Mid-day market update: Crude oil down 2%, Synlogic shares spike higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 1.51% to 34,063.71 while the NASDAQ fell 2.13% to 14,723.20. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.64% to 4,360.41.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 42,088,400 cases with around 673,760 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 33,478,410 cases and 445,130 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,239,780 COVID-19 cases with 590,750 deaths. In total, there were at least 228,595,280 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,692,920 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained 0.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Paranaense de Energia - COPEL ELP +undefined% (Get Free Alerts for ELP), up 4% and Enel Chile S.A. ENIC +undefined% (Get Free Alerts for ENIC) up 4%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares tumbled 2.5%.

Top Headline

Private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. has agreed to acquire Brooks Automation Inc's BRKS +undefined% Semiconductor Solutions Group business in a transaction valued at $3 billion. The transaction is likely to close in the first half of CY22

Equities Trading UP

ZIVO Bioscience, Inc. ZIVO +undefined% shares shot up 165% to $7.43.

Shares of Edesa Biotech, Inc. EDSA +undefined% got a boost, shooting 40% to $8.23 after the company disclosed Phase 2 data of its monoclonal antibody in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Synlogic, Inc. SYBX +undefined% shares were also up, gaining 13% to $3.71 after the company announced Phase 2 data demonstrating reduction in plasma phenylalanine levels in patients with phenylketonuria.

Equities Trading DOWN

BeyondSpring Inc. BYSI +28.54% shares tumbled 21% to $18.19 after the company reported final Phase 3 DUBLIN-3 data with plinabulin/docetaxel combination versus docetaxel alone at the ESMO 2021 event.

Shares of Helbiz, Inc. HLBZ +17.75% were down 18% to $14.50. Helbiz shares jumped around 97% on Friday after the company announced its media unit has entered into an agreement with FOX Networks to broadcast the Italian Serie B championship across the USA and the Caribbean.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. PTGX +19.28% was down, falling 18% to $14.33. JP Morgan downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from Overweight to Neutral and announced a $49 price target. The FDA recently placed a clinical hold on the company’s rusfertide development program.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2% to $70.57, while gold traded up 0.7% to $1,764.40.

Silver traded up 0.2% Monday to $22.38 while copper fell 2.6% to $4.1360.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.16% and the German DAX 30 dropped 2.34%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.97%, French CAC 40 declined 1.98% and Italy’s FTSE MIB tumbled 2.62%.

German producer prices increased 12.0% year-over-year in August following a 10.4% growth in the prior month. Spanish trade deficit widened to EUR 1.60 billion in July, compared to EUR 0.31 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

The NAHB housing market index rose to 76 in September from 75 in August.