Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down 1%; Northern Technologies Shares Surge After Q4 Results

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.34 percent to 23,438.06 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.03 percent to 6,785.08. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.07 percent to 2,580.69.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.

In trading on Monday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.67 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Whiting Petroleum Corp WLL 4.97%, down 5 percent, and Gulfport Energy Corporation GPOR 4.82% down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. MRVL 5.08% agreed to acquire Cavium Inc CAVM 9.79% in a deal valued at around $6 billion.

Under the deal, Marvell will buy Cavium for $40 per share in cash and 2.1757 shares of its stock for each Cavium share.

Equities Trading UP

Northern Technologies International Corp NTIC 18.05% shares shot up 15 percent to $20.25. Northern Technologies reported Q4 earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $10.90 million. The company also initiated a $0.10 per share dividend.

Shares of UTStarcom Holdings Corp UTSI 12.12% got a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $3.61. UTStarcom Holdings reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.07 per share on revenue of $26 million.

Tactile Systems Technology Inc TCMD 12.05% shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $28.95. Tactile Systems will replace Lumos Networks Corp NASDAQLMOS in the S&P SmallCap 600 on Wednesday, November 22.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. LGND 9.31% shares dropped 6 percent to $132.26. Deutsche Bank downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from Hold to Sell.

Shares of Gulfport Energy Corporation GPOR 4.82% were down 6 percent to $12.47. Barclays downgraded Gulfport Energy from Overweight to Equal-Weight.

Micronet Enertec Technologies Inc MICT 17.07% was down, falling around 13 percent to $1.07. Micronet reported Q3 adjusted loss of $0.16 per share on sales of $6.93 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.03 percent to $55.97 while gold traded down 0.82 percent to $1,285.90.

Silver traded down 2.09 percent Monday to $17.01, while copper rose 0.15 percent to $3.0955.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.67 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.07 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.15 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.60 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.41 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.17 percent.

Economics

The index of leading economic indicators rose 1.2 percent for October.