Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NASDAQ Tops 7,000; Longfin Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.66 percent to 24,814.27 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.91 percent to 7,000.96. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.64 percent to 2,692.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, the materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Mountain Province Diamonds, Inc. MPVD and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (ADR) SQM.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 0.95 percent.

Top Headline

Hershey Co HSY announced plans to acquire Amplify Snack Brands Inc BETR in a transaction valued at $1.6 billion.

Hershey will pay $12 per share for Amplify, representing a 71.4 percent premium over the stock's closing price on Friday. The deal is projected to close next quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Longfin Corp LFIN shares shot up 475 percent to $126.66. Longfin shares surged 308.41 percent Friday after the company announced agreement to acquire Ziddu.com, a blockchain-empowered solutions provider that offers microfinance lending against collateralized warehouse receipts in the form of Ziddu coins.

Shares of Amplify Snack Brands Inc BETR got a boost, shooting up 71 percent to $11.99. Hershey Co HSY announced plans to acquire Amplify Snack Brands Inc BETR in a transaction valued at $1.6 billion.

On Track Innovations Ltd OTIV shares were also up, gaining 99 percent to $2.05. On Track Innovations announced Monday that it's "developing capabilities to implement the use of bitcoins in its cashless payment solutions.”

Equities Trading DOWN

Applied DNA Sciences Inc APDN shares dropped 8 percent to $2.36. Applied DNA Sciences and Colorcon announced a collaboration to commercialize product authentication technology for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry.

Shares of Aratana Therapeutics Inc PETX were down 6 percent to $5.37 after the company issued study results for AT-016. The company’s license partner responsible for development said study did not achieve protocol-defined efficacy success criteria.

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd NAK was down, falling around 8 percent to $2.00 following announcement of a framework agreement with First Quantum Minerals.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.65 percent to $56.93 while gold traded up 0.68 percent to $1,266.00.

Silver traded up 0.73 percent Monday to $16.18, while copper rose 0.27 percent to $3.143.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 jumped 1.15 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.92 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.34 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 1.59 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.33 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.62 percent.

Economics

The NAHB housing market index climbed 5 points to a reading of 74 for December. However, economists were expecting a reading of 70 for December.