Mid-Day Market Update: Iterum Therapeutics Gains After Q4 Results; Proteostasis Therapeutics Shares Slide

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.04 percent to 25,512.39 while the NASDAQ declined 0.06 percent to 7,637.76. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.02 percent to 2,800.04.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, the consumer discretionary shares climbed 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ascena Retail Group Inc ASNA up 11 percent, and Cango Inc - ADR CANG up 5 percent.

In trading on Monday, communication services shares fell 0.4 percent.

Top Headline

Winnebago Industries, Inc. WGO reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.

Winnebago reported quarterly earnings of $0.60 per share on sales of $432.69 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.59 per share on sales of $461.92 million.

Equities Trading UP

Avaya Holdings Corp. AVYA shares got a boost, shooting up 36 percent to $17.94 following media reports the company is considering a leveraged buyout offer around $20 per share.

Shares of Yirendai Ltd - ADR YRD shot up 9 percent to $12.50 after the company agreed with CreditEase to acquire certain business operations, including online wealth management. The company also reported mixed Q4 earnings.

Iterum Therapeutics PLC ITRM shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $7.95 after reporting upbeat Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. PTI shares dropped 60 percent to $1.63 after the company said a 14 day study of its Cystic Fibrosis treatment did not show improvement.

Shares of Recro Pharma, Inc. REPH were down 36 percent to $6.22 in reaction to an adverse regulatory decision on its lead pain medication candidate that was announced late Friday. Recro, a micro-cap specialty pharma company that focuses on therapeutics for hospitals and other acute care settings, announced Friday the FDA handed down a complete response letter for its NDA seeking approval forintravenous meloxicam for the management of moderate to severe pain. The investigational drug was issued a complete response letter for the first time in May 2018, with the FDA reasoning that data from ad hoc analyses and selective secondary endpoints suggested that the analgesic effect of the asset doesn't meet its expectations.

DarioHealth Corp. DRIO was down, falling around 14 percent to $0.6997 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 sales.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1 percent to $59.01 while gold traded up 0.6 percent to $1,320.60.

Silver traded up 1 percent Monday to $15.56, while copper rose 0.4 percent to $2.854.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.5 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.27 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.11 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.26 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.25 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.32 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to a reading of -0.29 in February, compared to -0.25 in January.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing business index fell to 8.30 for March, versus prior reading of 13.10. However, economists were expecting a reading of 9.60.