Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Nasdaq Tumbles 150 Points; Knoll Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.41% to 34,060.60 while the NASDAQ fell 1.08% to 13,900.17. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.59% to 4,160.89.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 31,670,350 cases with around 567,210 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 15,061,800 cases and 178,760 deaths, while Brazil reported over 13,943,070 COVID-19 cases with 373,330 deaths. In total, there were at least 141,467,400 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,021,200 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares rose 0.1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. AHT, up 16%, and Nam Tai Property Inc. NTP, up 8%.

In trading on Monday, consumer discretionary shares fell 1%.

Top Headline

The Coca-Cola Company KO reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Coca-Cola reported quarterly earnings of $0.55 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.50 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $9.00 billion, versus expectations of $8.61 billion. The company said it expects to deliver organic sales growth of high single digits in FY20.

Coca-Cola agreed to sell its stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, so the company can be an independent publicly traded company.

Equities Trading UP

Marlin Business Services Corp. MRLN shares shot up 50% to $21.34 after the company enters into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds managed by HPS Investment Partners for $23.50 per share in cash.

Shares of Knoll, Inc. KNL got a boost, shooting 32% to $22.82 after the company announced it would be acquired by Herman Miller for $11 in cash and 0.32 shares of the combined company per Knoll share owned.

American River Bankshares AMRB shares were also up, gaining 24% to $19.95 after the company reported Q1 earnings and also signed a merger agreement with Bank of Marin Bancorp.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Haemonetics Corporation HAE shares tumbled 35% to $75.50 after the company announced CSL Pharma has informed the company of its intent to not renew its supply agreement with Haemonetics for the use of PCS2 plasma collection system devices.

Shares of Anixa Biosciences, Inc. ANIX were down 14% to $4.04 after the FDA requested additional information on the company's CAR-T Therapy. The FDA also announced that its study would be placed on a Clinical Hold pending submission of additional information.

LifeMD, Inc. LFMD was down, falling 16% to $8.38. LifeMD said it sees Q1 sales of $18.2 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $63.45, while gold traded down 0.5% to $1,771.40.

Silver traded down 1% Monday to $25.85 while copper rose 1.4% to $4.2250.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.07%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.14% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.59%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.15% London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.49% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.21%.

The Eurozone current account surplus shrank to EUR 13.3 billion in February from EUR 14.1 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.

Check out the full economic calendar here