Stocks looked pretty certain to continue their recent weakness in the early going as the Dow was being heavily weighed down by a slide in Boeing (BA), though two notable upgrades of a pair of big-name tech heavyweights was helping the Nasdaq. The Dow, aided by Apple (AAPL) and a partial recovery in Boeing shares from their worst levels, made it all the way back into the green to join the Nasdaq and S&P and the averages have gained upside momentum since then.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., retail sales rebounded 0.2% in January, which was a bit better than expectations for them to be flat month-over-month. Excluding autos and gas, retail sales were up 1.2% month-over-month, which was better than expected. However, December's poor report was made even worse with revisions, as retail sales in the last month of 2018 are now estimated to have fallen 1.6% overall, revised down from a prior estimated decline of 1.2%. Business inventories rose 0.6% in December, while sales fell 1.0%.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Boeing plunged in morning trading following this weekend's crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 that killed all 157 people on board. Analysts weighed in on Monday, with several saying that this crash, as well as the Lion Air crash six months earlier, are not expected to meaningfully impact Boeing's financials. While Boeing shares remain down about 7% at midday, that is much improved from the stock's worst levels when it had been down about 13%.
In M&A news, Nvidia (NVDA) announced a deal to acquire Mellanox (MLNX) for $125 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $6.9B. Following the deal announcement, Mellanox shares gained 8%, while Nvidia is up 5% near noon.
Additionally, Barrick Gold (GOLD) and Newmont Mining (NEM) put their takeover fight to bed by agreeing to create a joint venture combining their respective mining operations, assets, reserves, and talent in Nevada. As a result of this agreement, Barrick has withdrawn its Newmont acquisition proposal and its proposals for the Newmont annual general meeting, while Goldcorp (GG) announced that it has consented to and fully supports the announced JV.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Infinera (INFN), which rose 9% after MKM Partners analyst Michael Genovese upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral with a $6 price target following a "very upbeat" meeting with the company's CFO in San Diego last week. Also higher was XPO Logistics (XPO), which gained 8% after it was named to join the S&P 400.
Among the notable losers was Care.com (CRCM), which fell over 15% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company does not verify credentials of recommended caregivers. Also lower was Cronos Group (CRON), which fell 4% after BMO Capital analyst Tamy Chen downgraded the stock to Underperform from Market Perform, citing its "elevated" valuation.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 112.93, or 0.44%, to 25,563.17, the Nasdaq was up 127.69, or 1.72%, to 7,535.83, and the S&P 500 was up 33.87, or 1.23%, to 2,776.94.
