Mid-Day Market Update: Onvia Climbs On Acquisition News; Intellicheck Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.16 percent to 22,697.95 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.32 percent to 6,555.48. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24 percent to 2,543.76.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares surged 0.71 percent.

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell 0.26 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included MediciNova, Inc. MNOV, down 15 percent, and NewLink Genetics Corp NLNK down 8 percent.

Top Headline

Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ posted upbeat Q2 results and raised its FY18 outlook.

Constellation Brands reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $2.47 per share on sales of $2.085 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $2.17 per share on sales of $2.06 billion.

The company now expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $8.25 to $8.40 per share, versus prior forecast of $7.90 to $8.10 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Onvia, Inc. ONVI shares shot up 96 percent to $8.90 after the company agreed to be purchased by Deltek for $9 per share.

Shares of CareDx Inc CDNA got a boost, shooting up 30 percent to $5.72. CareDx priced its 4.3 million common stock offering at $4 per share.

Aptevo Therapeutics Inc APVO shares were also up, gaining 51 percent to $3.50. Piper Jaffray resumed coverage on Aptevo Therapeutics with an Overweight rating and a price target of $6.00.

Equities Trading DOWN

Intellicheck Inc IDN shares dropped 18 percent to $2.35. Intellicheck named Bill White as Interim President and CEO amid departure of William Roof

Shares of Navient Corp NAVI were down 11 percent to $13.03 after the company announced plans to buy Earnest for $155 million in cash. Compass Point downgraded Navient from Buy to Neutral.

Vericel Corp VCEL was down, falling around 13 percent to $5.22 as the company issued a general business update at the 2017 Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa. Vericel reported plans for further expansion of MACI sales force in 2018.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.72 percent to $50.84 while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,277.20.

Silver traded up 0.52 percent Thursday to $16.71, while copper rose 2.69 percent to $3.0385.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 2.27 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.44 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.15 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.26 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.36 percent.

Economics

The U.S. trade deficit declined 2.7 percent to $42.4 billion in August, versus $43.6 billion in July. However, economists were expecting a deficit of $42.6 billion. Imports dropped 0.1 percent to $237.7 billion in August, while exports gained 0.4 percent to $195.3 billion.

U.S. initial jobless claims declined 12,000 to 260,000 for the latest week. Economists projected claims to reach 265,000 last week.

U.S. factory orders rose 1.2 percent for August, versus economists’ expectations for a 1 percent growth.

Domestic supplies of natural gas increased 42 billion cubic feet for the week ended September 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 51 billion cubic feet.

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George will speak in Austin at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.