Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Commercial Metals Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.40% to 28,523.80 while the NASDAQ fell 0.07% to 9,014.66. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.12% to 3,230.81.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 0.6% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pacific Drilling SA PACD, up 23%, and BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust BPT, up 9%.

In trading on Monday, financial shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

Commercial Metals Company CMC reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, while sales missed views.

Commercial Metals posted quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share on sales of $1.385 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.54 per share on sales of $ $1.43 billion.

Equities Trading UP

aTyr Pharma, Inc. LIFE shares shot up 56% to $6.64 amid news of a license deal with Kyorin Pharma.

Shares of The Habit Restaurants, Inc. HABT got a boost, shooting up 33% to $13.94 after Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM announced plans to acquire the company for $14 per share.

Pacific Drilling S.A. PACD shares were also up, gaining 24% to $5.90.

Equities Trading DOWN

Edesa Biotech, Inc. EDSA shares tumbled 24% to $3.0181 after reporting a $4.36 million registered direct offering.

Shares of Osmotica Pharmaceuticals plc OSMT were down 13% to $6.09 after announcing a 6 million share offering.

NanoViricides, Inc. NNVC was down, falling 13% to $2.9662 after the company reported that it has received a cash infusion of $2.25 million.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $63.85, while gold traded up 1.8% to $1,580.60.

Silver traded up 1.7% Monday to $18.455, while copper fell 0.5% to $2.7735.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.8%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.5%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.6%, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.1% while UK shares fell 0.9%.

Economics

The IHS Markit US services PMI rose to 52.8 in December, versus a preliminary estimate of 52.2, and versus final reading of 51.6 for November.

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

The TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index for December will be released at 12:30 p.m. ET.