Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Rises 140 Points; Remark Holdings Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.57 percent to 24,971.68 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.49 percent to 7,438.79. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.35 percent to 2,737.22.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, the health care shares rose 0.85 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Evolus, Inc. EOLS, up 18 percent, and Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. GALT up 18 percent.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares fell 0.46 percent.

Top Headline

Sears Holdings Corp SHLD announced Monday it was exploring a sale of its Kenmore brand and related assets, its Sears Home Improvement business and its Parts Direct business.

A special committee of the board consisting of independent directors is initiating a formal process to evaluate previously reported interest from ESL Investments, to solicit third-party interest and to explore strategic alternatives.

Equities Trading UP

Myomo, Inc. MYO shares shot up 21 percent to $3.80 after the company disclosed that its application for Medicare codes received favorable preliminary decision.

Shares of Sears Holdings Corporation SHLD got a boost, shooting up 11 percent to $3.8108 after the company announced Monday it was exploring a sale of its Kenmore brand and related assets, its Sears Home Improvement business and its Parts Direct business.

Precipio, Inc. PRPO shares were also up, gaining 36 percent to $0.5158 after the micro-cap specialty diagnostics company reported preliminary first-quarter results. The company said its first quarter revenue rose 286 percent from the same quarter a year ago to $712,000.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ominto, Inc. OMNT shares dropped 35 percent to $1.71 after the company reported voluntary delisting from the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Shares of Remark Holdings, Inc. MARK were down 18 percent to $5.06. Remark Holdings posted Q1 GAAP loss of $0.43 per share on sales of $16.724 million.

aTyr Pharma, Inc. LIFE was down, falling around 21 percent to $1.812 after the company posted a wider-than-expected Q1 loss.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.38 percent to $70.97 while gold traded down 0.11 percent to $1,319.30.

Silver traded down 0.46 percent Monday to $16.675, while copper fell 0.26 to $3.1035.
.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.29 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 0.09 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.20 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.13 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.12 percent.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.