Category: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks finished higher for the week Friday as the Dow industrials extended its streak of record closes to seven sessions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.28 points, or less than 0.1%, to finish at 20,624.05, as shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. weighed heavily on the average. For the week, the Dow closed up 1.8%. The S&P 500 index closed up 3.94 points, or 0.2%, at 2,351.16, with telecom and consumer-staples stocks leading the index higher. For the week, the S&P 500 closed up 1.5%. The Nasdaq Composite index finished up 23.68 points, or 0.4%, at a record 5,838.58, for a 1.8% gain on the week.

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Software company MuleSoft Inc. filed to go public Friday. The company reported revenue of $187.7 million in 2016, up from $110.3 million in 2015. It narrowed its net loss to $49.6 million in 2016 from $65.4 million in 2015. The company filed for a $100 million offering, which is likely a placeholder amount, and has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “MULE.” Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the lead underwriters on the offering.

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Arista Networks Inc. rocketed 18% to a record high Friday, following the company’s strong earnings report. In after-hours trade Thursday, Arista, which sells communications switches that compete with Cisco Systems Inc. , topped fourth-quarter sales and non-GAAP earnings expectations and provided a revenue outlook for the current quarter well above the consensus estimate. Friday’s moved mark Arista stock’s second-biggest percentage-gain in history, helping the stock to notch an all-time high. Its shares have climbed more than 34% in the past three months and nearly 98% in the past year, vastly outperforming the S&P 500 , up 7.4% in the past three months and 22% in the past year. Earlier this week, Cisco also reported earnings that topped expectations but revenue declines in its core switching and routing businesses.

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Shares of Square Inc. climbed nearly 4% on Friday after analysts at Citigroup initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating. Square stock traded around $14.40 Friday afternoon, representing an increase of nearly 18% in the past three months and more than 46% in the past 12 months. Its shares have outperformed the S&P 500 , which is up 7.3% in the past three months and 22% in the year. The percent-gain is Square’s largest since Dec. 7. The company is scheduled to report earnings next week.

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Shares of Hertz Global Holdings Inc. dropped 7.2% in active afternoon trade Friday, after Credit Suisse turned bearish on the car rental company, citing a lackluster growth environment that is exacerbated by operational struggles. Analyst Anjaneya Singh downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral, and slashed the stock price target to $15, which is 25% below current levels, from $27. “In an environment that presents weak volume growth, flattish pricing and inflationary fleet costs, we see [Hertz] struggling to generate profit growth reflected in consensus estimates,” Singh wrote in a note to clients. Avis Budget Group Inc.’s stock slumped 5%, after Singh downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform, citing Avis’s the surprise negative volume growth Avis reported for the fourth quarter. Hertz’s stock has tumbled 41% over the past 12 months, while Avis shares rallied 15% and the S&P 500 climbed 22%.

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Shares of T-Mobile US Inc. rose more than 4% in afternoon trade on Friday after a Reuters report that Softbank Group plans to approach the wireless phone carrier to talk about merging with Sprint Corp. . Sprint, which Softbank owns, saw shares rise more the 3%. Shares of Sprint are up nearly 212% in the trailing 12-month period, while T-Mobile is up 72% during the same time frame and the S&P 500 Index is up almost 22%.

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Oil futures added a few pennies on Friday, but ended the week with a loss for the first time in three weeks. Traders weighed pressure from rising U.S. crude production and supplies against support from sizable production cuts among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. March West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $53.40 a barrel. Prices lost roughly 0.9% for the week, according to FactSet data.

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Aetna Inc. shares declined as much as 2.94% on heavy volume Friday afternoon after the company announced it was authorizing up to $4 billion for share buybacks and would double its quarterly cash divided to 50 cents per share. Aetna shares have declined 0.3% over the last three months, compared with a 7.2% rise in the S&P 500 .

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President Donald Trump said Friday the U.S. is seriously looking at a “big order” of Super Hornet fighter jets from Boeing . Trump made the comment while speaking at a Boeing facility in South Carolina, during which he said he wanted more products to be made by American workers at U.S. factories. Boeing shares were trading up 1.2% Friday afternoon and were unchanged as Trump spoke.

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Gold prices fell Friday, but tallied a third straight weekly gain with political uncertainty fueling demand for the precious metal. April gold declined by $2.50, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,239.10 an ounce. Futures prices, which settled Thursday at a more than three-month high, gained roughly 0.3% for the week.

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