Category: Stock Market News

Global government bond markets continued to rally Friday as investors flocked to safe assets, driving prices higher and pushing yields to new lows across the world. The yield on the 10-year German bond , known as the bund, tumbled to 0.02%, an all-time low, according to Tradeweb. And the yield on Britain’s benchmark government bond , known as the 10-year gilt, fell to an all-time low of 1.229%. Overnight, the Japanese 10-year benchmark yield touched a record low of negative 0.155%. The continued decline in yields spilled over to the U.S., with Treasury yields retreating to multimonth lows. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note , the U.S. benchmark bond, fell to 1.649%, its lowest point since Feb. 11, the day the stock market hit its nadir. Meanwhile the 30-year yield fell to 2.451%, its lowest level since February 2015, according to FactSet. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 0.755%, its lowest level since May 13. Meanwhile, the spread between the 10-year and the 2-year Treasury narrowed to its tightest since November 2007, a trend known as a flattening yield curve.

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U.S. stocks opened lower Friday, on track for a second day of losses, as investors sold risky assets ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting and the U.K.’s so-called Brexit vote due later this month. A drop in in crude-oil futures also weighed on risk appetite. The S&P 500 opened down 11 points, or 0.5%, to 2,104. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 88 points, or 0.5%, to 17,896 at the open. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the session down 42 points, or 0.8%, at 4,916.

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Shares of Axiall Corp. soared 25% in premarket trade Friday, after the chemical company agreed to be acquired by Westlake Chemical Corp. in a cash deal valued at $3.8 billion, including debt. As part of the deal, Westlake will pay $33 for each Axiall share outstanding. That represents a 28% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $25.18 for Axiall’s stock, and values Axiall at about $2.3 billion. Westlake expects the acquisition, which is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2016, to add to earnings in the first year, and to have cost synergies of about $100 million. Westlake’s stock tacked on 0.1% ahead of the open. Axiall’s stock, which has run up 68% year to date through Thursday, hasn’t traded as high as $33 since July 16, 2015.

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Atkore International Group , a manufacturer of electrical raceway products, priced its offering at $16 Thursday night, below its initial range of $20 to $22. CD&R Allied Holdings, a stockholder in the company, sold 12 million shares to raise about $192 million. The company won’t receive any of the proceeeds from the sale. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities and J.P. Morgan are the lead underwriters. Shares are expected to being trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ATKR.”

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Banks stocks took a beating in premarket trade Friday, as longer-term Treasury yields fell to multi-month lows to extend a global rally in government bonds. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF slumped 1.1% ahead of the open. Among its more heavily-weighted components seeing early activity, shares of Bank of America Corp. dropped 1.6%, of Citigroup Inc. shed 1.6%, of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. lost 1.3%, of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gave up 1.4% and of Wells Fargo & Co. declined 1.4%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.658%, the lowest level since Feb. 24. Yields on Japanese 10-year government bonds fell to all-time lows overnight, while yields on German and U.K. government bonds closed at record lows on Thursday. Lower long-term interest rates can hurt bank earnings, as they reduce the spread between what banks earn by funding longer-term assets, such as loans, with shorter-term liabilities.

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Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. fell 1% in premarket trade Friday, after the air carrier said capacity growth outpaced traffic in May, while cutting its capacity growth outlook for the year. Traffic for the month increased 10.7% from a year ago, but capacity grew 12.1%, pushing May load factor down to 84.6% from 85.7%. Revenue per available seat mile (RASM) declined 7%. For the second quarter, RASM is now expected to fall between 7.5% to 8.5%, which is toward the lower end of previous expectations. For 2016, JetBlue reduced its outlook for capacity growth to between 8.0% and 9.5% from 8.5% to 10.5%. The stock has tumbled 19% year to date through Thursday, while the NYSE Arca Airline index has gained 2.2% and the S&P 500 has advanced 3.5%.

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The Brink’s Company board on Friday appointed Doug Pertz as the company’s new president and chief executive officer. Pertz takes over from George Stoeckert, who served as interim CEO after Thomas Schievelbein retired from the security services company in early May. Stoeckert will stay on until early July to ensure a smooth transition as Pertz takes the helm July 11, according to a news release. Pertz was previously president and CEO of Recall Holdings Limited , which also provides security services along with digital and physical information management. He was in that role since 2013 and led the company’s initial public offering. “Throughout his career, Doug has achieved consistent success in driving revenue and profit growth in challenging environments,” said Michael Herling, the company’s chairman of the board, in a statement. Brink’s shares are up 3.5% in the year to date, with the S&P 500 Index also up 3.5%.

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Borrowing costs on German government debt continued to fall on Friday, with the interest rate on 10-year bunds hitting a new record low. In early European trading hours, the yield on the German benchmark bund traded at around 0.021%, falling below its previous record low of 0.027% set on Thursday, according to electronic trading platform Tradeweb. Meanwhile in the U.K. gilts also traded close to historically low yields, although the 10-year yield rose to 1.249% on Friday. The flush of money going into German and U.K. government bonds comes as investors are flocking into safer assets on concerns about low growth in the global economy and the upcoming U.K. Brexit referendum.

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Sophiris Bio Inc. shares surged in the extended session Thursday after the tiny biotech’s prostate cancer treatment showed promising results in a mid-stage clinical study. Sophiris shares rallied 74% to $2.04 on heavy volume after hours. The company said its treatment topsalysin showed an ability to destroy tumor cells in nine out of the 18 prostate cancer patients treated in a clinical study. “These promising early results open up the possibility of treating early prostate cancer by the simple administration of an injection into the prostate – something that could be done in an office setting,” said Mark Emberton, an investigator on the study, in a statement.

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