Category: Stock Market News

Japanese stocks gained on Wednesday, driven higher as the yen fell and the Bank of Japan left its deposit rate unchanged at negative 0.1%. The central bank took additional steps to help stoke inflation, including a new plan to target 10-year interest rates, with a commitment to keep them around zero. The Nikkei 225 surged 1.8% to 16,792, while the yen fell to ¥102.65 compared with ¥101.74 late Tuesday in New York. Financial stocks led the gains amid relief that the central bank did not push deposit rates further into negative territory. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. each climbed over 7%. Markets are now awaiting a press conference from the Bank of Japan, expected at 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%, the Shanghai Composite index inched up 0.2%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 0.7%.

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The Japanese yen fell sharply against major crosses on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan said it would keep its deposit rate unchanged at minus 0.1%, and tweak its policy framework. Stepping up its battle against deflation, the central bank said it would start targeting 10-year interest rates, committing to keep them around zero, and continue quantitative easing until inflation “exceeds” 2%. Against the dollar , the yen slid to ¥102.49 from ¥101.74 late Tuesday in New York. The yen fell 0.9% against the euro at ¥114.31 and around the same amount against the British pound at ¥133.09. The Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.5% to 16,746 as the yen tumbled.

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Japan’s central bank announced Wednesday that it would keep its key interest rate steady at -0.1%. The Bank of Japan also said it would expand its monetary base until inflation becomes stable above 2%. The BOJ intends to abandon its monetary base target, but maintain an annual pace of government-bond buying at 80 trillion yen. Experts had been nervously awaiting the bank’s move, with many concerned the BOJ would cut interest rates even deeper into negative territory. Japan’s Nikkei stock market rose and the yen weakened immediately following the BOJ announcement.

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Oil futures climbed in electronic trading Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported a 7.5 million-barrel decline in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended Sept. 16, according to sources. That contradicts the 2.8 million-barrel increase expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. The closely watched Energy Information Administration report will be released Wednesday. November crude was at $44.51 a barrel in electronic trading, up from the contract’s settlement of $44.05 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Microsoft Corp. said late Tuesday its board of directors approved a quarterly dividend increase to 39 cents a share, a 8% increase over the previous quarter’s dividend. The dividend is payable Dec. 8 to shareholders of record Nov. 17. The board also approved a share buyback program of up to $40 billion. The program has no expiration date, the company said. Microsoft said it is on track to complete its 2016 $40 billion buyback program. Microsoft scheduled its annual shareholder meeting for Nov. 30. Shares of Microsoft rose 1.1% in the late session after ending the regular trading day down 0.2%.

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Allergan PLC will buy privately-held Akarna Therapeutics for $50 million and milestone payments on the development of AKN-083, a potential treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, the pharmaceutical giant said late Tuesday. “The acquisition of Akarna adds to our strategic approach to investing in innovation to advance the treatment of NASH for millions of patients who currently do not have therapeutic options to treat the disease,” said Allergan’s Chief Executive Brent Saunders in a statement. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis is a type of disease where fat accumulates in the liver for no apparent reason. Allergan announced earlier Tuesday that it is buying Tobira Therapeutics Inc. , which is developing its own NASH treatment, for $28.35 a share. Allergan edged up 0.4% after hours.

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FedEx Corp. shares rose 1% late Tuesday after the shipping and logistics company reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings and sales. FedEx said it earned $715 million in the first quarter, or $2.65 a share, compared with $692 million, or $2.42 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, FedEx earned $2.90 a share. Sales reached $14.7 billion in the quarter, up from $12.3 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected FedEx to report adjusted earnings of $2.78 a share on sales of $14.6 billion. Shares of FedEx had ended the regular session down 2.4%.

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Shares of Adobe Systems Inc. climbed in Tuesday’s extended session after the software company posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Adobe reported third-quarter earnings rose to $270.8 million, or 54 cents a share, from $174.5 million, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the maker of Photoshop, Illustrator design software and PDFs would have earned 75 cents a share. Revenue grew to $1.46 billion from $1.22 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 72 cents a share on revenue of $1.45 billion. Adobe shares advanced 4% after hours.

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Oil futures settled on a mixed note Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude posting a modest gain but Brent crude finishing marginally lower. Traders weighed the likelihood that major crude producers will reach an agreement to stabilize the market at a meeting next week. Expectations for a pact were fading but on Tuesday, Russia reportedly said it would support a one-year deal to cooperate with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. October West Texas Intermediate crude rose 14 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $43.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on the contract’s expiration day. November WTI crude , which is now the front month, added 19 cents, or 0.4%, to $44.05. November Brent crude edged down by 7 cents to end at $45.88 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Exxon Mobil Corp. for how it accounts for assets that have lost value during the recent oil price rout, as well as how it estimates their future value in the face of climate change regulations, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The SEC sought documents in August from the company and its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the paper said. Some of those documents had already been submitted to the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is investigating similar issues. Exxon shares were down 0.9%, but are up 6.6% in the year so far, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 4.3%.

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