Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges Over 100 Points; State Auto Financial Shares Jump

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.34% to 34,987.02 while the NASDAQ rose 0.08% to 14,713.30. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.26% to 4,380.72.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,854,110 cases with around 607,150 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 30,874,370 cases and 408,760 deaths, while Brazil reported over 19,089,940 COVID-19 cases with 533,480 deaths. In total, there were at least 186,846,570 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,032,630 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose by 1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included State Auto Financial Corporation STFC, up 191%, and Upstart Holdings, Inc. UPST, up 7%.

In trading on Monday, consumer staples shares fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

Novo Nordisk A/S NVO will acquire Prothena Corporation plc's PRTA clinical stage antibody PRX004 and broader ATTR amyloidosis program.

PRX004 is a Phase 2 ready immunotherapy designed to deplete the amyloid deposits associated with the disease pathology of ATTR amyloidosis. Under the terms of the agreement, Prothena is eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $1.2 billion, including $100 million in upfront and near-term clinical milestone payments.

 

Equities Trading UP

State Auto Financial Corporation STFC shares shot up 191% to $50.28 after the company agreed to be acquired by Liberty Mutual Insurance for $52 per share in cash.

Shares of Origin Agritech Limited SEED got a boost, shooting 29% to $11.62 after the company announced it expanded its GMO trait portfolio.

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. CLDX shares were also up, gaining 23% to $39.85 after the company reported data from its CDX-0159 Phase 1b study in chronic inducible urticaria. HC Wainwright & Co maintained a Buy rating on the stock and raised its price target from $36 to $50.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Moving iMage Technologies, Inc. MITQ shares tumbled 23% to $12.27 after dropping over 33% on Friday. Moving iMage Technologies recently priced its initial public offering of 4.2 million common shares at $3 per share.

Shares of ToughBuilt Industries, Inc. TBLT were down 32% to $0.7161. Toughbuilt Industries shares jumped over 45% on Friday after the company reported first-half sales through Amazon of $5.48 million, up 118% year over year.

BIT Mining Limited BTCM was down, falling 19% to $5.55 as the company reported a $50 million private placement.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $73.86, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,806.70.

Silver traded up 0.1% Monday to $26.255 while copper fell 0.6% to $4.3215.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.69%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.46% and the German DAX 30 climbed 0.65%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.05%, French CAC 40 rose 0.46% and Italy’s FTSE MIB jumped 0.92%.

Wholesale prices in Germany surged 10.7% year-over-year in June following a 9.7% rise in April.

Economics

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

Check out the full economic calendar here