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Sen. Bob Corker said Friday he’ll vote for the final version of the Republican tax bill. The Tennessee Republican was the only senator from his party to vote against the Senate’s version of the measure. He said in a statement, “I believe that this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make U.S. businesses domestically more productive and internationally more competitive is one we should not miss.” His support makes it much more likely the Senate will approve the measure.

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From:: Stock Market News

Intel Corp.’s stock surged 3.4% to pace the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gainers, and to bounce back above the widely-watched 50-day moving average line, amid a broad rally in the semiconductor sector. The stock had been hovering just above the 50-day MA line, which chart watchers use as a guide to the short-term trend, for about a week until closing just below on Thursday for the first time since Aug. 29, 2017. The line currently extends to $43.46. Meanwhile, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF jumped 1.8% to $170.20, with all 30 of its equity components trading higher, but remained just below its 50-day MA at $171.25. Among the ETF’s other more-active components, shares of Micron Technology Inc. climbed 0.6%, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. rallied 1.6%, Nvidia Corp. surged 2.5% and Applied Materials Inc. ran up 3.0%. All four of those stocks are below their 50-day MAs.

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Oil prices settled higher Friday, but tallied a loss for a third straight week, on the back of ongoing concerns over growth in U.S. crude production. “The driving force behind oil markets remains [the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’] rebalancing act,” said Adrienne Murphy, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. “OPEC-led cuts simply provide an opening for U.S. shale producers to fill the void with their supplies. The supply curbs could prove to be futile and OPEC [members] are really taking a gamble,” she said. January West Texas Intermediate crude rose 26 cents, or 0.5%, for the session to settle at $57.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost about 0.1% for the week.

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Shares of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. sank 5.8% in very active trade Friday, after the company disclosed that it will have pay higher royalties to play music on its satellite radio programs. Volume ballooned to 74.2 million shares, compared with the full-day average of 16.3 million shares, and enough to make the stock the most actively trade on major U.S. exchanges, according to FactSet. Sirius said in an SEC filing that the Copyright Royalty Board had determined that starting Jan. 1, 2018, the company will be required to pay a royalty of 15.5% of gross revenue through 2022, up from the 2017 rate of 11.0%. “We anticipate that the [CRB] decision will result in an increase in our aggregate royalty expense on an annual basis beginning in 2018,” the company stated in the filing. “We are not yet able to estimate the impact on our financial statements, although the additional royalty expense could be material.” The stock has now lost 9.0% since it closed at an 11 1/2-year high of $5.86 on July 31, 2017, but was still up 19.8% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 19.6%.

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Deutsche Bank has been asked by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller to hand over information about transactions that could be linked to Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Deutsche Bank also has been asked for information about entities connected to Flynn, the report said.

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Gold ended with a modest climb Friday, logging a gain for the week following three-straight weeks of declines. Prices got a boost after the Federal Reserve announced its decision this week to raise interest rates, as expected, and didn’t change its forecast for inflation and interest rates in 2018. “Gold had already priced in the Fed rate increase in the last month and there was an element of ‘sell the Fed rumour’ and ‘buy the Fed news’,” said Mark O’Byrne, research director at GoldCore. “The outlook for gold is good. Seasonally, January is generally a good month to own precious metals, particularly gold,” he said. February gold rose 40 cents to settle at $1,257.50 an ounce.

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The House Ethics Committee announced Friday it has opened an investigation into Rep. Ruben Kihuen, a Nevada Democrat, over sexual harassment allegations. Kihuen said in a statement he welcomes the “opportunity to clear my name.” Two women have accused the congressman of sexual harassment.

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Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil was down 4 at 747 this week. The decline follows increases over the last three weeks in a row. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also fell by 1 to 930, according to Baker Hughes. January West Texas Intermediate crude was up 31 cents, or 0.5%, from Thursday, to $57.35 a barrel, up from $57.31 shortly before the rig data.

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From:: Stock Market News