Category: Stock Market News

Minutes of the June 13-14 Federal Open Market Committee meeting released Wednesday showed that “several” were in favor of starting the reduction of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet within a “couple of months.” The statement released at the meeting only indicated such a process would start this year. The minutes show a Fed divided between officials comfortable with the unemployment rate undershooting their estimates about the sustainable level and those who fret that “a substantial and sustained unemployment undershooting” could trigger inflation or financial instability. The minutes show concern that financial conditions have remained loose even as the Fed’s been hiking interest rates. The Fed also seemed confident that inflation will recover after recent soft readings.

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Defense stocks were higher Wednesday, as tensions between North Korea and the U.S. rose after the former launched its first ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. The U.S. and South Korean militaries conducted a joint exercise on Wednesday morning, firing tactical surface-to-surface missiles into the waters off South Korea to counter what it called “North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions”, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, the Eighth U.S. Army, which commands U.S. Army forces in South Korea, said the U.S. commitment to defending South Korea is “ironclad.” Against that background, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. rose 1.4%, Boeing Co. was up 1.3%, Northrop Grumman Corp. gained 1% and General Dynamics was up 0.5%. The S&P 500 was flat.

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Canada’s largest institutional investor, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), said Wednesday it has appointed Neil Beaumont as its chief financial and risk officer, effective July 24. Beaumont was most recently vice president, finance minerals America, at miner BHP Billiton Ltd. . He will replace Benita Warmbold, who is retiring on Aug. 31.

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Cross-border e-commerce will grow 20% to $627 billion by 2022 with China driving the increase, according to the latest research from Forrester. Over that five year period, cross-border e-commerce growth will outpace domestic growth, the data said. As shoppers become more sophisticated, they are searching for cheaper goods. Increases in cross-border e-commerce are also driving the development of new services, like one from Paypal Holdings Inc. to manage costly returns. Two-thirds of cross-border online shopping is done through marketplaces, with clothes and consumer electronics the most popular purchases. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 8.2% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index is up 8.6% for the period.

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Shares of U.S. credit-card processor Vantiv Inc. slumped almost 4% Wednesday after resuming trading following a halt for the news that it has agreed to merger terms with the U.K.’s Worldpay Group Inc. in a deal valued at $10 billion. Worldpay and Vantiv announced the deal early Wednesday, beating out rival J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , which said shortly after that it would not be making an offer of its own. Vantiv is offering a total of 3.85 pounds in a cash and stock offer that is about 19% above Worldpay’s closing price on Monday. Analysts at Stifel said in a note written before the terms were released that a deal would make strategic sense, although they were wary of it coming at too high a price. Speculation on Tuesday had placed the price at a higher range than the one agreed. While PayPal’s name was not mentioned in any of the coverage of the deal on Tuesday, “we think it makes sense strategically and wouldn’t be surprised to see PYPL enter the fray,” they wrote. PayPal shares were last up 2%. Vantiv shares have gained 1.4% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.6%.

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Shares of Teradyne Inc. surged about 5% Wednesday, after Stifel upgraded the stock to buy from hold and raised its price target to $39 from $32. Analysts said the action is mostly based on its expectations for the company’s collaborative robot business, which is meeting and often beating “some high expectations that were built in when this business was acquired two years ago”. “We believe the company will once again grow its top line in this business at 50%+ in 2017 (our estimates call for +57% y-o-y) and we are projecting another 45% y-o-y growth in 2018,” they wrote in a note. “We believe exiting 2018, this business will comprise 15% of total revenues (for full year 2018, 11% of revenues) and we expect this percentage to rise to approximately 15% for the full year in 2019.” The robotics business has higher margins than other segments, which include automation equipment for tests and industrial use, an area in which Teradyne is a leader. Shares have gained 22% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.3%.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – U.S. factory orders sank 0.8% in May following a smaller decline in April, the government reported Wednesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.7% decrease. Previously the U.S. Census had said orders for durable goods fell by 1.1%. Inventories rose 0.2% for the 10th gain in the past 11 months. And shipments increased a revised 1% in May.

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Defense stocks were higher Wednesday, as tensions between North Korea and the U.S. rose after the former launched its first ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. The U.S. and South Korean militaries conducted a joint exercise on Wednesday morning, firing tactical surface-to-surface missiles into the waters off South Korea to counter what it called “North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions”, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, the Eighth U.S. Army, which commands U.S. Army forces in South Korea, said the U.S. commitment to defending South Korea is “ironclad.” Against that background, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. rose 0.8%, Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. were up 0.7% and General Dynamics was up 0.4%. The S&P 500 was down 0.2%.

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The summer box office hasn’t lived up to analysts expectations. B. Riley analyst Eric Wold is again lowering expectations for Imax Corp.’s second-quarter box office after previously doing so on June 4. Wold expects Imax box office for the second quarter to come in at $265 million, down from his $381 million forecast heading into the quarter and his most-recent $302 million updated forecast. Wold also lowered second-quarter estimates for profit and revenue. He lowered per-share earnings expectations to 14 cents from 20 cents and revenue to $88.1 million from $94.8 million. “While we entered the year with an optimistic view on full-year box office trends after a disappointing 2016, we clearly underestimated how much of an overreaction to the downside could be in store for Imax shares on a single quarter of weaker-than-expected box office,” Wold wrote in a note to clients. He said he remains optimistic on Imax’s outlook heading into 2018 and beyond. Globally, demand for Imax screens and systems is still strong and he expects the China screen base to mature and provide a solid box office tailwind. “We continue to believe the issues that plagued Q2 box office trends were mostly slate-specific and should not have any bearing on future expectations,” Wold wrote. Shares of Imax have declined more than 28% so far in 2017, while the S&P 500 index has gained more than 8%.

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U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors returned from Fourth of July holiday and focused on the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting. The S&P 500 was up by 3 points, or 0.1%, to 2,432. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the session higher, up 15 points, or 0.1%, at 21,494. The blue-chip index set new intraday high on Monday, though failed to close at a record. The Nasdaq Composite index advanced by 13 points, or 0.2%, to 6,124. Among top decliners, O’Reilly Automotive Inc. shares sank 10% after disappointing sales report. Shares of Vantiv Inc. were halted as the company was in the mix to acquire competing payments processor Worldpay Group PLC after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said it wasn’t going to make a formal bid for the Worldpay.

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