Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. sank 4.9% in active trade Monday, after the company seemed to confirm that it has not, and would not, license its graphics technology to rival chip maker Intel Corp. Volume topped 57 million shares in early afternoon trade, enough to make the stock the second-most actively traded on major U.S. exchanges. When Chief Executive Lisa Su was asked Monday at the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media & Telecom conference about recent speculation over a potential licensing deal with Intel , Su responded by saying, “We’re not looking at enabling a competitor to compete against our products,” according to a transcript of the event provided by FactSet. Speculation about a license deal has been around for months, but became more rampant last week ahead of AMD’s analyst meeting. The stock sold off after the meeting when AMD made no mention of a deal, and analysts dispelled the speculation. The stock was still up 8.1% over the past two weeks. But after rocketing nearly 4 fold in 2016, it has tumbled 24% year to date, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index has run up 18% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.9%.

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Gold prices climbed Monday to settle at their highest level in three weeks. The yellow metal found support as the euro strengthened, pressuring the U.S. dollar index, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed the European Central Bank policies for marking the single currency “too weak.” June gold rose $7.80, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,261.40 an ounce. Prices settled at their highest since April 28, according to FactSet data.

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Share of Nutanix Inc. soared 11% in midday trade Monday, after Goldman Sachs turned bullish on the cloud computing company, saying the sharp selloff in the stock this year has provided an “attractive entry point” for new investors. Analyst Simona Jankowski raised her rating to buy, after starting coverage of the recent IPO at neutral on Oct. 25. After being one of the hottest IPOs of 2016, closing its second-day of trading at $44.46 on Oct. 3, or nearly triple the $16 IPO price, the stock tumbled to a low close of $14.46 on May 1, in the wake of a disappointing fiscal second-quarter earnings report and concerns over competition in the hyperconverged market, particularly following Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.’s acquisition of SimpliVity. But Jankowski believes those concerns are overdone. “We view this as a very attractive opportunity to buy the leader in hyperconverged infrastructure, which we view as the biggest trend in IT since public cloud,” Jankowski wrote in a note to clients. She said new accounting rules that allows Nutanix to recognize software revenue upfront, rather than deferring them, should also help boost the stock. The shares were still down 33% year to date, while the Nasdaq Composite has rallied 14% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.9%.

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The S&P 500 index on Monday was just about six points shy of its Tuesday closing levels–the day before the overall stock market endured its sharpest daily collapse in months. The S&P 500 was recently trading up about 12 points, or 0.5%, at 2,394, which puts the broad-market gauge just shy of its close of 2,400.67 last Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at 20,903, about 75 points from its Tuesday finish at 20,979.75, while the Nasdaq Composite Index , which endured the sharpest decline of the major U.S. equity benchmarks on Wednesday, was up 0.7% at 6,127, compared with 6,169.87 at the close of trade Tuesday. The trade action marks a relatively rapid rebound for the U.S. equity market, which is on track to log its third straight advance after suffering its worst one-day decline of 2017, following heightened worries about President Donald Trump’s ability to make good on promises to put forth market-friendly policies. A series of reports, implying that he obstructed justice in firing then-director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey, who had been investigating ties between Russia and members of Trump’s presidential campaign, has been at the heart of Wall Street’s recent concerns.

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Puma Biotechnology Inc. shares surged 49.2% to $56.30 in morning trade Monday after the Food and Drug Administration released favorable briefing documents for an advisory committee meeting this week that will review Puma Biotech’s breast cancer drug. The benefits of the drug, which addresses an unmet need after the standard of care second-line cancer therapy, outweigh its risks, according to the FDA briefing documents. The most common side side effect of the drug was diarrhea, with 95% of patients in clinical trials experiencing it, and 40% of patients experienced serious, or what’s called grade 3, diarrhea, the documents said. The FDA’s oncologic drugs advisory committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. Advisory committee recommendations are considered by the FDA when deciding whether to approve a drug. Puma Biotech shares have surged 64.6% over the last three months, compared with a 1.1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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The Supreme Court on Monday said North Carolina excessively used race in drawing congressional maps. The decision upheld a lower court ruling.

