Category: Stock Market News

A letter delivered to the International Monetary Fund’s office in Paris exploded Thursday, injuring one staff member. The explosion was caused by a large firecracker, a senior police official in Paris told The Wall Street Journal. The IMF is working with French authorities to investigate the incident. “I condemn this cowardly act of violence and reaffirm the IMF’s resolve to continue our work in line with our mandate,” Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, said in a statement. The incident comes after a suspicious package containing explosives was found Wednesday at the German finance ministry in Berlin. That package was found in the mail-handling area of the building, but wasn’t opened.

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The global market for augmented and virtual reality headsets is expected to spike nearly 10-fold, to 99.4 million units shipped through 2021 from 10.1 million in 2016, with the fastest growth in augmented reality headsets, according to market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC). That represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 58%. Revenue for VR headsets is expected to grow to $18.6 billion in 2021 from $2.1 billion in 2016, while AR headset revenue is expected to jump to $48.7 billion from $209 million, IDC said. The market share for commercial use of the headsets is expected to increase to 38.5% in 2021 from 20.1% in 2016, with consumer market share expected to decline to 61.5% from 79.9%. “While there was clear demand coming primarily from technology enthusiasts, what became readily apparent were the use cases for enterprise users across multiple verticals and for consumers with gaming and content consumption,” said IDC Research Manager Ramon Llamas.

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3M Co. announced Thursday an agreement to buy safety-device maker Scott Safety from Johnson Controls International PLC in a deal valued at $2 billion. 3M expect the deal to reduce net earnings by 10 cents a share, and add 10 cents a share to adjusted earnings, in the first 12 months after closing, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2017. “Personal safety is a core growth business within the 3M portfolio,” said Chief Executive Inge Thulin. Johnson Controls’ stock gained 1.4% in premarket trade. Year to date, 3M shares have climbed 7.1%, Johnson Controls’ stock has tacked on 1.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 6%.

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The Bank of England on Thursday left its key interest rate at a record low 0.25%, meeting widely held expectations. The vote to hold the rate steady was 8-1, with board member Kristen Forbes backing a rate increase.
The central bank left unchanged the size of its asset purchase program at £435 billion ($533 billion) and its corporate-bond purchase program at £10 billion. The central bank expects U.K. inflation to rise above 2% in the “next few months,” it said in a statement. Headline inflation hit 1.8% in January, moving closer to the bank’s target of 2%. The pound jumped to $1.2330 from $1.2269 ahead of the decision. Sterling bought $1.2291 late Wednesday in New York.

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A letter delivered to the International Monetary Fund’s office in Paris exploded, injuring one person, according to media reports Thursday. The incident comes after a suspicious package containing explosives was found Wednesday at the German finance ministry in Berlin. That package was found in the mail-handling area of the building, but wasn’t opened.

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Canada Goose Holdings Inc. disclosed Thursday that it prices its initial public offering at C$17 a share, above the expected range of $C14 a share to C$16 a share. The outdoor apparel company is selling 20 million shares, about 6.3 million shares from the company and 13.7 million shares from selling shareholders, to raise C$340 million, or the U.S. equivalent of about $255.3 million at current exchange rates. The stock will trade in the U.S. on the New York Stock Exchange and in Canada on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol “GOOS.” The lead underwriters are CIBC Capital Markets, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets.

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Queen Elizabeth II has approved the U.K. government’s Article 50 bill that paves the way for the start of the Brexit process, reports said Thursday. The queen gave her Royal Assent to the bill that was passed earlier this week by British lawmakers. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to trigger the start of the process later this month.

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Shares of Dollar General Corp. surged 5.8% in premarket trade Thursday, after the discount retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations. For the quarter to Feb. 3, net income rose to $414.2 million, or $1.49 a share, from $376.2 million, or $1.30 a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.41. Revenue increased to $6.01 billion from $5.29 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $5.96 billion. Same-store sales grew 1.0%, beating expectations of a 0.2% rise, as a decline in traffic was offset by an increase in average transaction amount. For fiscal 2017, the company expects EPS of $4.25 to $4.50, below the FactSet consensus of $4.67. Separately, Dollar General said it raised its quarterly dividend by 4% to 26 cents a share from 25 cents a share, payable April 25 to shareholders of record on April 11. In addition, Chief Merchandising Officer James Thorpe will retire effective April 15. The stock has declined 1.7% year to date through Wednesday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 4.0% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.5%.

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KCG Holding Inc. shares slipped in the extended session Wednesday, walking back some of the last-minute gains in the regular session following a report that trading firm rival Virtu Financial Inc. offered to buy the company. KCG shares declined 3.6% to $16.30 after hours, after closing up 23% following a Dow Jones report that Virtu was offering more than $18 a share for the firm. Virtu shares declined 0.9% to $16.60 after hours.

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Tesla Inc. shares rose 3% late Wednesday after the company announced offerings of $250 million of common stock and $750 million in convertible senior notes due in 2022. Tesla CEO Elon Musk will buy $25 million of common stock, the company said. Tesla intends to use the proceeds “to strengthen its balance sheet and further reduce any risks associated with the rapid scaling of its business due to the launch of Model 3, as well as for general corporate purposes,” the company said. Tesla shares fell 0.9% in the regular session. In a conference call last month with analysts after quarterly results, Musk said it would make sense to raise capital to reduce risk.

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