Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.15% to 32,829.24 while the NASDAQ rose 0.65% to 13,406.57. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.28% to 3,954.44.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 29,439,270 cases with around 534,890 deaths. Brazil reported over 11,483,370 COVID-19 cases with 278,220 deaths, while India confirmed a total of at least 11,385,330 cases and 158,720 deaths. In total, there were at least 119,956,950 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,655,280 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares rose 1.2% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Paranaense de Energia - COPEL ELP, up 12%, and Azure Power Global Limited AZRE, up 6%.
In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 1.4%.
Top Headline
Roche Holding AG RHHBY announced a big-ticket acquisition that would boost its presence in the diagnostics market.
Roche said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GenMark Diagnostics GNMK for $24.05 per share in cash, or about $1.8 billion, on a fully diluted basis.
The per-share value of the deal represents a 30% premium from the $18.50 per share at which GenMark's shares closed Friday, and a 43% premium over the stock's closing price on Feb .10, when a media report broke out regarding a possible transaction.
Equities Trading UP
Rubius Therapeutics, Inc. RUBY shares shot up 82% to $29.84 after the company reported initial clinical data from ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of RTX-240 in patients with advanced solid tumors.
Shares of Sigma Labs, Inc. SGLB got a boost, shooting 166% to $8.90 after the company secured a contract for an initial system of its PrintRite3D in-process quality assurance solution by Lockheed Martin’s Space Additive Design & Manufacturing Center based in Sunnyvale, California.
Shaw Communications Inc. SJR shares were also up, gaining 38% to $26.46 after the company announced it would be acquired by Rogers Communications in a CAD $26 billion deal.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc. TRCH shares tumbled 11% to $2.57. Torchlight Energy Resources said it is continuing to work towards regulatory requirements related to its business combination with Metamaterial.
Shares of Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. AMR were down 15% to $13.12 after reporting Q4 results.
HighPoint Resources Corporation HPR was down, falling 10% to $7.27 after the company announced that it commenced voluntary Chapter 11.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $65.17, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,729.00.
Silver traded up 1.6% Monday to $26.315 while copper rose 0.1% to $4.1425.
Euro zone
European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 closed flat, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.11% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.28%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.17%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.17% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.11%.
Wholesale prices in Germany rose 2.3% year-on-year in February following a flat reading in the previous month.
Economics
The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index climbed to 17.4 in March from 12.1 in February.
The Treasury International Capital report for January will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.
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