Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Turns Negative; Sparton Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 21,392.82 while the NASDAQ declined 0.46 percent to 6,236.49. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 2,438.12.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 0.91 percent in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais CEMIG-ADR CIG, RGC Resources Inc. RGCO, and FirstEnergy Corp. FE.

In trading on Monday, technology shares fell by 0.39 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Numerex Corp. NMRX, down 8 percent, and Sequans Communications SA ADR SQNS, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

U.S. durable goods orders declined 1.1 percent for May. However, economists were expecting a 0.6 percent drop for May.

Durable goods orders, ex-transportation, rose 0.10percent, while core capital-goods orders slipped 0.2 percent in May.

Equities Trading UP

Store Capital Corp STOR shares shot up 11 percent to $23.04 after the company announced a $377 million investment from Berkshire Hathaway via 18.6 million share private placement at $20.25 per share.

Shares of Sparton Corporation SPA got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $22.84 as Ultra Electronics confirmed that it is in advanced discussions to acquire the company.

Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $26.73 following Bloomberg report of a deal with Google to manage self-driving car fleet.

Equities Trading DOWN

Matinas BioPharma Holdings Inc MTNB shares dropped 20 percent to $2.22. Matinas BioPharma reported that Phase 2 clinical study of orally-administered MAT2203 for the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis did not meet expectations.

Shares of Neothetics Inc NEOT were down 70 percent to $0.705. Neothetics disclosed that LIPO-202 did not show any improvement on efficacy measurements.

Stratasys, Ltd. SSYS was down, falling around 11 percent to $24.45. Goldman Sachs downgraded Stratasys from Neutral to Sell.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.47 percent to $42.81 while gold traded down 0.88 percent to $1,245.40.

Silver traded down 0.67 percent Monday to $16.595, while copper fell 0.09 percent to $2.632.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.46 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.72 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.15 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.78 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.44 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders declined 1.1 percent for May. However, economists were expecting a 0.6 percent drop for May. Core capital-goods orders slipped 0.2 percent in May.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index dropped to a reading of -0.26 in May, compared to a reading of +0.57 in April.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing business index slipped to 15.00 in June, versus a prior reading of 17.20. Economists were expecting a reading of 16.00.

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