Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Up 1.5%; Roku Shares Drop Following Morgan Stanley Downgrade

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.65% to 27869.46 while the NASDAQ fell 0.88% to 8,588.99. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.56% to 3,123.39.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 0.2% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The Kimbell Royalty Partners LP KRP, up 8%, and McDermott International Inc MDR, up 6%.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares fell 1.3%.

Top Headline

Hostess Brands Inc TWNK will acquire Voortman Cookies, a manufacturer of branded wafers and sugar-free specialty cookies, from Swander Pace Capital for approximately $320 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in early January.

The company plans to finance the $320 million transaction by using cash on its balance sheet, along with secured financing commitments from Credit Suisse and Citi.


Equities Trading UP

Kodiak Sciences Inc. KOD shares shot up 56% to $46.25 after the company reported the sale of future royalties on KSI-301 for $225 million to Baker Bros. Advisors.

Shares of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Limited ASLN got a boost, shooting up 38% to $5.26 after the company reported positive data from its proof-of-concept study of ASLAN004.

NF Energy Saving Corporation BIMI shares were also up, gaining 29% to $3.39 after the company announced it would acquire Chongqing Guanzan Technology for RMB 100 million.


Equities Trading DOWN

Roku, Inc. ROKU shares tumbled 14% to $137.77 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the company's stock from equal-weight to underweight and announced a $110 price target.

Shares of Aqua Metals, Inc. AQMS were down 41% to $0.7901 after the company announced a significant fire in one of its plants.

Just Energy Group Inc. JE was down, falling 15% to $2.3250 after the company announced it would suspend its dividend on its Series A preferred stock.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.5% to $55.98, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,470.20.

Silver traded down 0.6% Monday to $17.005, while copper fell 0.5% to $2.6495.

Euro zone


European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1.58%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.09%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.28%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 2.05%, and the French CAC 40 fell 2.01% while UK shares fell 0.82%.

Economics

The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 52.6 in November, compared to a preliminary reading of 52.2 and versus 51.3 in October.

The ISM manufacturing PMI declined to 48.1 in November, compared to 48.3 in October.

Construction spending fell 0.8% in October 2019, versus a revised 0.3% decline in the prior month.

Posted In: NewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
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