Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Nasdaq Gains 100 Points; First Wave BioPharma Shares Plunge

U.S. stocks traded mixed toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 100 points on Monday.

The Dow traded down 0.18% to 32,917.84 while the NASDAQ rose 0.83% to 12,437.19. The S&P also fell, dropping, 0.01% to 4,131.36.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed 1.6% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Redbox Entertainment Inc. RDBX, up 50% and Luokung Technology Corp. LKCO up 13%.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares fell by 3.2%.

Top Headline

The ISM manufacturing PMI dropped for a second straight month to 55.4 in April from 57.1 in March. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 57.6.

Equities Trading UP

Hilltop Holdings Inc. HTH shares shot up 19% to $30.24 after the company announced a program to buyback up to $400 million of stock.

Shares of Accolade, Inc. ACCD got a boost, shooting 22% to $6.80 after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock from Underweight to Equal-Weight and announced a $6 price target.

Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. APRN shares were also up, gaining 35% to $4.0850 after the company announced a $70.5 million planned capital infusion through debt and equity financings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Global Cord Blood Corporation CO shares tumbled 35% to $2.23. Global Cord Blood will acquire Cellenkos Inc and the rights to develop and commercialize all of its existing and future products worldwide.

Shares of First Wave BioPharma, Inc. FWBI were down 36% to $0.3971 after the company reported data from its Phase 2 RESERVOIR trial of FW-COV, which showed FW-COV's ability to remove the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the digestive tract did not demonstrate statistical significance.

T Stamp Inc. IDAI was down, falling 27% to $3.0227. Trust Stamp signed Memorandum of Understanding with Malta Enterprise and Plug and Play to establish Malta Acceleration Program.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $105.21, while gold traded down 2.6% to $1,862.40.

Silver traded down 2.2% Monday to $22.575 while copper fell 3% to $4.2755.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.46%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.73%. The German DAX dipped 1.13%, French CAC 40 fell 1.66% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.63%.

The S&P Global Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 55.5 in April from an initial estimate of 55.3. The consumer confidence indicator in the Eurozone dropped to -22 in April, recording the worst since April 2020, while services confidence indicator fell to 13.5 in April from 13.6 in March. The economic sentiment indicator in the Eurozone dropped for a second straight month to 105 in April, notching the weakest reading since February 2021.

The unemployment rate in Italy fell to 8.3% in March from 8.5% in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI declined to 54.5 in April from 55.8 in the previous month. The S&P Global French manufacturing PMI increased to 55.7 in April from a five-month low level of 54.7 in March, while manufacturing PMI for Germany rose to 54.6 in April from a preliminary reading of 54.1.

Economics

The S&P Global manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 59.2 in April from a preliminary reading of 59.7, but remained above the March’s level of 58.8.

The ISM manufacturing PMI dropped for a second straight month to 55.4 in April from 57.1 in March. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 57.6.

US construction spending rose 0.1% for March.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 83,083,420 cases with around 1,020,850 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,082,500 cases and 523,860 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,454,490 COVID-19 cases with 663,560 deaths. In total, there were at least 513,670,100 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,262,090 deaths.