Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Tumbles Over 100 Points; Flexion Therapeutics Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.37% to 34,617.17 while the NASDAQ fell 0.05% to 34,617.14. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.26% to 4,379.88.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 45,204,370 cases with around 733,570 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 33,971,600 confirmed cases and 450,810 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,575,820 COVID-19 cases with 601,040 deaths. In total, there were at least 238,714,960 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 4,868,700 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares surged 0.3% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Century Aluminum Company CENX, up 14%, and Resolute Forest Products Inc. RFP, up 9%.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares tumbled 1.5%.

Top Headline

Supernus Pharmaceuticals SUPN agreed to acquire Adamas Pharmaceuticals ADMS for $9.10 per share, or $450 million.
The deal consideration includes $8.10 per share in cash ($400 million) and two non-tradable contingent value rights (CVR) collectively worth up to $1.00 per share in cash.

Equities Trading UP

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. PTGX shares shot up 98% to $36.06. The FDA removed the full clinical hold on Protagonist Therapeutics’ rusfertide clinical studies. Northland Capital Markets upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform.

Shares of Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ADMS got a boost, shooting 75% to $8.07. Supernus Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire Adamas Pharmaceuticals for $9.10 per share, or $450 million.

Flexion Therapeutics, Inc. FLXN shares were also up, gaining 60% to $9.20. Pacira BioSciences agreed to acquire Flexion Therapeutics for $8.50 per share in cash, plus one contingent value right (CVR) worth up to $8.00 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Hyliion Holdings Corp. HYLN shares tumbled 12% to $6.91 after UBS downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell and lowered its price target from $14 to $5.

Shares of Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. VYGR were down 13% to $4.8550 after jumping around 45% on Friday.

Cipher Mining Inc. CIFR was down, falling 22% to $6.16.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.5% to $80.55, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,755.60.

Silver traded down 0.3% Monday to $22.63 while copper rose 2% to $4.3605.

Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.05%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.63%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.46%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 dropped 0.05%, French CAC 40 rose 0.16% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.72%.

Italy’s industrial production fell 0.2% from a month ago in August versus a revised 1% growth in the previous month.

Economics

There were no major US economic releases Monday.