Mid-Day Market Update: Pinduoduo Falls After Q1 Results; Biocept Shares Jump

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.30 percent to 25,687.85 while the NASDAQ fell 1.23 percent to 7,720.10. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.43 percent to 2,847.15.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 0.6 percent on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector includedSpark Energy Inc SPKE 3.51%, up 3 percent, and Just Energy Group Inc. JE 4.4%, up 2 percent.

In trading on Monday, information technology shares fell by 1.1 percent.

Top Headline

International Game Technology PLC IGT 0.71% reported downbeat results for its first quarter

International Game Technology reported quarterly earnings of $0.12 per share on sales of $1.145 billion. Wall Street analysts expected earnings of $0.24 per share on sales of $1.16 billion.

IGT reaffirmed FY19 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.7 billion to $1.76 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. CANF 32.43% shares shot up 44 percent to $7.40 after the company reported its Phase II Liver Cancer Data was selected for presentation at the International Liver Cancer Association Conference.

Shares of Biocept Inc BIOC 83.76% got a boost, shooting up 43 percent to $1.17 after the company announced clinical validation and the commercial launch of its target Selector Multi-Gene liquid biopsy panel for lung cancer.

Sprint Corporation S 22.19% shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $7.72. Sprint and T-Mobile TMUS 5.44% announced a series of changes to their $26 billion deal. United States regulators are expected to announce agreement on the conditions necessary to approve the merger, Reuters reported.

Equities Trading DOWN

Pinduoduo Inc. PDD 7.8% shares tumbled 8 percent to $20.87 after the company reported Q1 results.

Shares of Alta Mesa Resources, Inc. AMR 23.55% were down 17 percent to $0.1460after a company 10-K filing showed the SEC is probing the company into facts involved in the material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.

DISH Network Corporation DISH 9.09% was down, falling 12 percent to $31.21 afterEchostar Corporation SATS 3.5% disclosed an agreement to transfer BSS Business to DISH.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1 percent to $63.21, while gold traded up 0.1 percent to $1,276.80.

Silver traded up 0.3 percent Monday to $14.43, while copper fell 0.1 percent to $2.735.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.97 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.59 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.51 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 1.46 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.33 percent while UK shares dropped 0.49 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to a reading of -0.45 in April, compared to revised reading of +0.05 in March.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak n New York at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak in New York at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak in Amelia Island, FL at 7:00 p.m. ET.