Bed Bath & Beyond buys One Kings Lane in all-cash deal

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. said Tuesday it bought One Kings Lane Inc. for an undisclosed all-cash amount. One Kings Lane, which deals with new and vintage home furnishings and has studios in New York and San Francisco, will serve as “cornerstone for Bed Bath & Beyond’s growing offerings in furniture and home decor,” the Union, N. J., company said in a statement. The deal will not affect Bed Bath & Beyond’s fiscal first-quarter results. The company expects the transaction to be “slightly dilutive” to net earnings for fiscal 2016. Bed Bath & Beyond is expected to report fiscal first-quarter results after market close on June 22. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were flat in late trading Tuesday after closing the regular trading day down 0.4%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks close lower for 4th day as Fed meets, Brexit fears rise

U.S. stocks fell for a fourth straight session on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting and fears over the U.K. voting to leave the European Union amped up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 57.66 points, or 0.3%, to close at 17,674.82, as shares of American Express Co. dropped more than 4%. The S&P 500 Index declined 3.74 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 2,075.32, weighed down by the financials and materials sectors. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 4.89 points, or 0.1%, to close at 4,843.55. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index , or so-called fear index, remained above 20.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Volatility ETN turns lower to snap win streak, despite broad stock market losses

The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN erased an earlier sharp gain to close down 2.2%, snapping a five-session win streak, despite the selloff in the broader stock market. Volume of 169.2 million shares made the VXX the most-active stock trading on U.S. exchanges Tuesday, according to FactSet. Earlier, the VXX was up as much as 3.3% at its intraday high; a six-session win streak would have been the longest since the one ending on Feb. 11, 2016, which was the day the S&P 500 closed at a 22-month low. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 closed Tuesday down 0.2%, to suffer a fourth-straight loss to a three-week low. The VXX is a measure of stock market volatility that tends to rise when stocks fall. Going back to when the VXX started trading in January 2009, the correlation coefficient between the VXX and the S&P 500 is -0.707, where -1.0 would mean they move exactly in opposite directions.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Financial stocks take a broad beating as Treasury yields slide to multiyear lows

The financial sector suffered broad, sharp losses Tuesday, as the drop in longer-term Treasury yields put pressure on bank stocks. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF dropped 1.5% to a two-month low, while the SPDR S&P Bank ETF shed 2.2%. Among the sector’s more-active stocks, Bank of America Corp. slid 2.6%, and has now tumbled 8.2% amid a four-session losing streak. Shares of Citgroup Inc. lost 3.2%, of Wells Fargo & Co. fell 2.6%, of Regions Financial Corp. gave up 2.8% and of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. declined 1.9%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield was set to close at the lowest level since December 2012, to extend a global drop in rates that included the benchmark German rate turning negative for the first time in history. Lower long-term interest rates narrows the spread between what banks earn by funding longer-term loans with shorter-term liabilities. The biggest decliner was Synchrony Financial’s stock , which plunged 14% to a four-month low after the consumer financial services company warned of higher charge-off rates. Elsewhere, American Express Co. shares dropped 4.1%, and was the biggest percentage decline among components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Vonage’s stock soars on heavy volume after analyst upgrade

Shares of Vonage Holdings Corp. shot up 12% to a three-month high in active afternoon trade Tuesday, after Citigroup turned bullish on the cloud-connected communications services company, citing an attractive valuation. With an hour left in the regular session, volume was 7.6 million shares, or nearly triple the full-day average. Analyst Michael Rollins raised his rating to buy, after being at hold for at least the last two years. He bumped up his stock price target to $8, which is 51% above current levels, from $4.75. “We now see a favorable risk-reward scenario with an opportunity to improve business revenue growth, harvest consumer cash flow and generate favorable [free cash flow] yield at over 10% on our 2017 estimate,” Rollins wrote in a note to clients. The stock has now run up 36% over the past month, but was still down 7.1% year to date.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Gold futures finish higher, up five straight sessions

Gold futures settled higher on Tuesday at a more than five-week high. Investors had struggled to find direction ahead of Wednesday’s U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rates and a U.K. decision next week on whether to exit from the European Union. Gold for August delivery rose $1.20, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,288.10 an ounce, the highest settlement since May 6.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

‘Brexit’ backers take 7-point lead in poll of U.K. voters

The British pound dropped after a poll released Tuesday showed rising support for the U.K. to leave the European Union. Market research firm TNS said 47% of likely voters it surveyed back a so-called Brexit from the bloc, compared with 40% who wish to remain. The pound briefly fell below $1.41 in London afternoon trade. The TNS poll gauged the opinions of 2,497 adults in the U.K. TNS said 13% of respondents were undecided or said they wouldn’t vote. On Monday, separate polls from the Sunday Times/YouGov and ICM/Guardian newspaper showed more voters are in favor of Britain ditching the EU.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Synchrony Financial’s stock tumbles toward biggest-ever one-day decline

Shares of Synchrony Financial plunged $2.52, or 8.3%, in morning trade Tuesday, putting it on track to suffer the biggest one-day price and percentage declines since it went public nearly two years ago, after the consumer financial services company disclosed expectations of higher charge-off rates. The stock was the leading decliner among components of the S&P 500 on Tuesday. The company, which was part of General Electric Co. before being spun off in July 2014, said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it now expects an increase of 20 basis points to 30 basis points in net charge-off rates over the next 12 months, which should lead to higher reserve builds starting this quarter. The stock’s previous biggest decline was when it fell $1.46, or 5.1%, on Feb. 2, 2016. It has now shed 8.2% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.7%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Stocks slump at the open as investors turn to havens ahead of Fed

U.S. stocks opened lower Tuesday, putting the main indexes on track to post a fourth straight day of losses as the Federal Reserve kicks of its two-day policy meeting and as worries about the global market continue to spook investors. Flight to the perceived safety of sovereign bonds on worries that the U.K. might destabilize the European trading bloc by potentially voting to exit the European Union, helped to push the German 10-year benchmark bond yield into negative territory for the first time. Markets have been on edge over the so-called Brexit referendum. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 24 points, or 0.2%, to 17,705, while the S&P 500 index slipped 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,076. The Nasdaq Composite Index was little-changed at 4,854. The main indexes are trying to avoid falling for four consecutive sessions.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Chiasma to cut one-third of its workforce as part of restructuring

Chiasma Inc. said it would cut about one-third of its workforce, effective immediately, as part of restructuring aimed at focusing the company’s resources on the development of its treatment for acromegaly, Mycapssa. The company expects to record one-time charges of $1.4 million to $1.6 million in the second quarter for severance and related costs. Recent regulatory filings showed that Chiasma had 65 employees, according to FactSet. The restructuring follows Chiasma’s participation in a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding its new drug application for Mycapssa. The company had received a complete response letter in April, in which the FDA said the NDA had failed to provide enough evidence of efficacy to warrant approval. The stock, which slumped 2.9% in premarket trade, has plunged 86% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.7%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News