Mid-Day Market Update: Cheetah Mobile Rises Following Q2 Results; Lannett Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.30 percent to 25,744.97 while the NASDAQ declined 0.28 percent to 7,794.13. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.06 percent to 2,851.69.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, the materials shares rose 0.69 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. LQMT up 8 percent, and MPM Holdings Inc. MPMQ up 8 percent.

In trading on Monday, information technology shares fell 0.50 percent.

Top Headline

Rumors of a merger between PepsiCo, Inc. PEP and Sodastream International Ltd SODA date back to at least 2014 and were finally confirmed Monday.

PepsiCo said it reached an agreement to buy Israel-based Sodastream for $144 per share, which represents a 32-percent premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price, the companies said in a press release. The transaction is expected to improve Sodastream's expansion and breakthrough innovation through PepsiCo's distribution capabilities, global reach, R&D, design and marketing expertise.

Equities Trading UP

Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc. SSC shares shot up 60 percent to $3.1672 after announcing a $24 billion deal to conduct financing activities for National Transportation Capacity Company.

Shares of China Commercial Credit, Inc. GLG got a boost, shooting up 53 percent to $0.9040 after the company late Friday reported positive Q2 earnings compared with a loss last year.

Cheetah Mobile Inc. CMCM shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $10.68 after the company posted upbeat Q2 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Lannett Company, Inc. LCI shares dropped 58 percent to $5.725 after the company issued weak forecast for the fourth quarter. The company also disclosed that its contract Jerome Stevens Pharma will not be renewed.

Shares of Rimini Street, Inc. RMNI were down 11 percent to $4.30.

China Advanced Construction Materials Group, Inc. CADC was down, falling around 16 percent to $4.60.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.64 percent to $66.33 while gold traded up 0.75 percent to $1,193.10.

Silver traded up 0.37 percent Monday to $14.685, while copper rose 1.11 to $2.677.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 jumped 0.75 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.78 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.61 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.27 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.89 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.58 percent.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.