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The largest exchange-traded fund to track the financial sector fell sharply on Monday, dropping for a second straight session and hitting an one-month low. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF fell 1.8%, extending a 2.2% decline on Friday, which represented the biggest one-day drop for the fund since May. The ETF is trading at its lowest level since Jan. 11, and it has lost nearly 5% since an intraday peak hit on Jan. 29. The sector’s weakness was driven by Wells Fargo & Co. , which tumbled 7.7% after the bank said Federal Reserve sanctions over customer-accounts scandals could cut into profit by as much as $400 million this year. The decline in banks shares also comes as the yield for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbs to 2.85%, extending its highest level in about four years. Rising yields, in theory, should be beneficial to a bank’s lending business. Among other banks, JPMorgan Chase & Co. was down 0.6% while Citigroup Inc. lost 1.3% and Bank of America Corp. was off 1.2%. The sector was the biggest decliner of the day by far, in terms of the 11 primary S&P 500 industry groups. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% while the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Kroger Co. said Monday that it has entered into an agreement with to sell its convenience store business for $2.15 billion to EG Group, a U.K.-based company that counts convenience stores among its portfolio. The transaction is expected to close during Kroger’s fiscal first quarter, which ends in April. Kroger operates convenience stores in 18 states under names including Kwik Shop, Loaf ‘N Jug and Tom Thumb. The business includes 66 franchise operations with 11,000 associates. The business generated $4 billion in revenue in 2016 and sold 1.2 billion gallons of fuel. EG Group will establish a North American headquarters in Cincinnati and continue to operate stores under their established names. Kroger said it would explore strategic alternatives for the convenience store business in October 2017. Among the uses for the proceeds, Kroger plans to buy back shares. Kroger shares are down 1.4% in Monday trading, and down 15% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 19.5% for the last 12 months.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. equity markets opened solidly lower on Monday as investors remained skittish following the biggest weekly selloff in two years. Adding to the pessimistic mood were global equities, which were deeply in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 313 points, or 1.2%, to 25,207. The S&P 500 index declined 21 points, or 0.8% to 2,739, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 71 points, or 1% to 7,169. Among the worst performers on the S&P 500 Wells Fargo Inc. [s :WFC] sank 9% after the bank said Federal Reserve sanctions over customer-accounts scandals could cut into profit by as much as $400 million this year.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Apple Inc. fell 0.9% in premarket trade, putting it on track to trade below its 200-day moving average for the first time since July 28, 2016. The stock, which entered its first official correction in 15 months after closing Friday 10.5% below its Jan. 18 record close of $179.26, was changing hands at $159.10 ahead of the open, while the 200-day MA comes in at $159.56. The last time the stock traded below the 200-day MA, which many chart watchers view as a dividing line between longer-term uptrends and downtrends, was July 28, 2016, while the last close was July 27, 2016. Apple’s stock has lost 7.0% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 8.4%.

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Shares of Corcept Therapeutics Inc. plunged 21% in premarket trade Monday, after the drug maker disclosed it was informed that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has submitted a new drug application (NDA) for a generic version of Corcept’s hyperglycemia treatment Korlym. The company said the notice letter it received alleges that the Korlym patents, with expiration dates August 2028 and August 2036, will not be infringed by Teva’s proposed product. Corcept said it intends to “vigorously defend” its intellectual property rights related to Korlym. Teva’s stock fell 2% ahead of the open. Corcept’s stock has soared 35.5% over the past three months, while Teva shares have rocketed 80.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Arconic Inc. slumped 2.8% in premarket trade Monday, after the engineered and aluminum products company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations, but provided a downbeat 2018 outlook. The company swung to a net loss of $727 million, or $1.51 a share, from a profit of $119 million, or 23 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as $879 million in one-time items from impairments of goodwill and tax-legislation adjustments, adjusted earnings per share came to 31 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 24 cents. Revenue rose to $3.27 billion from $3.24 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.09 billion, as engineered products and solutions, and transportation and construction solutions and global rolled products sales all topped expectations. For 2018, Arconic expects adjusted EPS of $1.45 to $1.55, below the FactSet consensus of $1.61, and revenue of $13.4 billion to $13.7 billion, which is above expectations of $13.10 billion. Separately, the company said it set a $500 million stock repurchase program and planned to retire $500 million in debt early. In addition, the company said it plans to relocate its headquarters out of New York City to a “more cost-effective location.” The stock has rallied 14.9% over the past three months through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Allergan PLC named Matthew Walsh its chief financial officer, when he formally joins the company “later this month.” Walsh is currently the CFO of Catalent Inc. . Walsh will succeed Allergan’s current CFO Tessa Hilado, who said in September that she would retire when a replacement was found. Allergan’s stock, which slipped 0.3% in premarket trade, has slipped 1.4% over the past three months through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

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Londoners are set to get “first dibs” on lower-cost, newly-built homes in the U.K. capital, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced on Monday. In an effort to make homes more available to locals, housebuilders have pledged to give London residents and workers a one-month head start to buy new homes up to a value of £350,000, or $491,876, before other buyers get a chance to purchase them. Other U.K.-based buyers will then get a two-month advantage before overseas marketing of the properties can take place. “By focusing their efforts on homes up to £350,000 — the lower-priced end of the private sales market — the industry offer helps secure ‘first dibs’ for Londoners on homes that are broadly affordable by households who would be eligible for affordable housing — those earning up to £90,000,” the Mayor’s office said in a statement.

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From:: Stock Market News

Avon Products Inc. said Monday that it has named Jan Zijderveld chief executive officer, succeeding Sheri McCoy, effective immediately. The beauty company announced last summer that McCoy would resign in March. Zijderveld joins from Unilever N.V., where he was last president of the European business. He was with the company for 30 years. There was a Wall Street Journal report last week that activist investors would push to find a buyer for the company. Avon shares are unchanged in premarket trading, and down nearly 59% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 20.2% for the last 12 months.

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From:: Stock Market News

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. shares surged 5.6% in premarket trade on Monday after the company reported positive results for its Opdivo and Yervoy cancer drug combination in a late-stage clinical trial, along with fourth-quarter profit and revenue beats. In the phase 3 trial, the two-drug combination improved progression-free survival in patients with advanced lung cancer as compared with chemotherapy. The trial will continue because an interim analysis looking at overall survival looked promising. Advanced lung cancer in a competitive space, and rival Merck & Co. recently reported positive results as well. Merck shares dropped 1.6% in premarket trade, while Astrazeneca , another rival, had shares fall 1.5%. Also on Monday, Bristol-Myers reported a loss of $2.33 billion, or a loss of $1.42 per share, after earnings of $894 million, or 53 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Adjusted earnings-per-share were 68 cents, compared with the FactSet consensus of 67 cents. The results include “the significant transitional impact” of the U.S.’s corporate tax overhaul, including a one-time $2.9 billion charge in the fourth-quarter, Bristol-Myers said. Revenue rose to $5.45 billion from $5.24 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $5.35 billion. Sales of Opdivo, Eliquis, Sprycel and the company’s Sustiva franchise came in above the FactSet consensus, while sales of Orencia, Yervoy, Empliciti, its Hepatitis C franchise, Baraclude and Reyataz came in below consensus. The company expects 2018 adjusted EPS of $3.15 to $3.30, compared with the FactSet consensus of $3.23, and worldwide revenue increases in the low- to mid-single digits. Bristol-Myers shares have lifted 2% over the last three months, compared with a 6.7% rise in the S&P 500 and a 8.4% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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From:: Stock Market News