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Shares of Williams Sonoma Inc. rose nearly 3% late Wednesday after the retailer reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings above expectations and said its board of directors authorized a dividend increase. Williams Sonoma said it earned $145 million, or $1.63 a share, in the quarter, compared with $141 million, or $1.55 a share, in the year-ago. Adjusted for one-time items, Williams Sonoma earned $1.55 a share. Sales fell to $1.582 billion, compared with $1.586 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of $1.51 a share on sales of $1.607 billion. Williams Sonoma holiday season was “one of the best” for the company, CEO Laura Alber said in a statement. The company said its board of directors authorized a 5% dividend increase to 39 cents a share. Shares of Williams Sonoma ended the regular session up 1.3%. In a separate statement, it said Sandra Stangl, president of Williams Sonoma’s Pottery Barn brands, will resign from the company March 31. The company named Marta Benson president of Pottery Barn and Jennifer Kellor as president of Pottery Barn Kids and PBTeen.

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From:: Stock Market News

Financials on Wednesday were the weakest performer among the S&P 500’s 11 sectors after the Federal Reserve, lifted interest rates by a quarter-point. The S&P 500 index’s financial sector, was off 0.1%, with other sectors posting firm gains, led by energy’s 2% rebound. A rate hike tends to be a positive for bank’s, because it increases how much they can charge for borrowers, compared with their own short-term borrowing costs. However, U.S. government bonds slipped, as investors bought Treasurys, pushing yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was down to 2.50%, compared with 2.58% earlier in the session. Bond yields move inversely to prices and usually tick higher, as investor shed existing bonds in anticipation of higher yielding bonds in the future. Some market participants said the Fed wasn’t as hawkish, or aggressive, about its plans for future rate hikes as had been anticipated. The Fed’s dot plot or forecast of future rate increases is implying two more rate increases in 2017. matching its forecast for three in 2017. For 2018, the Fed is expected raise rates three times. Exchange-traded funds that track the financial sector also showed lackluster trade. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF was off 0.1%, tracking the S&P 500 financial sector, the SPDR S&P Bank ETF was off 0.3%, the iShares U.S. Financials ETF was up about 0.3%. Comparatively, the S&P 500 gained 1% at 2,388, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% at 20,971, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.9% to 5,910, near a closing record. Shares of big banks like Goldnman Sachs Group and Bank of America were showing losses, bucking the trend of the broader market.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News