Market Pulse: Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Acura, Interdigital, Apple

Acura Pharmaceuticals

01/07/2013 12:56

(For more market insights, including options activity, click on STXNEWS/US ; for the Day Ahead newsletter http://link.reuters.com/mex49s) July 1 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks to watch on Monday: FUTURES INDICATE POSITIVE START TO THIRD QUARTER  U.S. stock index futures rose, indicating that equities would start the second half of the year by building on the strongest first half of any year since 1998. S&P 500 futures SPc1  were up 6.8 points, Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1  up 82 points and Nasdaq 100 futures  NDc1  up 17 points. .N  ** ONYX PHARMACEUTICALS INC  ONXX.O , Friday close $86.82, up 47 pct premarket The cancer drugmaker said on Sunday it rejected a roughly $10 billion takeover offer from larger biotechnology company Amgen Inc  AMGN.O  as too low but was still considering selling itself.  ID:nL2N0F608Q  Canaccord Genuity raised the price target on Onyx's stock to $140 from $105. ** ACURA PHARMACEUTICALS INC  ACUR.O , Friday close $1.88, up 19 pct premarket The company said partner Pfizer Inc  PFE.N  will expand the marketing of its pain drug, Oxecta, in the fourth quarter. Acura receives tiered royalties ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent on net sales of the drug, which was developed using its technology.  ID:nMKW30992a   ** INSMED INC  INSM.O , Friday close $11.96 Insmed said a late-stage trial of its experimental lung infection drug showed the therapy was as effective as another approved treatment. ** INTERDIGITAL INC  IDCC.O , Friday close $44.65, down 17 pct after market InterDigital lost the first round of its case against Huawei Technologies  HWT.UL , Nokia Corp  000063.SZ  and ZTE Corp NOK1V.HE , after a judge at the International Trade Commission said on Friday in a preliminary decision that they did not violate cell phone patents owned by InterDigital. ID:nL2N0F217U  ** COVIDIEN PLC  COV.N , Friday close $62.85, down 8 pct premarket  Jefferies & Co cut its target price on the medical device maker's stock to $62 from $75 while retaining its "buy" rating, citing a slowing in sales of Covidien's vascular systems and the company's cautious outlook.  ** APPLE INC  AAPL.O , Thursday close $396.53, up 1.3 pct premarket Apple has applied for a trademark for "iWatch" in Japan, a patent official said on Monday, signalling the iPhone maker may be moving ahead with plans for a watch-like device as gadget makers turn their attention to wearable computers. ** FLEEMATICS GROUP PLC  FLTX.N , Friday close $33.23, down 2.5 pct after market The fleet management software maker said on Friday it will sell 1 million shares and its CEO and other shareholders will sell 7 million shares.  ID:nBw285842a  ** BEST BUY CO INC  BBY.N , Friday close $27.33, up 2 pct premarket Credit Suisse resumed its coverage of the U.S. retailer by raising it target price on the stock to $40 from $32. "... The most important new game changer is the vendor agreements (with Microsoft Corp  MSFT.O  and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS ) to operate within Best Buy stores," analysts wrote in a note to clients.  ** NEWS CORP  NWSA.O , Friday close $15.25, down 1 pct premarket News Corp will begin trading as two separate public companies - the fast-growing 21st Century Fox Group and publishing unit News Corp. ** SONY CORP  SNE.N , Friday close $21.19 Sony, which is studying a partial spinoff of its studio at the urging of major shareholder Daniel Loeb, suffered its second box office misfire of the summer season when its action movie "White House Down" opened with ticket sales below industry forecasts.  ID:nL2N0EE00L  ** INTEL CORP  INTC.O , Friday close $24.23 A gas leak at Intel's second-biggest manufacturing plant, located in Chandler, Arizona, sickened up to 43 people, including 11 who were taken to a local hospital, company and local fire officials said on Saturday.  ID:nL2N0F5065  ** BLACKSTONE GROUP LP  BX.N , Friday close $21.06 Private equity firms Blackstone and Lion Capital have teamed up to make a formal bid worth more than a billion pounds for Lucozade and Ribena, the two soft drink brands put up for sale by drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline  GSK.L , Sky News reported on Sunday.  ID:nL3N0F60BC  ** CHINA SUNERGY CO LTD  CSUN.O , Friday close $2.12 The solar cell and module maker is expected to post its eighth straight quarterly loss on Monday. The company expects to break even in the quarter. It reported negative margins in the previous two quarters. (Compiled by Kanika Sikka; Editing by Don Sebastian) ((kanika.sikka@thomsonreuters.com)(within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 1130)(Reuters Messaging: kanika.sikka.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS USA STOCKS/PULSE