Category: Stock Market News

Gold futures notched a hefty loss Friday, tumbling the most in about 2 1/2 weeks following a stronger-than-expected nonfarm-payrolls report that might provide the Federal Reserve evidence to lift benchmark interest rates sooner than later. Higher rates can boost the value of the dollar and undercut the appeal of commodities priced in the currency, making them more expensive for buyers using other monetary units. A rate hike also diminishes the appeal of owning metals, which don’t offer a yield. December gold finished off $23, or 1.7%, toe settle at $1,344.40 an ounce, marking its worst one-day drop since May 24, according to FactSet data. Friday’s sharp fall turned a modest weekly gain for gold into a roughly 1% weekly decline.

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Crude-oil futures remained under pressure Friday after oilfield-services firm Baker Hughes reported that the number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by seven this week to 381–the sixth consecutive weekly increase. West Texas Intermediate oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was off 48 cents, or 1.1%, at $41.45 a barrel. The number of rigs remains down 289 from a year ago. The rebound in the number of rigs over the last six weeks, however, has added to worries about a global glut of crude. Oil futures sank to a three-month low below $40 a barrel earlier this week and entered a bear market before rebounding Wednesday and Thursday in the wake of a drop in gasoline inventories. The U.S. oil benchmark is on track for a 0.4% weekly decline.

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American Airlines Group Inc. announced Friday a deal to give “significant” pay raises to 30,000 of its union employees, effective immediately. The airliner said it will continue to work toward a collective bargaining agreement with the TWU-IAM Association union. The company has about 118,500 employees, according to FactSet. Under terms of the deal, raises will range from 15% to 36% for maintenance and related employees, 245% for fleet service workers, 31% for tower planners and 55% for weight and balance planners. American Airlines’ stock gained 1.4% in morning trade. It has tumbled 20% year to date, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index has gained 1% and the S&P 500 index has climbed 6.7%.

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U.S. stocks opened higher Friday, on track to erase most of their declines from earlier in the week, after a strong July jobs report painted an upbeat picture of the U.S. labor market. The S&P 500 gained 7 points, or 0.2%, to 2,168. The Dow industrials added 90 points, or 0.5%, to 18,446. The Nasdaq Composite rose 24 points, or 0.5%, to 5,190. Official data showed the U.S. economy created 255,000 nonfarm jobs last month, surpassing a consensus forecast for 185,000 from a MarketWatch survey of economists. Average hourly wages climbed 0.3% to $25.69, keeping the 12-month rate of wage gains at a postrecession high.

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Merck & Co. Inc.’s stock soared $6.16, or 11%, in active premarket trade Friday, after a late-stage trial of a rival’s cancer treatment failed to meet its primary endpoint. That puts the stock on track to open at the highest level seen since Dec. 10, 2001. The share-price gain would add about 42 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average , which is a price-weighted index. Dow futures were up 95 points. Merck’s stock took off after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. shares plunged 18% ahead of the open, after the drug maker said a phase 3 trial of its lung cancer treatment failed to meet its primary endpoint.

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Treasury prices tumbled, leading yields to rise, after the U.S. added 255,000 jobs in July, a number that exceeded expectations and was the second-straight strong gain, after June’s stellar report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note , the U.S. benchmark, climbed 3.5 basis points to 1.542%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions and one basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point. The yield on the benchmark two-year note , which is the most sensitive to interest-rate-hike expectations added 5.1 basis points to 0.698%. The yield on the 30-year bond gained 3.1 basis points to 2.287%.

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The dollar strengthened Friday after official data showed the U.S. economy created 255,000 jobs in July, surpassing economists expectations. The euro fell to $1.1098 after the data, compared with $1.1128 late Thursday in New York. The dollar rose to 101.46 yen, compared with 101.21 yen late Thursday. The pound declined to $1.3082, compared with $1.3121. Economists polled by MarketWatch had predicted 185,000 new nonfarm jobs. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9%, while the labor-force participation rate edged up to 62.8% as 400,000 people joined the workforce. Average hourly wages rose 0.3% to $25.69 an hour.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. shares plummeted as much as 19.0% in pre-market trade Friday after the company said its non-small cell lung cancer drug did not meet its primary endpoint in a phase 3 clinical trial. The drug, Opdivo, is already approved to treat some types of cancer and was being investigated for previously untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Shares of the company rose 5.9% over the last three months, compared with a 5.5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. added 255,000 jobs in July, a second straight strong gain that shows the economy is still quite healthy despite somewhat slower growth. Economists polled by MarketWatch had predicted 185,000 new nonfarm jobs. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9%. The labor-force participation rate edged up to 62.8%, as more than 400,000 people joined the labor force, the government said Friday. Average hourly wages rose 0.3% to $25.69. Hourly pay increased 2.6% from July 2015 to July 2016. Employment gains for June and May, meanwhile, were revised up by a combined 18,000. The government said 292,000 new jobs were created in June instead of 287,000. May’s gain was raised to 24,000 from 11,000.

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Twitter Inc. rolled out a new way of creating revenue this week with an “instant unlock card,” that allows users to see exclusive content if they click a button to tweet with a specific hashtag. Twitter said AMC, for example, recently used the format to show users an exclusive trailer for the TV show “The Walking Dead” when they clicked a button to tweet. The move comes as Twitter reported its worst-ever revenue growth in its second-quarter earnings. Shares of Twitter have gained 28% in the past three months, compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 5.5%

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