Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 70 Points; vTv Therapeutics Shares Jump

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.24% to 29,172.58 while the NASDAQ rose 0.71% to 9,588.11. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.36% to 3,339.57.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares climbed 1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Youdao, Inc. DAO, up 24%, and China Distance Education Holdings Limited DL, up 18%.

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 52% to $3.20 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 Edgewell Personal Care Company EPC got a boost, shooting 26% to $38.40 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and announced plans to call off its acquisition of Harry’s Inc. Consumer Edge Research upgraded Edgewell Personal Care from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

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 25% to $5.61 after jumping 40.64% on Friday.

Shares of Acasti Pharma Inc. ACST were down 27% to $0.5512 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.

Valeritas Holdings, Inc. VLRX was down, falling 44% to $0.358 after the company announced an agreement for Zealand Pharma to acquire business and retain employees. The company and its subsidiaries also commenced voluntary Chapter 11 to facilitate value-maximizing sale.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.4% to $49.62, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,579.30.

Silver traded up 0.7% Monday to $17.81, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.554.

Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.07%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.05%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.12% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.15%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.23% while UK shares fell 0.27%.

Economics

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