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The Dow Jones Transportation Average dropped 71 points, or 0.7%, to buck rally in the broader stock market, with the selloff in railroad stocks and United Airlines’ parent United Continental Holdings Inc. shares accounting for the bulk of the weakness. United’s stock fell $3.33, or 4.2%, in morning trade in the wake of disappointing unit revenue guidance. That was shaving about 20 points off the Dow transports, which is a price-weighted index. Shares of CSX Corp. slumped $2.91, or 5.3%, after investors questioned how the railroad operator beat earnings expectations. That selloff knocked the Dow transports down by about 18 points. In sympathy, shares of Norfolk Southern Corp. shed $2.33, or 1.9%, and Union Pacific Corp.’s stock have up $1.42, or 1.3%, to cut a combined 23 points from the Dow transports. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12 points, or less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 tacked on 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%. The Dow transports are headed for a third-straight loss, after reaching a record high on July 14.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil prices extended their earlier gains Wednesday to hit fresh session highs after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that domestic crude supplies fell by 4.7 million barrels for the week ended July 14. That topped the forecast for a decline of 3 million barrels by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute had reported late Tuesday a rise of 1.6 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles also fell by 4.4 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined by 2.1 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. August crude rose 66 cents, or 1.4%, to $47.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $46.67 before the supply data.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday was being pressured by a sharp drop in shares of International Business Machines Corp., in early trade. IBM’s stock , down 4.3%, was cutting about 45 points from the price-weighed blue-chip Dow after the technology giant reported a year-over-year sales decline for the 21st consecutive quarter, disappointing Wall Street. Wednesday’s early share decline for IBM puts it on track for its worst single-day drop since April 19, when shares tumbled nearly 5% after the Armonk, N.Y. based company reported disappointing first-quarter results. Overall, the Dow is trading at break-even levels at 21,579, with a gain UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s stock helping to lift the gauge. More broadly, the S&P 500 index , up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index , advancing 0.4%, were both trading in record territory. IBM’s share decline is particularly biting for investors as the tech sector has staged a notable rebound since tumbling to recent lows on June 9. On Tuesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq booked its first record close since June 8.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. tech companies continued to hoard the most cash of any sector in 2016, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report published Wednesday. Apple Inc. , Microsoft Corp. , Google , Cisco Inc. and Oracle Corp. led the pack with a combined total of $594 billion, the rating agency said in a new report. Apple alone held $246 billion, or 13.2% of the total corporate cashpile, up 12.8% from $216 billion in 2015. Overall, non-financial companies had $1.84 trillion in cash at year-end, up 9.2% from the year-earlier period. Overseas cash is about $1.3 trillion, or 70% of the total, said the report. The most cash-rich sectors are tech, health care, consumer products and energy with a combined $1.46 trillion, or 79% of the total. The tech sector had a combined $871 billion. “Offshore cash holdings will continue to grow absent tax reform,” said Moody’s.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Morgan Stanley jumped 4% at the open Wednesday, after the bank posted better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter and better trading revenue than many of its peers. Morgan Stanley is the only one of the big U.S. banks to post stock-price gains after earnings so far this season. The stock has gained 11% in 2017, while the Financial Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund has gained 7% and the S&P 500 has gained 10%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite traded in record territory shortly after the opening bell. But the gains on Wall Street were small as investors focused on a batch of mixed earnings reports. The S&P 500 was up by 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,464.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up fractionally at 21,581. The Nasdaq Composite index advanced 21 points, or 0.3%, to 6,368. Among early movers, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. soared 23% after the drug company late Tuesday announced positive results from clinical studies of its cystic fibrosis treatments.

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Cray Inc. disclosed Wednesday it plans to cut 190 jobs, which is about 14% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan aimed at cutting costs by $25 million a year. The supercomputing company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the “vast majority” of the job cuts will be effective July 21. The cuts will affect “all organizations and major geographies” of the company. Cray said it expects to record restructuring charges of $10 million, most of which will be recorded during the third quarter. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 8.7% year to date, while the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF has run up 18% and the S&P 500 has gained 9.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Crown Castle International Corp. dropped 1.7% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the real estate investment trust announced a public offering of $3.25 billion worth of common shares, and $1.5 billion worth of convertible preferred stock. Based on Tuesday’s stock closing price of $96.64, the common share offering would represent about 33.6 million new shares, which would increase the shares outstanding by 9.2%. The company said it plans to grant the underwriters of the offering–Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Securities–options to buy and additional $325 million of common stock and $150 million of convertible preferred stock. The company plans to use the proceeds from the offerings, as well as additional debt issuances, to finance the Lightower deal. Crown Castle announced late Tuesday a deal to buy LTS Group Holdings (Lightower) for $7.1 billion from Berkshire Partners, Pamlico Capital and other investors. Crown Castle’s stock has rallied 11% year to date through Tuesday, while the SPDR Real Estate Select Sector ETF has gained 4.8% and the S&P 500 has advanced 9.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News