Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Herbalife Expects Lower Q2 Sales

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.02 percent to 21,209.59 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.01 percent to 6,305.74. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.03 percent to 2,438.38.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology sector was the top gainer in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included VirnetX Holding Corporation VHC, Asure Software Inc ASUR, and CEVA, Inc. CEVA.

In trading on Monday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.46 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Tempur Sealy International Inc TPX, down 4 percent, and Sears Holdings Corp SHLD, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Herbalife Ltd. HLF cut its sales forecast for the current quarter.

Herbalife expects Q2 revenue to decline by 6 percent to 2 percent, versus earlier forecast of 0.5 percent to 4.5 percent decline. It projects adjusted earnings of $0.95 to $1.15 per share, up from previous forecast of $0.88 to $1.08 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Forestar Group Inc. FOR shares shot up 13 percent to $16.10 after D.R. Horton, Inc. DHI proposed to buy 75 percent of Forestar Group for $16.25 per share in cash.

Shares of Loxo Oncology Inc LOXO got a boost, shooting up 41 percent to $69.28 after the company reported that larotrectinib trial demonstrated 76 percent confirmed objective response rate.

Gigamon Inc GIMO shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $43.75. Reuters reported that Gigamon is exploring a potential sale.


Equities Trading DOWN

Endocyte, Inc. ECYT shares dropped 14 percent to $1.65. Cowen & Co. downgraded Endocyte from Outperform to Market Perform, while Wedbush downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral.

Shares of Juno Therapeutics Inc JUNO were down 8 percent to $24.06. Juno Therapeutics presented updated data from the TRANSCEND trial of JCAR017 at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Herbalife Ltd. HLF was down, falling around 6 percent to $69.46 after the company cut its sales forecast for the current quarter.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.90 percent to $47.23 while gold traded up 0.33 percent to $1,284.40.

Silver traded up 0.29 percent Monday to $17.575, while copper fell 0.72 percent to $2.556.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.16 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.30 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.85 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.25 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.69 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.26 percent.

Economics

U.S. nonfarm productivity was unchanged for the first quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent decline. Unit labor costs rose 2.20 percent for the quarter, versus estimates for a 2.50 percent growth.

US Services PMI declined to 53.60 in May, versus a prior reading of 54.00. Economists expected a reading of 54.10.

U.S. factory orders declined 0.2 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent drop.

The ISM non-manufacturing index slipped to 56.90 for May, versus previous reading of 57.50. Economists were expecting a reading of 57.00.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index rose to 133.70 in May, versus a prior revised reading of 132.77.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index for May is schedule for release at 12:30 p.m. ET.

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Posted In: EarningsNewsGuidanceEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMoversMid-Morning Market Update
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