Category: Stock Market News

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s stock plunged 9.8% in active midday trade Thursday, as disappointing production data and a sharp selloff in oil prices to nine-month lows unnerved investors. Volume of 59.3 million shares already exceeded the full-day average of 41.2 million shares. The stock had initially rallied as much as 5.1% in premarket trade, after the oil and natural gas company beat first-quarter profit expectations. RBC Capital analyst Scott Hanold said that while first-quarter average daily production of 528,000 barrels of oil equivalent was in line with the company’s guidance, it was below consensus expectations, which FactSet said was about 536,000 BOE. Separately, June crude oil futures tumbled 4.1% to the lowest levels seen since August after data showing U.S. output rose and inventories declined more than expected and amid expectations that Libyan production will recover. Chesapeake’s stock has plummeted 29% year to date, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has lost 13% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.4%.

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General Mills Inc. [s:] shares surged 4% in Thursday trading, paring earlier gains of as much as 7.4% amid takeover chatter. CNBC said earlier reports that 3G Capital was interested in buying the food company aren’t true. General Mills declined to comment. 3G Capital didn’t own General Mills shares, a Dec. 31, 2016 filing shows. General Mills shares closed at a 15-month low on Tuesday. General Mills is down 5.8% for the year so far, while the S&P 500 index is up 6.7% for the period.

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General Mills Inc. [s:] shares surged 4% in Thursday trading, paring earlier gains of as much as 7.4% amid takeover chatter. CNBC said earlier reports that 3G Capital was interested in buying the food company aren’t true. General Mills did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 3G Capital didn’t own General Mills shares, a Dec. 31, 2016 filing shows. General Mills shares closed at a 15-month low on Tuesday. General Mills is down 5.8% for the year so far, while the S&P 500 index is up 6.7% for the period.

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Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday showed that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 67 billion cubic feet for the week ended April 28. That was above the increase of 61 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 2.256 trillion cubic feet, down 359 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 303 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. June natural gas fell 3.2 cents, or 1%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $3.196 per million British thermal units. It traded at $3.223 before the data.

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Sequential Brands Group Inc. shares soared nearly 15% in Thursday trading after the company reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations. Sequential Brands portfolio includes Martha Stewart, Ellen Tracy, yoga brand Gaiam and Jessica Simpson. Net loss was $1.18 million, or 2 cents, compared with a loss of $1.08 million, or 2 cents, for the same period last year. The company took a $6.7 million charge related to costs associated with the chief executive’s departure, which included $3.2 million in severance and $3.5 million in on-cash stock-based compensation expense. Adjusted EPS was 9 cents, exceeding the 3-cent FactSet consensus. Revenue for the quarter was $39.4 million, up from $34.0 million last year and ahead of the $37.0 million FactSet estimate. Sequential Brands also announced Thursday that its Martha Stewart brand had entered into an agreement with QVC to launch new products. Sequential Brands reiterated its guidance of full-year sales of $170 million to $175 million. The FactSet consensus is for $171.2 million. Sequential Brands shares are down 38.3% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 16.4% for the period.

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Oil prices dropped Thursday, with expectations for a recovery in Libyan production and rising U.S. output setting prices up for their lowest finish since November. Two of the largest factions in Libya have made progress in reaching a deal to resolve the nation’s political and economic crises, BBC News reported late Wednesday. Clashes between armed groups had caused intermittent shutdowns of Libya’s major oil field, but a resolution to the tensions could lead to higher output. June West Texas Intermediate crude sank by $1.27, or 2.7%, to trade at $46.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Worldwide shipments of tablets fell 8.5% to 36.2 million in the first quarter, with every major brand except Huawei experiencing a decline, according to industry tracker IDC. The contraction marks the tenth-straight quarterly decline for the tablet market, though the previous five quarters fell at an even faster clip, with declines in the double-digit percentages. IDC, which counts both slate tablets and detachable tablets with keyboards among its analysis, attributed the decline over the past few years to bigger-screen smartphones. Apple Inc. , which reported earnings earlier this week, experienced its 13th-straight quarter of year-over-year shipments declines, down 13%, according to IDC. The iPad’s share of the market declined marginally to 24.6% from 25.9% a year ago. Samsung Electronics recorded a 1% decline in shipments and its share increased to 16.5% from 15.2%. Huawei rounded out the top three and surpassed Amazon.com Inc. with a 31.7% increase in shipments. Shares of Apple fell 0.7% to $146.04 in morning trade. Its shares have gained 13% in the past three months and 55% in the past year, outperforming both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 . The Dow, a 30-member index that includes Apple, is up 4.3% and 19%, over the past three months and past year.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened slightly higher on Thursday, as the equity gauge aims for its third straight gain. That would mark the blue-chip benchmark’s longest win streak since the period ended Feb. 27, when the Dow went 12 consecutive days in positive territory, then its longest such streak since 1987. However, since that period, stocks have moved in fits and starts amid doubts about President Donald Trump’s pro-market agenda. Thursday’s tepid rise for the Dow was being aided in part by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , which was contributing about 15 points to the benchmark. However, stocks were struggling to hold on to gains Thursday a day after the Federal Reserve left a key interest rate unchanged and described recent weakness in economic data as “transitory,” providing some support for buying stocks. A sharp decline in energy, as U.S. crude oil prices tumbled, was limiting the market’s early gains. More broadly, the S&P 500 index was trading flat, as was the Nasdaq Composite Index .

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Starbucks Corp. said Thursday that it will expand its loyalty rewards program to grocery stores where items like packaged coffee, K-Cup packs, ready-to-drink Starbucks beverages, and Via instant coffee are sold. Rewards gathered for grocery purchases can be redeemed at Starbucks retail locations. Starbucks shares are nearly flat in Thursday trading, and are up more than 9% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 6.8% for 2017 to date.

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The U.S. stock market opened higher on Thursday as investors appeared mildly optimistic a day after the Federal Reserve’s sanguine statement on the economy. Though disappointing earnings from Facebook Inc. dampened the mood. The S&P 500 opened s point, or 0.1%, higher at 2,390. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 5 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,078 at the open, trading just below its all-time closing high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the session up 22 points, or 0.1%, at 20,979.

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