Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Allergan Tops Q4 Expectations

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.24% to 29171.93 while the NASDAQ rose 0.41% to 9559.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04% to 3,328.96.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares climbed 0.9% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included China Online Education Group COE, up 21%, and Youdao, Inc. DAO, up 13%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 1%.

Top Headline

Allergan plc AGN reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday

Allergan reported quarterly earnings of $5.22 per share on Monday, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $4.57. The company reported quarterly sales of $4.351 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $4.09 billion.

Equities Trading UP

vTv Therapeutics Inc. VTVT shares shot up 59% to $3.34 after the company reported the results from part 2 of the Phase 2 Simplici-T1 study of TTP399 achieved the primary objective of a statistically significant reduction in HbA1c.

Shares of Planet Green Holdings Corp. PLAG got a boost, shooting 45% to $2.9250 after the company entered into share purchase agreement with two investors. The company will sell 1.35 million shares for $2.60 per share.

Taubman Centers, Inc. TCO shares were also up, gaining 53% to $53.12. Simon Property Group, Inc. SPG said Monday it plans to purchase an 80% ownership interest in Taubman Centers-owned Taubman Realty Group for $52.50 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Benitec Biopharma Limited BNTC shares tumbled 18% to $6.09 after jumping 40.64% on Friday.

Shares of Acasti Pharma Inc. ACST were down 35% to $0.4961 after the company announced an investigation into its Phase 3 trials of CaPre is underway following 'inconsistent findings' that may have negatively impacted results in its TRILOGY 1 trial.

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. DO was down, falling 15% to $3.74 after the company reported Q4 earnings results.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1% to $50.26, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,575.20.

Silver traded up 0.4% Monday to $17.76, while copper rose 0.2% to $2.558.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.3% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.3%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.2% while UK shares fell 0.2%.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.