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Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Wednesday showed that domestic crude supplies fell by 1.9 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 17. That was just under the forecast for a decline of 2.1 million barrels from analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday had reported a drop of 6.4 million barrels, according to sources. Gasoline stockpiles were unchanged for the week, while distillate stockpiles edged up by 300,000 barrels, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey forecast a supply rise of 1 million barrels for gasoline and a decline of 1.8 million barrels for distillates. January crude rose 74 cents, or 1.3%, from Tuesday to $57.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $57.69 before the supply data.

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Shares of Salesforce.com Inc. fell 2% in morning trade Wednesday, as a downbeat fourth-quarter outlook offset a third-quarter profit and sales beat, but the customer relationship management company received a flood of price target increases by Wall Street analysts. Of the 46 analysts surveyed by FactSet, 27 raised their price targets, lifting the average target to $120.86 from $109.10 at the end of October. Canaccord Genuity’s Richard Davis, who raised his target to $130 from $120, went as far as saying, “we do not know how anyone can reasonably argue that Salesforce is not one of, if not the highest quality software companies on the planet.” Regarding Salesforce’s downbeat outlook, J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Murphy said that it “follows the recent pattern of under promising and over delivering.” Murphy kept his target at $120, and his rating at overweight, saying the companies beat of billings guidance was the biggest in a year and a half. Analyst Brent Bracelin at KeyBanc Capital boosted his target to $124 from $108, saying the company is trending toward a doubling in revenue to $20 billion by fiscal 2022. The stock has soared 55.8% year to date, and closed at a record high on Tuesday, while the iShares North American Tech-Software ETF has rallied 45.5% and the S&P 500 has climbed 16.0%.

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Shares of Deere & Co. shot up 3.4% toward a record high in morning trade Wednesday, and was the leading gainer among S&P 500 components, on the back of better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results. Kudos to analyst Mircea Dobre at Baird, who raised his rating and stock price target on the farm and construction equipment maker on Tuesday, in anticipation of upbeat results. Deere’s stock was on track for a fifth-straight gain–it has rallied 8.8% during that stretch–and a fourth-straight record close. The gain has helped nudge up fellow agriculture and construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc.’s stock up 0.2%, but it was still below its Nov. 7 record close of $138.81. Deere’s stock has run up 39.5% year to date, while Caterpillar shares have climbed 48.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 19.4%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Stocks opened little changed Wednesday, a day after all three major indexes closed at records, as investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve’s November meeting and digested the latest round of economic data. Trade was expected to be thin ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday and an abbreviated market session on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 10.5 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%. Shares of heavy equipment maker Deere & Co. rose 4% after profit and sales topped expectations.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Netflix Inc. took to Twitter on Tuesday to publicly oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed rule change that would reverse Obama-era “open internet” protections referred to as net neutrality, in favor of what the FCC says are “light-touch” regulation. In a response to its tweet, Netflix said “We’ve been supporting for years through [the Internet Association] and ‘Day to Save Net Neutrality’ with a banner on Netflix homepage for all users… This current draft order hasn’t been officially voted on, so we’re lodging our opposition publicly and loudly now.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has argued that putting an end to net neutrality rules will help foster innovation among internet service providers. The FCC will release its draft order on Wednesday, before voting on it on Dec. 14. Shares of Netflix are up close to 59% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 16% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 19%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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A U.S. Navy airplane flying to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier with 11 passengers and crew crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, according to multiple published reports. Japan’s defense minister said eight of the people have been found, according to an AP report. The eight were transferred to the USS Ronald Reagan for medical evaluation and are in good condition, and search and rescue efforts for the other three personnel continue, the Navy said. The C-2A Greyhound plane, which was taking part in a joint U.S.-Japan naval exercise, went down in waters southeast of Japan’s Okinawa island and may have had engine trouble, a Reuters report said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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The U.S.-listed shares of Hong Kong-based Tencent Holdings Ltd. slumped 1.4% in premarket trade Wednesday, knocking the gaming and messaging giant’s market capitalization back below Facebook Inc.’s market cap after climbing above it for the first time the previous session. At Tencent’s current price of $55.10, the market cap would be $523.39 billion, while Facebook shares inched up 0.1% to $181.97 ahead of the open, implying a market cap of $528.77 billion. Tencent is still valued above China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., as Alibaba shares rose 0.5% in premarket trade to $191.83, for a market cap of $490.30 billion. Tencent’s stock had rocketed 128.5% year to date through Tuesday, while Facebook shares had rallied 58.1%, Alibaba’s stock had climbed 117.4% and the S&P 500 had gained 16.1%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Apple Inc. has acquired Vrvana, maker of an augmented reality headset called Totem, for about $30 million, TechCrunch reported, citing two unnamed sources. The headset got strong reviews, but never shipped, the website reported. Apple declined to comment, but did not deny the story, said TechCrunch. Apple is reported to be preparing to ship an AR headset by 2020. Apple shares were slightly higher in premarket trade, and have gained 49% in 2017, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 19% and the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. said Wednesday that Brent Bloss, who has been chief financial officer since March 2014, will be chief operating officer, effective immediately. Bloss will also serve as CFO until the 2017 annual report is filed. The mutual fund company said it plans to name Benjamin Clouse, who has been chief accounting officer since February 2017, to the CFO role in 2018. Separately, the company said Thomas Butch has stepped down as chief marketing officer. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 1.6% year to date, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has rallied 13% and the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News