Category: Stock Market News

Navistar International Corp.’s stock tumbled 9% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the truck and diesel engines maker swung to a wider-than-expected fiscal second-quarter loss. The net loss for the quarter to April 30 was $80 million, or 86 cents a share, compared with a profit of $4 million, or 5 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The latest quarter’s results include $18 million in adjustments resulting from pre-existing warranties, asset impairment and debt financing charges and restructuring costs. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 2 cents a share. Revenue slipped to $2.10 billion from $2.20 billion, just above the FactSet consensus of $2.07 billion. Truck segment sales fell 6% to $1.4 billion, while the segment’s loss increased to $56 million from $23 million, due primarily to higher used truck losses, market pressures and lower market volumes. The company affirmed its guidance for 2017 revenue to be “similar” to 2016. The stock had run up 16% over the past two sessions, boosted by an analyst upgrade on Monday. It has lost 4.6% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.5%.

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UnitedHealth Group said Wednesday that it is raising its quarterly dividend to 75 cents per share, a 20% increase. The new dividend will be paid on June 27 to shareholders of record as of June 19. UnitedHealth shares were not active in premarket trade. Shares have risen 7.4% over the last three months, compared with a 2.6% rise in the S&P 500 .

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The euro dropped to as low as $1.1205 on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported that the European Central Bank will cut its inflation forecast through 2019. The shared currency traded around $1.1284 ahead of the report, up from $1.1278 late Tuesday in New York. Bloomberg cited a draft forecast ahead of the ECB’s policy-setting meeting on Thursday, where analysts see the central bank taking “baby steps” toward ending its ultraloose monetary policy. However, if the Bloomberg report is right “it does not sound like an ECB ready to tighten,” said Kristoffer Lomholt, senior analyst at Danske Bank, in a post to Twitter.

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The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has cut its economic growth forecasts for the U.S. this year and next, saying stimulative measures it had expected from the Trump administration would now likely be implemented later than the Paris-based research group had previously anticipated. The OECD expects U.S. growth this year of 2.1%, down from the 2.4% forecast it gave in March. It also lowered its projection for 2018 to 2.4% from 2.8%. The OECD raised its forecasts for the eurozone for both this year and next, and nudged up forecasts for Japan and China. The OECD predicts global economic growth for 2017 at 3.5%, a slight increase from the 3.3% it predicted in March. There are risks to its view, it concedes. Namely, the OECD believes financial markets are anticipating even better economic growth outcomes than are likely, which heightens the risk of a “snap back” in asset prices. The group also sees a potential red flag in housing markets because prices in some countries have risen to levels that have in the past preceded busts. As for the European Central Bank, the OECD recommends it wind down bond purchases in 2018 and raise its key interest rate by the end of that year. That view is based on predictions for core inflation to slowly approach the target by the end of 2018. The ECB next meets on Thursday and while no policy change is anticipated, financial markets expect at least a slightly rosier outlook from ECB head Mario Draghi.

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Gunmen stormed Iran’s parliament in Tehran and started shooting at guards on Wednesday, according to media reports citing Iran’s state media. Local Tasnim News Agency tweeted that three attackers were inside the parliament and two people had been injured. Unconfirmed reports said one shooter has been arrested. There were also reports that four terrorists, including a suicide bomber, had attacked the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran. One security guard was killed and four people injured in that incident, the reports said, citing state TV news.

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Gunmen stormed Iran’s parliament in Tehran and started shooting at guards on Wednesday, according to media reports. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency tweeted that three attackers were inside the parliament, and two people had been injured. Unconfirmed reports said one shooter has been arrested. There were also reports of a shooting and/or suicide bombing at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran.

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Spain’s Banco Santander SA said Wednesday it will take over struggling Banco Popular Espanol SA for the symbolic price of 1 euro, creating the country’s largest bank by lending and deposits, according to a press statement. Shares of Banco Popular have more than halved year-to-date as the bank has struggled under the weight of bad loans leftover from the 2008 crisis. On Tuesday, the European Central Bank said Popular was failing or likely to fail, owing to a significant deterioration in its liquidity situation. Banco Santander also announced a 7 billion euro ($7.88 billion) rights issue, which it said would be used to “cover the capital and provisions required to strengthen Popular’s balance sheet.”

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Tesla Inc. shareholders late Tuesday kept the company’s board classified, with board members’ terms staggered. A proposal, brought forth by institutional investors, including state pension funds, had called for the election of all seven members yearly. Tesla had opposed that proposal, saying the staggered terms allow directors to focus on the long-term health of the company. Shares of Tesla rose 0.4% late Tuesday after ending the day at a fresh record high of $352.85.

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Shares of Oxford Industries Inc. fell more than 4% late Tuesday after the clothing company behind brands such as Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer reported adjusted fiscal first-quarter earnings and sales below expectations. The company said it earned $17.2 million, or $1.03 a share, in the quarter, compared with $20.2 million, or $1.21 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $1.12 a share, compared with $1.26 a year ago. Net sales rose to $272.4 million, compared to $256.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of $1.04 a share on sales of $274 million. Oxford Industries said it expects net sales in a range of $285 million to $295 million for the next quarter, compared with net sales of $283 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2016.

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Keysight Technologies Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Tuesday after the maker of electronic measurement instruments topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Keysight shares surged 7.6% to $43.31 after hours, following a record close of $40.25 Tuesday. The company, which was spun off from Agilent Technologies Inc. in 2014, reported adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings of 64 cents a share on revenue of $753 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 57 cents a share on revenue of $750 million. Keysight expects third-quarter revenue of $810 million to $850 million, while analysts estimate $841.8 million.

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