Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down Over 1%; Taubman Centers Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.13% to 29,140 while the NASDAQ rose 0.55% to 9,572.55. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.26% to 3,336.51.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares climbed 0.8% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Taubman Centers, Inc. TCO, up 53%, and Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. MLP, up 19%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 1.2%.

Top Headline

Allergan plc AGN reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday

Allergan reported quarterly earnings of $5.22 per share on Monday, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $4.57. The company reported quarterly sales of $4.351 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $4.09 billion.

Equities Trading UP

vTv Therapeutics Inc. VTVT shares shot up 51% to $3.18 after the company reported the results from part 2 of the Phase 2 Simplici-T1 study of TTP399 achieved the primary objective of a statistically significant reduction in HbA1c.

Shares of Planet Green Holdings Corp. PLAG got a boost, shooting 25% to $2.53 after the company entered into share purchase agreement with two investors. The company will sell 1.35 million shares for $2.60 per share.

Taubman Centers, Inc. TCO shares were also up, gaining 53% to $53.12. Simon Property Group, Inc. SPG said Monday it plans to purchase an 80% ownership interest in Taubman Centers-owned Taubman Realty Group for $52.50 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Benitec Biopharma Limited BNTC shares tumbled 25% to $5.56 after jumping 40.64% on Friday.

Shares of Acasti Pharma Inc. ACST were down 21% to $0.5999 after the company announced an investigation into its Phase 3 trials of CaPre is underway following 'inconsistent findings' that may have negatively impacted results in its TRILOGY 1 trial.

Valeritas Holdings, Inc. VLRX was down, falling 40% to $0.3845 after the company announced an agreement for Zealand Pharma to acquire business and retain employees. The company and its subsidiaries also commenced voluntary Chapter 11 to facilitate value-maximizing sale.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.2% to $49.73, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,578.30.

Silver traded up 0.5% Monday to $17.785, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.556.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.07%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.05%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.12% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.15%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.23% while UK shares fell 0.27%.

Economics

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