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Arsanis Inc. priced its initial public offering at $10 late Wednesday, well below its $15 to $17 price range. The clinical-stage biotech sold 4 million shares to raise $40 million. Underwriters have the option to buy up to 600,000 additional shares at the offer price to cover over-allotments. The shares are expected to start trading later Thursday on Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol “ASNS”.

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U.S. stocks were trading higher shortly after the opening bell on Thursday, with the main indexes attempting a rebound after two sessions of losses. The S&P 500 opened 11 points, or 0.4%, higher at 2,576. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 132 points, or 0.6%, to 23,403. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index advanced 41 points, or 0.6%, to 6,747. Among the best performers on Wall Street, shares of Cisco Systems Inc. jumped after the maker of networking equipment late Wednesday delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and an encouraging outlook. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. also rallied, after earnings came in ahead of expectations.

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Demographic change in the U.S. will result in a slower-growing and older population and the Federal Reserve must be alert to the impact of this transition on economic growth and interest rates, said Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester on Thursday. In a speech to the Cato Institute in Washington, Mester said it was still not clear whether the coming demographic change would put upward or downward pressure on interest rates. People want to reduce their exposure to risk as they age so there would be downward pressure on low risk or risk-free rates. But there would also be upward pressure on interest rates from dissaving as people draw down their savings and sell assets to fund their retirement, and as the government boosts spending on retiree benefits.

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Hess Corp. announced Thursday a $500 million stock repurchase program, to be completed in 2018, as part of its plan for the use of proceeds from asset sales. The energy company also said it would reduce debt by $500 million, increase the number of Bakken rigs to six from four in 2018 and prefund oil development in Guyana. The company has announced this year $3.4 billion in asset sales and the release of $1.3 billion of asset retirement obligations. Hess made the share buyback and debt reduction announcement in a presentation at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Global Energy Conference. The stock, which edged up 0.3% in light premarket trade, has plunged 29.9% year to date through Wednesday, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has lost 10.6% and the S&P 500 has rallied 14.6%.

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Allstate Corp. said Thursday it estimates catastrophe losses of $516 million for the month of October. The insurer said five wildfires in California accounted for about 90% of the losses for the month. Earlier in November, fellow insurer Travelers Companies Inc. estimated catastrophe losses related to the California wildfires of $525 million to $675 million. Allstate’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 6.4% over the past three months, while the PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has slipped 0.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

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 rallies in shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. were accounting for more than half of the gain in Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ahead of Thursday’s open. Wal-Mart’s stock ran up 4.2% in premarket trade after better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results, putting it on course to open above the Nov. 13 all-time intraday high of $91.98. The price gain of $3.42 ahead of the open would add about 26 points to the Dow’s price. Cisco’s stock shot up $2.51, or 7.4%, in premarket trade after reporting fiscal second-quarter results late Wednesday, which would add about 17 points to the Dow. The combined gain of about 43 Dow points accounted for more than half of the Dow futures rise of 71 points.

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Anadarko Petroleum Corp. on Thursday unveiled its capital spending program for 2018, saying it expects to make capital investments ranging from $4.2 billion to $4.6 billion. The company is planning to allocate about 80% of that sum toward the Delaware and DJ basins, including Anadarko midstream, and the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The company is aiming to generate “material” free cash flow at current strip prices and breaks even in a $50 oil and $3 natural gas price environment. “Further, we plan to return substantial cash to shareholders by executing the remaining $1.5 billion of our $2.5 billion share-repurchase program during the coming year,” Chief Executive Al Walker said in a statement. Shares were not yet active premarket.

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Shares of Rockwell Automation Corp. jumped 7.6% toward a record high in premarket trade Thursday, after Emerson Electric Co. raised its unsolicited buyout bid to buy the industrial automation company to $225 a share from $215 a share. Under terms of the new deal, Emerson would pay $135 a share in cash and the equivalent of $90 a share in Emerson stock for each Rockwell share outstanding. That represents a 19% premium to Wednesday’s stock closing price of $188.73, and 12% above the Nov. 7 record close of $200.82, and would give Rockwell a market capitalization of about $28.91 billion. Rockwell had rejected Emerson’s previous bid in October, which consisted of $107.50 a share in cash and the equivalent of $107.50 share in Emerson stock, saying it was not in the best interest of its shareholders. Emerson shares fell 1.0% in premarket trade. Year to date, Rockwell’s stock has soared 40.4%, Emerson shares have gained 6.0% and the S&P 500 has climbed 14.6%.

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Best Buy Co. Inc. shares fell 4.3% in Thursday premarket trading after the consumer electronics retailer reported a third-quarter revenue miss and gave weak earnings guidance. Net income for the quarter was $239.0 million, or 78 cents per share, up from $194.0 million, or 61 cents per share, for the same period last year. The FactSet consensus was 78 cents. Revenue totaled $9.32 billion, up from $8.95 billion last year but below the $9.36 billion FactSet consensus. Enterprise same-store sales rose 4.4% while domestic same-store sales increased 4.5%. The FactSet consensus was for a 4.9% increase. Best Buy Chief Executive Hubert Joly said results were hurt by lower-than-expected mobile revenue and natural disasters. The retailer raised its fourth-quarter guidance, and now sees sales of $14.2 billion to $14.5 billion, domestic and enterprise same-store sales growth of 1% to 3% each, and adjusted EPS of $1.89 to $1.99. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $14.35 billion, a 1.9% same-store increase, and EPS of $2.03. For the full-year, the company now sees revenue of $41.0 billion to $41.3 billion. The FactSet consensus is $41.23 billion. Best Buy shares are down 5.6% for the last three months, but up 41.7% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 17.8% for the period.

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J.M. Smucker Co. shares surged 2.3% in premarket trade Thurday, after the maker of Folgers, Dunkin’ Donuts and Cafe Bustelo coffee beat earnings estimates for its second fiscal quarter. Smucker said it had net income of $194.6 million, or $1.71 a share, in the quarter, up from $177.3 million, or $1.52 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $2.02, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.90. Sales rose 1% to $1.924 billion from $1.914 billion, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.900 billion. Chief Executive Mark Smucker said earnings were driven by the pet food business, as well as Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and Jif peanut butter. The company said it is adjusting its fiscal 2018 guidance to reflect “industry-wide headwinds,” and now expects adjusted EPS of $7.75 to $7.90, compared with prior guidance of $7.75 to $7.95. Sales are expected to be flat to down slightly.

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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