Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Rises 2%; iRhythm Technologies Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.22% to 33,725.47 while the NASDAQ fell 0.55% to 13,823.65. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21% to 4,120.15.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 31,197,870 cases with around 562,060 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 13,527,710 cases and 170,170 deaths, while Brazil reported over 13,482,020 COVID-19 cases with 353,130 deaths. In total, there were at least 136,101,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,937,730 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Utilities shares rose 0.3% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Middlesex Water Company MSEX, up 2%, and Black Hills Corporation BKH, up 1.5%.


In trading on Monday, information technology shares fell 0.6%.


Top Headline

Microsoft Corporation MSFT has become the final bidder for Nuance Communications Inc NUAN, the company that helped develop Apple’s Siri speech technology for $56 per share.

The deal price implies a 23% premium to NUAN's Friday closing price of $45.58, valuing the all-cash transaction at $19.7 billion, inclusive of Nuance's net debt.


Equities Trading UP


Wilhelmina International, Inc. WHLM shares shot up 34% to $7.47 after the company's 13D filing showed that Modell's Sporting Goods had reported a stake of 18.4% in the company on Friday.


Shares of Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. TSHA got a boost, shooting 19% to $25.22 after the company announced the acquisition of exclusive worldwide rights to a clinical-stage AAV9 gene therapy program, now known as TSHA-120, for the treatment of giant axonal neuropathy.


Evelo Biosciences, Inc. EVLO shares were also up, gaining 23% to $12.35 after Jefferies upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and raised its price target from $11 to $18 per share.


Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

iRhythm Technologies, Inc.. IRTC shares tumbled 38% to $82.88 after the company said it will not be able to provide its Zio XT device to Medicare patients if reimbursement rates remain unchanged. Baird maintained iRhythm Technologies with a Neutral and lowered the price target from $170 to $80.

Shares of Aphria Inc. APHA were down 14% to $14.04 after reporting Q3 results. The company swung to a loss in the third quarter.

Canaan Inc. CAN was down, falling 21% to $14.83 following Q4 results. The company reported Q4 sales of RMB38.2 million, down from RMB463.2 million year-over-year.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 2% to $60.48, while gold traded down 0.8% to $1,730.20.


Silver traded down 2.2% Monday to $24.76 while copper fell 0.5% to $4.0220.


Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.32% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.06%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.23% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.28%.

Eurozone's retail trade increased 3.0% in February following a 5.2% decline in January.


Economics


Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.


The Treasury will auction 3-month bills and 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.


The U.S. Treasury statement for March is scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneCommoditiesSmall CapGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Day Market Update
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...