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McDonald’s Corp. , Wendy’s Co. , Burger King, a Restaurant Brands International Inc. brand], and other traditional fast-food chains are closing the gap with fast-casual as factors like affordability gain significance with customers, according to the latest RBC Capital Markets report. “Quality ingredients” are still a top driver for customer visits, but RBC and its partner Mission Measurement found that price, such as the value tiers at fast-food restaurants, have also become more important. “[C]onsumers are now increasingly prioritizing affordability and taste after a previous rise in the importance of healthiness,” the report said. “These findings seem to endorse the view that chains such as McDonald’s should focus on making a better cheeseburger rather than extending the menu into ‘healthy food’.” RBC found that brand perception of large, traditional fast-food chains is improving compared with fast-casual chains. Fast-casual includes Panera Bread Co. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. . The three “best-in-class” fast-food operators, according to RBC, are Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out and Culver’s. McDonald’s still has a way to go towards improving “sales-driving attributes” like quality, taste and service, but changes that are coming through its “experience of the future” revamp, including self-ordering kiosks and new menu ingredients, means they are “poised to rise significantly over the next year,” said RBC. McDonald’s shares are up 22.1% for the year so far, Wendy’s is up 19.6% for the period, and Restaurant Brands has increased 27.6% for 2017 to date. The S&P 500 index is up 6.6% for the year so far.

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Amgen Inc. shares dropped 1.9% in morning trade Monday after the company said that it has observed new cardiovascular risks for its Evenity drug, which is intended to reduce risk of fractures in patients with osteoporosis, and that it does not expect the drug to get approved this year. Shares of its partner on the drug, UCB , declined 17.9%. Amgen said it saw this new cardiovascular safety signal in its late-stage trial for the drug, with Evenity having an imbalance in serious cardiovascular adverse events as compared with the current standard of care in osteoporosis, alendronate. Sean Harper, Amgen’s executive vice president of research and development, said that “the newly observed cardiovascular safety signal will have to be assessed as part of the overall benefit:risk profile for Evenity” and that it would work with UCB to evaluate the data with global regulators and medical experts. The latest results are “clearly negative, and very surprising,” said EvercoreISI analyst Umer Raffat. The clinical trial met its two primary endpoints and its key secondary endpoint, Amgen also said. Amgen shares have dropped 11.1% over the last three months, and UCB shares have declined 8.2%, compared with a 1.1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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The S&P 500 index on Monday was just about nine points shy of its Tuesday closing levels–the day before the overall stock market endured its sharpest daily collapse in months. The S&P 500 was recently trading up about 10 points, or 0.4%, at 2,391, which puts the broad-market gauge just shy of its close of 2,400.67 last Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at 20,902, about 75 points from its Tuesday finish at 20,979.75, while the Nasdaq Composite Index , which endured the sharpest decline of the major U.S. equity benchmarks on Wednesday, was up 0.5% at 6,114, compared with 6,169.87 at the close of trade Tuesday. The trade action marks a relatively rapid rebound for the U.S. equity market, which is on track to log its third straight advance after suffering its worst one-day decline of 2017, following heightened worries about President Donald Trump’s ability to make good on promises to put forth market-friendly policies. A series of reports, implying that he obstructed justice in firing then-director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey, who had been investigating ties between Russia and members of Trump’s presidential campaign, has been at the heart of Wall Street’s recent concerns.

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U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Monday, with investors treading cautiously and waiting for the next big catalyst to jolt the markets. The main indexes finished last week lower. The S&P 500 opened 6 points, or 0.3%, higher at 2,388. The Nasdaq Composite was up 19 points, or 0.3%, to 6,103 at the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the session up 74 points, or 0.4%, at 20,878. Among the best performers on Wall Street, Ford Motor Company rose more 1.5% after the carmaker replaced its chief executive Mark Fields with Jim Hackett.

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