Mid-Day Market Update: PCM Jumps Following Acquisition News; 360 Finance Shares Slide

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.15% to 26758.68 while the NASDAQ fell 0.06% to 8,026.50. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04% to 2,951.64.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares gained 0.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included HF Foods Group Inc. HFFG 10.66%, up 5%, and BRF S.A. BRFS 2.43%, up 3%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Eldorado Resorts Inc ERI 11.65% will acquire Caesars Entertainment Corporation CZR 15.02% in a cash-and-stock transaction of $17.3 billion. Caesars is one of the world's largest gambling companies and has had a number of offers, including Golden Nugget, Tilman Fertitta's casino company and Boyd Gaming Corp.

Carl Icahn, who owns a 9.8% stake in Caesars , has commented he is "pleased" Eldorado will merge with Caesars. Back in January, Icahn pushed for Caesars to consider strategic alternatives.

Separately, VICI Properties Inc VICI 2.15% announced it will acquire the land of three casino properties from Eldorado Resorts for $3.2 billion..

Equities Trading UP

Minerva Neurosciences Inc NERV 48.94% shares shot up 56% to $6.60 after the company announced that its Phase 2B trial for the clinical trial of Seltorexant achieved its primary and key secondary objectives.

Shares of PCM Inc PCMI 42.25% got a boost, shooting up 42% to $34.71 after Insight Enterprises, Inc. NSIT 1.3% announced plans to acquire PCM for $35 per share.

VivoPower International PLC VVPR 124.51% shares were also up, gaining 71% to $1.74, after the company announced new international parties have engaged in the company's solar portfolio sale. The company also announced additional contracts relating to solar farms and data centers.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Peck Company, Inc. PECK 20.67% shares tumbled 22% to $8.67 after falling 34.9% on Friday.

Shares of 360 Finance, Inc. QFIN 19.61% were down 21% to $10.90 after the company announced a proposed follow-on public offering of 7.5 million American depositary shares.

Pier 1 Imports, Inc. PIR 29.43% was down, falling 24% to $8.62 after dropping 23.5% on Friday. Pier 1 Imports announced a 1-for-20 reverse stock split Wednesday to regain compliance with New York Stock Exchange listing standards. The company’s board of directors formally authorized a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of Pier 1’s common stock effective Thursday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $57.50, while gold traded up 0.9% to $1,412.50.

Silver traded up 0.6% Monday to $15.375, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.7045.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.17%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.09%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.12%. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.52%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.03% while UK shares rose 0.16%.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index increased to a reading of -0.05 in May, versus a revised reading of -0.48 in the prior month.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index fell to -12.1 in June, versus reading of -5.3 in May.