As the closing bell approached, U.S. stocks surged, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 100 points on Monday. The Dow jumped 0.35% to 37,596.43, while the NASDAQ soared 1.89% to 14,799.21. The S&P 500 also saw a healthy rise, gaining 1.11% to 4,749.41.
Leading the charge, information technology shares gained 2.1% on Monday, propelling market momentum. Meanwhile, energy shares experienced a 2.1% dip during the day’s trading.
Commercial Metals Company Shines
Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) posted impressive Q1 earnings on Monday, surpassing market expectations. The company delivered adjusted earnings of $1.63 per share, outperforming analysts’ estimates of $1.45 per share. The quarterly sales clocked in at $2.00 billion, an optimistic figure compared to the projected $1.89 billion.
Equities on the Move
Several equities experienced substantial shifts at the day’s end. Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HARP) shares surged 112% to $22.40 after Merck announced its intention to acquire the company at $23 per share, payable in cash. Additionally, Ambrx Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAM) saw a hefty 101% rise to $27.43 following the news of a planned acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in an all-cash merger valued at approximately $2 billion. Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX) also experienced a positive upswing, with shares gaining 48% to $8.96 after the company revealed certain business and strategic updates in an updated corporate presentation.
Conversely, LumiraDx Limited (NASDAQ:LMDX) shares tumbled 42% to $0.0198 after its securities were slated for suspension from trading on Nasdaq. Dada Nexus Limited (NASDAQ:DADA) witnessed a 37% decline to $1.9950, following the identification of suspicious practices during a routine internal audit. Additionally, Solo Brands, Inc. (NYSE:DTC) fell 36% to $3.75 after adjusting its full-year 2023 revenue guidance below estimates.
Commodities and Global Markets
Oil prices experienced a 4.6% decline to $70.44, while gold edged down by 0.8% to $2,034.30. Silver saw a marginal 0.1% increase to $23.32, and copper rose 0.3% to $3.8155. European shares closed mostly higher, with the Eurozone’s STOXX 600 rising 0.38% and London’s FTSE 100 edging up by 0.06%. In Asia, markets trended lower, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 1.88%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipping 1.42%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex declining by 0.93%.
Key Economic Indicators
Notably, the Eurozone’s consumer confidence indicator climbed by 1.9 points to -15 in December, while the economic sentiment indicator rose to 96.4, up from the revised reading of 94.0 in the previous month. Retail sales in the Eurozone fell by 0.3% in November, starkly contrasting the revised 0.4% increase in October. Germany’s factory orders demonstrated a 0.3% month-over-month increase in November, and the country’s trade surplus widened to EUR 20.4 billion versus a revised EUR 17.7 billion in the prior month. In China, foreign exchange reserves grew to $3.238 trillion in December from $3.172 trillion in the previous month.
To cap off the day, data on consumer credit for November was released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
