Sapient & Covance Higher on Deals, American Autos Fall on Sales

Stocks were mixed in Monday's midday trading after hitting all-time highs on Friday. Markit's final manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to its lowest level since January coming in at 55.9. However, the ISM index showed manufacturing expanded much more quickly than estimated on a surge in new orders at 59. Another report showed construction spending in this country fell for a second straight month in September, down 0.4%. Shares of Ford (F) are slipping after the automaker reported sales fell 1.7% in October. General Motors (GM) is falling even harder after missing its sales expectations. Sapient (SAPE) is gaining more than 40%. French advertising group, Publicis said it would buy the American company for $3.7 billion. Covance (CVD) agreed to be bought by LabCorp (LH) for $5.6 billion. Shares of Covance are up about 20%. LabCorp is dropping about 8%.