Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NASDAQ Up 50 Points; Ocwen Financial Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.09 percent to 20,959.89 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.84 percent to 6,098.26. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.37 percent to 2,392.95.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology sector was the top gainer in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Aviat Networks Inc AVNW, Cohu, Inc. COHU, and Brooks Automation, Inc BRKS.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.43 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included SCANA Corporation SCG, down 2 percent, and FirstEnergy Corp. FE, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

DISH Network Corp DISH reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, but revenue missed estimates.

DISH said it earned $0.76 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $3.68 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.69 per share on revenue of $3.78 billion.

 

Equities Trading UP

The Ensign Group, Inc. ENSG shares shot up 11 percent to $20.00 after the company reported strong results for its first quarter.

Shares of Medical Transcription Billing Corp MTBC got a boost, shooting up 74 percent to $2.37. Medical Transcription Billing disclosed that it has developed Health Information Exchange interfaces between its clinical platforms and leading hospitals.

Ocwen Financial Corp OCN shares were also up, gaining 42 percent to $3.25. New Residential Investment Corp NRZ revealed it owned some servicing rights to the troubled Ocwen Financial. During today's conference call, New Residential’s executive suggested the company will pay $425 million for Mortgage Servicing Rights to Ocwen.


Equities Trading DOWN

First NBC Bank Holding Company FNBC shares dropped 91 percent to $0.250. First NBC Bank was closed by the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions.

Shares of AEterna Zentaris Inc. (USA) AEZS were down around 60 percent to $1.33 after the company disclosed that its Phase 3 Zoptec study did not achieve primary endpoint.

Neurotrope Inc NTRP was down, falling around 59 percent to $7.68 after a planned release of clinical data failed to impress investors. Neurotrope saw its shares gain more than 15 percent on Friday on high anticipation of Monday's results. But the company, unfortunately, revealed around 90 patients who received a 20mg dose of bryostatin did not see any statistically significant improvement.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.30 percent to $48.69 while gold traded down 0.95 percent to $1,256.20.

Silver traded down 2.30 percent Monday to $16.865, while copper rose 2.09 percent to $2.662.
 

Economics

U.S. consumer spending was flat for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent growth. Personal income rose 0.2 percent in March, versus estimates for a 0.3 percent gain.

The Markit manufacturing PMI came in unchanged at 52.80 for April. Economists expected a reading of 52.80.

U.S. construction spending declined 0.2 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.

The ISM manufacturing index dropped to 54.80 in April, versus a prior reading of 57.20. However, economists were expecting a reading of 56.50.

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Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMoversMid-Afternoon Market Update
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