Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 110 Points; Intra-Cellular Therapies Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.39% to 28,565 while the NASDAQ rose 0.30% to 8,951.92. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.15% to 3,225.95.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 0.7% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Seadrill Limited SDRL, up 33%, and Apache Corporation APA, up 16%.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 1.1%.

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 175% to $34.25. 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 $10.44 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 66% to $3.74 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 24% to $3.12 after the company reported the pricing of $1,677,278 registered direct offering.

Shares of Monopar Therapeutics Inc. MNPR were down 15% to $22.96.

LAIX Inc. LAIX was down, falling 18% to $6.30.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $60.63, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,488.40.

Silver traded up 1.4% Monday to $17.46, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.808.

Euro zone


European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.03%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.16%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.44%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.13%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.13% while UK shares rose 0.54%.

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.