Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Gannett Surges Following Acquisition Offer From MNG Enterprises; Unifi Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.4 percent to 23,899.78 while the NASDAQ declined 0.75 percent to 6,919.22. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.5 percent to 2,583.23.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, the financial shares rose 1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Maiden Holdings, Ltd. MHLD up 10 percent, and Ocwen Financial Corporation OCN up 10 percent.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 2.8 percent.

Top Headline

Citigroup Inc C reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates.

Citigroup said it earned $1.61 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $17.1 billion, which was mixed compared to expectations of $1.55 per share on revenue of $17.59 billion.

Revenue for the fourth quarter was 2 percent lower on a year-over-year basis, mostly due to lower revenue in Fixed Income Markets with the Institutional Clients Group and the wind-down of legacy assets in Corporate/Other.

Equities Trading UP

Microbot Medical Inc MBOT shares got a boost, shooting up 270 percent to $8.88 after the company reported a European patent covering its ViRob technology platform.

Shares of Pedevco Corp PED shot up 38 percent to $1.73 after the company entered an agreement to acquire 22,000 Acres in the Permian Basin and raised $15 million.

Gannett Co., Inc. GCI shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $11.93 after MNG Enterprises confirmed a proposal to acquire Gannett for $12.00 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

PG&E Corporation PCG shares dropped 48 percent to $9.16 after announcing a leadership change and bankruptcy proceedings. Late Sunday, the board of directors announced the resignation of CEO Geisha Williams and rise of interim CEO John Simon, who served as executive vice president and general counsel for the last two years. Then, a Monday press release reported voluntary reorganization in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Management anticipates no interruption of service during the process.

Shares of Unifi, Inc. UFI were down 20 percent to $19.91. Unifi expects Q2 sales of $167 million and operating loss of $1.5 million to $500,000.

Verona Pharma plc VRNA was down, falling around 36 percent to $6.38 after reporting top-line data from three-day Phase 2 trial evaluating nebulized ensifentrine on top of dual bronchodilator therapy for COPD maintenance treatment.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.52 percent to $51.32 while gold traded up 0.16 percent to $1,291.60.

Silver traded up 0.12 percent Monday to $15.675, while copper fell 1.11 percent to $2.6325.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.48 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.66 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.61 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.29 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.39 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.91 percent.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.