Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges Over 400 Points; Amber Road Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 1.70 percent to 24,602.71 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.52 percent to 6,979.15. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.45 percent to 2,657.51.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, the technology shares climbed 1.94 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ceragon Networks Ltd (NASDAQ: CRNT), up 12 percent, and Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU), up 12 percent.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares rose by just 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Artesian Resources Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTNA), down 3 percent, and SCANA Corporation (NYSE: SCG) down 3 percent.

Top Headline

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) announced plans to buy CSRA Inc (NYSE: CSRA) for about $6.8 billion.

General Dynamics said it will buy CSRA in a deal that values the stock at $40.75 per share, which marks a premium of more than 30 percent from Friday's closing price of $30.82.

Equities Trading UP

CSRA Inc (NYSE: CSRA) shares shot up 31 percent to $40.40 after the company agreed to be acquired by General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) for $40.75 per share in cash.

Shares of Amber Road Inc (NYSE: AMBR) got a boost, shooting up 41 percent to $9.69. E2open proposed to acquire Amber Road for $10.50 per share in cash in a transaction valued at over $300 million.

Iconix Brand Group Inc (NASDAQ: ICON) shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $1.59 following $110 million private exchange offer and reaffirmed FY18 outlook.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (NASDAQ: SPNS) shares dropped 13 percent to $10.24. Sapiens Intl narrowed its FY2017 sales guidance and issued a weak FY18 sales forecast.

Shares of Qumu Corp (NASDAQ: QUMU) were down 16 percent to $1.89 as the company issued a weak forecast for the fourth quarter and FY 2017.

Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE: LL) was down, falling around 9 percent to $24.37. Wedbush downgraded Lumber Liquidators from Outperform to Neutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.45 percent to $60.06 while gold traded up 0.87 percent to $1,327.20.

Silver traded up 2.52 percent Monday to $16.545, while copper rose 1.63 percent to $3.083.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 surged 1.17 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.36 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.77 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.45 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.20 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.19 percent.