Mid-day market update: Nasdaq drops 200 points; Soliton shares spike higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.86% to 35,078.24 while the NASDAQ fell 1.5% to 13,546.64. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01% to 4,233.22.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 32,708,020 cases with around 581,750 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 22,662,570 cases and 246,110 deaths, while Brazil reported over 15,184,790 COVID-19 cases with 422,340 deaths. In total, there were at least 158,399,250 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,294,610 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares rose 1.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included 22nd Century Group, Inc. XXII 5.28%, up 5%, and BellRing Brands, Inc. BRBR 5.63%, up 4%.

In trading on Monday, information technology shares fell 1.3%.

Top Headline

Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN 1.77% reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Tyson Foods reported quarterly earnings of $1.34 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.12 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $11.30 billion, versus expectations of $11.19 billion.

Tyson Foods said it expects chicken results to be lower in FY21 versus FY20.

Equities Trading UP

Soliton, Inc. SOLY 24.61% shares shot up 24% to $22.30 following a $22.60 per share buyout from AbbVie Inc. AbbVie’s Allergan Aesthetics unit will pay $550 million in cash to scoop up Soliton and Resonic, its sound-wave device that improves the appearance of cellulite.

Shares of Precipio, Inc. PRPO 37.77% got a boost, shooting 22% to $4.69 after the company announced it launched a new, four-hour Acute Myeloid Leukemia HemeScreen panel to specifically determine the genetics of this aggressive, acute form of leukemia.

Cue Biopharma, Inc. CUE 27.62% shares were also up, gaining 34% to $15.08 as the company reported confirmed partial response in ongoing Phase 1 monotherapy study of CUE-101 in late stage second line and beyond patients with HPV+ recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Trade Desk, Inc. TTD 20.77% shares tumbled 20% to $528.32 after the company reported it is facing a period of higher uncertainty in its business outlook. The company’s board also declared a ten-for-one split in the form of a stock dividend.

Shares of Village Farms International, Inc. VFF 19.17% were down 18% to $9.11 after the company swung to a loss in the first quarter.

Insmed Incorporated INSM 20.87% was down, falling 17% to $26.95 after the company reported a proposed concurrent public offerings of $250 million of common stock and $500 million convertible senior notes due 2028. Morgan Stanley maintained Insmed with an Overweight and lowered the price target from $58 to $56.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $64.48, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,837.20.

Silver traded down 0.1% Monday to $27.46 while copper fell 0.9% to $4.7055.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.04%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.77% and the German DAX 30 slipped 0.13%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.24%, French CAC 40 fell 0.16% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.59%.

The UK’s Halifax house price index increased 8.2% year-over-year in April.