Benzinga | Aug 31, 2020 10:11AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Nestl To Acquire Aimmune Therapeutics

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.60% to 28483.09 while the NASDAQ rose 0.26% to 11,725.76. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.16% to 3,502.35.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 5,997,620 cases with around 183,060 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 3,862,310 COVID-19 cases with 120,820 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 3,621,240 confirmed cases and 64,460 deaths. In total, there were at least 25,248,590 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 846,870 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained 0.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK), up 2%, and NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), up 1.3%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell by 1.8%.

Top Headline

Nestle S.A. (OTC:NSRGY) subsidiary Nestle Health Sciences (NHSc) agreed to acquire biopharma companyAimmune Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIMT).

NHSc will purchase the stake in Aimmune through its 100% subsidiary Soci?t? des Produits Nestl? S.A. (SPN) at an enterprise value of $2.6 billion. All shares which are currently not owned by Nestle will be acquired at $34.50 per share through a cash tender offer.



Equities Trading UP

Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIMT) shares shot up 171% to $34.20 after Nestle SA agreed to acquire the company at an enterprise value of $2.6 billion.

Shares of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKCA) got a boost, shooting 62% to $18.39 after the company announced it will be acquired by Ionis Pharmaceuticals for $18.15 per share in cash.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) shares were also up, gaining 22% to $6.58 after RC Ventures reported a 9% active stake in the company on Friday.

Equities Trading DOWN

VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) shares tumbled 20% to $6.57 after jumping 69% on Friday. The company reported better-than-expected FY20 preliminary results last week.

Shares of BigCommerce Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIGC) were down 16% to $109.97 after several analysts initiated coverage on the company's stock with neutral to bearish ratings.

Regis Corporation (NYSE:RGS) was down, falling 13% to $7.88 after reporting a loss for the fourth quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $43.46, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,976.00.

Silver traded up 1.8% Monday to $28.115, while copper rose 1.1% to $3.054.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.3%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.5%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.5% and French CAC 40 rose 0.7%

Economics

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for August will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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