Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow surges 125 points; Trade desk shares plunge

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.36% to 34,903 while the NASDAQ fell 2.16% to 13,456.73. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.58% to 4,208.02.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 32,708,020 cases with around 581,750 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 22,662,570 cases and 246,110 deaths, while Brazil reported over 15,184,790 COVID-19 cases with 422,340 deaths. In total, there were at least 158,399,250 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,294,610 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 1.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Duke Energy Corporation DUK 2.91%, up 3%, and NRG Energy, Inc. NRG 2.01%, up 4%.

In trading on Monday, information technology shares fell 1.6%.

Top Headline

Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN 0.03% reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Tyson Foods reported quarterly earnings of $1.34 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.12 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $11.30 billion, versus expectations of $11.19 billion.

Tyson Foods said it expects chicken results to be lower in FY21 versus FY20.

Equities Trading UP

Soliton, Inc. SOLY 24.5% shares shot up 24% to $22.35 following a $22.60 per share buyout from AbbVie Inc. AbbVie’s Allergan Aesthetics unit will pay $550 million in cash to scoop up Soliton and Resonic, its sound-wave device that improves the appearance of cellulite.

Shares of Precipio, Inc. PRPO 15.63% got a boost, shooting 36% to $5.21 after the company announced it launched a new, four-hour Acute Myeloid Leukemia HemeScreen panel to specifically determine the genetics of this aggressive, acute form of leukemia.

Cue Biopharma, Inc. CUE 27.71% shares were also up, gaining 29% to $14.55 as the company reported confirmed partial response in ongoing Phase 1 monotherapy study of CUE-101 in late stage second line and beyond patients with HPV+ recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Trade Desk, Inc. TTD 25.98% shares tumbled 27% to $485.00 after the company reported it is facing a period of higher uncertainty in its business outlook. The company’s board also declared a ten-for-one split in the form of a stock dividend. The company’s quarterly earnings also exceeded market estimates.

Shares of Village Farms International, Inc. VFF 24.66% were down 22% to $8.65 after the company swung to a loss in the first quarter.

Insmed Incorporated INSM 20.23% was down, falling 21% to $25.74 after the company reported a proposed concurrent public offerings of $250 million of common stock and $500 million convertible senior notes due 2028. Morgan Stanley maintained Insmed with an Overweight and lowered the price target from $58 to $56.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $64.96, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,837.30.

Silver traded up 0.1% Monday to $27.485 while copper fell 0.5% to $4.7230.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.10%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.94% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.01%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.08%, French CAC 40 rose 0.01% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.78%.

The UK’s Halifax house price index increased 8.2% year-over-year in April.

Economics

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