Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 460 Points; vTv Therapeutics Shares Fall After Failed Alzheimer's Trial

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.92 percent to 24,440.32 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.92 percent to 7,084.01. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.74 percent to 2,658.57.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday afternoon, the energy shares climbed 3.51 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Approach Resources, Inc. AREX, up 10 percent, and Abraxas Petroleum Corporation AXAS, up 11 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.47 percent.


Top Headline

VeriFone Systems, Inc. PAY agreed to sell itself. VeriFone agreed to be acquired by Francisco Partners, a technology-focused private equity firm for $23.04 per share, or $3.4 billion which includes Verifone's net debt.


Equities Trading UP

VeriFone Systems, Inc. PAY shares shot up 52 percent to $22.795 after the company agreed to be acquired by Francisco Partners for $3.4 billion in cash.

Shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SPPI got a boost, shooting up 30 percent to $18.97. Spectrum Pharmaceuticals reported update of MD Anderson’s Phase 2 Data studying poziotinib in EGFR Exon 20 Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients.

Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. TNDM shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $6.79 after the company reported preliminary results for its first quarter.


Equities Trading DOWN

vTv Therapeutics Inc. VTVT shares dropped 76 percent to $0.7952. vTv Therapeutics announced Monday after the close that results from Part A of its late-stage study of an investigational medication to treat Alzheimer's disease did not meet either co-primary endpoint.

Shares of New Age Beverages Corporation NBEV were down 19 percent to $1.69 after announcing a common stock offering.

Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP was down, falling around 11 percent to $41.81 after the company lowered its earnings forecast for the first quarter.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 2.89 percent to $65.25 while gold traded up 0.16 percent to $1,342.20.

Silver traded up 0.34 percent Tuesday to $16.585, while copper rose 1.71 percent to $3.1295.


Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.83 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.21 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.52 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.11 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.84 percent while U.K. shares rose 1 percent.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index declined to 104.7 for March.

The Producer Price Index rose 0.3 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent growth.

U.S. wholesale inventories gained 1 percent for February.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will speak in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Posted In: NewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
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