Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Turns Positive; Sesen Bio Shares Plummet

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.03% to 35,526.99 while the NASDAQ fell 0.34% to 14,771.91. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.02% to 4,468.88.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 36,680,110 cases with around 621,630 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 32,225,510 cases and 431,640 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,364,090 COVID-19 cases with 569,050 deaths. In total, there were at least 207,273,290 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,364,400 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares rose 0.7% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd. ENLV, up 19% and Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. COLL up 15%.

In trading on Monday, energy fell 1.4%.

Top Headline

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index dropped to 18.3 in August from a record high level of 43 in the previous month. Analysts, meanwhile, were expecting a reading of 29.

Equities Trading UP

NanoVibronix, Inc. NAOV shares shot up 61% to $4.05 after the company announced that it intends to enter the Over-the-Counter (OTC) pain relief market with the introduction of PainShield RELIEF.

Shares of Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd. ENLV got a boost, shooting 19% to $12.11 after the Israeli Ministry of Health authorized a Phase IIb trial for Enlivex's Allocetra in COVID-19 patients.

Travere Therapeutics, Inc. TVTX shares were also up, gaining 14% to $17.62 after the company announced its PROTECT study met its interim primary efficacy endpoint.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Sesen Bio, Inc. SESN shares tumbled 41% to $1.2550 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Complete Response Letter for the company's bladder cancer candidate Vicineum. The FDA determined that it cannot approve Sesen Bio's Biologics License Application for Vicineum in its present form and provided recommendations specific to additional clinical and statistical data and analyses. HC Wainwright & Co. downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.

Shares of China Finance Online Co. Limited JRJC were down 36% to $5.18 after the company received a delisting notice from Nasdaq.

ESSA Pharma Inc. EPIX was down, falling 35% to $7.70 after the company reported a loss for its third quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5% to $67.39, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,788.50.

Silver traded up 0.3% Monday to $23.845 while copper fell 1.5% to $4.3255.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.50%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.81% and the German DAX 30 declined 0.32%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.90%, French CAC 40 fell 0.83% and Italy’s FTSE MIB slipped 0.76%.

Economics

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index dropped to 18.3 in August from a record high level of 43 in the previous month. Analysts, meanwhile, were expecting a reading of 29.

The Treasury International Capital report for June will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here