Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Sorl Auto Parts Climbs After Strong Q1 Results; Westmoreland Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.36 percent to 20,971.10 while the NASDAQ gained 0.33 percent to 6,141.50. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.36 percent to 2,399.60.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Basic materials sector was the top gainer in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Haynes International, Inc. HAYN, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc CLF, and Olympic Steel, Inc. ZEUS.

In trading on Monday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by just 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. PRTS, down 22 percent, and Sears Holdings Corp SHLD, down 13 percent.

Top Headline

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO announced plans to acquire Patheon NV PTHN for $35 per share in cash.

The deal is projected to complete by the end of 2017.

Equities Trading UP

Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc CBMG shares shot up 63 percent to $8.65 after the company reported the addition of a second clinical site in expansion of chimeric antigen Phase 1 trial.

Shares of Patheon NV PTHN got a boost, shooting up 33 percent to $34.65 after Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO announced plans to acquire the company for $35 per share in cash.

Sorl Auto Parts, Inc. SORL shares were also up, gaining 33 percent to $6.02 after the company reported strong Q1 results and raised its FY17 sales guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Forterra Inc FRTA shares dropped 24 percent to $14.98. Forterra posted a Q1 loss of $0.35 per share on sales of $338.3 million.

Shares of Westmoreland Coal Company WLB were down 19 percent to $7.95. Westmoreland reported a Q1 loss of $1.98 per share on revenue of $339 million.

Verso Corporation VRS was down, falling around 22 percent to $4.71 following earlier filing of 10-Q. Verso posted a Q1 loss of $0.67 per share on sales of $616 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.53 percent to $49.05 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,230.50.

Silver traded up 1.45 percent Monday to $16.64, while copper rose 0.67 percent to $2.541.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.09 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.56 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.60 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.29 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.22 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.26 percent.

Economics

The Empire State manufacturing index dropped to negative 1 in May, compared to positive 5.2 in April. However, economists were projecting a reading of 7 for the month.

The NAHB housing market index increased 2 points to a reading of 70 for May. Economists expected a reading of 68 for the month.