Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Caesars Entertainment To Buy Caesars Acquisition

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.53 percent to 17,899.33 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.21 percent to 4,775.40. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.13 percent to 2,073.29.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the telecommunications services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Mobile Telesystems OJSC MBT and China Mobile Limited CHL.

In trading on Monday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.52 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Ultra Petroleum Corp. UPL, down 12.4 percent, and Swift Energy Co. SFY, off 10.3 percent.

Top Headline

Caesars Entertainment Corporation CZR agreed to buy affiliate Caesars Acquisition Co. CACQ in a stock-for-stock merger.

Equities Trading UP

Caesars Entertainment Corporation CZR shares shot up 20.24 percent to $16.22 after the company announced its plans to acquire Caesars Acquisition Company CACQ in a stock-for-stock deal.

Shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ENTA got a boost, shooting up 5.41 percent to $49.14 after the company announced that the FDA has approved AbbVie's ABBV Viekira Pak.

Caesars Acquisition Company CACQ shares were also up, gaining 7.40 percent to $10.16. Caesars Entertainment and Caesars Acquisition Company announced that they will merge in an all-stock transaction.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ocwen Financial Corp. OCN shares tumbled 18.86 percent to $17.77 after the company disclosed a settlement with the NYDFS. The company will pay $100 million civil monetary penalty and $50 million as restitution. Ocwen Financial executive chairman and founder, William Erbey, will resign and Barry Wish will become non-exec chairman.

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD were down 11.05 percent to $96.47 amid news that AbbVie Inc ABBV will make its Hepatitis C treatment through Express Scripts Holding Company ESRX.

TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. TAT was down, falling 5.06 percent to $6.19. On Friday, the company announced a convertible note offering and provided a corporate update.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.79 percent to $56.11, while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,196.30.

Silver traded down 0.37 percent Monday to $15.97, while copper rose 0.03 percent to $2.89.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.45 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.42 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.41 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.71 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.33 percent while UK shares gained 0.58 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index climbed to 0.73 in November, versus an upwardly revised 0.31 in October. However, economists were expecting a reading of 0.25.

Sales of existing homes declined 6.1% to an annual rate of 4.93 million in November, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, economists were projecting sales rate to drop to 5.20 million in November.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.

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Posted In: EarningsNewsGuidanceEurozoneFuturesCommoditiesOfferingsManagementM&AEcon #sIntraday UpdateMarkets
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