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Amazon.com Inc. announced Friday that it is shutting down its Daily Deals and Amazon Local offerings, a service that rivaled Groupon Inc. with online, locally focused coupons. The site and app will cease offering deals on Dec. 18, and the daily email featuring deals ceased Friday, though deals that customers have purchased or buy through Dec. 18 will be honored after that date. Amazon launched the service in 2011 with help from LivingSocial, a Groupon rival in which the Seattle e-commerce giant invested, and eventually grew it to 40 markets. Many large Web companies have attempted to mimic Groupon’s approach to online deals, but few have found success: Alphabet Inc. , formerly Google Inc., shut down its Google Offers venture in 2014, and LivingSocial recently announced layoffs of 20% of staff as it moves away from the standard daily-deals model. Amazon shares ticked down 0.1% Friday, while Groupon gained 3.6%.

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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Periscope, Twitter’s live video app, said Friday that it is launching an app on the new Apple TV . With the app, viewers can see broadcasts, without needing an account, read comments and send hearts to show appreciation to the broadcaster. “We see tons of possibilities and are really looking forward to hearing about how people use this first iteration,” Periscope wrote in a blog post.

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

U.S. stocks ended Friday’s session lower, but the main indexes recorded a fifth straight week of gains and booked the largest monthly gain in four years. The S&P 500 closed 10.05 points, or 0.5%, lower at 2,079.36 but were up 0.2% over the week. For the month, the benchmark index gained 8.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 92 points, or 0.5%, to 17,663.54 but rose 0.1% over the week. The blue-chip index gained 8.5% over the month. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 20.53 points, or 0.4%, at 5,053.75, but was up 0.4% on the week. Over the month, the tech-heavy index gained 9.4%.

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

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Friday lowered Saudi Arabia’s long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to A+ from AA-, citing a widening budget deficit resulting from weaker oil prices. The ratings agency projected the country’s fiscal shortfall will jump to 16% of gross domestic product this year from 1.5% in 2014. S&P said it expects Saudi Arabia to draw down its fiscal assets and issue debt to finance its deficit, though the country does not have much monetary-policy flexibility given the riyal’s peg to the U.S. dollar. “The outlook remains negative, reflecting the challenge of reversing the marked deterioration in Saudi Arabia’s fiscal balance,” said S&P.

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

Oil futures settled higher Friday, finding support after Baker Hughes data showed that the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs fell in the past week. Prices also scored gains for the week and the month. December crude settled at $46.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 53 cents, or 1.2%, for the session. Based on the most-active contracts, that was the highest settlement since Oct. 16. Prices saw a weekly gain of 4.5% and climbed 3.3% for the month.

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

Gold futures finished down on Friday, closing at their lowest levels in about a month as the prospect of an interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve weighed on the precious metal. December gold settled $5.90, or 0.5%, lower at $1,141.40 an ounce, its worst settlement price since Sept. 1. However, the yellow metal ended with a monthly gain of 2.4% despite a more than $28-an-ounce tumble on Thursday that followed a policy statement from the Fed. The statement surprised investors by hinting at the possibility of raising benchmark interest rates as early as the central bank’s next meeting in December. The hawkish tone has been a drag on gold, which has enjoyed one of its best monthly gains since about August on the belief that rates would remain lower for longer. Higher rates are a drag on gold because it doesn’t bear interest.

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

Oil futures inched higher on Friday after data from Baker Hughes released Friday showed that the number of active U.S. rigs fell 12 to 775 as of Oct. 30. Active oil-drilling rigs fell 16 to 578 rigs, while gas rigs gained four rigs to 197. December oil was up 43 cents, or 0.9%, to $46.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $46.37 a barrel, or 0.7%, higher just 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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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Republican National Committee on Friday said it was suspending its partnership with NBC News for the Republican debate scheduled for Feb. 26. “The CNBC network is one of your media properties, and its handling of the debate was conducted in bad faith,” the letter from RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack reads. “We understand that NBC does not exercise full editorial control over CNBC’s journalistic approach. However, the network is an arm of your organization, and we need to ensure there is not a repeat performance.” Priebus complained of “gotcha” questions and a “petty and mean-spirited” tone. Priebus says the Republicans are still planning to hold that debate and will still involve the National Review in it. NBC is a unit of Comcast .

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Peet’s Coffee & Tea is taking a majority stake in Chicago-based Intelligentsia. The co-founders of the gourmet coffee roaster and retailer are to retain “a significant stake,” according to a news release. Intelligentsia was established in 1995 and, in addition to its roasting and wholesale operations, has 20 coffee bars, six of them in Chicago and others in Los Angeles and New York. Peet’s, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is controlled by Luxembourg-based JAB Holding Co. and just earlier this month inked a deal to acquire Stumptown Coffee Roasters of Portland, Ore.

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Target Corp. said it will offer website customers free shipping and returns, starting Nov. 1 and extending through Dec. 25. Starting next week, the retailer will expand its Curbside pickup service to 121 stores from 21. Participating stores will be in Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay area, the New York and New Jersey areas, and the Chicago area. The service notifies customers via the Curbside app when purchases made at local stores are available for pickup. The grocery delivery service offered through Instacart will expand to San Francisco next week. And the Kids’ Wish List app has been enhanced with sharing and browsing capabilities. The retailer also announced today that it has launched an international site available in 200 countries and territories. Target shares are up 1.7% for the year so far. The S&P is up 1.4% for the same period.

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