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The Bank of England on Thursday left its key interest rate at a record low 0.25%, meeting widely held expectations. The central bank also left unchanged the size of its asset purchase program at £435 billion ($543 billion) and its corporate-bond purchase program at £10 billion. All nine members of the rate-setting board voted to stand pat on policy. This week, Britain’s consumer-price index leapt above 1% for the first time since October 2014. “Sterling’s effect on CPI inflation will ultimately prove temporary and fully offsetting it would require exerting further downward pressure on domestic costs, including wages, and would therefore involve lost output and higher unemployment,” the BOE said in a statement. The pound fell to $1.2459 from $1.2483 just before the BOE’s policy decision was released. The pound has been under pressure Thursday, with the U.S. dollar rising after the Federal Reserve [l: on Wednesday raised interest rates and signaled it will continue raising rates in 2017.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Eli Lilly & Co. surged 3% in premarket trade Thursday, after the drug maker provided an upbeat profit and sales outlook for next year. The company expected 2017 net earnings per share of $3.51 to $3.61. Excluding non-recurring items, such as the the amortization of intangible assets and one-time acquisition costs, adjusted EPS is expected to be $4.05 to $4.15, above the FactSet consensus of $3.96. Revenue is projected to be $21.8 billion to $22.3 billion, also above the FactSet consensus of $21.7 billion. For 2016, the company still expects adjusted EPS of $3.50 to $3.60, surrounding the FactSet consensus of $3.52. Lilly said it continues to see the potential to launch 13 new products through 2023. “Because of our confidence in our future growth prospects, we are reaffirming our financial commitments through the remainder of the decade,” said Chief Financial Officer Derica Rice. The stock has tumbled 20% year to date through Wednesday, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has lost 3.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 10%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The National Basketball Association and its players union tentatively agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement Wednesday night, which, if ratified, could deliver labor peace through the 2023-’24 season. The deal, announced by both parties, lifts the threat of a lockout next year. League owners and players will likely vote to approve the deal before year’s end. Under terms of the CBA, the average NBA salary will rise to around $8.5 million a year, according to a report by Yahoo. Under terms of the deal, the status quo will largely be maintained, reports say, with the league salary cap and luxury tax largely unchanged.

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From:: Stock Market News

Veritex Holdings Inc. plunged more than 25% Wednesday afternoon after the Texas-based bank announced that it would merge with another bank in the same state, Sovereign Bancshares Inc. Veritex said it would issue more than 5 million shares to Sovereign and pay $58 million in cash to complete the deal. In a separate announcement, the company said it would sell fresh shares on the open market to fund the cash portion of the payment. Veritex, which ended Wednesday’s session with a market capitalization of $245.5 million, plunged from $22.84 a share in late trading to $17.01 after a trading halt of about 30 minutes. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017.

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From:: Stock Market News

Yahoo Inc. disclosed another security breach Wednesday, and said more than 1 billion users’ accounts could be affected, double the number of affected users Yahoo claimed in an earlier hack that was believed to be the largest on record. In an announcement Wednesday afternoon, Yahoo said that a trove of information passed on from law enforcement in November appears to be user data stolen in August 2013. “The stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers,” Yahoo said in its announcement. Yahoo said in September that a hack in 2014 accessed data from about 500 million users, and specified Wednesday that this trove of data is believed to be from a separate incident. The troubled internet company has agreed to be purchased for $4.8 billion by Verizon Communications Inc. , but reports have said Verizon is looking for a discount after the earlier hacking. Yahoo shares fell 2.5% in late trading Wednesday.

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From:: Stock Market News

United Technologies Corp. late Wednesday said it expects adjusted earnings per share of $6.30 to $6.60 and sales in a range of $57.5 billion to $59 billion in 2017. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast earnings of $6.60 a share, on average, and revenue of $59.11 billion in 2017. United Technologies shares were mostly unchanged in late trading after closing at $109.27.

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From:: Stock Market News

Hologic Inc. rallied in Wednesday’s extended session after the company said it plans to sell its stake in a blood screening business to Grifols for $1.85 billion in cash. The divestment is expected to improve the company’s “financial flexibility,” said Hologic in a statement. The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter. Shares of Hologic were flat in late trade after closing at $40.79 in the regular session.

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From:: Stock Market News