Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Eli Lilly To Buy Dermira For $18.75/Share

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.09% to 28984.16 while the NASDAQ rose 0.27% to 9228.46. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.18% to 3,280.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais CIG, up 3%, and Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras EBR, up 3%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Eli Lilly And Co LLY announced Friday it will acquire Dermira Inc DERM for $18.75 per share, around $1.1 billion, in an all-cash transaction..

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first-quarter of 2020. The purchase price represents a premium of 86% to the 60-day volume-weighted average trading price of Dermira's stock ending on Jan 9., the last trading day before the announcement of the transaction.

Equities Trading UP

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PHAS shares shot up 42% to $8.05 after the company reported financing and co-development collaboration with SFJ Pharmaceuticals for PB2452.

Shares of Sorrento Therapeutics Inc SRNE got a boost, shooting up 35% to $4.62 following news it received an unsolicited acquisition offer from private equity at $7 per share.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. PHAS shares were also up, gaining 26% to $55.28 after the company announced positive topline cohort 3 results and improved longer-term Cohort 2 results from the Phase 1/2 study of DTX301 gene therapy.

Equities Trading DOWN

Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PTLA shares tumbled 43% to $14.01 after the company reported preliminary FY19 Andexxa global net revenues of $111 million.

Shares of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation SIX were down 18% to $36.02 after the company disclosed that development of co-branded parks in China has encountered continued challenges. Wells Fargo downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal-Weight and lowered the price target from $49 to $42 per share.

Cryoport, Inc. CYRX was down, falling 17% to $14.88. Cryoport sees preliminary Q4 sales of $9.2 million.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $59.64, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,551.10.

Silver traded down 0.1% Friday to $17.935, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.805.

Euro zone

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

Economics

The U.S. economy created 145,000 jobs for December. However, economists were expecting a gain of 164,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.5% in December.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.