Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Up 3%; Zafgen Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 1.08 percent to 24,547.88 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.26 percent to 7,026.19. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.03 percent to 2,659.71.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Monday, the financial shares climbed 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Severn Bancorp, Inc. SVBI up 10 percent, and Luther Burbank Corp LBC up 9 percent.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares fell 0.2 percent.

Top Headline

Diana Shipping Inc DSX reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Diana Shipping posted quarterly earnings of $0.13 per share on time charter revenues of $61.505 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.04 per share on revenue of $56.39 million.

Equities Trading UP

Transmontaigne Partners L.P. TLP shares got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $41.04 after the company agreed to be acquired for $41 per share.

Shares of JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. JKS shot up 17 percent to $10.78 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results.

Spherix Incorporated SPEX shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $1.12 after the company acquired a 25 percent stake in an electric scooter and bicycle business.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zafgen, Inc. ZFGN shares dropped 44 percent to $5.08 after the FDA placed a clinical hold on its investigational new drug application for its first trial of diabetes drug ZGN-1061 due to safety concerns.

Shares of Plantronics, Inc. PLT were down 7 percent to $47.59. Reuters reported on Friday that Logitech International SA LOGI is in talks to acquire Plantronics for over $2.2 billion. However, Plantronics confirmed that it is no longer in talks with Logitech following acquisition approach by Logitech.

Overstock.com, Inc. OSTK was down, falling around 16 percent to $17.55.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3 percent to $51.93 while gold traded up 0.01 percent to $1,223.20.

Silver traded up 0.09 percent Monday to $14.38, while copper fell 0.07 percent to $2.7835.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.25 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.99 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 2.87 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.5 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 1.05 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.20 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to 0.24 for October, versus a prior reading of 0.17.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing business index dropped to 17.60 for November, versus previous reading of 29.40. However, economists were projecting a reading of 25.00.

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.