Benzinga | Dec 21, 2020 02:51PM EST

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Turns Positive; uniQure Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.30% to 30,270.96 while the NASDAQ fell 0.14% to 12,737.93. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.29% to 3,698.55.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 17,847,630 cases with around 317,680 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,055,560 confirmed cases and 145,810 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,238,600 COVID-19 cases with 186,760 deaths. In total, there were at least 76,895,580 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,694,710 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares climbed 1.3% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT), up 16%, and Elevate Credit, Inc. (NYSE:ELVT), up 15%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares dipped 1.7%.

Top Headline

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

FactSet Research posted quarterly earnings of $2.88 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $2.75 per share. The company's quarterly sales came in at $388.21 million, versus expectations of $387.36 million.



Equities Trading UP

500.com Limited (NYSE:WBAI) shares shot up 46% to $3.9299 after the company announced a $23 million investment from Good Luck Information Technology. The company appointed Mr. Xianfeng Yang as CEO and Mr. Bo Yu as COO.

Shares of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYEG) got a boost, shooting 44% to $5.13 after the company announced the acquisition of privately-held Panoptes Pharma, which is developing a small molecule for the treatment of severe eye diseases with a high unmet medical need.

NantKwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:NK) shares were also up, gaining 56% to $16.02. ImmunityBio and NantKwest agreed to Merge, creating a leading immunotherapy and cell therapy company.

Equities Trading DOWN

Optical Cable Corporation (NASDAQ:OCC) shares tumbled 12% to $2.5856 after the company posted a loss for its fourth quarter.

Shares of FibroGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGEN) were down 12% to $38.51. FibroGen, on Dec. 18, disclosed that the FDA has extended review period of new drug application for roxadustat for the treatment of anemia of chronic kidney disease by three months.

uniQure N.V.. (NASDAQ:QURE) was down, falling 19% to $37.15 after the gene therapy company announced a setback to its clinical study. uniQure said the FDA has placed its Hemophilia B gene therapy program, including the late-stage HOPE-B study, on clinical hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.2% to $47.55, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,882.90.

Silver traded up 1.5% Monday to $26.41 while copper fell 1.5% to $3.5790.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today following new virus strains in the U.K. and deadlock in Brexit trade talks. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 2.33%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 3.08%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 2.57%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 2.82%, French CAC 40 declined 2.43% and London's FTSE 100 fell 1.73%.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index declined to 0.27 in November versus a revised reading of 1.01 in October.