US stocks were trading sharply lower Monday as worries over the spreading European debt crisis weigh on investors' minds. The Dow Jones industrial average was trading lower by 137.93 points, or 1.09 percent to trade at 12,519.27. The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. composite index was down by 31.42 points, or 1.10 percent to trade at 2,828.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 18.71 points or 1.39 percent to trade at 1,325.09.
Shares of Arch Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: ARJ) were trading higher by 11.15 percent to $46.87, after the firm said that it has agreed to be acquired by Swiss Chemical Company Lonza Group Ltd. for $1.4 billion in cash to create the global leader in the business of killing bacteria and fungi.
News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) shares fell Monday after reports surfaced that British Prime Minister David Cameron is facing increased pressure to delay approval of the company's purchase of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC. NWSA was trading lower by 4.96 percent to $15.92 on Monday.
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: PSTI) jumped Monday after Swedish doctors were able to replace the trachea of a patient with advanced cancer using stem cells. The stem cells were created by Pluristem Therapeutics. Shares of Pluristem were trading at $3.60, gaining 8.11 percent on Monday.
The TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was trading higher by 0.89 percent to $55.65 in the initital hour of trading, after analyst at Barclays Capital upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight.
Kandi Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: KNDI), a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, was up 36.62 percent to $2.50m after the company said that it has signed an agreement with Hangzhou Electric Vehicle Service Co. to work with it on a municipal government electric-vehicle pilot program.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (Nasdaq: WFM) was up 1.52 percent to $65.34 on Monday, after the natural-foods retailer, was upgraded to buy from neutral and added to the conviction list at Goldman Sachs, with a revised price target of $76 a share from $64 a share, reflecting increased earnings estimates.
Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) reached a new 52-week high of $301.50, crossing the $300 mark barrier for the first time in its history. Netflix is currently trading up by 1.26 percent to $298.86 a share.