Category: Stock Market News

Yield spreads on bonds issued by Comcast Corp. widened Tuesday, after the company surprised the market with a $30.9 billion offer for Sky Plc . The company topped a bid from 21st Century Fox Inc. and complicated a deal Fox has made to sell many of its assets to Walt Disney Co. . “The purchase offer is all cash, resulting in pro forma leverage of approximately 3.0 times should the deal be completed on proposed terms,” said CreditSight analysts. “This represents a material step up up from about 2.2 times net leverage at year-end and the company’s historical norm.” CreditSights is recommending looking at a 20 basis-point widening as an opportunity to add exposure on the company’s 10-year bonds, which were trading about 5 basis points wider in early afternoon trade, according to MarketAxess. The company’s most-active bonds, the 4.000% notes due in March of 2048, were about 6 basis points wider, according to MarketAxess, while the 3.9000% notes due in March of 2038 were 4 basis points wider on the day. On the equities side, the stock was down 5.7%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it reached a settlement with PayPal Holdings Inc. over the commission’s allegations that PayPal misled Venmo users about account transfers. PayPal shares are down 0.6% in Tuesday trading. The commission charged that PayPal told users of its Venmo app that they could transfer money to their bank accounts without properly informing them that funds could be removed or frozen following the company’s review of the transactions. The FTC also said that Venmo “misrepresented the extent to which consumers’ financial accounts were protected by ‘bank grade security systems,'” according to a release. “We are pleased to conclude this process with the FTC in a cooperative way,” PayPal said in a statement. “We’ve taken steps to significantly strengthen our privacy and data security practices. The company will continue to invest heavily in programs designed to create better user understanding and to enhance privacy.” A company spokesperson also said that there was “no associated fine.” The proposed FTC settlement will be available for public comment through March 29 and then the commission will decide whether to finalize it. PayPal shares are up 85% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 Index has gained 17%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

AmerisourceBergen Corp. shares dropped 6% and Walgreens Boots Alliance shares dropped 2.2% in midday trade Tuesday after a CNBC report said that the two companies’ talks ended without a deal. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Walgreens was in talks to buy AmerisourceBergen. AmerisourceBergen shares have surged 17% over the last three months, while Walgreens shares have declined 1%, compared with a 6.2% rise in the S&P 500 .

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Boeing Co. will build the “next generation” of Air Force One, a “flying White House at outstanding value to taxpayers,” the company said in a tweet Tuesday. President Trump negotiated “a good deal on behalf of the American people,” Boeing said. Shares of Boeing have rallied more than 140% since December 2016, when Trump threatened to cancel an order for new Air Force One planes saying on Twitter that costs were “out of control.” The deal this week would be for two planes at $3.9 billion, according to news reports. The original deal was for around $5 billion. Shares of Boeing have gained 105% in the past 12 months, compared with 17% for the S&P 500 index and 23% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Shares rose as much as $369.15 on Tuesday, and were on track for a record close. Boeing last month reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Exchange-traded funds tracking emerging-market equities slumped on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar spiked during Federal Reserve head Jerome Powell’s first congressional testimony. The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF sank 2.1% and was on track for its biggest one-day percentage decline since Feb. 8. Separately, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF was down 2.2% while the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF lost 2.1%. All three were on track for a day of higher-than-average trading volume. The move lower coincided with an advance by the U.S. dollar index , which rose 0.6% and touched its highest level since Jan. 18 as Powell testified. The new chairman dodged the question of whether the central bank would raise interest rates more than the projected three times, however, he said his outlook for the economy had strengthened. Emerging-market stocks often have an inverse correlation with the U.S. dollar because many borrow in the greenback, and have higher costs of paying that back as it strengthens. Over the past 12 months, the Vanguard ETF is up 23.4% while the dollar index is down more than 10%. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% while the S&P 500 was off 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.6%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

The dollar index rallied to its strongest level since Jan. 18 on Wednesday, as new Federal Reserve head Jerome Powell gave his first congressional testimony. Powell said the U.S. economy was strong with little risk of recession at the moment and modest risk in the financial sector. The new chairman dodged the question of whether the central bank would raise interest rates more than the projected three times, however saying that his outlook for the economy had strengthened. He also spoke out in favor of the effectiveness of quantitative easing in response to a question about a paper by Wall Street analysts criticizing the lose monetary policy approach. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index touched an session high of 90.50, and was last up 0.6% at 90.370, reflecting strength across the board. The buck’s major rival, the euro , slipped 0.6% to $1.2241, while the British pound bought $1.3880, down 0.6%. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose 0.6% to ￥107.53.

Follow the live blog here.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Treasury yields rose sharply during Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony after he said the economic outlook had strengthened since December. The 10-year note yield shot up 5.1 basis points to 2.910%, according to Tradeweb data. The 2-year yield climbed 4.4 basis points to 2.274%. The 30-year rate rose 2.6 basis points to 3.180%. Analysts have construed his comments as hawkish and may be be pricing in a higher chance of the central bank implementing four rate hikes from a consensus of three hikes this year.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Apple Inc. shares are on track for a record close Tuesday for the first time since hitting their Jan. 18 high. The stock is up 0.7% in Tuesday trading. “With Apple shares hitting all-time highs today and having a significant snap back from the dark lows we witnessed post December results/March guidance, we believe the Street is now starting to fully appreciate the massive iPhone upgrade opportunity on the horizon for FY18 with three new smart phones slated for release,” GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives wrote Tuesday. He refers to the idea that Apple will debut a large-screen OLED iPhone, an enhanced version of the iPhone X, and a more affordable version of the iPhone X during its next smartphone launch, as has been reported by Bloomberg. Amazon.com Inc. shares returned to record levels on Feb. 15, while Microsoft Corp shares did yesterday. Alphabet Inc. stock is about 4% below its record high while Facebook Inc. stock is about 5% below its high. Apple shares are up 32% over the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 23%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Fitbit Inc. shares are down 12% in midday trading and on track to close at a record low after the company reported weaker-than-expected results late Monday, but Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz reiterated his optimism. Though sales of the new Ionic smartwatch fell short of the company’s own expectations, Uerkwitz saw some positive signs in Fitbit’s earnings report. The company reported 9% growth in active users during the year and said that 37% of activations came from repeat customers. “With reactivations, cash being essentially flat, and recent digital health acquisitions, we remain ever the optimists,” Uerkwitz wrote. He has an outperform rating on shares and an $8 target price. Fitbit shares have fallen 14% over the last 12 months, as of Monday’s close, while the S&P 500 Index is up 17%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

President Donald Trump will name Brad Parscale, who ran digital operations for Trump’s 2016 campaign, campaign manager for his 2020 presidential run, according to the Drudge Report. The Drudge story said Trump will announce he’s running for a second term, but does not say when an announcement will come. The White House has previously said Trump will “absolutely” seek re-election in 2020.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News