Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Hasbro Beats Q2 Estimates

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.12 percent to 25,028.84 while the NASDAQ declined 0.25 percent to 7,800.39. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.10 percent to 2,798.99.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the financial shares climbed 0.80 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Independent Bank Corp. INDB up 5 percent, and Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. CPKF up 4 percent.

In trading on Monday, industrials shares fell 0.42 percent.

Top Headline

Hasbro, Inc. HAS reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Hasbro posted quarterly profit of $0.48 per share, on revenue of $904.5 million. Analysts projected earnings of $0.31 per share on revenue of $840.11 million.

Equities Trading UP

Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. DDE shares shot up 57 percent to $3.1796 after the company and Twin River Worldwide Holdings disclosed a merger agreement.

Shares of LifePoint Health, Inc. LPNT got a boost, shooting up 34 percent to $64.15 after the company agreed to be acquired by Apollo’s RCCH HealthCare Partners for $65 per share in cash.

Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RETA shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $56.07 after reporting positive Phase 2 data for bardoxolone.

Equities Trading DOWN

PetMed Express, Inc. PETS shares dropped 14 percent to $34.44 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Shares of Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. BBGI were down 14 percent to $9.15 after the company filed for a 1.3 million share offering.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. ITW was down, falling around 8 percent to $135.85 after the company reported downbeat quarterly sales and issued weak FY18 forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.08 percent to $69.00 while gold traded down 0.05 percent to $1,230.50.

Silver traded down 0.19 percent Monday to $15.52, while copper rose 0.40 to $2.767.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.13 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.24 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.55 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.20 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.49 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.15 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to a reading of 0.43 in June, versus a reading of -0.45 in May.

U.S. existing home sales fell 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 5.38 million for June.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.