Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Falls 75 Points; VirnetX Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.41 percent to 18,233.06 while the NASDAQ declined 0.41 percent to 5,290.14. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.48 percent to 2,157.77.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, telecommunications services shares rose by 0.01 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Mobil'nye Telesistemy PAO (ADR) MBT, and TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) TSU.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares tumbled by 0.97 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included AES Corp AES, down 4 percent, and American Midstream Partners LP AMID, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Janus Capital Group Inc JNS and London-based Henderson Group announced their agreement to merge in an all-stock-deal. The merged entity would be known as "Janus Henderson Global Investors plc." The transaction is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2017.

The companies indicated that for every Janus share, 4.7190 freshly issued shares of Henderson would be allotted. As a result, while Janus shareholders would own 43 percent in the merged firm, Henderson would have the remaining 57 percent stake.

Equities Trading UP

VirnetX Holding Corporation VHC shares shot up 35 percent to $4.12 after the company announced it won a patent case against Apple Inc. AAPL. According to Reuters, a federal jury court in Texas ordered Apple to pay VirnetX more than $302 million in damages for using its patented internet security technology in its FaceTime video conference without the necessary permission.

Shares of Winnebago Industries, Inc. WGO got a boost, shooting up 24 percent to $29.20 after the company announced plans to acquire towable RV manufacturer Grand Design for in a deal valued at $500 million. The company also reported preliminary Q4 revenue of $263.3 million and earnings of $0.49 per share.

Cabelas Inc CAB shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $63.08. Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops struck a definitive deal through which the latter would buy the former for $65.50 a share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

TASER International, Inc. TASR shares dropped 14 percent to $24.53. TASER’s competitor, Vievue, has won the coveted NYPD camera contract worth $6 million. Ladenburg Thalmann downgraded the rating on Taser from Buy to Neutral.

Shares of Ryerson Holding Corp RYI were down 14 percent to $9.71 after the company issued Q3 guidance on Friday. Ryerson projected Q3 net income of $8 million to $12 million and revenue to be flat versus the second quarter.

Real Goods Solar, Inc. RGSE was down, falling around 36 percent to $2.44 after the company disclosed that all of its Series A 12.5% Mandatorily Convertible Preferred Stock has been converted into shares of Class A common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.83 percent to $48.64 while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,313.80.

Silver traded down 2.15 percent Monday to $18.80, while copper fell 0.81 percent to $2.19.

Eurozone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.09 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.32 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.77 percent. Meanwhile the French CAC 40 gained 0.12 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.22 percent.

Economics

The Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 51.50 in September, versus a previous reading of 51.40. Economists projected a reading of 51.40.

The ISM manufacturing index increased to 51.50 in September, versus a prior reading of 49.40. Economists were expecting a reading of 50.30.

U.S. construction spending declined 0.70 percent for August, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent growth.