Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Rises Over 3%; Novavax Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 1.89% to 25888.78 while the NASDAQ rose 1.69% to 8712.06. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.67% to 3,003.43. Coronavirus cases continued to rise outside China. South Korea confirmed 123 new coronavirus cases today, while Italy reported a 50% increase in coronavirus cases. In Iran, total number of infections surged by 523.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares climbed 1.7% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. COKE, up 12%, and HF Foods Group Inc. HFFG, up 7%.

In trading on Monday, industrial shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD confirmed a deal to buy Forty Seven, Inc. FTSV for $4.9 billion.

Gilead said in a Monday press release that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Menlo Park, California-based Forty Seven for $95.50 per share in cash. This per-share value represents a 96% premium to the $48.79 at which the stock closed Thursday, when speculation regarding the interest began building.

The boards of both companies approved the transaction.

Equities Trading UP

China Pharma Holdings, Inc. CPHI shares shot up 107% to $1.18 after the company announced a wash-free sanitizer in response to the coronavirus.

Shares of Daxor Corporation DXR got a boost, shooting 63% to $14.02. Daxor said hospitals are using its blood volume analyzer to prevent coronavirus deaths.

Forty Seven, Inc. FTSV shares were also up, gaining 62% to $93.77 after the company announced it will be acquired by Gilead Sciences for $95.50 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. AHPI shares tumbled 40% to $14.40 after surging 54.6% on Friday.

Shares of Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd. ENLV were down 20% to $7.40. Enlivex Therapeutics announced a $16.75 million registered direct offering for a stock and warrant unit at $8 per unit.

Novavax, Inc. NVAX was down, falling 24% to $12.12 following news of a $150 million common stock offering via B. Riley FBR.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 3.4% to $46.29, while gold traded up 1.8% to $1,595.30.

Silver traded up 1.6% Monday to $16.715, while copper rose 1.3% to $2.5735.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.13% the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.01%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.77% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.32, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.21% while UK shares rose 1.02%.

Economics

The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.7 in February, versus a preliminary reading of 50.8.

The ISM manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.1 in February, versus a reading of 50.9 in January.

U.S. construction spending rose 1.8% in January, versus a revised 0.2% gain in December.