Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Edges Lower; Acorda Therapeutics Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.09 percent to 25,892.20 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.23 percent to 7,920.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.25 percent to 2,878.93.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, the real estate shares rose 0.78 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included eXp World Holdings, Inc. EXPI up 5 percent, and American Realty Investors, Inc. ARL up 7 percent.

In trading on Monday, health care shares fell 0.13 percent.


Top Headline

Science Applications International Corp SAIC announced plans to acquire Engility Holdings Inc EGL for $2.5 billion in an all-stock transaction.

SAIC also reported upbeat results for its second quarter. The company posted quarterly earnings of $1.13 per share on revenue of $ $1.115 billion. However, analysts were expecting loss of $0.99 per share on revenue of $1.11 billion.


Equities Trading UP

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. SRNE shares shot up 11 percent to $5.47 after the company earlier announced its Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc has received $140 million in royalty-based financing to support the commercialization of ZTlido pain medication.

Shares of Tilray, Inc. TLRY got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $89.6999. The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. signed a supply agreement to provide dried cannabis to Tilray Canada Ltd.

Fred's, Inc. FRED shares were also up, gaining 69 percent to $2.7699. Regional pharmacy chain Fred's and larger rival Walgreens announced that the latter will buy pharmacy patient prescription files and the related pharmacy inventory of 185 Fred's stores located across 10 Southeastern states. Walgreens will pay Fred's $165 million as part of the agreement, subject to adjustment, plus an amount equal to the value of related pharmacy inventory.


Equities Trading DOWN

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. ACOR shares dropped 22 percent to $21.5001 following a press release indicating US Court of Appeals upheld a Delaware decision to invalidate 4 AMPYRA patents.

Shares of iKang Healthcare Group, Inc. KANG were down 13 percent to $16.05 after the company on Friday announced it will re-evaluate a proposed merger between IK Healthcare Investment Limited and IK Healthcare Merger Limited.

Aytu BioScience, Inc. AYTU was down, falling around 21 percent to $2.962 after announcing a proposed $8 million offering.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.15 percent to $67.65 while gold traded down 0.07 percent to $1,199.50.

Silver traded up 0.04 percent Monday to $14.175, while copper rose 0.02 to $2.623.



Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.47 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.09 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.30 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.22 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.33 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.02 percent.

Economics

Data on consumer credit for July will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Posted In: NewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
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