Posted on

Gold prices mark lowest settlement in more than a week

Gold prices fell below $1,300 an ounce on Tuesday to finish at their lowest level in more than a week on the back of strength in the U.S. dollar and inflation growth in the United Kingdom. December gold lost $16.80, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,286.20 an ounce. That was the lowest finish since Oct. 9 and biggest one-day percentage decline since Sept. 21, according to FactSet 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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

GSE G-Fees Decline

Driven by competitive market pressures, average guarantee fees charged by the government-sponsored enterprises for residential loans rose last year.

During 2016, average g-fees on single-family loans that were acquired or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac worked out to 57 basis points.

That turned out to be a 2-basis-point improvement for all of the GSE’s loan products when compared to the average for the preceding year.

…read more

From:: Financing

Posted on

Serious Mortgage Delinquency Inches Up, Could Worsen

There was an up tick last month in the rate of serious mortgage delinquency. Recent natural disasters could push the rate ever higher over the next few months.

As of Sept. 30, ninety-day delinquency on consumer credit — including auto loans, bank cards and mortgages — worked out to 0.88 percent based on the Composite Consumer Credit Default Index.

Consumer credit delinquency worsened by 2 basis points compared to the previous month. A 4-basis-point increase was recorded versus the rate as of the same month last year.

…read more

From:: Financing

Posted on

Builder Confidence Recovers

After plunging last month, the level of confidence among the country’s residential home builders this month more than made up the ground it lost.

During September, the Housing Market Index — a gauge of single-family builders’ perception of the market for new homes — tumbled three points.

At issue last month were the recent hurricanes, which raised concerns among home builders about the availability of labor and the cost of building materials.

…read more

From:: Financing

Posted on

Trump Fed chief choice seen being made before Asia trip, reports say

President Trump will announce his pick to head the Federal Reserve before he leaves for his Asian trip that starts Nov. 3, multiple news outlets including The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The candidates appear to be those whose names who have been widely circulated: the current Fed chair, Janet Yellen, as well as Fed Gov. Jerome Powell, former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Stanford professor John Taylor.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Dow’s record rise belies bad market breadth

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 23,000 for the first time in intraday trade Tuesday, and remained in positive territory in midday trade, but broader market internal readings are decidedly negative. The number of declining stocks outnumbered advancers by a 1,529-to-1,204 score on the NYSE and by a 1,344-to-1,162 margin on the Nasdaq exchange. And declining volume was 58.0% of total volume on the Big Board and 53% of total volume in the Nasdaq. Even within the Dow, 21 of 30 components are declining, but the Dow was still up 18 points. It was up as much as 45.24 points earlier at an all-time intraday high of 23,002.20 earlier. The Dow was up Tuesday, primarily because of the $9.42, or 4.9%, gain in UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s stock after better-than-expected earnings, which added about 65 points to the Dow’s price.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Marketplace Lender Offering Bridge Loans

A fast-growing company that claims to be the biggest marketplace lender in the mortgage space has announced plans to acquire more than $1 billion in bridge loans.

LendingHome said Tuesday that it closed on the LendingHome Opportunity Fund II with $100 million in commitments from 40 investors. It will be managed by LH Capital Management.

The San Francisco-based firm — which says it is the largest, fastest-growing mortgage marketplace lender — noted that with its $300 million credit facility, total potential assets are $400 million.

…read more

From:: Financing

Posted on

UnitedHealth’s stock heads toward biggest price rise in its 33-year history

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s stock extended their post-earnings gains, to put them on track for the biggest one-day price gain since they went public 33 years ago. The stock was up $10.30, or 5.3%, at a record high in morning trade, after reporting profits that beat expectations. That tops the previous biggest one-day price gain of $9.26 on Oct. 18, 2016. The company went public in October 1984. The stock’s gain Tuesday was adding about 71 points to the price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , which was up 21 points. UnitedHealth’s stock has run up 27% year to date, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has rallied 20% and the Dow has climbed 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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Health-care ETF rallies, boosted by UnitedHealth and J&J results

The largest exchange-traded fund to track the health-care sector rallied on Tuesday, boosted by strong results in some of its largest components. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF rose 0.9%, the largest one-day percentage for the ETF since Oct. 2. The move follows three straight days of losses for the fund, which is up 20% thus far this year. The day’s gains were fueled by UnitedHealth Group Inc. , which rose 5.3% as the biggest gainer among the fund’s components. The rise came after UnitedHealth reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year profit outlook. Separately, Johnson & Johnson gained 2.1% after it raised its sales and earnings outlook for the third straight quarter. Tuesday is set to be the biggest one-day rise for UnitedHealth’s stock in about a year and its biggest point move in its history.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Neothetics’s stock rockets on heavy volume after merger deal

Shares of Neothetics Inc. more than doubled Tuesday on heavy volume, after the specialty pharmaceutical company announced an agreement in which a wholly-owned subsidiary of Neothetics will merge with privately held Evofem Biosciences. An affiliate of Invesco Asset Management Ltd., an existing investor in Evofem, has agreed to acquire an additional $20 million worth of common stock of the combined company. Neothetics’s stock ran up as much as 138% in intraday trade, before paring gains to be up 91%. Volume was 12.8 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 724,000 shares. Once the merger is completed, which is expected to occur in January 2018, Neothetics will be renamed Evofem Biosciences Inc., and will be led by Evofem Chief Executive Saundra Pelletier. Under terms of the deal, $171.4 million in value of Neothetics common stock will be issued to Evofem shareholders, while $28.6 million worth of common stock will be retained by Neothetics shareholders.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News