The major averages were mixed at midday, with the S&P and Nasdaq rising and the Dow a bit lower, as investors weighed the latest vaccine and COVID case count news. The Dow joined the other indexes in the green by the end of the trading day and investors will now be bracing for a pick-up this week in earnings reporting, with IBM (IBM) in focus as tonight's major release.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: The latest data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now 14.54M confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including 3.77M in the U.S., and 606,922 deaths due to the disease. At the state level for some U.S. hot spots, Florida reported 360,394 COVID-19 cases, up 10,347 cases from yesterday, while Arizona reports 145,183 COVID-19 cases, up 1,559 from yesterday. In addition, California reported 391,538 cases in the state, up 6,846 from the previous day.
In EU news, Bloomberg reported that the European Union has given leaders a new compromise proposal for a EUR750B COVID-19 economic recovery fund as talks continued through a fourth day. European Council President Charles Michel gave out the latest plan on Monday, which would include EUR390B in grants, down from the previous EUR500B, and EUR360B in low-interest loans, Bloomberg said, citing a copy of the proposal.
TOP NEWS: Shares of eBay (EBAY) finished 0.58% higher following reports that the company is nearing a deal to sell its classifieds unit to Adevinta (ADEVF) for about $9B.
In confirmed M&A news, Chevron (CVX) announced an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Noble Energy (NBL) in an all-stock transaction valued at $5B, or $10.38 per share. The total enterprise value, including debt, of the transaction is $13B. In addition, Majesco (MJCO) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in a transaction valuing the company at $594M, or $13.10 per share in cash.
Meanwhile, Caesars Entertainment (CZR) and Eldorado Resorts (ERI) announced the completion of Eldorado's acquisition of Caesars.
In news on the search for pharmaceutical answers to COVID-19, AstraZeneca (AZN) announced interim results from the ongoing Phase I/II COV001 trial, led by Oxford University, showed AZD1222 was "tolerated and generated robust immune responses against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in all evaluated participants." Additionally, BioNTech SE (BNTX) and Pfizer (PFE) announced initial data from their ongoing German Phase 1/2, open-label, non-randomized, non-placebo-controlled, dose-escalation trial, that is part of the global mRNA-based vaccine program against SARS-CoV-2.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE), which rose 19.9% after the company received FDA clearance to begin its Phase 2 trial of Abivertinib. Also higher was Opko Health (OPK), which gained 7.4% after its BioReference subsidiary said it will accept an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity, or IDIQ, contract award to provide Commercial Surge Capacity Testing for COVID-19 Emergency Response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among the notable losers was Nikola (NKLA), which dropped 21% after disclosing late Friday that its S-1 filing became effective. The company's 24M warrants are now exercisable, giving holders the right to buy the shares for $11.50, and this also registers the 53.4M shares owned by PIPE investors, enabling them to be traded on the market, an analyst at Deutsche Bank explained. Also lower was PetMed Express (PETS), which fell 16% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 8.92, or 0.03%, to 26,680.87, the Nasdaq gained 263.90, or 2.51%, to 10,767.09, and the S&P 500 advanced 27.11, or 0.84%, to 3,251.84.
eBay
+0.32 (+0.55%)
Adevinta
+ (+0.00%)
Chevron
-1.91 (-2.19%)
Noble Energy
+0.53 (+5.49%)
Majesco
+5.35 (+67.98%)
AstraZeneca
-2.44 (-3.99%)
BioNTech
+3.1 (+3.64%)
Pfizer
+0.26 (+0.72%)
Caesars
-0.02 (-0.16%)
Eldorado Resorts
+0.18 (+0.47%)
Sorrento Therapeutics
+1.38 (+19.80%)
Opko Health
+0.35 (+7.63%)
Nikola
-10.31 (-21.15%)
PetMed Express
-7.1 (-17.55%)