U.S. runs budget deficit of $173 billion in March, CBO estimates

The federal government ran a budget deficit of $173 billion in March, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Friday, an increase of $65 billion from the same month a year ago. Receipts fell 5% as collection of corporate income taxes dropped due to a change in filing deadlines, CBO said. Spending increased by $55 billion as outlays on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security all rose.

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Trump nominates Hassett to be White House CEA chief

President Donald Trump has nominated Kevin Hassett, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, according to a statement released late Friday. The nomination had been expected. Hassett is most known for coauthoring a book forecasting the Dow reaching 36,000 just months before the dot-com bubble burst. He’s also advised several Republican presidential candidates.

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U.S. stocks edge lower on Syria strike, tepid jobs data

U.S. stocks closed fractionally lower on Friday in the wake of a U.S. airstrike in Syria and weak jobs data. The U.S. launched nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base, marking the first large scale military operation by President Donald Trump. The Labor Department data also showed that the U.S. created only 98,000 new jobs in March, the smallest gain in nearly a year. Stocks had rebounded during the session to trade higher but failed to digest the selling pressure that emerged toward closing bell. The S&P 500 shed a point to close at 2,353. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6 points to end at 20,656 while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped a point to finish at 5,877.

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Akorn shares surge 20% on report Germany’s Fresenius is mulling a bid

Shares of generic drug company Akorn Inc. rallied 20% Friday, after Bloomberg reported that Germany’s Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA is mulling a bid. Bloomberg said the two companies are in talks, but have not reached a final decision. Akorn shares have gained 38% in 2017 so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 5%.

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Oil ends at 1-month high after Syria airstrike, but pares early gain

Oil futures settled at a one-month high Friday, finding support after a U.S. airstrike on Syria contributed to geopolitical tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery rose 54 cents, or 1%, to close at $52.19 a barrel, the highest finish since March 7. Oil had jumped as much as 2.4% immediately following the airstrikes, but gave back some ground as traders questioned whether the initial reaction was overdone.

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Gambler Billy Walters found guilty of insider trading

Gambler Billy Walters was founded guilty of insider trading, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said Friday. Walters was alleged to received inside information about Dean Foods from a board member and netted over $43 million.

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Gold ends day, week higher, but pares firmer gain on dollar strength

Gold futures on Friday finished higher, but well off its loftiest levels for the session, as strength in the U.S. dollar and a rebound in stocks dulled the yellow metal’s early surge following U.S. airstrikes on Syria. June gold closed $4, or 0.3%, up at $1,257.30 an ounce. A much weaker-than-expected March jobs report had helped the yellow metal to extend gains but a firming dollar eroded some of the commodity’s appeal. A stronger greenback tends to make assets pegged to the currency more expensive to buyers using other monetary units. One popular measure of the dollar, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index , rose 0.6% at 101.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index also rebounded somewhat after coming under selling pressure early in the session, luring some investors away from havens and into securities perceived as risky. Still, gold futures find themselves in a bit of an uptrend, ending higher five out of the past six sessions. For the week, gold closed up 0.2% and logged its fourth straight weekly advance. But the metal failed to end above its 200-day moving average of $1,261.10 an ounce, according to FactSet data. Moving averages help to determine trends in an asset.

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Twitter drops suit after U.S. government rescinds summons to reveal an anti-Trump account

Twitter Inc. dropped its suit against the U.S. government Friday after the government withdrew its summons to reveal the identity of an account that had been critical of the Trump Administration. Twitter had filed suit Thursday, claiming that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protections had been unlawfully using a summons directing Twitter to reveal the identity of *ALT_USCIS,” an account which had tweeted content critical of the administration’s immigration policies. Twitter argued that the summons, delivered March 14, violated free speech rights of that user and other related accounts. Twitter has dismissed the claim without prejudice, according to the filing.

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Fitch revises outlook on General Mills rating to negative after two years of revenue weakness

Fitch Ratings on Friday revised the outlook on General Mills Inc.’s BBB-plus rating to negative from stable, citing concerns the food company will be unable to stabilize revenue after two years of weakness in categories including cereal, yogurt and convenient meals. “Fitch currently expects EBITDA to remain flat within the $3.4 billion to $3.5 billion range over the next three years, with adjusted leverage remaining around the current 2.8 times level,” the rating agency said in a statement. “This assumes that revenue trends improve to negative 1% by fiscal year 2019.” Fitch could downgrade the rating if revenue remains stressed and EBITDA declines to less than $3.2 billion and leverage above 3 times, it said. The revised outlook also reflects the company’s increased share buybacks, which reward shareholders but are a negative for bond holders. General Mills most active bonds, the 3.20% notes due in October of 2027 were trading at 98.469 cents on the dollar, according to MarketAxess. Shares were flat, but are down 6.4% in 2017 so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.5%.

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Wal-Mart, Boeing’s stocks doing the heavy lifting as Dow struggles to end week higher

The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s tentative afternoon gain on Friday was being almost entirely supported by a rise in shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Boeing Co. Combined, Wal-Mart and Boeing’s share gains were adding about 16 points to the blue-chip index , which was aiming for a close in positive territory for the day and week. However, Goldman Sach Group’s 0.7% decline was helping to drag the gauge lower, cutting about 10 points from the price-weighted benchmark. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was up less than a point at 2,357, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was trading flat at 5,881. Cautious trading Friday comes as disappointing March employment data and President Donald Trump’s late Thursday airstrike against Syria weigh heavily on investor sentiment. Trump also is holding diplomatic talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Mar-a-lago, Fla., which is being closely followed for signs of geopolitical tensions. The U.S. strike against Syria and jobs report initially knocked stocks around but the market has shown an uncanny degree of resilience, hovering in the green, however slight.

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