Mid-Day Market Update: Sevcon Surges Following Acquisition News; TherapeuticsMD Shares Slide

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.06 percent to 21,623.80 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.03 percent to 6,314.61. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01 percent to 2,459.43.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Basic materials shares rose by 0.77 percent in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Braskem SA (ADR) BAK, and Coeur Mining Inc CDE.

In trading on Monday, financial shares fell 0.11 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Oconee Federal Financial OFED, down 4 percent, and Old Line Bancshares, Inc. (MD) OLBK, down 3 percent.

Top Headline

BlackRock, Inc. BLK reported weaker-than-expected profit for its second quarter.

BlackRock posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $5.24 per share on revenue of $2.97 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $5.39 per share on sales of $3.01 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Sevcon Inc SEV shares shot up 60 percent to $21.72 after the company agreed to be acquired by BorgWarner Inc. BWA.

Shares of CymaBay Therapeutics Inc CBAY got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $6.47 as the company disclosed positive interim results from its ongoing low-dose Phase 2 study of seladelpar in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Soligenix, Inc. SNGX shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $2.47. H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage on Soligenix with a Buy rating and a $11.00 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

TherapeuticsMD Inc TXMD shares dropped 12 percent to $4.98 following cautious-sounding TX-004HR regulatory update.

Shares of Blue Apron Holdings Inc APRN were down 9 percent to $6.73 following TheStreet article highlighting Amazon's meal kit delivery patent.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals PPHM was down, falling around 13 percent to $4.84 as the company reported a wider loss for its fourth quarter on Friday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.17 percent to $46.46 while gold traded up 0.60 percent to $1,234.90.

Silver traded up 1.49 percent Monday to $16.17, while copper rose 1.49 percent to $2.731.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.01 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.21 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.06 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.32 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.01 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.36 percent.

Economics

The Empire State manufacturing index dropped to 9.80 in July, versus prior reading of 19.80. Economists were expecting a reading of 15.00.