Category: Stock Market News

Lam Research Corp. shares slipped in the extended session Tuesday even after the chip-making equipment company’s quarterly results topped Wall Street estimates. Lam shares declined 0.4% to $193.87 after hours, following a 1.1% rise in the regular session. Shares are up 84% for the year. The company reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $590.7 million, or $3.21 a share, compared to $263.8 million, or $1.47 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $3.46 a share. Revenue rose to $2.48 billion from $1.63 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of $3.27 a share on revenue of $2.46 billion.

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

The Dow Jones Industrial Average technically missed its first close at or above 23,000 by less than 40 cents. The Dow closed at 22,997.44, or 2.56 points below 23,000. Based on the Dow’s “divisor,” which the keepers of the Dow use to calculate the price of the index, the Dow would have reached 23K if the shares of the 30 components closed higher by a combined total of 37 cents (37.2 cents to be exact). The Dow is a price-weighted index, meaning price changes are determined by changes in price of its components’ stocks. For many other indexes like the S&P 500 , percentage changes of components with higher market capitalizations are weighted more than moves of components with lower market caps.

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

Target Corp. said Tuesday it was voluntarily recalling 7,500 Room Essentials black leather pouf ottomans, made in China, for a choking hazard. There were no incidents of injuries reported. The ottomans were sold in Target stores nationwide and online from June 2017 through August 2017, for about $35. “The zippers on the pouf ottomans can be opened by children who can then suffocate or choke on the pouf’s polystyrene beads,” the statement on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website said. Target said consumers will get a full refund when the ottomans are returned to a Target store. Target’s stock eased less than 0.1% in afternoon trade. It has rallied 12% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has slipped 0.5% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.0%.

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

Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray reached a deal to stabilize Obamacare markets, Murray announced Tuesday. Reports said the two-year deal would allow subsidies to health insurers begin again. However, the deal would need to get through Congress. At a news conference, President Donald Trump called it a “short-term deal” and said Obamacare was “virtually dead.” He said a bill allowing block grants to states is the answer. Shares of Humana , Aetna and Cigna were trading higher following the announcement.

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 prices fell below $1,300 an ounce on Tuesday to finish at their lowest level in more than a week on the back of strength in the U.S. dollar and inflation growth in the United Kingdom. December gold lost $16.80, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,286.20 an ounce. That was the lowest finish since Oct. 9 and biggest one-day percentage decline since Sept. 21, according to FactSet data.

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

President Trump will announce his pick to head the Federal Reserve before he leaves for his Asian trip that starts Nov. 3, multiple news outlets including The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The candidates appear to be those whose names who have been widely circulated: the current Fed chair, Janet Yellen, as well as Fed Gov. Jerome Powell, former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Stanford professor John Taylor.

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

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 23,000 for the first time in intraday trade Tuesday, and remained in positive territory in midday trade, but broader market internal readings are decidedly negative. The number of declining stocks outnumbered advancers by a 1,529-to-1,204 score on the NYSE and by a 1,344-to-1,162 margin on the Nasdaq exchange. And declining volume was 58.0% of total volume on the Big Board and 53% of total volume in the Nasdaq. Even within the Dow, 21 of 30 components are declining, but the Dow was still up 18 points. It was up as much as 45.24 points earlier at an all-time intraday high of 23,002.20 earlier. The Dow was up Tuesday, primarily because of the $9.42, or 4.9%, gain in UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s stock after better-than-expected earnings, which added about 65 points to the Dow’s price.

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

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s stock extended their post-earnings gains, to put them on track for the biggest one-day price gain since they went public 33 years ago. The stock was up $10.30, or 5.3%, at a record high in morning trade, after reporting profits that beat expectations. That tops the previous biggest one-day price gain of $9.26 on Oct. 18, 2016. The company went public in October 1984. The stock’s gain Tuesday was adding about 71 points to the price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , which was up 21 points. UnitedHealth’s stock has run up 27% year to date, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has rallied 20% and the Dow has climbed 16%.

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

The largest exchange-traded fund to track the health-care sector rallied on Tuesday, boosted by strong results in some of its largest components. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF rose 0.9%, the largest one-day percentage for the ETF since Oct. 2. The move follows three straight days of losses for the fund, which is up 20% thus far this year. The day’s gains were fueled by UnitedHealth Group Inc. , which rose 5.3% as the biggest gainer among the fund’s components. The rise came after UnitedHealth reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year profit outlook. Separately, Johnson & Johnson gained 2.1% after it raised its sales and earnings outlook for the third straight quarter. Tuesday is set to be the biggest one-day rise for UnitedHealth’s stock in about a year and its biggest point move in its history.

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

Shares of Neothetics Inc. more than doubled Tuesday on heavy volume, after the specialty pharmaceutical company announced an agreement in which a wholly-owned subsidiary of Neothetics will merge with privately held Evofem Biosciences. An affiliate of Invesco Asset Management Ltd., an existing investor in Evofem, has agreed to acquire an additional $20 million worth of common stock of the combined company. Neothetics’s stock ran up as much as 138% in intraday trade, before paring gains to be up 91%. Volume was 12.8 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 724,000 shares. Once the merger is completed, which is expected to occur in January 2018, Neothetics will be renamed Evofem Biosciences Inc., and will be led by Evofem Chief Executive Saundra Pelletier. Under terms of the deal, $171.4 million in value of Neothetics common stock will be issued to Evofem shareholders, while $28.6 million worth of common stock will be retained by Neothetics shareholders.

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