Mid-Day Market Update: Cincinnati Bell Jumps Following Acquisition News; Safe-T Group Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.44% to 28581.16 while the NASDAQ rose 0.33% to 8954.31. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.18% to 3,227.17.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrial shares climbed 0.7% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Corporacion America Airports S.A. CAAP, up 7%, and Alexco Resource Corp. AXU, up 4%.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

AquaVenture Holdings Ltd WAAS agreed to be acquired by privately held water company Culligan for $27.10 per share, in an all-cash deal valued at around $1.1 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. ITCI shares shot up 250% to $43.56. Intra-Cellular said the FDA has approved its lumateperone for treating schizophrenia. Lumateperone, which goes by the trade name Caplyta, is an oral,once-daily medicine. Its efficacy is mediated through a combination of antagonist activity at central serotonin 5-HT2A receptors and postsynaptic antagonist activity at central dopamine receptors.

Shares of Cincinnati Bell Inc. CBB got a boost, shooting up 35% to $10.45 after the company announced it will be acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure for $10.50 per share.

Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA shares were also up, gaining 60% to $3.58 after the company reported insider buying of approximately $937,000. When an insider buys shares, the market may perceive it as a sign of confidence in the company's outlook.

Equities Trading DOWN

Safe-T Group Ltd SFET shares tumbled 26% to $3.03 after the company reported the pricing of $1,677,278 registered direct offering.

Shares of Monopar Therapeutics Inc. MNPR were down 15% to $22.91.

LAIX Inc. LAIX was down, falling 17% to $6.38.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $60.26, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,486.50.

Silver traded up 1.3% Monday to $17.45, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.809.

Euro zone


European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.01%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.34%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.16%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.21% while UK shares rose 0.51%.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders fell 2% in November, versus a 0.2% rise in October.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index climbed to 0.56 in November, versus a revised reading of -0.76 in the prior month.

U.S. new home sales rose 1.3% to an annual rate of 719,000 for November.

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.