Category: Stock Market News

Investors fled Turkish assets Tuesday amid reports Turkey’s High Education Board ordered the resignation of 1,577 deans at public and private universities. The dollar bought 3.0320 lira in recent trade, up 1.6% from 2.9813 late Monday in New York. Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI Turkey ETF fell 4.6% to $37.22, bringing its week-to-date loss to 10.6%. The resignations are the latest step in a widening purge of Turkish institutions that is shaking investor confidence in the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following a failed coup over the weekend, said Win Thin, global head of emerging market currencies at Brown Brothers Harriman. “He’s purged the judiciary, the police, the military — now he’s going after education. The way Erdogan is reacting to the coup, it seems like he’s going a bit overboard,” Thin said.

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Shares of U.S. health insurers tumbled Tuesday, after Bloomberg News said U.S. antitrust officials are set to file lawsuits to block the planned mergers of Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. , as well as Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. . Citing a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said officials are concerned the deals would stifle competition and harm consumers. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the $34 billion merger of Aetna and Humana, and the $48 billion deal for Anthem to buy Cigna, had faced resistance from the Justice Department, as they would reduce the top five health insurers to just three, and the companies were facing an uphill battle in overcoming those concerns. A decision is expected mid-July. Humana shares fell the most at 5.3%, followed by Aetna, down 4.2%. Anthem was down 3.3% and Cigna lost 2.4%.

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Netflix Inc.’s stock plunge, which is on course to be the second-biggest one-day price decline in its history, has wiped away nearly $6 billion in market value. The stock tumbled $13.96, or 14%, toward the lowest close since Feb. 8, after video streaming service reported second-quarter results late Monday. With about 428.3 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet, the selloff is shaving $5.98 billion from Netflix’s market cap. Co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings, who owned 6.16 million shares as of July 1, according to FactSet, could be losing about $86 million. The stock’s tumble currently ranks second to the $14.06 loss it suffered on April 19, 2016–it lost about $6 billion in market cap on that day–after the company reported first-quarter results. Netflix’s stock went public in May 2002.

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Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s stock slumped 1% in morning trade Tuesday, reversing sharp gains made before the open, as analysts and investors digested second-quarter results. Goldman reported earlier earnings and revenue that beat expectations, sending the stock up as much as 1.6% in premarket trade. Analyst Steven Chuback at Nomura said while the headline beats were “impressive,” he said the “somewhat disappointing” results in its equities and investment management businesses may dampen the magnitude of the shares’ performance relative to its peers. Meanwhile, Chuback reiterated his buy rating and stock price target of $195, which is 21% above current prices. Goldman reported equities revenue declined 12% to $1.75 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $1.96 billion. The stock was still up 3% since the end of the first quarter, compared with a 4.6% gain in the SPDR Financial ETF and a 4.7% rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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U.S. stocks opened mostly lower Tuesday, with disappointing earnings from Netflix Inc. weighing on sentiment a day after the S&P 500 and Dow notched new all-time highs. The S&P fell 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,163, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 16 points, or 0.3%, to 5,040. The Dow industrials fell 10 points, or 0.1%, to 18,523.

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Shares of SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. plunged 21% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the drugmaker said it was no longer continuing active discussions with potential acquirers. The company said it had approached a number of potential acquirers, but determined it was in the best interest of its shareholders to remain an independent publicly-traded company. “None of the bids under discussion reflected a premium to the company’s recent trading price,” SciClone said in a statement. The company said it expects adjusted 2016 earnings per share of 70 cents to 74 cents, compared with 56 cents a year ago. There is no FactSet consensus for 2016. Revenue is expected to rise to $158 million to $163 million from $157.3 million a year ago. The stock had run up 44% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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Ally Financial Inc. said Tuesday it will begin paying a quarterly dividend of eight cents a share and announced a new $700 million share repurchase program. The financial services company said the dividend and buyback program were part of its capital plan under the comprehensive capital analysis and review (CCAR) that the Federal Reserve OK’d in June. The new dividend will be payable Aug. 15 to shareholders of record on Aug. 1. Based on Monday’s stock closing price of $17.47, the new dividend represents an annual dividend yield of 1.83%, compared with the annual payout of 2.15% for the SPDR Financial ETF and the aggregate yield of 2.10% for the S&P 500 . The stock buyback program will begin in the third quarter of 2016 and continue through the second quarter of 2017. Ally’s stock, which was unchanged in premarket trade, has lost 6.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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The Hershey Company is expanding its Times Square store to an even bigger location right down the street. The company said the new retail store will be three times bigger than the current site. It will be located at 20 Times Square, a site currently under construction right near rival store M&M World. Shares of Hershey were inactive in premarket trade, but have risen 16% in the past three months and 20% in 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500 . The index is up 3% in three months and 2% on the year.

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Mattel Inc. announced Tuesday that it won a global toy licensee deal for Jurassic World beginning in July 2017. Under terms of the deal, Mattel will design, produce and market toy products and games inspired by the Jurassic Park films, including the next film in the series scheduled for release in 2018. “We are honored that NBCUniversal chose Mattel to help bring the Jurassic World brand to life, and we look forward to developing multiple new lines of innovative, engaging toys and products,” said Mattel Chief Executive Chris Sinclair. The stock rose 0.6% in premarket trade. It has climbed 20% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%. Mattel is scheduled to report second-quarter results after Wednesday’s closing bell.

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Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares rose 8.8% in pre-market trade Tuesday after the company said its weight-loss drug with Eisai Inc. received Food and Drug Administration approval. Eisai shares were up 4.0% in pre-market trade after the news. The drug, BELVIQ XR(R), has a once-daily dosing option that “may help them achieve and maintain weight loss,” in contrast with an already available twice-daily formulation, the company said. Both weight management drugs must be used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie diet and increased exercise in obese or overweight adults with a weight-related medical condition. Arena Pharma shares dropped 6.6% over the last three months, compared with a 3.2% rise in the S&P 500 .

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