Category: Stock Market News

The stocks of the manufacturing companies which were meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday were trading mostly lower. The drop comes amid reports that an infrastructure spending plan may be delayed until next year, and tax reform pushed back until at least the summer. United States Steel Corp. led the decliners, falling 6.7% in mid-morning trade. Caterpillar Inc. fell 2.4%, and Emerson Electric Co. fell 1.7%. Under Armour Inc. , Lockheed Martin Corp. and Corning Inc. were all down 0.7%. GE was down 0.5%, Whirlpool Corp. was down 0.4% and Dow Chemical Co. was down 0.3%. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shares were trading down 0.7%. Goldman and Caterpillar combined were shaving about 30 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Trump introduced Goldman’s ex-COO Gary Cohn, now National Economic Council director, to the group as “Gary from Goldman.” The only two stocks to gain were Johnson & Johnson and International Paper Co. , which were both up less than 1%.

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International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. shares rose 2.5% Thursday, after UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and reiterated their view that the stock is a high quality laggard for 2017. The maker of fragrances used in foods as well as fabric care and household cleaning products has seen its price-earnings ratio fall to 21 times from 24 times before the November presidential election, when risk-off stocks were in favor, said UBS. That has meant it is now trading at a discount to peers versus a premium pre-election. “Underperformance reflects exaggerated risks on FX (80% of sales ex-U.S.), possible emerging market slowdown (50% of sales), & possible margin pressures from rising oil, vanilla & citrus,” UBS analysts wrote in a note. “We are upgrading to Buy as the current valuation provides upside as we believe investor concerns are overdone.” Shares have gained about 22% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained about 23%.

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Oil futures remained higher Thursday after spiking to a session high following a smaller-than-expected rise in weekly U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 97 cents, or 1.8%, at $54.56 a barrel after trading as high as $54.94 after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude supplies rose 600,000 barrels in the week ended Feb. 17. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast, on average, a 3.4 million barrel rise. Data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, late Wednesday had shown an 884,000-barrel decline in inventories.

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Alan Colmes, a commentator who played the liberal sidekick to hard-right anchor Sean Hannity on Fox News, has died at the age of 66 after a brief illness, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Colmes is survived by his wife, Jocelyn Elise Crowley, said the AP. A New York City native, Colmes started his career in radio and stand-up comedy before joining Fox News in 1996. He spent 12 years as co-host of “Hannity & Colmes” and also wrote several books.

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Tesla Inc. shares reversed their post-earnings gains early Thursday to trade down 5.4%, as analysts weighing in on the electric car maker’s latest quarter took a range of views. J.P. Morgan said it expects free cash burn to remain elevated, given the company’s guidance for capex of $2.0 to $2.5 billion for the first half, surpassing the $2.3 billion the bank was modeling for the entire year. That makes it more likely the company will raise capital in the near term, as Chief Executive Elon Musk conceded on the earnings call. “Tesla’s 4Q results were mixed relative to our expectations, with automotive revenue coming in stronger ($1,994 mn vs. JPM $1,856 mn) but gross margin much softer (22.6% vs. JPM 26.3%), seemingly driven by temporal factors likely to reverse in 2017 (primarily a delayed Autopilot update rollout, which is currently being remedied),” analysts led by Ryan Brinkman wrote in a note. Tesla shares have gained about 46% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 23%.

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Shares of AMC Networks Inc. , the network responsible for zombie-drama hit “The Walking Dead,” gained nearly 14% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that were better than Wall Street expected. The media and entertainment company reported adjusted earnings of $1.30 per share, which was above the $1.27 per-share consensus from analysts tracked by FactSet. And revenue hit $729.6 million, while FactSet had forecast for $710.0 million in revenue. “[‘The Walking Dead’] is a powerful example of programming that we own and distribute that commands a loyal audience, attracts advertising revenues and has significant ancillary revenues that will benefit our business for years to come,” AMC Chief Executive Josh Sapan said in a statement. Shares of AMC are down nearly 9% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 Index is up 23%.

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Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc. shares surged 42% in morning trade Thursday after the company said a district judge had ruled in its favor in a patent infringement case against Actavis Laboratories, which is part of Allergan PLC . The judge said Actavis could not make or sell a generic of Pernix’s Zohydro ER, an opioid pain medication, until two patents expire in 2019 and 2034. Pernix Therapeutics shares have risen 17.2% over the last three months, compared with a 7.4% rise in the S&P 500 .

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U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Thursday, extending the market’s move into record territory and putting the Dow on track for its 10th straight advance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points, or 0.2%, to 20,820. The S&P 500 added 4 points to 2,367, a gain of 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6 points, or 0.1%, to 5,865. The Dow is coming off its longest streak of consecutive record closes since 1987, and it could post as its lengthiest string of daily gains since March 2013. Energy stocks were among the biggest drivers of the market, boosted as crude oil rose 2.3%. Exxon Mobil rose 0.7% while Chevron Corp. added 1.2%. Both stocks are Dow components, and contributed to the blue-chip average’s gain on the day. In the latest economic data, the number of U.S. workers who applied for unemployment benefits rose slightly in the latest week, but layoffs remained near ultralow levels last seen in the early 1970s.

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Shares of Nvidia Corp. sank 4.3% in premarket trade Thursday, after Instinet swung from bullish to bearish on the graphics chip maker, citing concerns over a slowdown in gaming. Analyst Romit Shah downgraded Nvidia to a rare reduce rating from buy, and slashed his stock price target to $90, which is 19% below Wednesday’s closing price of $110.76, from $100. Only 5% of the companies covered by Instinet were rated reduce through Wednesday. “We believe consensus is underappreciating a slowdown in gaming and the potential negative impact to the multiple,” Shah wrote in a note to clients. He recommended investors take profits on their Nvidia stock and rotate into Intel Corp. . Intel’s stock ticked up 0.2% in premarket trade. Shah said that in addition to Nvidia’s stock trading at a “significant premium” to its peers, “investors should recognize that the market’s enthusiasm for Nvidia’s emerging businesses is historically shortlived.” Nvidia’s stock has more than tripled over the past 12 months, while Intel shares have rallied 25%, the PHLX Semiconductor Index has soared 64% and the S&P 500 has climbed 23%.

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Boston Scientific Corp. shares sunk 8.2% in pre-market trade Thursday after the company said it will voluntarily remove its Lotus Valve devices off the market and from clinical trials due to reports of the premature release of a pin that connects the heart valve device to the delivery system. The company said it believes the problem is caused by “excess tension in the pin mechanism introduced during the manufacturing process,” and expects to bring the products back to market in Europe and elsewhere in the fourth quarter of this year. U.S. approval of the company’s next-generation Lotus Edge Valve System is expected before mid-2018, Boston Scientific said. Boston Scientific shares have risen 19.9% over the last three months, compared with a 7.2% rise in the S&P 500 .

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