Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Mylan, Pfizer's Upjohn To Merge

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.01% to 27188.77 while the NASDAQ fell 0.82% to 8262.08. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.35% to 3,015.13.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares climbed 0.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The GEO Group, Inc. GEO, up 3%, and Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. UBP, up 2%.

In trading on Monday, consumer discretionary shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

Mylan NV MYL announced the launch of a new company with Pfizer Inc's PFE Upjohn division.

Pfizer shareholders will own 57% of the combined new company, and Mylan shareholders will own 43%. The new company is expected to have 2020 revenues of $19 billion to $20 billion. The boards of directors of both Mylan and Pfizer have unanimously approved the transaction.

Pfizer reported upbeat Q2 earnings, while sales missed estimates. The company also lowered its FY19 guidance below analyst estimates. Mylan reported better-than-expected Q2 results.

Equities Trading UP

Medley Management Inc. MDLY shares shot up 34% to $3.195 after the company announced a merger agreement with Sierra Income. Medley Capital shareholders will receive 0.67 shares of Sierra stock and $2.96 per share in cash.

Shares of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NBY got a boost, shooting up 30% to $1.327 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 sales results.

Mylan N.V. MYL shares were also up, gaining 14% to $21.10 after the company announced a business combination with Pfizer's Upjohn division. The company also reported better-than-expected Q2 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. LXRX shares tumbled 69% to $1.7850 after the company received a written notice from Sanofi SNY terminating the agreement for the development and commercialization of the company's Diabetes drug candidate Sotagliflozin.

Shares of On Deck Capital, Inc. ONDK were down 19% to $3.2250 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS results and narrowed its FY19 sales guidance.

Insperity, Inc. NSP was down, falling 16% to $121.87 after the company issued Q3 EPS guidance below analyst estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1% to $56.18, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,420.50.

Silver traded up 0.1% Monday to $16.415, while copper rose 0.4% to $2.695.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.2%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.2% while UK shares rose 1.9%.

Economics

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for July is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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