Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Del Taco Q4 Profit Misses Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.21 percent to 16,971.84 while the NASDAQ declined 0.53 percent to 4,691.84. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.40 percent to 1,991.93. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Monday, basic materials shares rose by 1.49 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Cliffs Natural Resources Inc CLF, Coeur Mining Inc CDE, and Vale SA (ADR) VALE. In trading on Monday, telecommunications services shares fell by 1.05 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Telecom Italia SpA (ADR) TI, down 4 percent, and Partner Communications Company Ltd (ADR) PTNR, down 4 percent. Top Headline Del Taco Restaurants Inc TACO reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Monday morning. Same-store sales were up nearly 6 percent for the quarter. Del Taco earned $0.12 a share on $133.4 million in revenue against estimates of $0.16 on sales of $133.3 million. The company also announced a share repurchase program with a ceiling of $25 million. Equities Trading UP National Interstate Corporation NATL shares shot up 30 percent to $29.40 as American Financial Group Inc AFG reported a proposal to purchase public minority stake in National Interstate for $30 per share in cash. Shares of Pier 1 Imports Inc PIR got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $6.18 after the company reported preliminary Q4 results. Pier 1 Imports expects Q4 earnings of $0.18 to 0.22 per share. Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc PTI shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $6.26. Baird initiated coverage on Proteostasis Therapeutics with a Outperform rating and a $13.00 price target. RBC Capital initiated coverage on Proteostasis Therapeutics with a Outperform rating and a $20.00 price target. HC Wainwright initiated coverage of Proteostasis Therapeutics with a Buy rating and a price target of $15. Equities Trading DOWN Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. CLDX shares dropped 51 percent to $3.99. Celldex Therapeutics will discontinue its Phase 3 study of RINTEGA for newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Shares of COMSCORE, Inc. SCOR were down 28 percent to $29.38 following announced delay to 10-K filing, cancelled buyback and delayed investor day. Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC VNR was down, falling around 17 percent to $2.17 after the company reported weak Q4 sales and suspended common and preferred distributions. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.89 percent to $36.24, while gold traded down 0.18 percent to $1,268.40. Silver traded up 0.07 percent Monday to $15.71, while copper fell 0.31 percent to $2.27. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.90 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.07 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 2.28 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.98 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 1 percent, while U.K. shares fell 1.06 percent. Economics There were no major US economic releases Monday.