Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Covance Surges After LabCorp Deal; American Realty Capital Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.03 percent to 17,395.17 while the NASDAQ surged 0.33 percent to 4,646.13. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.18 percent to 2,021.72.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares climbed by 0.49 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included Sapient SAPE, up 42 percent, and ASM International NV ASMI, up 25.6 percent.

In trading on Monday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.71 percent. Top losers in the sector included VOC Energy Trust VOC, down 4.2 percent, and LRR Energy LP LRE, off 6.1 percent.

Top Headline

Publicis PUBGY announced its plans to buy Sapient SAPE for $3.7 billion in cash.

Publicis' offer of $25 per share represents a 44% premium to closing price of Sapient' on Friday.

Equities Trading UP

Sapient SAPE shares shot up 42.01 percent to $24.60 after Publicis Groupe SA PUBGY agreed to acquire Sapient for $3.7 billion in cash.

Shares of Covance CVD got a boost, shooting up 25.59 percent to $100.35 after Laboratory Corp of America Holdings LH announced its plans to acquire Covance for around $6.1 billion in cash and stock. Covance also reported in-line earnings for the third quarter.

Geron GERN shares were also up, gaining 29.22 percent to $2.88 after the company announced the removal of full clinical hold on Imetelstat IND.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of American Realty Capital Properties ARCP were down 10.36 percent to $7.95 after RCS Capital RCAP terminated its agreement to acquire Cole Capital from American Realty Capital.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings LH shares tumbled 7.99 percent to $100.56 after the company announced its plans to acquire Covance for around $6.1 billion in cash and stock.

Granite Construction GVA was down, falling 6.94 percent to $34.35 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results and issued a weak FY14 forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.70 percent to $79.98, while gold traded down 0.40 percent to $1,166.90.

Silver traded down 0.35 percent Monday to $16.05, while copper rose 0.46 percent to $3.06.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 tumbled 0.76 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.99 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 2.10 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.81 percent and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.92 percent while UK shares dropped 0.89 percent.

Economics

The ISM manufacturing composite index gained to 59.00 in October, versus a prior reading of 56.60. However, economists were expecting a reading of 56.10.

The final reading of Markit manufacturing PMI fell to 55.90 in October, versus a prior reading of 56.20. However, economists were expecting a reading of 56.20.

US construction spending fell 0.40% in September, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.70% growth.