Mid-Day Market Update: Xura Surges Following Acquisition News; Tribune Publishing Shares Slide

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.18 percent to 17,532.92 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.35 percent to 4,786.27. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04 percent to 2,053.16. Leading and Lagging Sectors Basic materials shares gained by 0.6 percent in trading on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Haynes International, Inc. HAYN, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. CF, and LSB Industries, Inc. LXU. In trading on Monday, energy shares dropped by 0.59 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (ADR) PBR, down 5 percent, and GulfMark Offshore, Inc. GLF, down 5 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 $9.62 as the company agreed to be acquired by C-III Capital Partners for $9.78 per share in cash. Xura Inc MESG shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $24.52 as the company agreed to be acquired by Siris Capital Group, LLC affiliates for $25 per share. Equities Trading DOWN Tribune Publishing Co TPUB shares dropped 17 percent to $11.88. Tribune Publishing 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. Tribune Publishing also revealed it signed an agreement with Nant Capital, LLC. Accordingly, it would get a $70.5 million growth capital investment from it in exchange for Tribune common stock. Shares of KLX Inc KLXI were down 15 percent to $29.64. KLX reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $368.2 million. Coherus Biosciences Inc CHRS was down, falling around 8 percent to $17.88. Coherus priced 3.5 million shares at $18 per share. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 0.89 percent to $47.98 while gold traded down 0.34 percent to $1,248.60. Silver traded down 0.62 percent Monday to $16.43, while copper rose 0.19 percent to $2.06. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.33 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.61 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 2.31 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.60 percent, and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.60 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.27 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.