Category: Stock Market News

Shares of PepsiCo Inc. were up 1.3% midday Wednesday after the stock was upgraded to neutral from positive at Susquehanna on the thesis that it will be the target of a joint buyout bid from Kraft-Heinz and Anheuser-Busch . The Pepsi brand has been troubled by a controversial Kendall Jenner commercial, which it later pulled, as well as a new, alternative low calorie cola and flip-flopping on aspartame-sweetened drinks, said Pablo Zuanic, lead analyst on the report. “All paint a picture of a company still struggling to set a new direction,” he wrote. He increased the price target to $132 to $118. Shares of Pepsi have gained 3% in the past month, while the S&P 500 has lost 1%.

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Jude Law will take on the iconic role of Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in Warner Bros.’s “Fantastic Beasts” sequel, which is slated to come out on Nov. 16, 2018. The Time Warner Inc.-owned film studio announced on Wednesday the two-time Oscar nominee will join the “Harry Potter”-based film franchise as a younger Dumbledore decades before he becomes headmaster. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” released last November, brought in $813.2 million worldwide at the box office, which is below the $965.4 million the films in the “Harry Potter” franchise averaged. Principal photography on the “Fantastic Beasts” sequel, which is the second of five planned films, begins this summer. Shares of Time Warner are up more than 2% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index has gained nearly 5% this year.

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Oil futures extended gains Wednesday after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that domestic crude supplies fell by 2.2 million barrels for the week ended April 7. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a 1.3 million-barrel decline, according to sources, while analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 125,000 barrels. Gasoline supplies also declined by 3 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles were down by 2.2 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. May crude rose 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $53.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $53.46 before the supply data.

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The Canadian dollar strengthened on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged but raised its growth forecast for 2017. The U.S. dollar weakened to C$1.3273 after the announcement, as the central bank was seen distancing itself from its dovish policy stance. By comparison, the U.S. currency traded at C$1.3327 late Tuesday in New York. Canada has seen economic growth accelerate over the past six months, thanks in part to a recovery in crude-oil prices. But the BOC has written off improvements in growth and the labor-market, saying they’re likely due to temporary factors. Furthermore, the considerable uncertainty surrounding the fiscal-policy priorities of U.S. President Donald Trump has given the bank reason to be cautious, the central bank said in a statement. Policy makers fear that growth will suffer if Trump’s protectionist rhetoric becomes official government policy. The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner. Canadian government bond yields declined after the decision, with the 10-year off 5 basis points at 1.548%. Meanwhile, the S&P Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index moved slightly lower.

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United Continental Holdings Inc.’s stock edged up 0.6% in morning trade Wednesday, but pared earlier gains of as much as 1.4%, as it once again failed to sustain gains above a key technical level. The widely-watched 50-day moving average, which many chart watchers see as a dividing line between short-term uptrends and downtrends, currently extends to $71.64. The air carrier’s stock briefly traded above the 50-day MA when it reached an intraday high of $71.73, before pulling back below it, in the wake of incident over the weekend in which a passenger was dragged off a United plane. On Monday, the stock rose to an intraday high of $72.10, which was above the 50-day MA at the time of $71.65, before closing below it at $71.52. The last time the stock closed above the 50-day MA was March 3, 2017. The stock remains well above its 200-day moving average, seen by many as the long-term trend tracker, which currently extends to $61.30. Meanwhile, the NYSE Arca Airline Index rose 0.6% to 112.24, putting it on track to close above the 50-day MA (109.52) for a sixth-straight session. The S&P 500 was down 0.1% at 2,350.67, just below the 50-day MA at 2,351.04. The S&P 500 hasn’t closed below its 50-day MA since election day.

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The U.S. stock market opened slightly lower on Thursday as investors refrained from buying risky assets such as global equities amid a tense geopolitical backdrop. The S&P 500 opened 5 points, or 0.2%, lower at 2,348. Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. jumped more than 2% in early trade after the company said unit revenue will return to the black this quarter. The Nasdaq Composite fell 8 points, or 0.1%, to 5,859 at the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the session down 25 points, or 0.1%, at 20,625.

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Netshoes Limited , a sports and lifestyle online retailer, priced its initial public offering at $18 a share Wednesday to raise $148.5 million. Netshoes sold 8.25 million shares and has granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy an additional 1.24 million shares. The stock is expected to start trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NETS.” Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities, Bano Bradeso BBI, Allen & Company LLC and Jefferies LLC were joint book-running managers on the offering.

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Shares of Blackberry Ltd. were on track to open at a 15-month high Wednesday, after a favorable court ruling in its dispute with Qualcomm Inc. sent them soaring. The mobile communications company’s stock ran up 16.6% to $8.98 in premarket trade, as it heads toward the highest price seen during regular trading hours since Jan. 5, 2016. The stock is also on track for the biggest one-day percentage gain since it climbed 29.7% on Jan. 14, 2015. Qualcomm said that while it disagreed with the $814.9 million arbitration award granted to BlackBerry, the ruling was binding and not appealable. BlackBerry’s stock had surged 12% year to date through Tuesday, while Qualcomm’s had tumbled 15% and the S&P 500 had gained 5.1%.

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Qualcomm Inc. said Wednesday it does not agree with the $814.9 million arbitration award granted to BlackBerry Corp. in a contract dispute. However, “it is binding and not appealable,” the company said in a statement. The companies agreed to arbitrate a dispute last April on whether Qualcomm’s agreement to cap certain royalties applied to payments made by BlackBerry under a licence agreement between the two. Qualcomm shares fell 0.8% in premarket trade, while BlackBerry shares rose as much as 17%.

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