Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Sprint And T-Mobile To Merge In $26 Billion Deal

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.68 percent to 24,476.96 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.52 percent to 7,157.11. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.39 percent to 2,680.31.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the information technology shares gained 0.71 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included First Data Corporation FDC, up 15 percent, and Fitbit, Inc. FIT up 8 percent.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares tumbled 0.26 percent.

Top Headline

T-Mobile Us Inc TMUS and Sprint Corp S agreed to combine in a $26 billion all-stock deal in which T-Mobile will pay Sprint investors 0.10256 shares of T-Mobile for each one share of Sprint stock owned.

The companies believe a combination into one entity could generate $6 billion in annual synergies, or $43 billion based on net present value.

Equities Trading UP

SteadyMed Ltd. STDY shares shot up 77 percent to $4.70 after United Therapeutics Corporation UTHR agreed to acquire SteadyMed.

Shares of Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. PSTI got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $1.4444. The developer of placenta-based cell therapy products said the FDA cleared its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for its PLX-R18 cell therapy in the treatment of acute radiation syndrome (ARS).

Andeavor ANDV shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $139.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC announced plans to acquire Andeavor for $152.27 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Arconic Inc. ARNC shares dropped 14 percent to $19.29. Arconic posted upbeat Q1 results, but issued weak earnings outlook for FY18.

Shares of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company CTB were down 15 percent to $22.925 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings.

Sprint Corporation S was down, falling around 13 percent to $5.66. T-Mobile Us Inc TMUS and Sprint agreed to combine in a $26 billion all-stock deal.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.88 percent to $67.50 while gold traded down 0.70 percent to $1,314.20.

Silver traded down 1.22 percent Monday to $16.295, while copper fell 0.24 percent to $3.062.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.08 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.38 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.25 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.03 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.30 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.35 percent.

Economics

The core PCE index rose to 1.9 percent in March, versus 1.6 percent in the previous month.

The Chicago PMI rose to 57.60 in April, versus prior reading of 57.40. Economists projected a reading of 58.20.

The pending-home sales index rose 0.4 percent to a reading of 107.6 in March.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for April is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.