Category: Stock Market News

Worldwide PC shipments fell 1.5% in the fourth quarter, a big improvement from a 10.6% decline last holiday shopping season, with Lenovo Group holding the top position in the market despite close competition from HP Inc. . Lenovo shipped 15.7 million PCs during the quarter, a 1.7% year-over-year improvement, which lifted its share of the market slightly to 22.4%, according to IDC. HP was a stone’s throw away, shipping 15.3 million, representing growth of 6.6% over the same quarter last year, as HP’s share of the market grew to 21.7%. Rounding out the top four were Dell and Apple Inc. . Apple’s PC shipments declined by 1% to 5.3 million year-over-year, despite reflecting sales of the new MacBook Pro, according to IDC. Gartner, another tracker of such metrics that doesn’t include Alphabet Inc.’s Chromebooks, was more pessimistic on the industry, reporting a 3.7% decline in total shipments.

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Oil futures settled higher Wednesday, recouping much of the losses they suffered over the past two trading sessions. Prices found support amid expectations that President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to boost the economy will help lift energy demand and from signs of Saudi compliance with the output cut agreement. U.S. government data revealed a hefty weekly climb in crude and crude-product supplies but that failed to put any lasting pressure on prices. February West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.43, or 2.8%, to settle at $52.25 a barrel.

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Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries marked its first monthly decline in seven months, according to a recent survey from S&P Global Platts. Output from the group’s 13 members fell by 280,000 barrels a day in December from a month earlier, to 32.85 million barrels a day. Including Indonesia, whose membership was suspended at a meeting in December. Output fell to 33.57 million barrels a day. The survey showed that the declines were due to “hefty falls” in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, “a month before the group’s pledge to rein in production.” February West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $52.50 a barrel, up $1.68, or 3.3%, just ahead of the settlement on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Gold futures rallied Wednesday, with the price climb gaining steam in the last hour before the settlement. The metal found support as the U.S. Dollar Index turned lower and the stock market saw some pressure in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s news conference. Trump’s press conference “was a sign of things to come, with his hyperbolic, unpredictable style bringing volatility to investment markets,” said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. “Gold will react positively to the uncertainty Trump creates, but only over very brief periods.” February gold rose $11.10, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,196.60 an ounce–the highest settlement since Nov. 22, according to FactSet data.

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The British Broadcasting Corporation said on Wednesday it has plans to go after online content giants Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. , according to global news organization the AFP. The BBC wants to make its streaming service iPlayer the top online TV service in Britain by 2020, said BBC Director-General Tony Hall in a message to staff. “We need to reinvent iPlayer,” he said. “Our goal, even in the face of rapid growth by our competitors, is for iPlayer to be the No. 1 online TV service in the UK.” The iPlayer service is popular among viewers looking to catch up on BBC content, but taking on the likes of Amazon and Netflix is a major feat. The two companies have dug deeper roots in the country as they continue their world-wide push. iPlayer would remain limited to Britain, AFP reported.

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Treasury yields declined on Wednesday as details about President-elect Donald Trump’s fiscal policy proposals weren’t forthcoming at the President-elect’s first news conference since the election. Instead, Trump addressed recent allegations that his campaign staff had been in contact with the Russian government, and that Russia’s spy agencies had compromising information on the president-elect. A Trump lawyer also focused on how Trump would handle several conflicts of interest related to his business holdings. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note [s:TMUBMUSD10Y] fell two basis points to 3.658%, while the two-year yield [s:TMUBMUSD02Y] fell 1.4 basis point to 1.179%. The 30-year yield [s:TMUBMUSD30Y] fell two basis points to 2.948%.

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The CBOE Market Volatility Index steadily climbed on Wednesday, rising more than 5%, as President-elect Donald Trump held his first press conference since July. The Vix, the so-called fear gauge, added 0.60 point, or 5.2%, to 12.09 while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , meanwhile, weaved in and out of negative territory. Trump fielded questions on his dealings with Russia and his business holdings as the conference got underway.

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U.S. stock benchmarks saw early gains turn into modest losses Wednesday as President-elect Donald Trump’s highly anticipated news conference got under way. Health-care stocks were among the worst hit, falling 1.3%, with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF down 3%. The S&P 500 slipped 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,264. The Nasdaq Composite declined 18 points, or 0.3% to 5,533. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pared gains to be flat at 19,853.

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The Mexican peso tumbled to a fresh all-time low on Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump said he hopes General Motors Co. will follow Ford Motor Co.’s [d: f] example and keep more jobs in the U.S. Trump’s remarks came several minutes into his first news conference since his Nov. 8 electoral victory. Trump recently criticized GM for selling Mexican-built cars in the U.S. Last week, Ford said it would scrap plans for building a new factory in Mexico, and instead expand an existing factory in Michigan. One dollar bought 22 pesos in recent trade, up 1% from 21.78 pesos late Tuesday in New York. Mexican stocks fell following Trump’s comments, with the iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF down 1.3% at $41.41 a share. The peso has fallen sharply since the election on the belief that Trump will seek to negotiate a more stringent trading relationship with Mexico.

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Exchange-traded funds that track the biotechnology sector fell sharply on Wednesday, after President-elect Donald Trump said that more bidding was needed on drug prices, implying legislation that could erode the sector’s profitability. “They’re getting away with murder,” Trump said of drug companies at a news conference. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF fell 2.4% on the day while the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF lost 3.2% and the VanEck Vectors Biotech ETF lost 2.5%. More broadly, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF fell 1.3% on the day.

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