Category: Stock Market News

Oil prices settled nearly unchanged Friday, but posted their first weekly gain in a month on expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to extend its production-cut agreement for six months or more, and may even deepen the cuts. The Wall Street Journal also reported that some OPEC members are mulling the idea of bringing more non-OPEC producers into the pact. June WTI crude settled at $47.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a penny higher for the session and up 3.5% for the week.

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White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday deflected questions about a tweet by President Donald Trump in which Trump said former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey should hope there are no “tapes” of their conversations. Asked if Trump recorded the conversations and if there are recording devices in the Oval Office or residence, Spicer said: “The president has nothing further to add on that.”

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Gold prices rose a third session Friday, to score their longest streak of session gains since mid-April, finding support as slightly weaker-than-expected retail sales and core consumer price index data fed a decline in the U.S. dollar. Prices for the metal, however, barely notched a gain for the week. June gold rose $3.50, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,227.70 an ounce for the session–up less than 0.1% from a week ago.

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Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil climbed by 9 to 712 rigs this week. The oil-rig count has climbed every week so far this year, except for one. The latest data showed a 17th weekly rise in a row. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, rose 8 to 885, according to Baker Hughes. June West Texas Intermediate crude was down 18 cents, or 0.4%, at $47.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the session. It traded at $47.58 before the data.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. central bank can keep raising interest rates with the labor market at full health and inflation on track to stabilize at 2%, said Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker on Friday. “Overall, things are looking good,” Harker said in a speech to the Urban Economic Policy Conference at Drexel University. “We’re essentially at normal now, and based on the strength of the economy, I continue to see two more rate hikes as appropriate this year,” he said. Harker, who is a voting member of the Fed policy committee this year, said he expected the economy to rebound from the weak 0.7% growth rate in the first quarter and said growth for the full year would be at about a 2.3% rate. That’s only a 0.1 percentage point downward revision to his previous estimate.

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Wynn Resorts Ltd. shares climbed 3.3% Friday to lead S&P 500 gainers, after Barclays upgraded the stock to the equivalent of buy, citing positive news coming from Macau and Las Vegas. Barclays upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight and raised its price to $144, equal to 13% upside from current levels. Wynn Resorts beat profit estimates by about 30% in its latest quarter, and beat sales estimates by 5.5%, according to FactSet. Revenue from its Las Vegas operations rose 6% from the year-earlier period, while casino revenues were up 3.3%. In Macau, net revenues fell 3.5%, while casino revenues were down 3%. But Macau is expected to continue a recovery that began last August with the opening of Wynn’s new Palace casino, which is credited with bringing VIP high-rollers back. Macau has posted nine straight months of higher gambling revenues, according to the Macau Gaming Inspection & Coordination Bureau. Wynn shares have gained 46% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 7%.

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President Donald Trump’s tax returns show no “income of any type from Russian sources,” according to a report Friday from the Associated Press based on a letter from a Trump lawyer. The brief AP report didn’t immediately identify the lawyer. The report punctuates a dramatic week for the president, highlighted by his stunning dismissal of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey late Tuesday. The Comey firing came as the FBI director was investigating potential ties between Russia and members of Trump’s campaign for the U.S. presidency. Trump has declined to release his taxes to the public, which other candidates for U.S. president have traditionally done.

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General Electric Co.’s stock dropped 2.3% in morning trade, and was the biggest decliner within the Dow Jones Industrial Average , after Deutsche Bank turned bearish on the industrial conglomerate, citing concerns over earnings quality. Analyst John Inch downgraded GE to a rare sell rating, after being at hold since October 2015. Only 2% of the companies covered by Deutsche Bank analysts have sell ratings. Inch slashed his stock price target to $24, which is 15% below current levels, from $28. “Overall, we believe GE to be overvalued given weak earnings quality and the wide gap between non-cash and cash earnings,” Inch wrote in a note to clients. “Earnings quality pressures include the exclusion of non-operating pension accounting coupled with a high level of underfunded pension obligations, ultra low tax rates that could pose a future earnings headwind, LTSA non-cash earnings contribution and pro forma quarterly matching of gains against a plethora of charges.” The stock has shed 11% year to date, while the Dow has gained 5.7%.

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Sprint Corp. has initiated preliminary talks with T-Mobile US Inc. for a potential merger, according to a Bloomberg report citing sources. According to the report, executives at Sprint and its parent company, Japan-based SoftBank Group Corp., had “informal contact” with T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom AG about a deal. The wireless industry has become increasingly competitive and crowded, requiring companies to look for acquisition and/or partnership opportunities. Deal talks in the industry had been on hold until April 27 due to the government’s spectrum auction. But SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son and Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Tim Hoettges earlier this week separately told investors to expect talk of industry consolidation, and T-Mobile said it expected to be involved. Shares of Sprint and T-Mobile were up less than 1% on Friday. Sprint shares have declined nearly 6% in the year to date, but are up more than 127% in the prior 12-month period, while shares of T-Mobile are up nearly 15% in the year and 62% in the last 12 months. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up close to 7% in the year and 16% over the the 12-month period.

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Shares of Visteon Corp. rallied 4.5% toward a 16-month high in morning trade Friday, after Morgan Stanley upgraded the auto parts maker. Analyst Adam Jones raised his rating to overweight from equal weight and his stock price target to $115, which is 8.1% above current levels, from $103. Jones said he made “significant changes” to his earnings forecasts in the wake of “much stronger than expected” first-quarter results. “While we are not in a position to extrapolate 1Q performance directly into the immediately subsequent quarters, we have been given enough reason to see or prior forecasts as overly conservative,” Jones wrote in a note to clients. The company reported on April 27 first-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations. The stock recently traded at $106.34, the highest level seen since Jan. 13, 2016. It has run up 32% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.8%.

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