Category: Stock Market News

The S&P 500 index broke above its 50-day moving average in intraday trade on Friday, underlining an updraft for stocks that had sunk by 10% from a recent peak early last month. Most recently, the S&P 500 was up 38 points, or 1.4%, at 2,777, surging above its 50-day MA at 2,741.70, according to FactSet data. Market technicians pay attention to moving averages to help assess bullish and bearish momentum in an asset. The climb for the broad-market benchmark comes amid a better-than-expected jobs report for February, which helped to drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 372 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index to its first intraday record since slipping into correction territory, defined by many as a fall of at least 10% from a recent peak on Jan. 26. All three equity benchmarks have recovered considerably since that late-January low, with the Dow about 5% from its all-time high and the S&P 500 just about 3.4% from its record.

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

The S&P 500 index broke above its 50-day moving average in intraday trade on Friday, underlining an updraft for stocks that had sunk by 10% from a recent peak early last month. Most recently, the S&P 500 was up 37 points, or 1.4%, at 2,775, surging above its 50-day MA at 2,741.70, according to FactSet data. Market technicians pay attention to moving averages to help assess bullish and bearish momentum in an asset. The climb for the broad-market benchmark comes amid a better-than-expected jobs report for February, which helped to drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by more than 300 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index to its first intraday record since slipping into correction territory, defined by many as a fall of at least 10% from a recent peak on Jan. 26. All three equity benchmarks have recovered considerably since that late-January low, with the Dow about 5% from its all-time high and the S&P 500 just about 3.4% from its record.

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

Any change in the Federal Reserve policy toolkit may be obvious to Ph.D.’s in economics but not to the public, and the shift will need to be planned carefully, said Chicago Fed President Charles Evans on Friday. In a speech to the Manhattan Institute Shadow Open Market Committee, Evans said that the proposals under consideration to combat the next downturn would require inflation to above 2%, perhaps for some time. In addition, the Fed must pay close attention to financial instability risks, he said. Even the existing policy of trying to achieve a 2% inflation target could be improved to make sure the public knows that is not a ceiling for inflation, the Chicago Fed president said.

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

Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by four to 796 this week. The oil-rig count had climbed in each of the past six weeks. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, however, edged up by three to 984, according to Baker Hughes. April West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.65, or 2.7%, from Thursday, to $61.77 a barrel, up a bit from $61.73 shortly before the rig 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.

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From:: Stock Market News

The market volatility seen over the past month is a “healthy realization” by investors that the risks are two-sided, said Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren on Friday. “Unsustainably strong growth that leads to excessive inflation or financial imbalances is not as much a risk as growth that falls short,” Rosengren said in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Springfield, MA. The Boston Fed president was upbeat about the outlook, saying the recent weak consumer spending was likely a temporary pause. Rosengren said he favors a pace of rate hikes “perhaps a bit faster” that the three, one-quarter point increases, that the Fed has forecast for this year.

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

One of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s longest-tenured CEOs is set to depart, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The paper said Goldman head Lloyd Blankfein is set to step down as early as the end of 2018, capping a roughly 12-year run at the helm of the world’s most prominent investment bank. The report indicated that Goldman would aim to replace Blankfein with either of the bank’s two co-presidents, Harvey Schwartz (a former CFO of the company) or David Solomon. The 63-year-old Blankfein could also retire in the bank’s 150th anniversary year of 2019. Either way, the bank appears to be laying the groundwork for succession after Blankfein helped guide the bank out of the 2007-08 financial crisis. Shares of Goldman were up 1.5%, along with the rest of the market, amid the news. For the year, Goldman’s shares were up 6.2%, compared with the S&P 500 index , which is up 3.6% so far in 2018. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , of which Goldman is a component, was up 1.3% at midday.

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

Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. were rallying on Friday, contributing to the Dow Jones Industrial Average after The Wall Street Journal reported that the bank’s CEO Lloyd Blankfein step down as CEO as early as this year. The Dow was up about 314 points, or 1.3%, at 25,208, with Goldman’s rally contributing more than 30 points to the price-weighted Dow’s gains. Goldman’s shares by virtue of its $200-price tag, presently at $270, is one of the biggest drivers of the blue-chip benchmark. Even before the report, Goldman’s shares were higher, bouncing after the Friday jobs report suggested that the U.S. economy remains healthy but not enough to force the Federal Reserve to act aggressively to tamp down rising prices or inflation. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was up 1.2%, led by the finacials sector and the Nasdaq composite Index was trading at a new intraday record, washing away all of its decline from its recent 10% pullback, as the broader stock market was recovering.

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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Facebook Inc. has secured exclusive streaming rights for 25 regular-season afternoon Major League Baseball games, the MLB announced Friday. The package represents the league’s first digital-only national broadcasts. Games will be available on Facebook Watch and will begin with the April 4 contest between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. “Community and conversation are central to both baseball and Facebook, and MLB Network’s innovative broadcasts will bring these interactive and social elements of the game to life to fans around the world in new ways on our platform,” Facebook’s head of sports partnerships Dan Reed said in a release. Facebook didn’t disclose financial terms of the arrangement. Also on Friday, Warner Music Group and Facebook announced a new licensing agreement. Facebook shares are up 1.6% in Friday trading and 34% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 is up 17% in that time.

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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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said President Donald Trump may consider exempting other countries from steel and aluminum tariffs in addition to Canada and Mexico. Mnuchin was commenting in a CNBC interview on the tariffs Trump unveiled Thursday, which are 25% on imported steel and 10% on aluminum. Mnuchin also said the government would issue guidelines for product exemptions.

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