10 Firms Dominate Monday Upsurge

Ten companies—predominantly in the healthcare sector—kicked off Monday’s trading with notable gains amid a series of business updates, earnings, and acquisition deals that have fueled investor confidence.

Their gains outperformed mixed trading on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones and S&P’s main index the only gainers, up 0.86 percent and 0.16 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.38 percent.

In this article, we will take a look at what buoyed the companies’ share prices.

To come up with Monday’s top gainers, we considered only the stocks with at least $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in daily trading volume.

A woman reading and analyzing stock market data. Photo by Artem Podrez on Pexels

10. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Shares of an American steel manufacturer Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) kicked off the trading week on a positive note, rallying by 5.96 percent to close at $10.49 apiece with investor sentiment buoyed by reports that it was looking to acquire United States Steel Corp. (X).

According to news, Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) is currently in talks with Nucor Corp. (NUE) to jointly acquire US Steel (X) at over $30 per share. It would then sell US Steel’s Big River Steel subsidiary to Nucor.

The proposed acquisition came after President Joe Biden blocked a deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to acquire US Steel for $14 billion.

According to Biden, steel producers, and the American steelworkers “are the backbone of our nation.”

“A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains. … Without domestic steel production and domestic steelworkers, our nation is less strong and less secure,” he noted.

9. United States Steel Corp. (NYSE:X)

Shares of US Steel (X) rose for a second day on Monday as investors cheered news that two American companies have joined forces to acquire the former.

Over the weekend, reports said that Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) was in talks with its rival Nucor Corp. (NUE) to jointly acquire US Steel (X) at more than $30 per share.

The proposed acquisition came after President Joe Biden blocked a deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to acquire US Steel for $14 billion.

Biden blocked Nippon’s proposed acquisition of US Steel, saying the steel producers and the American steelworkers “are the backbone of our nation.” However, the administration announced that it delayed an order for Nippon to totally abandon the acquisition plan until June, fueling hopes that a deal could still push through.

Cleveland-Cliffs, however, remained mum on the reports.