Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; 3M To Sell Communication Markets Division For $900M

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.04 percent to 24,338.40 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.18 percent to 6,852.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.08 percent to 2,653.63.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Eclipse Resources Corp ECR and Comstock Resources Inc CRK.

In trading on Monday, consumer staples shares fell 0.35 percent.

Top Headline

3M Co MMM agreed to sell substantially all of its communication markets division to Corning Incorporated GLW for $900 million.

Corning expects the deal adding $0.07 to $0.09 per share in FY19 earnings.

Equities Trading UP

ARGENX SE/S ADR ARGX shares shot up 61 percent to $49.06 after the company reported positive topline results from Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial of ARGX-113 in generalized myasthenia gravis.

Shares of Blueprint Medicines Corp BPMC got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $86.69 after the company announced new data from ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of Avapritinib.

bluebird bio Inc BLUE shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $200.45 after the company announced updated clinical results from ongoing Phase 1 multicenter study of LentiGlobin gene therapy in severe sickle cell disease at the ASH2017.

Equities Trading DOWN

Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc SYRS shares dropped 40 percent to $7.40 following presentation at the ASH 2017 on Phase 2 trial of SY-1425 in genomically defined AML and MDS patients.

Shares of Spark Therapeutics Inc ONCE were down 42 percent to $42.34 on volatile factor VIII activity data in hemophilia A gene therapy.

Global Blood Therapeutics Inc GBT was down, falling around 7 percent to $42.45 after the company released results from multiple data presentations during the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.42 percent to $57.60 while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,248.80.

Silver traded down 0.30 percent Monday to $15.775, while copper rose 0.20 percent to $2.9845.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.10 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.15 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.09 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.02 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.71 percent.

Economics

The number of job openings dropped to around 6 million in October, compared to 6.18 million in the previous month, the Labor Department reported.

The Treasury is set to auction 6-month bills and 3-year notes at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The Treasury will auction 3-month bills and 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.