Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; Tesla To Acquire SolarCity

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 18,431.25 while the NASDAQ gained 0.37 percent to 5,181.18. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.02 percent to 2,174.11.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, healthcare shares climbed by 0.51 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Amarin Corporation plc (ADR) AMRN and EXACT Sciences Corporation EXAS.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell by 1.77 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Whiting Petroleum Corp WLL, down 9 percent, and Pioneer Energy Services Corp PES, down 10 percent.

Top Headline

Tesla Motors Inc TSLA announced plans to acquire SolarCity Corp SCTY for $2.6 billion in stock, or $25.83 a share.

SolarCity's shareholders will receive 0.11 shares of Tesla's stock for each one share of SolarCity they own.

Equities Trading UP

FleetMatics Group PLC FLTX shares shot up 39 percent to $59.70 after Verizon Communications Inc. VZ announced plans to buy Fleetmatics at $60 per share in cash.

Shares of Eyegate Pharmaceuticals Inc EYEG got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $2.59 after the company reported reports positive top-line data from Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of EGP-437 for the treatment of post-operative inflammation and pain in cataract surgery patients.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc IONS shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $37.60. Biogen Inc BIIB and Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported that Nusinersen has met primary endpoint at interim analysis of Phase 3 ENDEAR Study in infantile-onset spinal muscular atrophy.

Equities Trading DOWN

ADMA Biologics Inc ADMA shares dropped 20 percent to $6.25 after the company reported that it has received a CRL from the FDA for its pending Biologics License Application.

Shares of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals KERX were down 31 percent to $5.07 after the company revealed that there is an imminent supply interruption of Auryxia (ferric citrate) tablets due to a production-related issue converting active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to finished drug product. As a result, the company also withdrew the outlook for the current year. The company also reported second quarter results incurring a net loss of $44.7 million, or $0.42 loss per share, wider than a net loss of $26.9 million, or $0.26 loss per share, for the comparable period in 2015.

Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp ITEK was down, falling around 18 percent to $7.79 as the company reported a proposed public offering of $50 million of Convertible Senior Notes due 2021.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.04 percent to $40.75 while gold traded down 0.15 percent to $1,355.50.

Silver traded up 0.85 percent Monday to $20.52, while copper fell 0.23 percent to $2.22.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.59 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.59 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.99 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.28 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.73 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.56 percent.

Economics

The final reading of Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 52.9 in July, versus a June reading of 51.3.

The ISM manufacturing index slipped to 52.60 in July, versus a prior reading of 53.20. However, economists were expecting a reading of 53.00.

U.S. construction spending declined 0.6 percent for June.

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