Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Up 150 Points; NASDAQ Turns Lower

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.71 percent to 21,501.62 while the NASDAQ declined 0.43 percent to 6,114.12. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.33 percent to 2,431.35.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 1.46 percent in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc DO, CARBO Ceramics Inc. CRR, and Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. TOO.

In trading on Monday, technology shares fell 0.14 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Sequans Communications SA ADR SQNS, down 8 percent, and Callidus Software Inc. CALD, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Bankrate Inc RATE agreed to be acquired by Red Ventures at an enterprise value of around $1.4 billion.

Under the merger agreement, Bankrate shareholders will receive $14 per share in cash, which represents a 9 percent premium over Bankrate's closing price on Friday. The transaction is projected to close in 2017.

Equities Trading UP

Monster Digital Inc MSDI shares shot up 106 percent to $1.01 after the company agreed to merge with Innovate Biopharma.

Shares of Spherix Inc SPEX got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $3.15 after tumbling 33.67 percent on Friday.

Opexa Therapeutics Inc OPXA shares were also up, gaining 66 percent to $1.08 after the company announced plans to acquire Acer Therapeutics.

Equities Trading DOWN

Yield10 Bioscience Inc YTEN shares dropped 17 percent to $4.28. Yield10 Biosciences priced its $2.3 million direct offering at $4.00 per share.

Shares of DryShips Inc. DRYS were down 18 percent to $1.05. DryShips reported a 1 year contract for its Newcastlemax vessel.

Diana Containerships Inc DCIX was down, falling around 26 percent to $0.276. Diana Containerships disclosed a 1-for-7 reverse stock split.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.46 percent to $46.71 while gold traded down 1.53 percent to $1,223.30.

Silver traded down 2.72 percent Monday to $16.175, while copper fell 0.48 percent to $2.698.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.08 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.57 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 2.04 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.13 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.46 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.95 percent.

Economics

The Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 52.00 for June, versus a prior reading of 52.10. Economists were expecting a reading of 52.10.

U.S. construction spending was flat for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent drop.

The ISM manufacturing index increased to 57.80 for June, versus previous reading of 54.90. However, economists projected a reading of 55.20.