Category: Stock Market News

U.S. stock-market indexes remained little changed on Wednesday after the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting. Whether or not to raise interest rates again this year, given the slowdown in inflation, has been hotly debated by Fed officials since the Sept. 20 meeting. The S&P 500 was up by 1 point at 2,552. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 5 points at 6,593. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 15 points at 22,845. The yield on the 2-year Treasury bond, which is the most sensitive to interest rates, moved slightly higher, trading at 1.528%, while the ICE U.S. dollar index edged lower to trade at 93.02

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Gold prices finished lower Wednesday, pressured by growing expectations for a December interest-rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Waiting for inflation to hit the central bank’s 2% target before further interest rate hikes would be a mistake, said Kansas City Fed President Esther George on Wednesday. Gold prices, however, edged higher in electronic trading after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting showed that “several” officials want more confidence about higher inflation before supporting another rate increase. In electronic trading, December gold was at $1,290.70 an ounce, after settling with a loss of $4.90, or 0.4%, at $1,288.90 an ounce.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Kansas City Fed President Esther George said Wednesday that waiting for inflation to hit the central bank’s 2% target before further interest rate hikes would be a mistake. “Waiting for solid evidence that inflation will reach 2% before taking further steps to remove accommodation carries risks of overheating the economy, fostering financial instability, and perhaps putting in motion an undesirable increase in inflation,” George said in a speech to the Central Exchange in Kansas City. George, one of the more hawkish regional Fed presidents, is not a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year. More dovish Fed officials have suggested pausing on rate hikes until inflation picks up from low readings this summer. George said low inflation seen this year “is not a current worry.”

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The failure of the U.S. men’s soccer team to make the 2018 World Cup tournament may feel like a $1.2 billion gut punch, to fans and investors in 21st Century Fox Inc.’s stock. The TV broadcaster and film producer hadpaid $425 million for rights to televise the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in the U.S. The company was previously a part of News Corp. , which owns MarketWatch. The stock slumped 64 cents, or 2.4%, in afternoon midday trade. Volume of 9.2 million shares was already more than the full-day average of 6.9 million shares. Based on 1.85 billion shares outstanding, according to FactSet, the stock price decline would be wiping out $1.19 billion worth of market capitalization. The stock has still rallied 6.0% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.2%.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday forecast that consumers will see a 12% increase in their natural-gas heating bills this winter, compared to last winter. Residential prices for natural gas are expected to average $10.36 per thousand cubic feet, which would be 2% higher than last winter, the EIA said in its Winter Fuels Outlook report. Consumption of the fuel will likely be 9% higher than last winter. Households using heating oil, meanwhile, will likely spend 17% more on their heating bills than last winter. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November natural gas traded at $2.935 per million British thermal units, up 1.5%, while November heating oil fell 0.1% to $1.763 a gallon.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday raised its price forecasts on West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil for this year and next, and lifted its U.S. production outlook for 2018. In its monthly energy outlook report, the government agency forecast WTI prices at $49.69 a barrel for this year, up 1.7% from its September forecast. For 2018, it forecast $50.57-up 2% from the previous outlook. The EIA also upped its 2017 forecast on Brent crude by 2.7% to $52.43 and its 2018 outlook by 4.8% to $54.07. It modestly lowered its U.S. crude production view to 9.24 million barrels per day this year, but raised its 2018 output view by 0.8% to 9.92 million barrels a day. November WTI crude traded at $50.67 a barrel, down 0.5%. December Brent crude fell 0.6% to $56.26 a barrel.

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Shares of Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. rocketed another 31% on heavy volume to a 12-year high, but pared earlier gains of as much as 39% after noted short-seller Andrew Left took aim at the data firm, which has a majority stake in movie-theater subscription service MoviePass. Helios & Matheson’s stock has nearly tripled in four sessions, and run up about 14-fold in the past month, to boost its market capitalization to $352.1 million from $24.9 million. On Tuesday, CNA Financial wrote there was “no denying” the success of the plan surrounding MoviePass, which was put in place by the company. On Wednesday, Left’s Citron Research tweeted “retail investors are warned,” that the stock would trade back to $20, which is 45% below current levels: “You might like product but $1+bill it isn’t. Giving away $1 for .90 no biz,” the tweet said. The Russel 2000 index of small-cap stocks has gained 6.7% over the past month, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has tacked on 3.6%.

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Gourmet food purveyor Harry & David will open 20 pop-up stores around the country this holiday season, adding to the 46 year-round stores the brand operates. The stores have started to open and will close shortly after the holiday season ends. Harry & David is part of 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. which announced in September that it would be hiring 8,000 seasonal workers, nearly quadruple the company’s workforce. The company’s other brands include Cheryl’s Cookies and The Popcorn Factory. Shares of 1-800-Flowers are down 7.2% for the year so far, but up 8.4% for the past 12 months. The S&P 500 index is up 19.4% for the last year.

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Credit Suisse raised its stock price target on Google parent Alphabet Inc. Wednesday to $1,350 from $1,100 as it raised earnings estimates. That makes it the highest price target of analysts polled by FactSet, topping the previous high of $1,250, which was assigned by Wells Fargo. “Our conversations with advertisers suggest minimal search budget growth deceleration coupled with potentially accelerating spend on YouTube due to multiple factors,” analysts led by Stephen Wu wrote in a note. For search, those include continued growth in mobile traffic, higher CPCs (cost per click) trends due to greater use of location-based targeting for retailers, and the benefits from expanded text ads, especially those used by overseas advertisers. YouTube is already seeing some of the advertisers who pulled out last year return, said the note. Shares were slightly higher in early trade, but have gained 24% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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Shares of Kroger Co. climbed 5.6% in morning trade Wednesday, after the grocery store chain said it was exploring a potential sale of its convenience store business, and it affirmed its 2017 profit and sales guidance. The announcements come as the company hosts its annual investor day, where it will announce plans to “redefine the food and grocery customer experience in America,” called Restock Kroger. The company said it has 784 convenience stores across 18 states, operating under names including KwikShop and QuickStop, and employing 11,000 people. The business had revenue of $1.4 billion in 2016, and sold 1.2 billion gallons of fuel. Kroger said Restock Kroger will look to accelerate its digital and e-commerce efforts, and will continue to invest in growing its most popular brands and in keeping prices low. Kroger said it still expects same-store sales growth of 0.5% to 1.0% in 2017, and expects sales to be “stronger” in 2018. The stock has plunged 37% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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