Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.32% to 33,691.74while the NASDAQ fell 0.52% to 13,828.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.20% to 4,120.43.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 31,197,870 cases with around 562,060 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 13,527,710 cases and 170,170 deaths, while Brazil reported over 13,482,020 COVID-19 cases with 353,130 deaths. In total, there were at least 136,101,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,937,730 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Consumer discretionary shares rose 0.3% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA), up 9%, and Target Hospitality Corp. (NASDAQ: TH), up 8%.
In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 1%.
Top Headline
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has become the final bidder for Nuance Communications Inc (NASDAQ: NUAN), the company that helped develop Apple’s Siri speech technology for $56 per share.
The deal price implies a 23% premium to NUAN’s Friday closing price of $45.58, valuing the all-cash transaction at $19.7 billion, inclusive of Nuance’s net debt.
Equities Trading UP
Wilhelmina International, Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM) shares shot up 27% to $7.09 after the company’s 13D filing showed that Modell’s Sporting Goods had reported a stake of 18.4% in the company on Friday.
Shares of Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSHA) got a boost, shooting 18% to $25.03 after the company announced the acquisition of exclusive worldwide rights to a clinical-stage AAV9 gene therapy program, now known as TSHA-120, for the treatment of giant axonal neuropathy.
Evelo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVLO) shares were also up, gaining 17% to $11.73 after Jefferies upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and raised its price target from $11 to $18 per share.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
iRhythm Technologies, Inc.. (NASDAQ: IRTC) shares tumbled 39% to $80.38 after the company said it will not be able to provide its Zio XT device to Medicare patients if reimbursement rates remain unchanged. Baird maintained iRhythm Technologies with a Neutral and lowered the price target from $170 to $80.
Shares of Aphria Inc. (NASDAQ: APHA) were down 14% to $14.01 after reporting Q3 results. The company swung to a loss in the third quarter.
Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN) was down, falling 30% to $13.03 following Q4 results. The company reported Q4 sales of RMB38.2 million, down from RMB463.2 million year-over-year.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $59.59, while gold traded down 1% to $1,728.10.
Silver traded down 2.3% Monday to $24.745 while copper fell 0.6% to $4.0170.
Euro zone
European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.46%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.39% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.13%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.13%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.39% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.11%.
Eurozone’s retail trade increased 3.0% in February following a 5.2% decline in January.
Economics
The US posted a budget deficit of $660 billion in March versus a $119 billion gap in the year-ago period.
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