Mid-day market update: LiveRamp surges following Q4 results; Syndax Pharmaceuticals shares plummet

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.56% to 24338.21 while the NASDAQ fell 0.19% to 9266.93. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.33% to 2938.92.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 1,577,750 cases with around 94,720 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 310,080 COVID-19 cases with 20,040 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 326,440 confirmed cases and 3,240 deaths. In total, there were at least 5,125,610 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 333,380 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares climbed 1.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. ASPS 14.23%, up 9%, and American Tower Corporation AMT 5.26%, up 5%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares dipped 1.4%.

Top Headline

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - ADR BABA 5.25% reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Alibaba reported quarterly earnings of $1.30 per share on Friday, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 87 cents. The company reported quarterly sales of $16.144 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $15.200 billion. Domestic same-store sales slipped 5.7% during the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

LiveRamp Holdings, Inc. RAMP 24.25% shares shot up 21% to $47.03 after reporting upbeat Q4 results.

Shares of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. TTPH 14.35% got a boost, shooting 24% to $2.86. Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, which has been pursued by multiple companies, said its board has determined that the latest proposal from Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. is a "Superior Offer." Melinta has offered $27 million in cash, plus an additional $12.5 million in cash potentially payable under contingent value rights to be issued in the proposed acquisition.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. NAVB 86.74% shares were also up, gaining 85% to $2.3499 after the company announced positive preliminary results from the second interim analysis of its ongoing NAV3-31 Phase 2B study.

Equities Trading DOWN

Recon Technology, Ltd. RCON 45.14% shares tumbled 45% to $2.05 after the company reported pricing of approximately $2.1 million registered direct offering.

Shares of Geron Corporation GERN 8.42% were down 17% to $1.635 after the company reported pricing of public offering of common stock and warrants.

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SNDX 24.15% was down, falling 23% to $15.72 after the company said a late-stage study that evaluated its investigational compound entinostat along with exemestane in patients with HR+, HER2- breast cancer who have progressed on a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor did not achieve the primary endpoint of demonstrating a statistically significant overall survival benefit over hormone therapy alone.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.7% to $32.67, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,736.40.

Silver traded up 2% Friday to $17.71, while copper fell 2.1% to $2.38.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.01%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.23%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.22%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.11%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.18% while UK shares fell 0.25%.

Economics

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.