Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Avantor To Acquire Masterflex

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.59% to 35,159.50 while the NASDAQ fell 0.05% to 15,355.16. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.35% to 4,519.52.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 40,019,200 cases with around 649,110 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 33,058,840 cases and 441,040 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,899,930 COVID-19 cases with 583,810 deaths. In total, there were at least 221,163,250 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,576,410 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares gained 0.5% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Weatherford International plc WFRD, up 11% and Bristow Group Inc. VTOL up 6%.

In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares fell by 1.6%.

Top Headline

Avantor Inc AVTR announced plans to buy Masterflex from privately held Antylia Scientific in an all-cash deal valued at $2.9 billion.

 

Equities Trading UP

IronNet, Inc. IRNT shares shot up 45% to $24.31 after jumping over 23% on Friday.

Shares of Surrozen, Inc. SRZN got a boost, shooting 29% to $9.43. Stifel initiatesd coverage on Surrozen with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $19.

Mechel PAO MTL shares were also up, gaining 32% to $4.21. The company recently reported Q2results, including a 43% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

CorMedix Inc. CRMD shares tumbled 23% to $4.9756 after updating its resubmission timeline for the DefenCath marketing application. CorMedix has encountered delays at its third-party contract manufacturer. The Company was informed by the CMO that there are issues that are unrelated to DefenCath manufacturing activities.

Shares of Sharecare, Inc. SHCR were down 17% to $7.57.

Forward Pharma A/S FWP was down, falling 16% to $6.60 as investors responded negatively to the Technical Board of Appeal (TBA) of the European Patent Office (EPO), dismissing Forward’s appeal to revoke the EP2801355 patent (355 patent) following the oral hearing. The TBA had made its decision after considering Forward’s appeal against the decision of the Opposition Division and third-party submissions from several opponents.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.1% to $68.56, while gold traded down 1.2% to $1,812.20.

Silver traded down 1.9% Tuesday to $24.33 while copper fell 1.2% to $4.2815.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.4%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4%, French CAC 40 fell 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.7%.

The Eurozone quarterly economic growth accelerated to 2.2% in the second quarter, while ZEW Indicator of economic sentiment for the Eurozone fell by 11.6 points to 31.1 in September. The number of employed persons in the region increased 0.7% on quarter in the second quarter.

The Halifax House Price Index in the UK climbed 7.1% year-over-year to £262,954 in August, while industrial production in Germany rose 1% in July.

Economics

No major economic data is due out today.

Check out the full economic calendar here