Category: Stock Market News

Oil prices seesawed between losses and gains after data from Baker Hughes showed that the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs edged down for a seventh week in a row. They fell by 31 to 467 as of Friday. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was down 48 at 571. Compared to last year, the total U.S. rig count has fallen by 885, with oil rigs down by 673. March crude was at $31.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up a penny. It was trading lower at $31.42 before the data.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The White House proposed $10-a-barrel tax on oil to pay for infrastructure “is not going to be a disruptive factor in terms of the economy” because gas prices should be low for quite some time, President Barack Obama said Friday. In brief remarks in the White House press room, Obama defended the proposal, saying it balances with the federal government’s recent decision to allow oil companies to export petroleum. He said the tax would help wean the economy off dirty fuels. “It is right to do it now when gas prices are really low,” he said.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – President Barack Obama said Friday economic policy must be smart given the headwinds from overseas. In a brief appearance in the White House press room, Obama said his budget to be released on Tuesday will propose to increase spending on education, job training, and investments in clean energy. The president took a few shots at Republican presidential candidates, saying their “doom and despair tour plays in New Hampshire” isn’t helping the economy and that their singular focus on cutting taxes on the wealthy won’t magically make things better.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – President Barack Obama will make a statement about the economy and the January jobs report at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, the White House announced Friday. The announcement comes after nonfarm-payrolls report released Friday showed a decline in the unemployment rate to 4.9%, the lowest since February 2008.

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Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. were in a free-fall Friday morning, down more than 28%, as management addressed the company’s weak third-quarter results on a call with analysts and investors. Lions Gate’s shares hit a three-year low in intraday trade, and were on pace for the biggest price and percentage declines since the company went public in November 1998. The film and TV studio reported late Thursday fiscal third-quarter per-share earnings of 26 cents and revenue of $671 million in revenue, both well below analysts expectations, according to FactSet. Lions Gate Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer said the company’s lackluster earnings were the result of poorer box office performance for its film category. The company also said Thursday it was considering a merger with cable network Starz Inc.

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The Chicago Stock Exchange Inc. on Friday said it had agreed to be acquired by an investor group led by Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group. The exchange didn’t reveal the purchase price. It said the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the second half of 2016.

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U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Friday and were on track to book weekly losses. Investors grappled with a mixed jobs report that had a weak headline number, but sharp improvements in wage growth and participation rate. The S&P 500 opened 8 points, or 0.4%, lower at 1,907. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 34 points, or 0.2%, at 16,381 at the open. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the day down 24 points, or 0.5%, at 4,486.

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Treasury yields moved higher Friday morning after wild swings following news that the pace of hiring in the U.S. tapered off in January, but wages rose sharply. The economy added 151,000 jobs in January, which fell below economists’ expectations, but the unemployment rate declined to its lowest reading in eight years. Treasury yields spiked after the report, then tumbled and rose again to trade slightly higher on the day. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was up 2 basis points on the day to 0.734%, suggesting the market expects a slightly more aggressive pace of interest-rate hikes than it previously did. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, the Treasury market’s benchmark was unchanged at 1.863% and the yield on the 30-year bond, known as the long bond, was up 1 basis point to 2.709%. Treasury yields rise when prices fall and vice versa.

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The dollar strengthened against its main rivals after the release of the Labor Department’s report on job gains in January. According to the data, the economy added 151,000 jobs in January. Though the headline number came in short of expectations, analysts found a silver lining in a stronger-than-expected hourly wage growth number, and a 0.1% drop in the national unemployment rate, according to a note from Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a monthly gain of 180,000 jobs. The ICE U.S. Dollar index , a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, turned higher on the day after the data, reversing an earlier decline. The index was up 0.1% at 96.5190. The euro traded at $1.1192 after the data, down from, $1.1209 shortly before. The dollar traded at 116.74 yen after the data, little-changed from its level before the report. The pound traded at $1.4520, down from $1.4566 before the data.

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From:: Stock Market News

The dollar strengthened against its main rivals after the release of the Labor Department’s report on job gains in January. According to the data, the economy added 151,000 jobs in January. Though the headline number came in short of expectations, analysts found a silver lining in a stronger-than-expected hourly wage growth number, and a 0.1% drop in the national unemployment rate, according to a note from Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a monthly gain of 180,000 jobs. The ICE U.S. Dollar index , a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, turned higher on the day after the data, reversing an earlier decline. The index was up 0.1% at 96.5190. The euro traded at $1.1192 after the data, down from, $1.1209 shortly before. The dollar traded at 116.74 yen after the data, little-changed from its level before the report. The pound traded at $1.4520, down from $1.4566 before the data.

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