Category: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October as employment rebounded from a miserly gain in the prior month due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Economists polled by MarketWatch had predicted a 325,000 increase in nonfarm jobs. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.1% from 4.2%, the lowest level since December 2000. Wages fell 1 cent to an average of $26.53 an hour, the government said Friday. Hourly pay increased 2.4% from October 2016 to October 2017, down from 2.8% in the prior month. The average workweek was flat at 34.4 hours. The initially reported loss of 33,000 jobs in September was revised to an 18,000 gain. The increase in jobs in August was raised to 208,000 from 169,000.

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The U.S. dollar soared against the Turkish lira early on Friday, pushed higher after Turkey’s consumer-price inflation for October came in higher than expected. The reading for inflation for the past month grew by 2.1%, compared with the FactSet consensus estimate of 1.7%, bringing CPI to 11.9% on the year, versus 11.3% expected. Turkey’s central bank warned of the potential for higher inflation in October and November due to a rise in commodity prices and exchange-rate fluctuations. The dollar jumped to an intraday high of 3.8660 lira in response, representing its highest level since January. The pair was last changing hands at 3.8496 lira, up 3.7972 lira late Thursday in New York.

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Bloomin’ Brands Inc. shares fell 1.7% in Friday premarket trading after the restaurant company reported third-quarter earnings that missed estimates and revised its full-year guidance lower. Bloomin’ Brands portfolio of restaurant chains includes Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Net income for the quarter totaled $4.3 million, or 5 cents per share, down from $20.7 million or 18 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was 12 cents, below the 15-cents FactSet consensus. Revenue totaled $948.9 million, down from $1.0 billion last year and ahead of the $948.0 million FactSet estimate. U.S. same-restaurant sales fell 1%, compared with a FactSet consensus for a 2% drop. The company said Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hurt same-restaurant sales by 1% and EPS by 4 cents. Bloomin’ Brands now sees full-year 2017 EPS of $1.09 to $1.14 compared with previous guidance of $1.34 to $1.41, and adjusted EPS of $1.31 to $1.36 compared with prior guidance of $1.40 to $1.47. The FactSet consensus is $1.40. Bloomin’ Brands shares are up 2.1% for the last three months, but down 4.1% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 15.2% for 2017 to date.

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Sotheby’s reported Friday a third-quarter net loss that narrowed to $23.5 million, or 45 cents a share, from $54.5 million, or 99 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted losses per share were 78 cents, wider than the FactSet per-share consensus for a loss of 68 cents. Total revenue rose 87% to $171.4 million, as agency commission and fees revenue increased 42% to $72.7 million, inventory sales more than tripled to $81.5 million and finance revenue grew 5% to $5.5 million. The FactSet revenue consensus was $111.2 million. “While the third quarter is seasonally quiet for us, things feel good for our business and the market overall,” said Chief Executive Tad Smith. “All eyes are now on New York and Geneva for the fourth quarter with our flagship sales of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art and Jewelry.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has climbed 28% year to date, while the S&P 500 has rallied 15%.

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Bitcoin on Friday recently traded 6% higher at $7,425, according to CoinDesk data. The cryptocurrency earlier rose as high as $7,450, representing a fresh all-time high. Bitcoin has been adding to its massive year-to-date gain this week thanks in part to exchange operator CME Group’s plans to offer a futures contract based on the digital currency, as well as thanks to a so-called hard fork that is slated to take place this month.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 6.5% in premarket action on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Thursday approved the company’s Vyzulta drug. The drug, a treatment for open angle glaucoma, has been developed by Valeant’s wholly-owned subsidiary Bausch + Lomb and France’s Nicox SA . Shares of Nicox soared 26% in Paris. “We expect to make this new advancement available for those who suffer with glaucoma before the end of the year,” said Joseph C. Papa, Valeant’s chairman and CEO, in a press release.

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President Donald Trump’s Twitter Inc. account was deactivated by a Twitter employee on Thursday, the company said. The account @realDonaldTrump was down for 11 minutes and has been restored. While the company at first said the account was “inadvertently deactivated due to human error,” Twitter later suggested that it may have been intentional. “Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review,” the company said in a tweet.

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President Donald Trump’s Twitter Inc. account was mistakenly deactivated by a Twitter employee on Thursday, the company said. The account @realDonaldTrump was down for 11 minutes and has been restored. Further details were not immediately available from a company spokeswoman. “We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again,” the company said in a tweet.

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New allegations of sexual harassment emerged late Thursday against actor Kevin Spacey, and a former production assistant on the Netflix Inc. series “House of Cards” said Spacey sexually assaulted him, CNN reported. Spacey created a “toxic” work environment though a pattern of “predatory” harassment, eight people who worked on the show told CNN. The production assistant said Spacey touched him in a nonconsensual way while driving, during one of the early seasons of the series. “I was in a state of shock,” he told CNN. “He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there.” Netflix announced Monday that “House of Cards” would end after the upcoming sixth season, and production on that season was halted Wednesday “to review the current situation.” On Sunday, Buzzfeed published a report that Spacey made sexual advances toward fellow actor Anthony Rapp in 1986, when Rapp was just 14. On Monday, Spacey said he did not remember the incident, but apologized and came out publicly as gay. On Wednesday, Spacey’s agent said the actor is seeking unspecified treatment in light of the allegations.

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Chemours Co. shares fell 3.3% late Thursday after the chemicals company, spun off DuPont two years ago, reported adjusted third-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations. Chemours said it earned $207 million, or $1.08 a share, in the quarter, compared with $204 million, or $1.11 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Chemours said it earned $214 million, or $1.12 a share, compared with $112 million, or 61 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 13% to $1.6 billion, from $1.4 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $1.04 a share on sales of $1.6 billion. Shares ended the regular trading session down 2%.

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