Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Falls Over 150 Points; Calithera Biosciences Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.80 percent to 19,933.85 while the NASDAQ declined 1.06 percent to 5,600.80. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.87 percent to 2,274.72.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares slipped by just 0.1 percent in trading on Monday.

In trading on Monday, energy shares tumbled by 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Tidewater Inc. TDW, down 12 percent, and Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust CHKR, down 11 percent.

Top Headline

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation BAH reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Booz Allen reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.38 per share on revenue of $1.4 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.40 per share on revenue of $1.37 billion.

Booz Allen also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.15 per share to $0.17 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Calithera Biosciences Inc CALA shares shot up 50 percent to $6.89. Incyte Corporation INCY and Calithera Biosciences reported a global collaboration for the development and commercialization of CB-1158.

Shares of Eyegate Pharmaceuticals Inc EYEG got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $1.84 after the company reported positive top-line data from first-in-human pilot trial of Ocular Bandage Gel in corneal epithelial defects.

CymaBay Therapeutics Inc CBAY shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $1.87. H.C. Wainwright upgraded CymaBay Therapeutics from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $2.50 to $6.00.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ocera Therapeutics Inc OCRX shares dropped 68 percent to $0.650 after the company reported top-line results for Phase 2b study in Hepatic Encephalopathy.

Shares of Regulus Therapeutics Inc RGLS were down around 50 percent to $1.12 after the company received a written communication from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the clinical development for the company's RG-101 remains on clinical hold.

Tempur Sealy International Inc TPX was down, falling around 31 percent to $43.33 following announcement of termination of Mattress Firm MFRM contracts.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.81 percent to $52.74 while gold traded up 0.65 percent to $1,198.80.

Silver traded up 0.08 percent Monday to $17.15, while copper fell 1.64 percent to $2.65.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1.09 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.56 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.90 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 1.16 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 1.22 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.92 percent.

Economics

U.S. consumer spending rose 0.5 percent for December, matching economists’ expectations for a 0.5 percent growth. Personal income increased 0.30 percent last month, versus estimates of 0.40 percent gain.

The pending home sales index rose 1.6 percent to 109 in December. Economists were expecting a 1.1 percent growth.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing business index rose to 22.10 in January, versus a revised reading of 17.70 in the previous month. Economists projected a reading of 15.00.