Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Meredith To Acquire Time

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.26 percent to 23,618.07 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.08 percent to 6,894.81. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.09 percent to 2,604.64.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 0.79 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included SM Energy Co SM, down 5 percent, and PrimeEnergy Corporation PNRG down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Meredith Corporation MDP, a company that owns multiple TV stations, digital and mobile operations and other media platforms, agreed to acquire Time Inc TIME, the content company best known for operating People, Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated magazines.

Meredith will pay $1.84 billion ($18.50 per share) to acquire Time in an all-cash deal. The company attempted a similar transaction to acquire Time in 2013 and once again earlier this year.

Equities Trading UP

MGC Diagnostics Corp MGCD shares shot up 24 percent to $10.94 after the company agreed to be acquired by Altus Capital Partners for $11.03 per share in cash.

Shares of Barracuda Networks Inc. CUDA got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $27.51 after the company agreed to sell itself to private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $1.6 billion.

Marathon Patent Group Inc MARA shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $7.55 after jumping 54.23 percent on Wednesday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Riot Blockchain Inc RIOT shares dropped 19 percent to $19.07 after climbing 47.59 percent on Friday.

Shares of Social Reality Inc SRAX were down 16 percent to $6.46 after gaining 32.13 percent on Friday.

Eltek Ltd. ELTK was down, falling around 17 percent to $3.77. Eltek reported a Q3 loss of $0.12 per share on sales of $7.7 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.05 percent to $58.33 while gold traded up 0.60 percent to $1,299.60.

Silver traded up 0.66 percent Monday to $17.205, while copper fell 1.14 percent to $3.155.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.18 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.46 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.19 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.31 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.23 percent.

Economics

U.S. new home sales rose 6.2 percent at an annual pace of 685,000 for October. However, economists were expecting a 625,000 pace.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for November will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Winona, Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 6-month bills and 2-year notes at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 3-month bills and 5-year notes at 11:00 a.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley will speak in New York at 7:00 p.m. ET.