Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Merck To Acquire ArQule For $20/Share

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.08% to 27,992.09 while the NASDAQ rose 0.19% to 8,672.98. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.06% to 3,147.83.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed 0.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Livexlive Media Inc LIVX, up 17%, and Gravity Co., LTD. GRVY, up 4%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Merck & Co., Inc. MRK will acquire ArQule, Inc. ARQL for $20 per share in cash for an approximate total equity value of $2.7 billion.

ArQule is a biopharmaceutical company focused on kinase inhibitor discovery and development for the treatment of patients with cancer and other diseases.

Equities Trading UP

Synthorx, Inc. THOR shares shot up 169% to $67.41 after the company announced it would be acquired by Sanofi for $68 per share in cash.

Shares of ArQule, Inc. ARQL got a boost, shooting up 103% to $19.64 after the company announced it would be acquired by Merck for $20 per share in cash.

XBiotech Inc. XBIT shares were also up, gaining 84% to $20.42 after the company announced it would license its anti-inflammatory antibody to Janssen for $750 million in cash and up to $600 million in milestone payments.

Equities Trading DOWN

Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. DPLO shares tumbled 32% to $3.965 after the company received a $4 per share acquisition offer from United Health's OptumRx.

Shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. KOS were down 22% to $4.7050.

Biocept, Inc. BIOC was down, falling 51% to $0.2640 after the company priced 24.6 million unit offering at $0.405 per unit.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.1% to $58.55, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,469.20.

Silver traded up 0.5% Monday to $16.68, while copper rose 0.9% to $2.7495.

Euro zone


European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.1%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.5% while UK shares fell 0.1%.

Economics

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index for November is schedule for release at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.