Tag: stock market

Shares of Applied Materials Inc. slumped 5.1% in after-hours trade Thursday, after the chip equipment maker’s fiscal fourth-quarter sales came up a bit shy, although profit beat expectations. Earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 30 rose to $610 million, or 56 cents a share, from $336 million, or 28 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 66 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 65 cents. Revenue rose to $3.297 billion from $2.368 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $3.307 billion, as a 25% increase in the value of new orders to $3.03 billion missed expectations of $3.21 billion. For the fiscal first quarter, the company expects revenue of $3.20 billion to $3.34 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $3.14 billion, while the adjusted EPS outlook of 62 cents to 70 cents is above expectations of 59 cents. The stock has soared 65% year to date through Thursday’s close, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index has run up 31% and the S&P 500 has gained 7%.

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Amazon.com Inc. is reportedly planning to play global catchup with Netflix Inc. . Amazon is preparing to launch its streaming video service into about 200 countries, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. The Journal reported the news on Thursday following a YouTube video that hinted at the rollout. Netflix stock dropped as much as 1.4% to an intraday low of $113.56 minutes after The Journal broke the news, before paring the losses.Shares of Amazon were up more than 1% in afternoon trade and are up nearly 12% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 Index is up nearly 7%.

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Oil futures turned lower late in Thursday’s session to finish with a loss. A rise in the U.S. dollar index to multiyear highs and doubts that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will adhere to individual production quotas, even if they are set at a meeting later this month, combined to pull prices lower. Prices had spent most of the session trading higher after comments from Saudi Arabia’s oil minister fed expectations that the group will finalize its output plan. December West Texas Intermediate crude fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $45.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Target Corp. has made a number of improvements to its order pickup service nationwide, the company said this week, including remodeling about 80 of its top-volume pickup stores in order to add a separate area for these transactions. With enhancements to technology and processes most orders will now be ready in an hour. And in 325 stores, Target associates wearing “order pickup” tees can help speed the process. Target shares are up 0.3% in Thursday trading and up nearly 5% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 6.9% for 2016 to date.

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Gold futures took a late-session tumble on Thursday to settle at a more than five-month low as the U.S. dollar’s climb to multiyear highs weighed on dollar-denominated prices for the metal. “While the dollar has experienced an exhaustive climb over the last few months, it broke through a multiyear ceiling that just may have pumped an additional dose of adrenaline into the currency,” said Adam Koos, president of Libertas Wealth Management Group. December gold fell $7, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,216.90 an ounce, marking its lowest finish since June 2, according to FactSet data. It had traded earlier above $1,230, which would’ve marked the highest settlement in a week.

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Key Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. has begun studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the U.S., according to a report by Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review. The company was asked by Apple in June to study the possibility, the report said, citing “sources.” The concern is that President-elect Donald Trump may push Apple to to make a certain number of iPhone components in America. Apple’s stock slipped 0.4% in midday trade, while Taiwan-based Foxconn’s shares were unchanged in overnight trade. Apple’s stock has lost 1.4% since the election, while the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF has eased 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 2.9%.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. confirmed Thursday that criminal charges had been filed against Gary Tanner, who had been a Valeant executive until Sept. 2015, and Andrew Davenport, former chief executive at Philidor Rx Services LLC. Federal prosecutors say that Tanner and Davenport allegedly engaged in multi-million-dollar fraud and a kickback scheme. Valeant said that charges have not been filed “at this time” against it, its former chief executive or chief financial officers or current executives. “The counts issued today include allegations that the charged parties engaged in actions to defraud Valeant as a company,” the company said. Valeant shares declined 4.8% after the charges were announced. Shares of the company have dropped 83.3% year-to-date, compared with a 6.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay a total of $264 million to settle charges related to its hiring practices in Asia, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. The bank will pay more than $130 million to the SEC, $72 million to the Justice Department and $61.9 million to the Federal Reserve to settle the charges, said the SEC. J.P. Morgan was alleged to have hired people in China and other countries in the region who were relatives and friends of government officials or clients as a way to get an unfair advantage in winning business. The practice is a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, said the SEC. In a seven-year period, the bank hired about 100 interns and full-time employees at the request of foreign officials, garnering more than $100 million in revenue for the firm. “JPMorgan engaged in a systematic bribery scheme by hiring children of government officials and other favored referrals who were typically unqualified for the positions on their own merit,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. “JPMorgan employees knew the firm was potentially violating the FCPA yet persisted with the improper hiring program because the business rewards and new deals were deemed too lucrative.” The bank’s stock was up about 0.8% on Thursday, and has gained 18% in the year so far, outperforming the S&P 500’s roughly 7% gain.

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From:: Stock Market News

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay a total of $264 million to settle charges related to its hiring practices in Asia, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. The bank will pay more than $130 million to the SEC, $72 million to the Justice Department and $61.9 million to the Federal Reserve to settle the charges, said the SEC. J.P. Morgan was alleged to have hired people in China and other countries in the region who were relatives and friends of government officials or clients as a way to get an unfair advantage in winning business. The practice is a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, said the SEC. In a seven-year period, the bank hired about 100 interns and full-time employees at the request of foreign officials, garnering more than $100 million in revenue for the firm. “JPMorgan engaged in a systematic bribery scheme by hiring children of government officials and other favored referrals who were typically unqualified for the positions on their own merit,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. “JPMorgan employees knew the firm was potentially violating the FCPA yet persisted with the improper hiring program because the business rewards and new deals were deemed too lucrative.” The bank’s stock was up about 0.8% on Thursday, and has gained 18% in the year so far, outperforming the S&P 500’s roughly 7% gain.

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Natural-gas futures extended their earlier losses Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 30 billion cubic feet for the week ended Nov. 11. That matched the increase expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 4.047 trillion cubic feet, up 51 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 216 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. December natural gas fell 5.6 cents, or 2%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $2.708 per million British thermal units. It traded at $2.739 before the 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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