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Baker Hughes reports sixth-weekly U.S. oil-rig climb in seven weeks

Oil futures hold onto gains after data from Baker Hughes revealed a weekly climb in the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil–the sixth-weekly climb in seven weeks. The active U.S. oil-rig count rose 6 to 357 as of Friday. The total U.S. rig count climbed by 7 to 447. August crude was at $45.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 17 cents, or 0.4%, from Thursday’s settlement. It’s trading little-changed from the $45.82 level it was at before the data.

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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Citi’s Home Lending Blooms, Servicing Withers

Citigroup Inc. saw healthy quarter-over-quarter growth in its residential lending activity. The mortgage servicing portfolio, however, moved lower.

From April 1 through June 30 of this year, the financial institution closed 16 percent more in new home loans than it funded in the first quarter.

This data and other operational financial information was gathered through the New York-based organization’s second-quarter 2016 earnings report.

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Nice attack prompts decline in U.S. travel stocks

Travel and airline stocks slid in Friday trading after a deadly truck attack in Nice, France on Thursday during a Bastille Day celebration. More than 80 people were killed when a driver plowed into crowds on a promenade in the French Riviera. Travel stocks from airlines to cruise companies to online travel booking services are down for the day so far, including Priceline Group Inc. , Carnival Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. . European travel stocks have also dipped, including U.K. travel agent Thomas Cook Group PLC , Air France-KLM and budget carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC . Discount carriers in the U.S. haven’t been spared either, with JetBlue Airways Corp. and Spirit Airlines Inc. both down as well. The S&P 500 is nearly flat in Friday trading.

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Trump says he’s chosen Pence to be his running mate

Donald Trump said Friday he has chosen Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to be his running mate. In a tweet, Trump said he’d hold a news conference on Saturday at 11 a.m. Eastern. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee had planned to announce his pick on Friday but postponed it after the attack in Nice, France.

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Herbalife settlement with the FTC is bad news for Bill Ackman

The FTC settlement with Herbalife Ltd. unveiled earlier Friday is another blow for activist investor William Ackman. While the deal includes fines and obliges Herbalife to restructure its operations, it falls short of deeming it a pyramid scheme as Ackman has long argued, sending its stock up almost 20% in early trade. Ackman bet $1 billion against the stock in 2012, and has waged an aggressive and often bitter campaign to persuade regulators it was a pyramid scheme. Other investors, notably billionaire Carl Icahn, took a stance against Ackman by investing heavily in the stock, further squeezing his position. Ackman’s Pershing Square hedge fund had lost 26% in the year through March 16 and Standard & Poor’s has the company’s BBB rating on review for a possible downgrade. Pershing also owned 21.6 million shares of troubled drug company Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. as of June 9, which has lost 78% of its value in the year so far.

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FTC charges Herbalife $200 million fine in pyramid-scheme ruling

Shares of Herbalife Ltd. soared more than 9%, nearing a two-year high on Friday, after the company confirmed a ruling by the Federal Trade Commission that it can continue to operate as a direct selling company. The company has agreed to pay a $200 million fine and restructure its business, but the FTC did not directly refer to Herbalife as a pyramid scheme.The ruling, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, ends a two-year investigation by the FTC that started after billionaire investor Bill Ackman revealed a large short stake in the company and claimed it was a pyramid scheme. In light of the ruling, Ackman rival and fellow billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has long supported Herbalife, said the company raised his ownership limit to 34.99% from 25%. Shares of Herbalife were on track to open around $64.62 on Friday, which would put them on track for their highest closing price since July 28, 2014, when the stock closed at $67.48.

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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Herbalife stock soars to 30-month high

Shares of Herbalife Ltd. soared more than 18% to a two-and-a-half-year high on Friday after the FTC ended its investigation into the company following a two-year tirade by billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who had a large short position on Herbalife and claimed the company was operating as a pyramid scheme. Herbalife agreed to pay $200 million and to undergo a restructuring as part of the settlement. Its shares traded around $70.30 in morning trade, the highest level since January 22, 2014.

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