Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Nasdaq Rises Over 100 Points; Regis Shares Drop After Q4 Results

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.72% to 28446.24 while the NASDAQ rose 1% to 11,812.92. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01% to 3,508.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 5,997,620 cases with around 183,060 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 3,862,310 COVID-19 cases with 120,820 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 3,621,240 confirmed cases and 64,460 deaths. In total, there were at least 25,248,590 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 846,870 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares gained 0.7% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Atomera Incorporated ATOM, up 20%, and Materialise NV MTLS, up 15%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell by 1.9%.

Top Headline

Nestle S.A. NSRGY subsidiary Nestle Health Sciences (NHSc) agreed to acquire biopharma companyAimmune Therapeutics, Inc. AIMT.

NHSc will purchase the stake in Aimmune through its 100% subsidiary Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. (SPN) at an enterprise value of $2.6 billion. All shares which are currently not owned by Nestle will be acquired at $34.50 per share through a cash tender offer.

Equities Trading UP

Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. AIMT shares shot up 171% to $34.18 after Nestle SA agreed to acquire the company at an enterprise value of $2.6 billion.

Shares of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. AKCA got a boost, shooting 60% to $18.18. Akcea and its majority owner Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced a definitive agreement under which Ionis will acquire the 24% stake in Akcea it does not already own for $18.15 per share — about 60% higher than Akcea's Friday closing price.

Genworth Financial, Inc. GNW shares were also up, gaining 32% to $3.1350 following a media report that a potential buyer has financing.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shiloh Industries, Inc. SHLO shares tumbled 63% to $0.4020 after the company entered into stock and asset purchase agreement with Grouper Holdings, LLC, a Subsidiary of MiddleGround Capital LLC. The company filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions to facilitate the transaction.

Shares of Acasti Pharma Inc. ACST were down 65% to $0.2470 after the company announced the results from its Phase 3 TRILOGY 2 study of CaPre did not achieve statistical significance for the primary endpoint.

Regis Corporation RGS was down, falling 17% to $7.52 after reporting a loss for the fourth quarter.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $42.85, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,979.60.

Silver traded up 3.6% Monday to $28.615, while copper rose 1.3% to $3.0585.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.62%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.29%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.04%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 slipped 0.67% and French CAC 40 fell 1.11%

Economics

The Dallas Fed manufacturing business index increased to 8.00 in August, versus a prior reading of -3.00.