Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Mallinckrodt To Buy Sucampo Pharmaceuticals For $18/Share

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.07 percent to 24,771.21 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.55 percent to 6,921.80. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.07 percent to 6,921.80.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.

In trading on Tuesday, technology shares fell 0.91 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Micron Technology, Inc. MU, down 5 percent, and 3D Systems Corporation DDD down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Mallinckrodt PLC MNK announced plans to acquire Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SCMP in a deal valued at around $1.2 billion.

Mallinckrodt offered $18 per share for Sucampo, representing around 6 percent premium over the stock's closing price on Friday.

Equities Trading UP

DelMar Pharmaceuticals Inc DMPI shares shot up 41 percent to $1.16 after the company disclosed a FDA Fast Track designation for VAL-083 in recurrent glioblastoma.

Shares of Aptose Biosciences Inc APTO got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $2.18 after the company disclosed that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation to CG'806.

Longfin Corp LFIN shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $49.46 after dropping 10.69 percent on Friday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sigma Labs Inc SGLB shares dropped 6 percent to $3.30 after jumping 151.80 percent on Friday.

Shares of Auris Medical Holding AG EARS were down 8 percent to $0.465.

Apple Inc. AAPL was down, falling around 3 percent to $170.16 after a concerning report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News. Apple may have lowered its first quarter iPhone sales forecast from 50 million units to 30 million units, Bloomberg said, quoting the Economic Daily News. The report cited unidentified supply chain officials and also said that Apple's sole manufacturer for the iPhone X, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is no longer recruiting new workers to assemble iPhone devices.
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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.02 percent to $58.46 while gold traded up 0.39 percent to $1,283.80.

Silver traded up 0.46 percent Tuesday to $16.52, while copper rose 1 percent to $3.271.

Eurozone

European markets are closed today for Boxing Day.

Economics

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index for December is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing report for December will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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

The Treasury will auction 4-week bills and 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.