Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Gas Natural Jumps After Merger News; Twilio Shares Drop

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.53 percent to 18,336.92 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.79 percent to 5,334.18. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.50 percent to 2,164.59.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, energy shares climbed 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Approach Resources Inc. AREX, and Seadrill Ltd SDRL.

In trading on Monday, industrial shares rose by just 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Dover Corp DOV, down 8 percent, and Star Bulk Carriers Corp. SBLK, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Dover Corporation DOV provided EPS outlook for the third quarter that came in below the estimates. Similarly, the company slashed its full year EPS forecast that came lower than the Street analysts' expectations.

The company expects EPS to be $0.81-$0.83 for the third quarter, which is significantly below the Street estimates of $1.02 a share.

For the full year, Dover reduced its EPS guidance from $3.35-$3.45 to $3.00-$3.05 on revenue drop of 4–5 percent, which included estimate organic revenue fall of 7–8 percent. Previously, the company estimated revenue to fall 3–5 percent including organic revenue drop of 6–8 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Gas Natural Inc EGAS shares shot up 64 percent to $12.60 after First Reserve agreed to acquire all the outstanding shares of Gas Natural common stock for $13.10 per share.

Shares of IntelliPharmaCeutics Intl Inc (USA) IPCI got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $2.83 as the company reported the FDA tentative approval for generic Seroquel XR on Friday.

TESARO Inc TSRO shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $118.43. TESARO and ENGOT reported the presentation of successful niraparib Phase 3 ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial results during the ESMO 2016. Bank of America upgraded TESARO from Neutral to Buy.

Equities Trading DOWN

Twitter Inc TWTR shares dropped 12 percent to $17.37 following a Bloomberg report which suggested the social media company is no longer being targeted for an acquisition. According to Bloomberg, potential bidders reportedly lost interest in acquiring Twitter due to pressure from their major investors. Companies such as salesforce.com, inc. CRM, Walt Disney Co DIS and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL's Google unit all consulted with their respective financial advisers and bankers and the conclusion that was reached appears to be unfavorable for Twitter investors who were hoping a takeout would occur at a hefty premium.

Shares of Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. HVT were down 9 percent to $18.00. Raymond James downgraded Haverty Furniture from Strong Buy to Market Perform.

Twilio Inc TWLO was down, falling around 13 percent to $52.56. Twilio announced a $400 secondary offering million on Friday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.81 percent to $51.21 while gold traded up 0.73 percent to $1,261.10.

Silver traded up 1.55 percent Monday to $17.65, while copper rose 1.36 percent to $2.19.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.69 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.90 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 1.38 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 1.27 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.06 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.75 percent.

Economics

Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans is set speak at Australian Business Economists Luncheon in Sydney, Australia at 10:00 p.m. ET.