Mid-Day Market Update: Nektar Surges After Positive Results From NKTR-181 Study; Cerulean Pharma Shares Drop

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.16 percent to 20,947.67 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.11 percent to 5,907.59. However, the S&P fell 0.03 percent to 2,377.54.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the telecommunications services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) CHL and TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) TSU.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 0.52 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included RGC Resources Inc. RGCO, down 4 percent, and Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais CEMIG-ADR CIG, down 3 percent.

Top Headline

The Washington Companies proposed to acquire Dominion Diamond Corp DDC for US$13.50 per share in cash.

Equities Trading UP

Esperion Therapeutics Inc ESPR shares shot up 50 percent to $35.42 after the company reported the FDA confirmation regarding regulatory pathway to approval for an LDL-C lowering indication for bempedoic acid.

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics NKTR got a boost, shooting up 29 percent to $19.93 after the company reported that it has met its primary and secondary endpoints in Phase 3 Summit-07 study for chronic pain.

CytomX Therapeutics Inc CTMX shares were also up, gaining 24 percent to $18.88. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY and CytomX Therapeutics disclosed that they have extended worldwide partnership to discover Probody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cerulean Pharma Inc CERU shares dropped 63 percent to $1.22. Cerulean Pharma and Daré Bioscience reported that they have entered into a stock purchase agreement. Cerulean also announced plans to reduce workforce by 11 people. The company reported that it has sold CRLX101 and CRLX301 to BlueLink Pharmaceuticals for $1.5 million and also agreed to sell Dynamic Tumor Targeting Platform to Novartis for $6 million.

Shares of Medgenics Inc GNMX were down around 56 percent to $2.39 after the company disclosed that that SAGA trial of AEVI-001 did not meet primary endpoint.

DryShips Inc. DRYS was down, falling around 16 percent to $1.40. On Friday, DryShips reported the successful completion of the $200.0 million common stock offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.65 percent to $48.99 while gold traded up 0.24 percent to $1,233.20.

Silver traded up 0.04 percent Monday to $17.42, while copper fell 1.13 percent to $2.66.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.12 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.24 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.23 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.08 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.06 percent.

Economics

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak in New York at 1:10 p.m. ET.