Category: Stock Market News

Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil was unchanged at 759 this week. The company, however, said it could not verify the change in rig counts across 47 counties in South Texas because of the impact of Hurricane Harvey. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, rose by 3 to 943, according to Baker Hughes. Oil prices showed little initial reaction, with October West Texas Intermediate crude down 20 cents, or 0.4%, from Thursday at $47.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $47.07 before the data. (This is an update to reflect impact of Hurricane Harvey on this week’s data.)

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President Donald Trump said he’ll make a decision about ending an Obama-era immigration program Friday or sometime over the weekend. Fox News earlier reported Trump is expected to announce the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump wasn’t clear about his intentions, however, saying “we love the Dreamers,” a name for those currently in the program that gave deportation reprieves.

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Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil was unchanged at 759 this week. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, rose by 3 to 943, according to Baker Hughes. Oil prices showed little reaction, with October West Texas Intermediate crude down 20 cents, or 0.4%, from Thursday at $47.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $47.07 before the data.

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Russian hacking of the vast “back-end” of U.S. election apparatus was more extensive than previously disclosed, according to a report in the New York Times on Friday. Hackers breached three providers of critical elections services well ahead of voting, the report said, which was based on two dozen interviews. Local, state and federal agencies have conducted few of the rigorous investigations required to assess the impact, if any, on voting in at least 21 states whose election systems were targeted by Russian hackers.

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Netflix Inc. on Friday announced it has landed a new series from Academy Award-winning director of “La La Land,” Damien Chazelle. The new eight-episode series, “The Eddy,” is a musical drama set in contemporary multi-cultural Paris and centers on a club owner, the house band and the city around it, according to a news release. “I’ve always dreamed of shooting in Paris, so I’m doubly excited to be teaming up with [Jack Thorne], [Glen Ballard] and [Alan Poul] on this story, and thrilled that we have found a home for it at Netflix,” Chazelle said in a statement. “The Eddy” will be shot in France and feature dialogue in French, English and Arabic. Chazelle will serve as an executive producer on “The Eddy,” in addition to directing two episodes. It is written by BAFTA and Olivier award-winning writer Jack Thorne, and six-time Grammy award-winner Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s “Bad”) will write the music. Emmy-winning producer Alan Poul, known for “Six Feet Under” and “The Newsroom,” will also serve as executive producer. Damien Chazelle is just the latest big name filmmaker to go to Netflix. The streaming giant made headlines after stealing away Shonda Rhimes last month from Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network and the platform has brought in comic book legend Mark Millar and is working with director Martin Scorsese. Shares of Netflix have gained nearly 42% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up almost 11%.

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U.S. stock-market indexes opened higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow industrials trading within a hair’s breadth of record levels as investors appeared to brush off a weaker-than-expected jobs report. The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%. Estimates for two prior months were revised down. The main indexes were set to book solid weekly gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 36 points, 0.2%, to 21.981 at the open. The S&P 500 advanced 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,476, only a few points below its record close at 2,480.91. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 16 points, or 0.3% to 6,445, trading in record territory. Among the best performers on Wall Street, Wynn Resorts, Limited rose sharply.

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Expedia, Inc. named Alan Pickerill, a senior vice president at the company, as its chief financial officer Friday. Pickerill takes over the role from former CFO, Mark Okestrom who was named as the chief executive of Expedia. The executive shuffle came after the former CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, was named as the new CEO of Uber Techologies Inc. Pickerill joined Expedia in 2008 and took on the role of head of investor relations in 2010. He has 30 years of finance and accounting experience, according to the press release. Shares of Expedia have gained 1% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.7%.

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The launch of Apple Inc.’s iPhone 8 could result in a super cycle this fall for the tech giant, says RBC Capital Markets analysts led by Amit Daryanani. RBC found in a recent survey there is “sizable pent up demand and excitement” for the iPhone 8 launch. That, combined with a 700 million-plus iPhone install base with extended replacement cycles should yield a super cycle, according to Daryanani. Two-thirds of respondents in RBC’s survey said they were considering buying a new iPhone, despite not having seen it. While the new iPhone is rumored to have long-desired features, such as wireless charging, the price point could be a concern. Reports suggest the new iPhone 8 will cost $1,000, but Daryanani wrote that a vast majority of survey respondents would only be willing to pay as much as $800. That being said, Daryanani doesn’t believe that would significantly impact demand. “We think iPhone 8 would be a premium product even within iPhones,” Daryanani wrote. “Our survey indicates that only 14% of interested users plan to pay upfront for the phone. Therefore, structured plans should be able to take the sting out of a high price point.” Shares of Apple have gained nearly 42% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 10% in the year.

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U.S. dollar weakened against rivals on Friday after government data showed fewer jobs were added in August than expected, while theunemployment rate ticked higher. The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs last month, while jobs numbers for July and June were revised down. The dollar, which was already weaker against the euro, lost further ground. The euro traded at $1.1932, up 0.5%, compared with $1.1908 on Thursday. The dollar lost ground against the Japanese yen, buying ¥109.76. Before the release, the dollar was slightly stronger against the yen. The ICE Dollar Index, which measures the buck against a basket of six major rivals fell 0.3% to 92.37.

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Gold futures jumped, adding to slight gains, after Friday’s jobs report came in weaker than expected. The U.S. produced 156,000 new jobs in August, below Wall Street’s forecasts and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3%. December gold is trading 0.8% higher at $1,332.60 an ounce, compared with $1,323 before the results were released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The weaker number is supportive for gold because it may be interpreted as giving the Federal Reserve reason to delay lifting further interest rates in 2017. However, the reading still points to a U.S. economy that is growing, if not haltingly. Economists polled by MarketWatch had predicted a 170,000 increase in nonfarm jobs.

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