Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; MoneyGram Shares Jump After Partnering With Ripple

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.17% to 26,417.20 while the NASDAQ rose 1.77% to 7,983.65. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.14% to 2,922.62.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose 1.8% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SunPower Corporation SPWR, up 17%, and ACM Research, Inc. ACMR, up 9%.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell by 0.7%.

Top Headline

Blockchain payments firm Ripple has made an investment in MoneyGram International, Inc. MGI and will also allow the group to use its XRP cryptocurrency as part of the cross-border payments process.

Ripple made an initial investment of $30 million in the money transfer company, made up of common stock and a warrant to purchase common stock. Ripple purchased newly-issued common stock including the shares underlying the warrant from MoneyGram at $4.10 per share.

Equities Trading UP

MoneyGram International, Inc. MGI shares shot up 100% to $2.8933 after the company reported a strategic partnership with Ripple.

Shares of G1 Therapeutics, Inc. GTHX got a boost, shooting up 26% to $24.97 after the company announced Phase 2 trial of Trilaciclib in combination with Chemotherapy showed statistically significant improvement in overall survival in women with metastatic triple negative breast cancer.

SunPower Corporation SPWR shares were also up, gaining 17% to $9.66 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and announced an $11 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

Digital Ally, Inc. DGLY shares tumbled 42% to $1.67. Axon Enterprise Inc AAXN reported the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas has granted summary judgment in favor of the company stating that Axon's Signal technology does not infringe Digital Ally's 452 patent. The court entered judgment for Axon and dismissed the case in its entirety.

Shares of ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CTRV were down 38% to $6.06 after the company reported a 2.6 million unit offering priced at $6 per unit.

Rockwell Medical, Inc. RMTI was down, falling 31% to $3.06 after the company priced 5.83 million share offering at $3 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1% to $52.41, while gold traded up 1% to $1,355.70.

Silver traded up 0.9% Tuesday to $14.955, while copper rose 1.1% to $2.6745.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 2.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 1.5%, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.7% while UK shares rose 1.1%.

Economics

The Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day policy meeting today.

U.S. housing starts fell 0.9% at an annual pace of 1.269 million for May, while building permits rose 0.3% at an annual rate of 1.294 million.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index for the latest week is schedule for release at 8:55 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.