Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; U.S. Factory Orders Fall 0.5%

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.48 percent to 26299.02 while the NASDAQ declined 0.33 percent to 7912.84. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.24 percent to 2,885.88.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the energy shares rose 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Frontline Ltd. FRO up 12 percent, and Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. TOO up 8 percent.

In trading on Monday, industrial shares fell 1 percent.

Top Headline

U.S. factory orders fell 0.5 percent for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.5 percent drop.

Factory orders, ex-transportation, rose 0.3 percent for February.

Equities Trading UP

Biomerica, Inc. BMRA shares got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $2.99 after the company highlighted notice of allowance for new US patent covering Diagnostic Guided Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Shares of Frontline Ltd. FRO shot up 12 percent to $7.68 as hearing Pareto Securities upgraded stock from Hold to Buy.

New Age Beverages Corporation NBEV shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $5.75 following news the company's Marley Mate drink will be available at Walmart stores.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. AGLE shares dropped 8 percent to $8.04 after announcing new positive Phase 1/2 Data for pegzilarginase in patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency at the SIMD 2019 Annual Meeting.

Shares of Marathon Patent Group MARA were down 11 percent to $2.30. Marathon Patent reported a 4-for-1 reverse stock split, effective April 8, 2019.

Landec Corporation LNDC was down, falling around 7 percent to $10.07. Roth Capital downgraded Landec from Buy to Neutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3 percent to $63.89 while gold traded up 0.7 percent to $1,304.60.

Silver traded up 0.8 percent Monday to $15.21, while copper fell 1.4 percent to $2.934.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.3 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.1 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.4 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.2 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.1 percent.

Economics

U.S. factory orders fell 0.5 percent for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.5 percent drop.

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

The TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index for March is schedule for release at 12:30 p.m. ET.