Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 1.23% to 35,787.07 while the NASDAQ fell 2.07% to 14,627.21. The S&P also fell, dropping, 1.52% to 4,605.95.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 61,263,030 cases with around 859,350 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 35,708,440 cases and 483,930 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,523,900 COVID-19 cases with 620,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 308,004,270 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,507,340 deaths.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares fell by just 0.3% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Xcel Energy Inc. XEL, up 1.4% and ALLETE, Inc. ALE up 1.1%.
In trading on Monday, consumer discretionary shares dipped by 2.9%.
Top Headline
AZZ Inc AZZ reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter on Monday.
AZZ posted quarterly earnings of $0.85 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.82 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $231.74 million, versus expectations of $238.63 million.
AZZ reaffirmed FY22 sales guidance of $865 million to $925 million. The company said it sees FY22 EPS of $3.00 to $3.20.
Equities Trading UP
Molecular Partners AG MOLN shares shot up 21% to $19.98 after the company, and Novartis, reported topline data from the Phase 2 study for ensovibep, a DARPin antiviral therapeutic for COVID-19.
Shares of Zynga Inc. ZNGA got a boost, shooting 45% to $8.69 after the company announced it will be acquired by Take-Two Interactive Software in a cash and stock transaction valued at $9.86 per Zynga share, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $12.7 billion.
Apria, Inc. APR shares were also up, gaining 26% to $37.40. Owens & Minor agreed to acquire Apria for $37.50 in cash per share of common stock, representing an equity value of approximately $1.45 billion.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Citi Trends, Inc. CTRN shares tumbled 16% to $68.00. Citi Trends reported 2021 holiday sales results and updated long-term strategic plan.
Shares of Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. FOLD were down 22% to $8.91 after the company issued its preliminary and unaudited 2021 revenue, and full-year 2022 outlook and revenue guidance. Amicus Therapeutics said it sees FY21 Galafold sales of $306 million.
Rapid Micro Biosystems, Inc. RPID was down, falling 25% to $6.81. Rapid Micro Biosystems said it expects Q4 total revenue of between $4.7 and $5.2 million.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $78.64, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,792.50.
Silver traded down 0.1% Monday to $22.385 while copper fell 1.5% to $4.3455.
Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1.68%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.79%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.75%. The German DAX dropped 1.34%, French CAC 40 declined 1.53% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.19%.
The unemployment rate in Italy dropped to 9.2% in November from 9.4% in the prior month.
Economics
US wholesale inventories rose 1.3% for November, versus analysts’ expectations for a 1.2% increase.
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