Mid-Day Market Update: Sotheby's Jumps On Acquisition News; Flex Pharma Shares Slide

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.17% to 26134.97 while the NASDAQ rose 0.62% to 7,844.99. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17% to 2,891.87.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose 1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Eventbrite, Inc. EB 6.12%, up 8%, and IDT Corporation IDT 7.79%, up 9%.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

Array BioPharma ARRY 56.91% announced it will be acquired by Pfizer PFE 0.25% for $48 per share in cash for a total value of around $11.4 billion.

Array’s portfolio of medicines includes cancer treatment for metastatic melanoma. In the U.S., colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer in men and women and an estimated 140,250 patients were diagnosed with cancer of the colon or rectum in 2018.

Equities Trading UP

Sotheby's BID 58.17% shares shot up 58% to $56.05 after the company announced it will be acquired by BidFair for $57 per share in cash. The offer price represents a premium of 61% to Sotheby's closing price on Friday.

Shares of Array BioPharma Inc. ARRY 56.91% got a boost, shooting up 55% to $45.90 afterPfizer Inc. PFE 0.25% announced plans to acquire Array BioPharma for $48 per share in cash.

ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CTRV 42.86% shares were also up, gaining 45% to $12.88 after the company reported positive results from human liver experiments with its NASH drug candidate.

Equities Trading DOWN

VBI Vaccines Inc. VBIV 65.08% shares tumbled 65% to $0.6666 following the release of data from a late-stage study of its hepatitis B virus vaccine candidate. The thinly traded micro-cap biotech said the Phase 3 study dubbed PROTECT showed that both the co-primary endpoints were met but not the secondary endpoint. The trialevaluated the efficacy and safety of a 10-microgram dose of Sci-B-Vac, its trivalent HBV, compared with a 20-microgram dose of comparator vaccine Engerix-B. Engerix B, marketed by GlaxoSmithKline, is the current standard of care.

Shares of Flex Pharma, Inc. FLKS 20.52% were down 25% to $0.4820 after the company announced more shareholder votes are required to complete its merger with Salarius Pharma despite “overwhelming support.”

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMPE 28.41% was down, falling 29% to $0.5000 after the company priced a 25.32 million share common stock offering at $0.40 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.5% to $52.24, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,344.10.

Silver traded up 0.3% Monday to $14.845, while copper rose 0.8% to $2.651.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.09%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.684%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.07%. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.09%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.43% while UK shares rose 0.16%.

Economics

The Empire State manufacturing index declined 26.4 points to a reading of -8.6 in June. However, economists were projecting a reading of 11.

The NAHB housing market index fell to 64 for June, versus prior reading of 66. However, economists projected a reading of 67.

The Treasury International Capital report for April is schedule for release at 4:00 p.m. ET.