Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NASDAQ Down Over 3%; Spectrum Brands Shares Slide Following Downbeat Q4 Results

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 1.94 percent to 24,920.82 while the NASDAQ declined 3.1 percent to 7,024.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.95 percent to 2,683.05. Leading and Lagging Sectors Monday afternoon, the utilities shares climbed 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Azure Power Global Ltd AZRE up 2 percent, and Genie Energy Ltd GNE up 2 percent. In trading on Monday, information technology shares fell 3.9 percent. Top Headline Cimarex Energy Co XEC announced plans to buy Resolute Energy Corp REN for $35 per share in cash and stock in a deal valued at $1.6 billion, including debt. Equities Trading UP Akers Biosciences, Inc. AKER shares shot up 71 percent to $2.097 after the company announced it is evaluating potential business combinations in alternative sectors, including the cannabis industry. Shares of Yulong Eco-Materials Limited YECO got a boost, shooting up 20 percent to $6.10 after the company reported the purchase of Michelangelo's Crucifixion painting for $75 million. Cesca Therapeutics Inc. KOOL shares were also up, gaining 32 percent to $0.3999 after the company announced receipt of 501(k) clearance to market its AXP II AutoXpress platform for clinical cord blood banking. Equities Trading DOWN Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. SPB shares dropped 20 percent to $47.41 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. Shares of Sonoma Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SNOA were down 20 percent to $0.881 after the company announced an equity offering priced at $1 per share. PermRock Royalty Trust PRT was down, falling around 18 percent to $9.80 after the company announced the sale of its interest in certain Ward County, TX leases. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9 percent to $56.97 while gold traded up 0.11 percent to $1,224.40. Silver traded up 0.09 percent Monday to $14.395, while copper fell 0.30 percent to $2.8015. Eurozone European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.73 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.56 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.29 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.85 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.79 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.19 percent. Economics The NAHB housing market index declined 8 points to a reading of 60 in November. However, economists were expecting a reading of 67. New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak at Bronx, NY at 3:15 p.m. ET.