U.S. stock market indexes opened lower on Thursday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 3 points to 22,109. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures lost 2 points to 2,493 and futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 7 points to 6,002. The dollar index is down 0.06% at 92.35, while the U.S. 10-year bond yields 2.206% and the German 10-year bond yields 0.415%.
Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (HALO, Financial) shares were up 14% in pre-market trading on the back of the announcement of a deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY, Financial). The deal consists of a global collaboration and license agreement to develop subcutaneously administered Bristol-Myers Squibb immuno-oncology medicines using Halozyme’s Enhanze drug-delivery technology.
Halozyme will receive $105 million up front and up to $160 million in additional milestone payments. It will also receive royalties on product sales. As a result, the company raised its 2017 revenue outlook to between $245 million and $260 million from $115 million to $130 million.
Bristol-Myers' Cheif Commerical Officer Murdo Gordon expressed excitement for the deal and discovering "potential new approaches to how our medicines are delivered to patients."
"Through our work with Halozyme, we hope to improve the patient treatment experience by developing flexible and convenient treatment delivery options,” he added.
Gainers
- Centene Corp. (CNC, Financial)
- Nordstrom Inc. (JWN, Financial)
- Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK, Financial)
Losers
- Equifax Inc. (EFX, Financial)
- Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC, Financial)
- Western Digital Corp. (WDC, Financial)
Global Markets
The main European stock markets traded lower. The FTSE 100, France's CAC 40, Germany's DAX and the IBEX 35 were down 0.4%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Index, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.29%, 0.38% and 0.42% respectively. India's Sensex advanced 0.17%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
