Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Up 300 Points; SenesTech Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 1.22 percent to 25,016.95 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.57 percent to 7,396.32. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.75 percent to 2,733.35.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, the industrial shares surged 1.55 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Kelly Services, Inc. KELYA, up 9 percent, and YRC Worldwide Inc. YRCW up 6 percent.

In trading on Monday, healthcare shares rose by just 0.2 percent.

Top Headline

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp WABGE to create Transportation Systems Holdings, a rail equipment, services and software supplier, according to a Monday announcement.

GE will receive $2.9 billion in cash, own 50.1 percent of Wabtec, and grow adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) an estimated 20 percent over the next year. The parties expect the $11.1 billion transaction to generate annual run-rate synergies of $250 million with free cash flow supporting rapid debt reduction and maintenance of Wabtec’s regular dividend.

Equities Trading UP

SenesTech, Inc. SNES shares shot up 211 percent to $0.9809 after the California Department of Pesticide Regulation proposed to register the company's ContraPest for sale and use in California.

Shares of Boxlight Corporation BOXL got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $8.10 after the company announced an exclusive partnership with Multi Touch Interactives to strengthen the development of next generation interactive educational activities.

Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc. XTNT shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $6.9819 after the company disclosed that it has received the FDA clearance for InTice™-C Porous Titanium Cervical Interbody System.

Equities Trading DOWN

Qudian Inc. QD shares dropped 15 percent to $9.81 after reporting Q1 results.

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp FITB were down 8 percent to $30.985 after announcing a plan to acquire MB Financial for $54.70 per share in cash and stock.

Carver Bancorp, Inc. CARV was down, falling around 19 percent to $6.75 after surging 201.37 percent on Thursday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.88 percent to $71.91 while gold traded down 0.19 percent to $1,288.80.

Silver traded up 0.24 percent Monday to $16.495, while copper rose 0.96 to $3.093.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.30 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.45 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.52 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.28 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.41 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.03 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to a reading of +0.34 in April, versus +0.32 in March.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkariis set to speak at 5:30 p.m. ET.