U.S. stocks have given back their early gains ahead of an afternoon meeting in the White House on trade and tariffs. Among the individual stocks making notable moves are mobile payments company Net Element International Inc (NASDAQ:NETE), drugmaker Immuron Limited (NASDAQ:IMRN), and tech issue Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS). Here's what's moving shares of NETE, IMRN, and PRGS.
Net Element stock has jumped 21.3% today to trade at $7.41, thanks to news CNBC's Jon Najarian is joining the company's board of directors. The price action puts NETE shares back above the 20-day moving average -- which had acted as resistance for over a month -- though they're still far removed from their Dec. 21 high of $33.51 that followed the company's blockchain announcement. Still, short sellers have been targeting the security, evidenced by a 27.4% increase in short interest during the last two reporting periods.
Immuron announced that its treatment for liver inflammation had a significant positive impact in a clinical trial, sending its stock up 66.9% to $14.10. The American depositary shares of the Australia-based firm first began trading last June, and earlier touched an all-time high of $16.70. IMRN was trading near $5 coming into 2018. This follows a huge run up the charts for fellow drugmaker Conatus Pharmaceuticals (CNAT) that was prompted by bullish buzz for its own liver disease treatment.
Progress Software stock is down 11.8% at $39.15, after being downgraded to "sell" from "buy" at Benchmark, which also lowered its price target to $35 from $47. The brokerage firm cited this week's news that hedge fund Praesidium dissolved its stake in the company as reason for the bear note. While PRGS is pacing for its lowest close since early October, it earlier bottomed right at its 200-day moving average, hinting at technical support. Clearly someone was expecting this drop in the share price, since short interest exploded by 86% in the last two reporting periods. Regardless, the stock is short-sale restricted today.