Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Ariad Pharmaceuticals Surges On Acquisition News; Stage Stores Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.29 percent to 19,906.28 while the NASDAQ gained 0.25 percent to 5,534.73. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.28 percent to 2,270.69.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Healthcare shares gained around 0.73 percent in trading on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARIA, and VCA Inc WOOF.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell by 1.08 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included South Jersey Industries Inc SJI, down 4 percent, and MDU Resources Group Inc MDU, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Global Payments Inc GPN reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Global Payments reported Q2 earnings of $0.89 per share on revenue of $817.2 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.85 per share on revenue of $803 million.

Equities Trading UP

Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARIA shares shot up 73 percent to $23.74 after Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd announced plans to buy the company in a $5.20 billion deal.

Shares of VCA Inc WOOF got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $90.71 after Mars, Incorporated agreed to acquire the company.

Surgical Care Affiliates Inc SCAI shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $56.55 after UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH disclosed that its unit agreed to acquire Surgical Care Affiliates for around $2.3 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

Acuity Brands, Inc. AYI shares dropped 14 percent to $203.01 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.

Shares of AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMAG were down around 36 percent to $22.95. Before the open, the issue company issued FY 2017 sales that surrounded current estimates. Also, the company announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Palatin Technologies, Inc. PTN for North American rights to Rekyndatm. Raymond James downgraded AMAG Pharmaceuticals from Market Perform to Underperform.

Stage Stores Inc SSI was down, falling around 16 percent to $3.35 as the company reported a drop in its holiday season same-store sales and lowered its earnings guidance. The retailer’s same-store sales dropped 7.3 percent for the nine-week period ending December 31, 2016.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.89 percent to $51.89 while gold traded up 0.92 percent to $1,184.20.

Silver traded up 0.85 percent Monday to $16.66, while copper fell 0.53 percent to $2.53.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.24 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.66 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.30 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.45 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.38 percent.

Economics

Data on consumer credit for November will be released today.