Category: Stock Market News

Oil futures pared some of their gains on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an unexpected rise in domestic crude-oil supplies of 2.3 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 13. The American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday reported a drop of 5 million barrels, according to sources, while analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a decline of 900,000 barrels. Gasoline supplies also climbed by 6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 1 million barrels, according to the EIA. February crude was up 30 cents, or 0.6%, at $51.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange from Wednesday’s settlement. It’s down from $52.50 before the data.

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Natural-gas futures turned higher Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas fell by 243 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 13. That was a higher than the decline of 238 billion cubic feet expected by analyst polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 2.917 trillion cubic feet, down 431 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 77 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. February natural gas rose 2.4 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.326 per million British thermal units. It traded at $3.263 before the data.

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Target Corp. was downgraded Thursday to sell from neutral at Goldman Sachs on concerns that the retailer’s efforts to compete with Amazon.com Inc. will lead to “stagnating” sales and profits. Target’s price target was cut to $67 from $77. Analysts believe Target “has fared better than most in the face of” the shift to e-commerce, with margins falling less than other retailers. But the company is facing growing competition with Amazon in apparel and consumables. A proprietary Goldman Sachs survey found that Target customers are more likely than customers of other discounters to have a Prime membership, with penetration reaching more than 50% in the last six quarters. “Customers who indicated they prefer shopping at Target also marked that they often shop for apparel, books, health and wellness and cosmetics online – most of which are in Target’s ‘Signature Categories,'” the note said. “As Amazon’s offerings in these categories continue to expand, we are concerned about Target’s ability to maintain its growth rates and market share given high Prime penetration of the customer base.” Target stores are located in places that analysts believe are at risk for “Amazon encroachment”: densely populated markets. Target stores are also overlapping with high-end grocers like Whole Foods Market Inc. , putting the retailer’s grocery business at risk. Target stock is down 0.4% in Thursday trading, and down nearly 4% for the past year, while the S&P 500 index is up 20.7% for the 12-month period.

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Railroad stocks gained on Thursday, bolstered by CSX Corp. which is poised for its best percentage gains since November 1980. CSX soared on reports that it is being targeted by activist investors after two days of losses following subdued results. Union Pacific Corp. also posted better-than-expected earnings, suggesting that slumping demand for freight on the back of weak commodities may be easing. Norfolk Southern Corp. and Kansas City Southern traded higher, pushing the S&P 500’s industrials sector to outperform the broader market. The S&P 500 is off 2 points to 2,269.

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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission settled charges against Citigroup Global Markets Inc. on Thursday for spoofing – bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution – in U.S. Treasury futures markets between July 16, 2011 and December 31, 2012. Citigroup will pay a $25 million penalty. Five of its traders spoofed more than 2,500 times in various Chicago Mercantile Exchange U.S. Treasury futures products by placing bids or offers of 1,000 lots or more with the intent to cancel those orders before execution. On at least one occasion, some of the traders coordinated with each other to implement the spoofing strategy, by placing one or more spoofing orders after another trader had placed one or more smaller resting orders in the same or a correlated futures or cash market. The regulator also cited the bank’s broker-dealer subsidiary for failing to diligently supervise the activities of its employees and agents in conjunction with the spoofing activity. The CME Group assisted in the investigation. Citigroup neither admitted nor denied the allegations. Citi shares have gained 35% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 20.7%.

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Cytori Therapeutics Inc. stock surged 7.9% to $1.78 per share in morning trade Thursday after the company said it had agreed to purchase assets from privately-held Azaya Therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, Cytori will issue $2 million of its common stock and will pay off about $2 million of Azaya’s trade payables, with future milestone, royalty and other payments possible. The purchase includes a portfolio of investigational oncology therapies and related intellectual property, and at its close Cytori will enter a five-year lease for San Antonio, Tx-based Azaya’s nanoparticle manufacturing and development facility. The purchase will give Cytori’s late-stage cell therapy technology access to a clinically proven pharmaceutical delivery system, Cytori said, and its clinical pipeline will expand with the addition of two oncology drugs. Cytori shares have dropped 9.1% over the last three months, compared with a 6.0% rise in the S&P 500 .

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U.S. stocks opened marginally higher on Thursday as investors awaited the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who will take the oath of office on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained less than 0.1% to 19,822k. If the blue-chip gauge finishes lower, it’ll notch its fifth straight drop — its longest losing streak since before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. The S&P 500 index gained one points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,273. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 7 points, or 0.1%, to 5,562. Netflix Inc. rose after the company late Wednesday reported blockbuster fourth-quarter earnings. Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. also rose after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight from equal-weight. The euro fell , helping to drive the dollar higher, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi played down a recent pickup in eurozone inflation.

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Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares surged 17.1% in pre-market trade Thursday after the company released positive early-stage clinical trial results for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug. The drug, edasalonexent, works to inhibit the NF-kB pathway, thought to play a key role in the rare disease’s characteristic muscular degeneration. Unlike the first drug approved for DMD, which is made by Sarepta and intended for patients with a specific gene mutation, edasalonexent could potentially treat all patients with the disease. Catabasis also has a partnership with Sarepta to study a combination treatment, which was announced last fall. Catabasis shares have dropped 12.6% over the last three months, compared with a 6.0% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Netflix Inc.’s stock ran up 6.6% in premarket trade Thursday after a better-than-expected quarterly report, prompting Macquarie Research to back off its bearish stance on the video streaming company. Analyst Tim Nollen upgraded Netflix to neutral from underperform, and raised his stock price target to $135 from $85, which was 36% below Wednesday’s closing price of $133.26. Nollen said that while he remains cautious Netflix’s free cash flow burn in the face of rising competition, subscribers are what drives the stock, and strong sub additions during the fourth quarter has eased some of his concerns. “We’re not going to fight the trends: Netflix is doing a good job driving subs with a wealth of content that is proving popular,” Nollen wrote in a note to clients. The stock has rallied 9.4% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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Tesla Motors Inc. was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley Thursday, on the belief that Model 3 volume is improving and a “surprisingly supportive political environment,” supported by CEO Elon Musk’s role as strategic advisory to president-elect Donald Trump, will aid the company’s expansion plans. Morgan Stanley raised its 12-month price target on the stock to $305 from $242, implying an increase of 30% from Wednesday’s closing price. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said the upgrade also reflects a greater push by original equipment manufacturers to address the strict regulatory landscape affecting electric cars, and a recent pullback by some major competitors, such as Alphabet Inc. , that once posed a risk to Tesla. Shares of Tesla have risen 17% in the past three months and 16.5% in the past year. The S&P 500 , by comparison, is up 6% in the past three months and 21% in the past year. The stock traded 3.8% higher to $247.50 in premarket trade.

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