Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Slightly Higher; Arbor Pharmaceuticals to Buy XenoPort For $7.03/Share

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.05 percent to 17,508.75 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.35 percent to 4,786.22. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01 percent to 2,052.35. Leading and Lagging Sectors Technology shares gained by 0.6 percent in trading on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included AIXTRON SE (ADR) AIXG, Kopin Corporation KOPN, and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ADR) ASX. In trading on Monday, energy shares dropped by 1.06 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included W&T Offshore, Inc. WTI, down 6 percent, and Seadrill Ltd SDRL, down 7 percent. Top Headline XenoPort, Inc. XNPT entered into definitive agreement with privately-owned Arbor Pharmaceuticals in which it will be acquired for $7.03 per share in cash, valuing the company at approximately $467 million. The acquisition price represents a premium of 60 percent to XenoPort's closing price of $4.40 on Friday. Equities Trading UP XenoPort, Inc. XNPT shares shot up 57 percent to $6.89 after the company agreed to be acquired by Arbor Pharma for $7.03 per share in cash. Shares of Resource America Inc REXI got a boost, shooting up 49 percent to $9.61 as the company agreed to be acquired by C-III Capital Partners for $9.78 per share in cash. Nanosphere, Inc. NSPH shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $1.66 as Luminex Corporation LMNX raised its acquisition price for Nanosphere from $1.35 per share to $1.70 per share. The total transaction is now valued about $77 million compared to $58 million at $1.35 a share. Equities Trading DOWN Tribune Publishing Co TPUB shares dropped 12 percent to $12.47 after the company revealed that its board has completely evaluated the revised proposal by Gannett Co Inc GCI's unsolicited offer to acquire all of Tribune Publishing for $15.00 per share in cash. According to its press statement, the board rejected the Gannett proposal again as not being in the best interests of its shareholders. Shares of KLX Inc KLXI were down 9 percent to $31.74. KLX reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $368.2 million. Coherus Biosciences Inc CHRS was down, falling around 7 percent to $18.21. Coherus priced 3.5 million shares at $18 per share. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.90 percent to $47.49 while gold traded down 0.54 percent to $1,246.10. Silver traded down 1.07 percent Monday to $16.36, while copper fell 0.41 percent to $2.05. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.37 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.70 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 2.34 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.66 percent, and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.80 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.31 percent. Economics The Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.50 for May, versus a prior reading of 50.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 51.00.