Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; GE To Merge Transportation Unit With Wabtec

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 1.29 percent to 25,032.66 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.91 percent to 7,421.35. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.82 percent to 2,735.11.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the industrial shares rose 1.26 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Kelly Services, Inc. KELYA, up 10 percent, and Raven Industries, Inc. RAVN up 6 percent.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares fell 0.12 percent.

Top Headline

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp WABGE to create Transportation Systems Holdings, a rail equipment, services and software supplier, according to a Monday announcement.

GE will receive $2.9 billion in cash, own 50.1 percent of Wabtec, and grow adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) an estimated 20 percent over the next year. The parties expect the $11.1 billion transaction to generate annual run-rate synergies of $250 million with free cash flow supporting rapid debt reduction and maintenance of Wabtec’s regular dividend.

Equities Trading UP

SenesTech, Inc. SNES shares shot up 62 percent to $0.52 after the California Department of Pesticide Regulation proposed to register the company's ContraPest for sale and use in California.

Shares of Boxlight Corporation BOXL got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $8.50 after the company announced an exclusive partnership with Multi Touch Interactives to strengthen the development of next generation interactive educational activities.

Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc. XTNT shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $7.25 after the company disclosed that it has received the FDA clearance for InTice™-C Porous Titanium Cervical Interbody System.

Equities Trading DOWN

Qudian Inc. QD shares dropped 10 percent to $10.39 after reporting Q1 results.

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp FITB were down 7 percent to $31.10 after announcing a plan to acquire MB Financial for $54.70 per share in cash and stock.

Carver Bancorp, Inc. CARV was down, falling around 12 percent to $7.35 after surging 201.37 percent on Thursday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.03 percent to $71.26 while gold traded down 0.59 percent to $1,283.70.

Silver traded down 0.36 percent Monday to $16.395, while copper rose 1.35 to $3.105.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.21 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.12 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.87 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.28 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.48 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.61 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to a reading of +0.34 in April, versus +0.32 in March.

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

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkariis set to speak at 5:30 p.m. ET.