Category: Stock Market News

Gold futures settled slightly higher Tuesday as the dollar slipped ahead of the Wednesday conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting. Gold for June delivery rose $3.20, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,243.40 an ounce, as the U.S. dollar declined 0.3% against a basket of major currencies. Silver for May delivery gained 10.1 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $17.11 an ounce. Although the Fed isn’t expected to raise interest rates at the end of its meeting, the wording of its updated statement and outlook for future rate hikes will influence momentum for the dollar and precious metals priced in the currency.

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Twitter Inc.’s stock surged 4.1% in afternoon trade Tuesday, putting it on track to close at a 7-week high, ahead of the social network company’s first-quarter results scheduled for after the closing bell. It’s a bit curious that the stock would be rising so much before results, considering that strategy hasn’t worked too well the last few quarters. The stock has dropped on the day after the last four quarterly reports were released, by an average of 6.7%, according to FactSet. If the 18% plunge on April 28, 2015 is used, instead of the 8.9% drop on April 29–the results were released inadvertently before the closing bell, about an hour earlier than intended–the average one-day, post-results decline, would be 9.7%. And that was after the stock gained ground, by an average of nearly 4%, the day before the past three quarterly reports. The stock has gained 7.5% so far this month, but has still tumbled 23% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.1% this year.

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Ford Motor Co., Alphabet’s Inc. Google, Lyft Inc., Uber Technologies and Volvo Cars announced Tuesday that they had formed a coalition to push for federal action on self-driving cars. The first act of the coalition will be working with city groups and businesses to promote self-driving infrastructure. Both ride-hailing companies, Uber and Lyft, as well as automakers Ford , Google , Volvo [STO: VOLV-B] have pushed for self-driving cars. “The best path for this innovation is to have one clear set of federal standards, and the Coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles,” said David Strickland, the coalition’s spokesperson, in the press release.

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Market breadth data indicates that the stock market is acting a lot more bullish than the major market indexes might suggest. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1% and the S&P 500 ticked up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%. But the number of advancing stocks on the NYSE was more than triple the number of decliners–2,234 to 668–while volume of advancing stocks was about 77% of total volume. And despite the Nasdaq Composite’s decline, there are more Nasdaq advancers than decliners, 1,595 to 930.

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Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday downgraded ratings on Exxon Mobil Corp. to AA-plus from AAA, stripping the oil giant of its pristine rating. The outlook is stable, meaning S&P does not expect to move on the rating again in the near term. S&P had placed the rating on CreditWatch negative in February in the face of persistent low oil prices. “We believe Exxon Mobil’s credit measures will be weak for our expectations for a ‘AAA’ rating due, in part, to low commodity prices, high reinvestment requirements, and large dividend payments,” S&P said in a statement. Exxon has more than doubled its debt burden in recent years as it has spent heavily on major projects and made dividend payments and share repurchases “that substantially exceeded internally generated cash flow.” The company has sharply cut its capital spending and is expected to benefit from near-term production gains as some of the projects reach completion. However, maintaining production and replacing reserves will require higher spending, said the agency. Shares were slightly higher in midmorning trade, but are up 12% in the year so far, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up about 3%.

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Apple Inc.’s stock slipped 0.2% in morning trade Tuesday, putting it in danger of suffering a fourth-straight loss, as investors prepare for fiscal second-quarter results after the closing bell. If the stock closes down, it would be the longest losing streak since the five-session stretch ending Nov. 13, 2015; there have been seven three-session losing streaks since then. It would also be the longest-losing streak heading into quarterly results since the stock fell for five-straight sessions ahead of second-quarter results in 2012. Back then, the results led to an 8.9% surge the next session, but then the stock fell the next four sessions, and closed back below the pre-earnings closing price by May 14.

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Honey Nut Cheerios, a General Mills Inc. cereal brand, said Tuesday that it will commit 3,300 acres of land used for oat farming to pollinator habitats by 2020. The effort is designed to save bee colonies, which have experienced widespread die-offs in recent years. Honey Nut Cheerios said the pollinator habitats will be spread across 60,000 acres of land, and will include food sources and homes for North American bees. The acreage will be on oat farms used to supply Honey Nut Cheerios. Earlier this month, Scotts Miracle Gro Co. said it had expanded its garden product offerings that don’t include neonicotinoids. There are concerns that these chemicals are harmful to bees. General Mills shares are up 0.2% in Tuesday trading, and up 8.6% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 1% for the last 12 months.

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From:: Stock Market News

Honey Nut Cheerios, a General Mills Inc. cereal brand, said Tuesday that it will commit 3,300 acres of land used for oat farming to pollinator habitats by 2020. The effort is designed to save bee colonies, which have experienced widespread die-offs in recent years. Honey Nut Cheerios said the pollinator habitats will be spread across 60,000 acres of land, and will include food sources and homes for North American bees. The acreage will be on oat farms used to supply Honey Nut Cheerios. Earlier this month, Scotts Miracle Gro Co. said it had expanded its garden product offerings that don’t include neonicotinoids. There are concerns that these chemicals are harmful to bees. General Mills shares are up 0.2% in Tuesday trading, and up 8.6% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 1% for the last 12 months.

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.

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From:: Stock Market News

Honey Nut Cheerios, a General Mills Inc. cereal brand, said Tuesday that it will commit 3,300 acres of land used for oat farming to pollinator habitats by 2020. The effort is designed to save bee colonies, which have experienced widespread die-offs in recent years. Honey Nut Cheerios said the pollinator habitats will be spread across 60,000 acres of land, and will include food sources and homes for North American bees. The acreage will be on oat farms used to supply Honey Nut Cheerios. Earlier this month, Scotts Miracle Gro Co. said it had expanded its garden product offerings that don’t include neonicotinoids. There are concerns that these chemicals are harmful to bees. General Mills shares are up 0.2% in Tuesday trading, and up 8.6% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 1% for the last 12 months.

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.

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From:: Stock Market News