Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Halliburton Beats Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.25 percent to 26491.99 while the NASDAQ declined 0.15 percent to 7,986.39. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.12 percent to 2,901.66.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the energy shares rose 0.9 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Denbury Resources Inc. DNR up 8 percent, and Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc CRZO up 6 percent.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares fell 0.8 percent.

Top Headline

Halliburton Company HAL reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Halliburton said it earned $0.23 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $5.737 billion versus expectations of $0.22 per share and $5.52 billion.

Equities Trading UP

The KeyW Holding Corporation KEYW shares got a boost, shooting up 43 percent to $11.21 after Jacobs Engineering Group Inc JEC announced plans to acquire KEYW for $11.25 per share in cash.

Shares of Moleculin Biotech, Inc. MBRX shot up 30 percent to $1.4472 after the company announced a conference call to review a 'significant discovery for lung cancer and FDA activity.'

Regional Health Properties, Inc. RHE shares were also up, gaining 149 percent to $2.7155 after the company announced it has entered an agreement to sell four skilled nursing facilities for $28.5 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Fusion Telecommunications International, Inc. FSNN shares dropped 24 percent to $0.184 after the company received a delisting notice from NASDAQ.

Shares of Novus Therapeutics, Inc. NVUS were down 27 percent to $3.00. Novus Therapeutics said its OP0201 Phase 1 clinical trials 'demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile.'

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG was down, falling around 6 percent to $498.14 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Thursday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.4 percent to $65.52 while gold traded up 0.2 percent to $1,279.00.

Silver traded up 0.1 percent Monday to $14.965, while copper fell 0.8 percent to $2.897.

Eurozone

European markets were closed Monday for Easter holiday.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for March rose to -0.15 in March, compared to a reading of -0.31 in February.

U.S. existing home sales declined 4.9 percent at an annual rate of 5.21 million for March.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.