Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises Over 50 Points; Avadel Pharmaceuticals Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.19% to 26987.12 while the NASDAQ rose 0.13% to 8128.25. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.14% to 2,996.12.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares climbed 0.6% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PriceSmart, Inc. PSMT, up 19%, and SunOpta Inc. STKL, up 8%.

In trading on Monday, health care shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Arotech Corporation ARTX agreed to be acquired for by Greenbriar for $3.00 per share in cash, representing an aggregate equity value of approximately $80.8 million.

The cash consideration represents around 32.7% premium over Arotech’s closing share price on September 20, 2019.
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Equities Trading UP

PriceSmart, Inc. PSMT shares shot up 19% to $71.90. PriceSmart will replace Finisar Corp. FNSR in the S&P SmallCap 600 on Thursday, September 26.

Shares of Arotech Corporation ARTX got a boost, shooting up 31% to $2.95 after the company announced it would be acquired by Greenbriar for $3 per share in cash.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC AVDL shares were also up, gaining 30% to $4.39. The FDA has agreed to Avadel's proposed changes to the statistical analysis plan for the Phase 3 REST-ON study, which will result in a reduction to the sample size as well as the estimated time of completion, according to the company. The REST-ON study is a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled late-stage trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of once-nightly FT218, a formulation of sodium oxybate using the company's proprietary Micropump technology for the extended-release oral suspension in treating excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy in patients suffering from narcolepsy.

Equities Trading DOWN

Reebonz Holding Ltd RBZ shares tumbled 38% to $1.60 after the company reported first-half results

Shares of Onconova Therapeutics Inc ONTX were down 28% to $1.1526. Onconova Therapeutics reported 2.136 million share registered direct offering of common stock, priced at $1.60 per share.

Plus Therapeutics, Inc. PSTV was down, falling 49% to $4.06 after the stock priced a 3 million unit offering at $5 per unit.
 

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1% to $58.64, while gold traded up 1.1% to $1,532.00.

Silver traded up 5% Monday to $18.73, while copper rose 0.3% to $2.614.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.80%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.93%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.01%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.01%, and the French CAC 40 declined 1.05% while UK shares fell 0.26%.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index increased to 0.10 in August, versus a revised reading of -0.41 in the prior month. However, analysts were expecting a reading of -0.35.

The IHS Markit flash manufacturing PMI climbed to 51.0 in September, versus a reading of 50.3 in the prior month