Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Mobileye NV soared 10.5% on Thursday after reports surfaced that the company may have secured a deal with BMW and Intel Corp. to build out driverless capabilities in the German auto manufacturer’s luxury cars. Mobileye’s stock was on track for its highest close since Nov. 6, trading around $46.34 Thursday afternoon, versus $46.75 in November. The stock move helped catapult Mobileye’s stock, giving its shares a 25.5% gain over the last three months, versus a 1.5% gain for the S&P 500. They’ve underperformed on the year, however, falling 12.6% from 12 months ago, versus a 1.6% increase for the index. Shares of Intel rose 2.5% to $32.73 in afternoon trade. The companies announced plans late Wednesday to hold a joint press conference on Friday at 10 a.m. ET. Analysts have said that they expect it to include an autonomous driving initiative.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 219 points in afternoon trade Thursday, putting it on track to stretch its streak of 200-point gains to three sessions. That would be the longest such stretch since it bounced off its two-year closing low of 15,660.18 on Feb. 11: The Dow surged 313.66 points on Feb. 12, 222.57 points on Feb. 16 and 257.42 points on Feb. 17. This week, the Dow shot up 269.48 points on Tuesday and 284.96 points on Wednesday. After the last streak, the stock slipped about 62 points over the next two days, but then ran up 228.67 points on Feb. 22. The Dow is currently still 97 points away from its pre-Bexit close of 18,011.07.

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Oil futures finished lower on Thursday after a two-session rally, but prices posted gains for the quarter and year to date as recent global output disruptions and strong U.S. demand for gasoline helped to cut down the glut of crude supplies. August WTI crude fell $1.55, or 3.1%, for the session to settle at $48.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained about 26.1% for the second quarter, and trades roughly 30.5% higher year to date, according to data from FactSet.

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Hershey Co. said its board of directors “unanimously rejected” Mondelez International Inc.’s buyout bid, and said in a statement that “it provided no basis for further discussion between Mondelez and the company.” The company said the board came to its decision after evaluating the bid, after receiving input from management and its outside financial and legal advisors. Hershey confirmed that Mondelez offered to pay $107 for each Hershey share, through a mix of cash and stock. The bid also included other non-monetary considerations, Hershey said. Hershey’s stock rose 15% in afternoon trade prior to a trading halt, which put it on track for a record close. It was up as much as 21% earlier in the session.

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The dollar fell to its weakest level against the Mexican peso in a week after the Bank of Mexico delivered a larger-than-expected interest-rate hike. The greenback tumbled to 18.20 pesos after the central bank raised its benchmark rate by half a percentage point to 4.25%. By comparison, the greenback bought 18.51 pesos late Wednesday in New York. The central bank said it raised rates to prevent the weak peso from affecting its inflation expectations. The central bank currently sees inflation ending the year slightly above its target rate of 3%. Expectations that the Federal Reserve would soon move to raise interest rates have helped the dollar gain 5.5% against its Mexican rival so far this year, though the U.S. currency has trimmed its gains somewhat in recent weeks as investors dialed back their expectations for the pace of rate hikes. Of 26 analysts polled by Bloomberg, 9 expected no change at Thursday’s meeting, 12 expected a quarter percentage-point hike, and 5 expected a half a percentage point hike.

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Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, but still gained nearly 25% year to date, as investors continue to navigate financial volatility sparked by the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union. Gold for August delivery fell $6.30, or 0.5%, for the session to settle at $1,320.60 an ounce, pulling back after finishing at a nearly two-year high a day earlier. Futures prices were up about 6.9% for the second quarter, and have climbed roughly 24.6% year to date, according to FactSet data.

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S&P Global Ratings downgraded the long-term credit rating of the European Union Thursday because of greater uncertainty following the U.K.’s vote to leave the EU. S&P lowered its rating to “AA” with a stable outlook from “AA+” with a negative outlook. In a statement, S&P said “the U.K. government’s declared intention to leave the union lessens the supranational’s fiscal flexibility, while reflecting weakening political cohesion.” Recently, S&P stripped the U.K. of its “AAA” rating following the so-called Brexit vote.

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The European Central Bank has discussed loosening the rules for bond purchases, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing unidentified eurozone officials. The ECB is concerned there may not be enough debt available to buy under current criteria following the continued fall in bond yields after last week’s Brexit vote, the report said. Some ECB policy makers favor changing the allocation of bond purchases under the bank’s quantitative-easing program away from the size of a nation’s economy toward one more in line with outstanding debt, the report said. Current rules say national central banks in the euro area can buy bonds sold by governments, agencies and European institutions with yields above the ECB’s deposit rate of minus 0.4%, while different rules are in place for purchases of corporate debt and other securities.

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Corn futures fell toward their lowest settlement since early May, while soybean futures climbed toward a two-week high following Thursday’s release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Stocks and Acreage reports. U.S. corn stocks totaled 4.72 billion bushels on June 1, up 6% from the same time a year ago, the grain stocks report said. Soybean stocks totaled 870 million bushels, up 39% from a year ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. planted an estimated 94.1 million acres of corn this year, up 7% from last year, and 83.7 million acres of soybeans were planted, up 1% from last year, according to the acreage data. Market consensus estimates called for 92.8 million acres of corn and 83.9 million for soybeans, according to Cowen and Company. December corn traded at $3.72 a bushel, up 3%, and November soybeans traded at $11.48 a bushel, up 3.2%.

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Hershey Co.’s stock ran up 15% in active midday trade Thursday, but was overshooting the $107 per-share bid that The Wall Street Journal reported that Mondelez International Inc. had made for the chocolate giant. Hershey’s stock was changing hands at around $111.50, or 4.2% above WSJ-reported bid, and 0.6% above the Jan. 22, 2015 record close of $110.78. Trading volume in Hershey had reached 11.6 million shares by 12 p.m. ET, which was more than eight-times the full-day average, according to FactSet data. Mondelez’s stock climbed 1.7%.

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