Category: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was heading for a 12th-straight record close, the longest such streak in 30 years, but you’d never know it by looking at how the components were behaving. Only 11 of the 30 components were trading higher, and with only 2 of the gainers hitting record highs and another reaching a 1 1/2-year high. The 2 record setters were Boeing Co.’s stock , which climbed $2.27, or 1.3%, and UnitedHealth Group Inc. shares , which rose $1.99, or 1.2%. Those stocks were adding about 29 points to the Dow, which was up 28 points in afternoon trade. The Dow’s biggest point losers were the stocks of IBM Corp. , which lost $1.51, or 0.8%, and DuPont & Co. which lost 76 cents, or 1%. Combined, those stock were shaving about 16 points off the Dow.

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

ServiceNow Inc. dropped in Monday trading after announcing a change at the top, with former eBay Inc. Chief Executive John Donahoe taking over from Frank Slootman. Slootman will move to the chairman role on April 3 after six years as CEO of the cloud-software company to make room for Donahoe. “I am confident that we are making this transition from a position of strength,” Slootman said in Monday’s announcement. Donahoe left the CEO role at eBay after overseeing the split of PayPal Holdings Inc. into a separate company, and has served as chairman of PayPal since. ServiceNow shares fell as much as 5.3% Monday before settling at a loss of around 4%.

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

A budding price war in unlimited data plans sent shares of the major wireless carriers lower in, after AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile U.S. Inc. fired the latest salvos on Monday. AT&T’s stock slid 1.4% in afternoon trade after the company lowered the price of its unlimited plan to $90 from $100, less than two weeks after opening up the plan to all subscribers. T-Mobile’s stock shed 0.6% after the company said early Monday that it was giving a free line of service for a limited time to virtually all of its customers with at least two voice lines. On Feb. 14, Verizon had finally caved to competition by reintroducing unlimited wireless plans, in response similar moves by its competition. Verizon’s stock slumped 1.6% in afternoon trade Monday. Elsewhere, Sprint Corp.’s stock shed 0.3%. Meanwhile, the iShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF tacked on 0.3%. AT&T shares have gained 6.5% over the past three months, while T-Mobile’s stock has rallied 13%, Verizon shares have lost 1.7% and the S&P 500 has climbed 7.1%.

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

Gold futures edged higher on Monday to score a third straight session climb, buoyed by uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s address to Congress late Tuesday. April gold saw a modest climb of 50 cents to settle at $1,258.80 an ounce. That was the highest finish for a most-active settlement since Nov. 10, according to FactSet data.

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

Grocery chain Trader Joe’s said over the weekend that it was voluntarily recalling unsweetened apple sauce products, because of potential glass pieces in the jars. The products recall include Trader Joe’s First Crush Unsweetened Gravenstein Apple Sauce and Trader Joe’s Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce sold in all stores. The recall also includes Trader Joe’s All Natural Unsweetened Apple Sauce sold only in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. The company said all potentially affected products have been removed from the shelves. The company did not comment on whether there were reports of injuries.

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

Shares of Under Armour Inc. dropped 1.3% in midday trade Monday, after Instinet turned bearish on the athletic apparel and accessories company, citing concerns that the company no longer warrants a high-growth valuation. Analyst Simeon Siegel cut his rating to reduce from neutral, and slashed his stock price target to $16, which was 26% below current prices, from $27. He wrote in a note to clients that Under Armour “appears to have matured past its high-growth phase, while still enjoying its high-growth multiple.” He said that while he believes the company has an “exciting path” ahead in terms of sales growth, even in an overly optimistic scenario the stock is “fairly valued at best,” and could be hurt by anything short of perfections. Under Armour’s price-to-earnings ratio of 47.97, according to FactSet, was still nearly double rival Nike Inc.’s P/E ratio of 25.40. Under Armour’s stock has plunged 30% over the past three months, while Nike’s stock has soared 12% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.9%.

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

Global shipments of personal computing devices, such as PCs, desktops and tablets are expected to decline further over the next five years, according to new estimates from industry tracker IDC. An estimated 418.2 million units are expected to be shipped in 2021, compared with 435 million in 2016, according to IDC. That represents a five-year compound annual growth rate of -0.8%. The bearish forecast follows several years of declines in PCs and traditional tablets. Last year, tablet shipments alone were down 15.6%, while PC shipments fell 5.7%. This comes as consumer device manufacturers, such as Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. , continue to put a greater focus on developing software services. Shares of Apple gained 0.1% to $136.85 on Monday, while Alphabet’s traded flat around $847.77. The S&P 500 was down around 80 points.

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

Shares of Apple inched 0.3% higher after Mizuho Securities increased its 12-month price target on the stock to $150 from $135. The brokerage, which has a buy rating on the stock, said checks with suppliers prompted a more than 10 million-unit increase in their 2017 production estimates. They’re now calling for 225 million units to be manufactured this year, compared with an estimate of 213 million units previously. That implies an 11% year-over-year increase. Mizuho said it believes the 10th anniversary iPhone due in September, which is expected to feature some more notable upgrades compared with recent predecessors, could sit well with the company’s large installed base of outdated phones and lead to a strong upgrade cycle. The average rating on Apple stock is the equivalent to buy, while the average price target is $142.65. Shares of Apple traded around $137.07 in late-morning trade. They’ve increased 22.6% in the past there months and 41.5% in the past year, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a 30-member index of which Apple is a member. The Dow is up 8.7% in the past three months and 25% in the past 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

Shares of Urban Outfitters Inc. fell 0.9% in morning trade Monday, after MKM Partners turned bearish on the apparel and accessories retailer because of concerns over sales and margin declines at its Anthropologie stores. Analyst Roxanne Meyer cut her rating to sell, after being at neutral since September 2015. She slashed her stock price target to $20, which is 25% below current levels, from $25. “Our negative thesis is primarily based on our view that sales and margins will deteriorate meaningfully in 2017 at Anthropologie, though we also see risk at Urban Outfitters as it laps reductions in markdowns and as key brands widen distribution,” Meyer wrote in a note to clients. “We believe Anthropologie is too edgy, lacks diversity (i.e., over-exposed to bare and cold-shoulder looks) and generally has prices that are too high.” Urban Outfitter’s stock has tumbled 21% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 6.1% and the S&P 500 has climbed 7%.

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

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The first budget of the Trump administration will seek $54 billion in extra spending on defense, to be offset by equivalent decreases elsewhere. Spending on so-called mandatory programs will not be impacted in this budget, according to media reports based on a briefing from the Office of Management and Budget. “We’re going to do more with less,” President Trump said separately.

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