Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Gold Down 1%; Aethlon Medical Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.01% to 26572.63 while the NASDAQ fell 0.01% to 7,981.67. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.10% to 2,954.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed 0.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Blue Hat Interactv Entrtnmnt Technlgy BHAT 6.09%, up 5%, and Sogou Inc. SOGO 4.69%, up 5%.

In trading on Monday, consumer staples shares fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

Intersect ENT Inc XENT 5.83%, which focuses on products for patients with ear, nose and throat conditions, said a study dubbed ASCEND that evaluated its drug-coated sinus balloon for dilation of the frontal sinus ostium did not meet the primary endpoint.

The benchmark was an intra-patient comparison of frontal sinus patency grade at day 30, as judged by an independent reviewer. The drug used was mometasone furoate. The ASCEND study looked at whether the drug-coated sinus balloon would reduce post-balloon dilation edema through localized delivery directly to the dilated tissue.

Equities Trading UP

Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. AKCA 30.34% shares shot up 29% to $19.51 after the company announced it would receive a $125 million upfront payment from Pfizer for the exclusive licensing of AKCEA-ANGPTL3-L.

Shares of Aethlon Medical, Inc. AEMD 17.3% surged 17% to $0.2879 after the company announced it received an FDA approval for its IDE for Oncology Indications.

Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. SNNA 24% was up, rising 20% to $0.3011 after the company filed 510(k) with the FDA for SNA-001.

Equities Trading DOWN

NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. NGM 21.03% shares tumbled 20% to $10.84 after reporting interim results from ongoing 24-week Phase 2 study evaluating aldafermin in patients with NASH.

Shares of FuelCell Energy, Inc. FCEL 12.88% were down 11% to $0.3224 after the company filed for a common stock offering of up to 38 million shares.

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. CAPR 13.54% was down, falling 14% to $2.9029 after the company issued an update on its HOPE-2 study of CAP-1002.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1% to $52.76, while gold traded down 1% to $1,498.40.

Silver traded down 0.8% Monday to $17.49, while copper rose 0.6% to $2.579.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.71%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.92%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.85%. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.70%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.61% while UK shares rose 0.59%.