Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 1.25%; Staffing 360 Solutions Shares Surge

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 1.25 percent to 24,765.10 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.54 percent to 7,729.74. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.81 percent to 2,782.16.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, the financial shares climbed 1.74 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Yirendai Ltd. YRD up 6 percent, and LendingClub Corporation LC up 8 percent.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 1.31 percent.

Top Headline

Helen of Troy Limited HELE reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its FY19 earnings guidance.

Helen of Troy posted Q1 earnings of $1.87 per share on revenue of $354.679 million. However, analysts expected earnings of $1.43 per share on sales of $334.9 million.

Helen Of Troy now expects FY2019 earnings of $7.45 to $7.70 per share, versus earlier forecast of $7.30 to $7.55 per share.

Equities Trading UP

MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. MBVX shares shot up 265 percent to $2.1564 after the company and Boehringer Ingelheim signed asset purchase and license agreements for antibody development program targeting multiple solid tumor cancers.

Shares of Benitec Biopharma Limited BNTC got a boost, shooting up 52 percent to $3.40 after the company reported a global licensing agreement for BB-301 for the treatment of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy and broad platform collaboration with Axovant.

Staffing 360 Solutions, Inc. STAF shares were also up, gaining 278 percent to $5.185 after the company reported an acquisition of recruitment firm Clement May Limited.

Equities Trading DOWN

CTI BioPharma Corp. CTIC shares dropped 13 percent to $4.52 after the company disclosed that its Phase 3 trial evaluating PIXUVRI did not meet its primary endpoint of improvement in progression-free survival.

Shares of New Concept Energy, Inc. GBR were down 19 percent to $3.465.

Adesto Technologies Corporation IOTS was down, falling around 22 percent to $6.65 after the company reported a $40 million offering and lowered the high end of its Q2 sales guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.42 percent to $73.49 while gold traded up 0.49 percent to $1,261.90.

Silver traded up 0.54 percent Monday to $16.155, while copper rose 1.19 to $2.8575.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.58 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.22 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.49 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.38 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.42 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.92 percent.

Economics

Data on consumer credit for May will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.