Category: Stock Market News

President Donald Trump is committed to giving $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday. She said Trump wants input from reporters to which charities he will donate. At the same briefing, Trump’s homeland security adviser said 100,000 homes were damaged by the storm and that the administration will request emergency aid from Congress.

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The S&P 500 index’s rally puts the broad-market benchmark in position to end August where it started, a relative victory for the gauge after stumbling badly as volatility briefly resurfaced. The S&P 500 index looked set to end August with a gain of less than 0.1%, on the back of four straight gains, with Thursday’s potential advance marking a fifth day. Finishing August at the flatline is notable also because the S&P 500 booked two days of declines of about 1.5% on Aug. 10 and Aug. 17, the first time it has registered a decline of that severity in months. The S&P 500 had recorded only one other decline of at least 1% in 2017, on May 17. For the month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to book a gain of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was on track to rise 1.2% in August. To put things in perspective, gold futures , considered a haven in times of volatility and uncertainty, climbed 4.7% on the month and measure of volatility, the CBOE Volatility Index climbed 1.6% over the 31-day period.

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About 100,000 homes were damaged by Hurricane Harvey, President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert told reporters on Thursday. Speaking at the White House, Bossert said the administration would soon ask Congress for an initial round of emergency funding to aid relief efforts. He said a second request would be made after getting more information.

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Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said Thursday the end of Wells Fargo & Co.’s third-party review of its retail accounts is a positive for the bank, as it should mean an end to the negative headlines. Wells said earlier the review haduncovered 3.5 million unauthorized accounts, up from an earlier estimate of 2.1 million. The bank will now refund $2.8 million on top of the $3.3 million already refunded. “The retail sales practice scandal settlement was announced nearly a year ago, and at this stage we now expect the trickle of new information to slow considerably,” analysts wrote in a note. “That said the company still has to resolve issues related to its auto lending business, collateral protection insurance (CPI) and guaranteed auto protection waivers (GAP insurance), and we expect those items to remain an overhang on shares of WFC in the near-term.” As long as no new issues emerge, the stock’s underperformance should reverse, they said. Shares were down 0.8%, and have fallen 7.6% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 10.4%.

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U.S. oil prices rallied Thursday, but still finished the month of August with a loss of more than 6%, as gasoline futures soared to levels not seen in more than two years. Traders mulled the impact of refinery outages on gasoline supplies in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, as well as the U.S. Energy Department’s release of a total of 1 million barrels a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help alleviate any shortages of the fuel. October West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.27, or 2.8%, to settle at $47.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September gasoline rose 25.5 cents, or 13.5%, to end at $2.140 a gallon on its expiration day–with the contract up about 28% for the month. October gasoline rose 14.2 cents, or 5.7%, to $1.779 a gallon.

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Gold prices finished higher Thursday, ending at a fresh 11-month high and gaining roughly 4% for the month. Investors have been encouraged by the precious metal’s ability to climb above the former resistance level of $1,300 an ounce. Weakness in the dollar this month also provided a boost for dollar-denominated gold. December gold added $8.10, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,322.20 an ounce.

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The largest exchange-traded fund to track the biotechnology sector rallied on Thursday, moving in its biggest one-day percentage pop since June as it hit levels not seen since early 2016. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF jumped 2.3% to $331.62, and earlier rose as high as $333.30. That represented the highest level for the fund since the last trading day of 2015, according to FactSet data. The ETF has been a strong performer of late. Thursday is set to be its fourth straight daily increase; for the week it is up 6.6%, on pace for its biggest weekly gain since June. Among the fund’s biggest gainers, Biogen Inc. added 3.9% while BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. was up 2.2% and Gilead Sciences added 2.1%.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an accountant and three others with trading on confidential market-moving news about Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company where Evan R. Kita, a CPA, formerly worked. The SEC alleges that Kita tipped two of his friends with confidential information about clinical trial results for Celator’s cancer drug and its acquisition by Dublin-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc almost three months later. Jazz Pharmaceuticals offered to pay a hefty premium in May 2016 to acquire Celator when its stock rose more than 400% in March 2016 after it announced positive results for its drug to treat leukemia. Daniel Perez and Richard Yu allegedly purchased Celator stock based on Kita’s tips before the two announcements and agreed to share their trading profits with him, according to the SEC. Yu passed Kita’s tips to his father, Chiang Yu, who also traded in advance of both announcements, the SEC says. The SEC’s investigation is continuing. The Department of Justice also filed criminal charges on Wednesday against the four men.

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Apple Inc. invited media members Thursday to its new campus and theater named after co-founder Steve Jobs for a Sept. 12 event that is expected to include the introduction of a highly anticipated new iPhone, according to multiple media reports. “Let’s meet at our place,” the invitation, shared on Twitter by multiple reporters, reads. “Please join us for the first ever event at the new Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.” The Steve Jobs Theater is part of Apple’s new “Spaceship” campus that will be the new headquarters for the world’s most valuable company. At the event, Apple is expected to introduce new iPhones on the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the original iconic Apple smartphone. Most anticipation focuses on a new, super-premium version of the phone that is expected to cost $1,000. Apple is also rumored to be planning the launch of a cellular-connected smartwatch and a new Apple TV device. Apple stock has reached record highs as the event approaches, increasing 10.5% in the past month as the S&P 500 index fell 0.5%. Shares increased slightly after Thursday’s announcement, and were trading about 0.3% higher for the day.

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The State Department on Thursday said Russia will have to close its San Francisco consulate, as well as annexes in Washington, D.C. and New York, by Sept. 2. The State Department said it was responding to Russia’s decision to reduce the size of the U.S. mission in Russia, which was in response to U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia. Both countries will remain with three consulates each, the State Department said.

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