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Aetna Inc. shares spiked 3.6% in extremely heavy afternoon trade Friday after a Reuters report that CVS Health Corp. could announce an acquisition of the health insurer for more than $70 billion by next month. Aetna stock had been trading down about 1% just before the report; shares have surged since an earlier Wall Street Journal report that a deal was being explored. CVS shares slumped 0.2% in afternoon trade. Aetna shares have surged 13% over the last three months, compared with a 4.6% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Oil prices again rallied to their highest levels in more than two years on Friday, as a weekly drop in active U.S. oil rigs fed expectations for a slowdown in domestic crude output growth. The data come on the heels of last week’s declines in U.S. crude and crude products and expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will extend its output-cut deal beyond March 2018 continued to support prices. December West Texas Intermediate crude , the U.S. benchmark, added $1.10, or 2%, to settle at $55.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest since July 2015, according to FactSet data. For the week, prices rose about 3.2%.

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Shares of Qualcomm Inc. rallied Friday following a report that Broadcom Ltd. was interested in acquiring the chipmaker. Qualcomm shares jumped 14% to $62.59 in recent activity, its biggest one-day surge since October 2008, while shares of Broadcom rose 5% to trade at $272.51. The share moves followed a report from Bloomberg that Broadcom was exploring what would be the biggest chipmaker acquisition ever, according to people familiar with the matter. Broadcom made big news Thursday after announcing that it was moving its headquarters back to the U.S. from Singapore.

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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Gold prices declined Friday to mark their lowest settlement since early August, pressured by strength in the U.S. dollar, which put pressure on the dollar-denominated yellow metal. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was poised to log a seventh weekly climb in eight weeks, up Friday as the ISM nonmanufacturing index for October rose to the highest level since Aug. 2005. December gold fell $8.90, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,269.20 an ounce, the lowest since Aug. 8, according to FactSet data. It lost about 0.2% for the week.

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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Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by 8 to 729 this week. The figure had climbed by just 1 rig last week after three-consecutive weeks of declines. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also declined by 11 to 898, according to Baker Hughes. December West Texas Intermediate crude rose 46 cents, or 0.8%, from Thursday, to $55 a barrel. It traded at $54.96 shortly before the rig data.

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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Shares of Aquantia Corp. edged higher in their public debut Friday, as the opening price of $9.31 was 3.4% above the initial public offering price of $9. The maker of high-speed communications integrated circuits for Ethernet connections’ IPO priced below the previously expected per-share range of $10 to $12. The stock was recently up 2.8% at $9.25, and has traded in a range of $9.05 to $9.40 since the open. The company raised $59.6 million in the IPO, before options granted to underwriters. The bookrunners for the IPO were Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank. Aquantia’s IPO comes at a time when the Renaissance IPO ETF has gained 8.2% over the past three months and the S&P 500 has tacked on 4.4%.

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General Electric Co.’s stock slipped 0.3% in morning trade Friday, putting it on track to suffer a 10th-straight loss, and to close at the lowest level since July 20, 2012. A 10-session losing streak would be the longest since the 10-day stretch ending Oct. 28, 2009. The has shed 16.6% during its current streak; during the October 2009 streak, it lost 14.4%. The stock has continued to fall since GE reported disappointing earnings, and amid uncertainty over what new CEO John Flannery will announce at the investor gathering scheduled for Nov. 13. The stock plunged 37.1% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 19.0%.

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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WASHINGTION (MarketWatch) – U.S. factory orders rose 1.4% in September to mark the third gain in the last four months, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a gain of 1.3%. Orders for durable goods, about half of all orders, rose 2%. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft advanced 1.7%.

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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