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Shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd. tumbled 3.1% in afternoon trade Wednesday, erasing earlier gains of as much as 3.3% at their intraday high, after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) provided an update to its review of the casino operator’s license in the state. The review comes after a report in The Wall Street Journal alleging Wynn’s Chief Executive Steve Wynn has a long history of pressuring employees to perform sex acts. Karen Wells, director of the MGC’s investigations and enforcement bureau, said Wednesday that the $7.5 million settlement paid to a woman said he forced her to have sex with him in 2005, which was referenced in the WSJ report, was not disclosed at the time the MGC published in 2013 its suitability report for Wynn’s application for a gaming license. “The circumstances around this $7.5M settlement and the decision not to disclose it to investigators remain a critical element of this review,” Wells said in a statement. The status of Wynn’s gaming license in Massachusetts is a significant concern for investors, given the $2.4 billion Wynn Boston Harbor waterfront resort and casino the company is building. Separately, Nevada gaming regulators have also launched an investigation into Steve Wynn. Wynn Resorts’ stock has still gained 12.6% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.4%.

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The Senate committee on banking, housing and urban affairs will hear testimony on February 6 on regulatory oversight of virtual currencies from Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo. The hearing will be broadcast live beginning at 10AM. Both regulators have been posting enforcement actions and voicing repeated warnings regarding potential fraud related to virtual currency schemes and internet coin offerings.

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Oil prices finished higher Wednesday as data from the Energy Information Administration showed strong U.S. demand for gasoline and distillates along with weekly declines in domestic supplies of the petroleum products. The EIA, however, also reported that U.S. crude supplies rose 6.8 million barrels last week–the first rise in 11 weeks. March West Texas Intermediate crude rose 23 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $64.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Treasury’s ability to borrow will run out in the first half of March if the debt limit isn’t raised, the Congressional Budget Office predicted Wednesday. That’s earlier than a prior analysis and accounts for the effects of revenue losses from the tax cuts signed by President Donald Trump.

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The U.S. dollar turned positive on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as expected. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index , which gauges the buck against a half-dozen rivals, rose into the green after trading squarely in negative territory for most of the session, which had the index set for its worst monthly decline since March 2016. The Fed’s updated policy statement indicates that inflation, which has been stubbornly low, was expected to rise in 2018. The central bank left short-term interest rates unchanged at a range between 1.25%-1.5%. The dollar index was last up 0.1% at 89.276.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stock indexes held on to modest gains on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left key interest rates unchanged, but signaled that the economy is improving. The central bank didn’t offer a clear signal about when it might lift interest rates next but its comments on the health of the U.S. economy and its expectations that sluggish inflation, hovering just below the Fed’s 2% annual target, will normalize, suggests that the central bank is ready to tighten further in 2018, if not by March as the market is betting. The Fed said “market-based measures of inflation compensation have increased in recent months.” Rates remain a range between 1.25% to 1.50%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 150 points, or 0.6%, at 26,220, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.3% at 2,829 and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.4% at 7,428.

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From:: Stock Market News

Treasury yields remained higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve’s policy statement did nothing to dispel expectations for a March rate increase. Yields, which move in the opposite direction of debt prices, briefly trimmed their rise following the statement but soon returned to previous levels. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note , which is sensitive to shifting expectations for official rates, was up 1.6 basis points at 2.145%, while the 10-year note yield rose 1.5 basis points to 2.736%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gold futures settled with a gain on Wednesday, then moved higher in electronic trading as the U.S. dollar continued to weaken in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave a short-term U.S. interest rate unchanged as expected. The central bank, however, also said it expects inflation “to move up this year” in a sign it’s likely to hike rates at its next meeting in March. Following the news, which came after the gold futures settlement, February gold was at $1,340.30 an ounce in electronic trading. It had finished the session at $1,339, up $3.60, or 0.3%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Bon-Ton Stores Inc. shares are down 7.7% in Wednesday trading after the company announced which of its stores will be among the 42 closing in early 2018. Another five closures were previously announced, and four of those stores have shut. The new wave of store closures will span across Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and other states. Bon-Ton has partnered with Hilco Merchant Resources, a third-party liquidator, to help manage the store closures, including store closing sales, which will begin Feb. 1 and last 10-to-12 weeks. Store associates will be offered the chance to interview for positions at neighboring stores. Bon-Ton Stores announced earlier this month that it has entered into forbearance agreements with some of its lenders after missing a $14 million interest payment. Bon-Ton shares are down more than 86% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 24.1% for the period.

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From:: Stock Market News