Mid-day market update: NASDAQ rises 1%; Bridgebio Pharma shares plunge

Benzinga Team Benzinga

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.54% to 36,146.21 while the NASDAQ rose 1.04% to 15,815.70. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.87% to 4,766.92.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 53,222,420 cases with around 837,850 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,793,330 cases and 479,990 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,239,430 COVID-19 cases with 618,480 deaths. In total, there were at least 280,391,180 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,418,560 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 1.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included American Virtual Cloud Technologies, Inc. AVCT +21.32%, up 33% and Identiv, Inc. INVE +13.65%, up 8%.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares rose by just 0.2%.

Top Headline

News Corp NWS +1.64% agreed to acquire the Base Chemicals business for $295 million cash from S&P Global Inc SPGI +0.47% and IHS Markit Ltd INFO +0.86%.

Equities Trading UP

Microbot Medical Inc. MBOT +50.36% shares shot up 57% to $8.53 after the company announced a strategic collaboration with Stryker Corporation to develop the LIBERTY robotic system for neurovascular applications.

Shares of PyroGenesis Canada Inc. PYR +86.56% got a boost, shooting 110% to $5.29.

CPI Aerostructures, Inc. CVU +12.28% shares were also up, gaining 12% to $2.5586 after the company swung to a profit in the first quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. BBIO -71.17% shares tumbled 72% to $11.55 after the company's phase 3 trial to treat symptomatic transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy did not achieve its primary endpoint.

Shares of BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd. BVXV -16.37% were down 19% to $2.24 after the company priced an offering of roughly 3.81 million ADSs at $2.36 per ADS.

InnovAge Holding Corp. INNV -8.95% was down, falling 15% to $4.54 after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services determined to suspend new enrollments at the company's Colorado centers based on deficiencies detected in an audit. The company withdrew FY22 guidance as a result.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.6% to $75.00, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,813.40.

Silver traded up 0.6% Monday to $23.08 while copper rose 0.9% to $4.4310.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.62%, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.74% and the German DAX 40 gained 0.52%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.02%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.74% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.82%.

Economics

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' general business activity index for manufacturing in Texas dropped to 8.1 in December from 11.8 a month ago.

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Author

Benzinga Team

Benzinga

Benzinga's news desk is a dynamic and innovative team that provides real-time, actionable articles that help readers navigate the market.

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