Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Symantec To Acquire Lifelock

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.23 percent to 18,910.63 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.63 percent to 5,354.79. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.46 percent to 2,191.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, energy shares gained by 2.09 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included CARBO Ceramics Inc. CRR, and Baytex Energy Corp (USA) BTE.

In trading on Monday, healthcare shares rose by just 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Acorda Therapeutics Inc ACOR, down 7 percent, and Simulations Plus, Inc. SLP, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Lifelock Inc LOCK agreed to be acquired by Symantec Corporation SYMC for $2.3 billion.

Symantec will pay $24 for each LifeLock share, representing a 15.7 percent premium over its closing price on Friday.

Equities Trading UP

Headwaters Inc HW shares shot up 18 percent to $23.73 after Australia's Boral Ltd agreed to buy Headwaters for $2.6 billion.

Shares of Lifelock Inc LOCK got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $23.89 after the company agreed to be acquired by Symantec for $2.3 billion.

Applied Micro Circuits Corporation AMCC shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $8.12 after MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc MTSI agreed to buy Applied Micro for about $770 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN shares dropped 16 percent to $56.79 after the company posted downbeat quarterly earnings and reported that its Donnie Smith is stepping down as CEO.

Shares of Live Ventures Inc LIVE were down 11 percent to $2.49. Live Ventures reported Q4 preliminary earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $19 million.

Cubic Corporation CUB was down, falling around 9 percent to $44.85. Cubic reported Q4 GAAP loss of $0.29 per share on sales of $406.6 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.52 percent to $47.53 while gold traded up 0.50 percent to $1,214.70.

Silver traded up 0.29 percent Monday to $16.77, while copper rose 2.12 percent to $2.53.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.35 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.02 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.10 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.43 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.61 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.08 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to -0.08 for October, versus September reading of -0.23.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will also auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.