50.07. Biggest Stock Losers Francesca's Holdings FRAN lost more than 25 percent of its value and closed at $17.79 after reporting disappointing earnings results. SAIC SAI dropped 4.88 percent to $14.41, also due to poor earnings and a reduced forecast. Ryanair Holdings RYAAY closed at $44.51 -- an 8.9 percent decline -- after the firm warned that full-year profits could fall short of expectations. Volume And Volatility SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY trading volume came in at roughly 97.1 million shares today -- a bit lower than the 131.5 million shares that were traded Tuesday and the 126.8 million average traded over the last three months. Meanwhile, the VIX index plummeted 4.39 percent to 15.88. Commodities Gold futures dropped 0.62 percent to $1,401.80. Silver futures dropped 4.26 percent to $23.33. Platinum plummeted 2.74 percent to $1,496.00. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