Category: Stock Market News

The euro and European bond yields shot higher on Thursday after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged while announcing an extension of its bond-buying program. The shared currency spiked after the announcement, rising 0.7% to $1.0874, its highest level in three weeks. The yield on the German 10-year bund rose 8.8 basis points to 0.433%, its highest level since January. While the ECB said it would extend its massive bond buying program through the end of 2017, the central bank surprised investors by saying it would taper the program to 60 billion euros ($64 billion) a month, down from 80 billion euros ($86 billion) a month, beginning in April. Market strategists had expected the central bank to continue buying 80 billion euros in public and private debt a month for most of 2017. The decision reflects a batch of sanguine economic data out of the eurozone released in recent months, including signs that growth and inflation are finally beginning to accelerate. It also reflects concerns that the central bank is running out of bonds to buy that fit its criteria for eligibility.

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Shares of Voyager Therapeutics Inc. rocketed 35% toward an 11-month high in premarket trade Thursday, after the company reported positive results from an early-stage trial of its treatment for Parkinson’s disease. That puts the shares on course to post the biggest one-day gain since they went public on Nov. 11, 2015, at an initial public offering price of $14. The company said late Wednesday that results from a Phase 1b trial showed that escalating doses of VY-AADC01 were well tolerated and produced “clinically meaningful improvements in various measures of patients’ motor function.” The company said it continues to enroll patients in another study, and remains on track to report six-month data in mid 2017. The stock had tumbled 37% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.7%.

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Horizon Pharma plc shares tumbled 22% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company said it is discontinuing a late-stage trial of a treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia after it failed to meet its goals. The company said the Phase 3 trial of Actimmune as a treatment for the debilitating, degenerative neuro-muscular disorder failed to meet its primary and secondary endpoints. The results “were not what we hoped for,” Horizon Chief Executive Timothy Walbert said in a statement. The company is not expecting the results to impact its full-year sales or adjusted EBITDA guidance, he said. The company will continue to work with the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance and the regulator to analyze the data to help shape future research. Friedreich’s ataxia affects about 4,000 to 6,000 people in the U.S. with symptoms that can start at age five and include progressive loss of strength that can lead to wheelchair use, poor vision, hearing and speech, among others. Horizon shares are down 11.5% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.7%.

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Universal Health Services Inc. responded Thursday’s to a BuzzFeed report that alleged the psychiatric hospital chain reaped profits at the expense of its patients. On Wednesday, the stock swung from a gain of about 1% to a loss of 12% in the final hour of trade after the BuzzFeed report was released. “We dispute and deny the conclusions drawn by the reporter in relation to UHS and believe that the story misses the mark in several important ways leading to an inaccurate portrayal of UHS’s behavioral health operations,” the company said in a statement. “The reporter seriously diminishes the complexity of behavioral health assessments and treatment necessary to properly care for the individual patient based upon their specific needs.” UHS’s stock was indicated up fractionally in premarket trade. It has lost 6.8% year to date through Wednesday, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has shed 5.8% and the S&P 500 has run up 9.7%.

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Edward Lifesciences Corp. on Thursday set financial goals for 2017, and said fourth-quarter sales are tracking at the low end of its guidance. The company said it expects 2017 sales to range from $3.0 billion to $3.4 billion, compared with a current FactSet consensus of $3.3 billion. In a statement prepared for an investor meeting later Thursday, the company said it expects adjusted per-share earnings for 2017 to come to $3.30 to $3.45, compared with a FactSet consensus of $3.40. The company is expecting the pending acquisition of Valtech Cardio to shave 10 cents per share off earnings and expects an 8 cents to 13 cents per share benefit from an accounting change related to stock-based compensation. The company said fourth-quarter sales are trending toward the low end of its guided range of $750 million to $790 million, driven by lower sales at its surgical heart valve therapy business. The company remains committed to that business, which it continues to expect will exceed $5 billion by 2021. Shares were flat in premarket trading, but are up 6% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.7%.

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A federal judge has put a halt to the electoral recount in Michigan after finding no support for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s concerns over hacking, according to media reports. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith on Wednesday lifted an earlier order preventing the state’s Board of Elections from stopping the recount, which has already started. “Plaintiffs have not presented evidence of tampering or mistake. Instead, they present speculative claims going to the vulnerability of the voting machinery, but not actual injury,” Judge Goldsmith said in his order, reports said. He also cited a state court ruling that Stein was not an “aggrieved” candidate in Michigan’s ballot, as the fourth-placed candidate had little chance of winning even after a recount.

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Tailored Brands Inc. shares jumped more than 20% late Wednesday after the company, which operates Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank stores, swung to a third-quarter profit and beat sales expectations for the quarter. Tailored Brands said it earned $28.4 million, or 58 cents a share, in the quarter, versus a net loss of $27.2 million in the year-ago period. Sales reached $847 million in the quarter, compared with $865 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Tailored Brands to report per-share earnings of 55 cents a share on sales of $833 million. Shares ended the regular trading session up 3.4%.

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Alaska Airlines said late Wednesday it has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by consumers opposing its $2.6 billion merger with Virgin America Inc. . Terms are confidential, the airline said. The lawsuit was a barrier to the merger, which won antitrust approval on Tuesday, under some conditions. “We look forward to closing the transaction in the very near future,” the airline said. Alaska Airlines is a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group . Shares of Virgin America rose less than 0.1% after hours, and shares of Alaska Air fell 0.7%. The stocks rose 0.3% and 3.4%, respectively, in the regular trading session.

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Shares of United Health Services Inc. gained 1% late Wednesday, recovering some of their steep losses in the last half hour of the regular trading session. The hospital chain, which operates psychiatric hospitals, among other facilities, was the focus of a Buzzfeed report earlier Wednesday that claimed employees were pressured to “fill beds by almost any method” and to hold on to patients to keep insurance payments flowing. The shares ended the day down 11.9%.

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Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday affirmed Italy at Baa2 but revised down the outlook on the country’s rating to negative from stable after Italian voters rejected a referendum on constitutional changes over the weekend. Moody’s cited “the slow and halting progress on economic and fiscal reform in Italy, the prospects for which have diminished further following the ‘no’ vote in Sunday’s constitutional referendum” as the main driver behind its decision. The ratings agency also expressed concerns that Italy may be exposed to “unforeseen shocks” for an extended period due to its tepid growth outlook and the recent deterioration in its fiscal position.

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