Mid-Day Market Update: RF Industries Climbs After Q2 Results; Vical Shares Slide

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.16 percent to 25,357.13 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.24 percent to 7,663.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.28 percent to 2,786.90.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, the telecommunication services shares surged 0.91 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included B Communications Ltd BCOM up 8 percent, and SK Telecom Co., Ltd. SKM up 6 percent.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 0.07 percent.

Top Headline

Envision Healthcare Corporation EVHC agreed to be acquired by KKR KKR for total enterprise value of $9.9 billion.

The offer price of $46 per share represents a 5.4 percent premium over Envision's closing price on Friday.

Equities Trading UP

Nano Dimension Ltd. NNDM shares shot up 132 percent to $3.114. The additive electronics provider said it has been granted certified U.S. Department of Defense vendor status and also sold a DragonFly 2020 Pro 3D Printer to an un-named top-ten U.S.-based defense company.

Shares of RF Industries, Ltd. RFIL got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $8.00 following Q2 results. RF Industries posted Q2 earnings of $0.34 per share on sales of $22.38 million.

Cardiome Pharma Corp. CORV shares were also up, gaining 39 percent to $2.90 after the company issued regulatory update for BRINAVESS. The FDA informed the company that it would be able to resubmit BRINAVESS New Drug Application and agreed that company may schedule pre-NDA meeting.

Equities Trading DOWN

Adient plc ADNT shares dropped 17 percent to $47.505 after the company lowered its fiscal 2018 guidance and disclosed that CEO R. Bruce McDonald is stepping down.

Shares of TapImmune, Inc. TPIV were down 8 percent to $8.2696. On Friday, TapImmune reported the pricing of 17.5 million share common stock offering at $4 per share.

Vical Incorporated VICL was down, falling around 27 percent to $1.19 after the company disclosed that its Phase 2 trial of HSV-2 therapeutic vaccine for genital herpes did not meet primary endpoint..

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.55 percent to $66.10 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,305.70.

Silver traded up 1.25 percent Monday to $16.95, while copper fell 1.06 to $3.265.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.81 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.70 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 3.49 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.66 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.56 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.73 percent.

Economics

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