Tag: stock market

Biogen Inc. shares declined 0.6% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company said its therapy failed to meet primary and secondary efficacy endpoints in a phase 2b trial for acute ischemic stroke. More detailed results from the trial will be made public in a future scientific forum, the company said. The results do not affect the therapy’s currently-approved indications, such as multiple sclerosis, Biogen said. The company did not say if it would continue developing natalizumab, though it did say it plans to study another compound, BIIB093, in large hemispheric infarction mid-year. Biogen shares have surged 6.2% over the last three months, compared with a 4% rise in the S&P 500 and a 5.8% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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NRG Energy Inc. announced a series of asset sales Wednesday to raise $2.8 billion in total cash proceeds. The power company said it has agreed to sell its stake in NRG Yield, the holding company for its power generation assets, and in its renewables platform to Global Infrastructure Partners for $1.377 billion in cash. That deal is expected to close in the second half. The company has also agreed to sell stakes in certain ROFO pipeline assets to NRG Yield for cash proceeds of $407 million. NRG has also entered an agreement to sell its South Central business to Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC for $1.0 billion in cash. The company said it expects to make further asset sales in 2018 and is revising its total asset sales cash proceeds target to about $3.2 billion.

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Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. shares jumped 7.6% in Wednesday premarket trading after the clothing and accessories brand reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. Net income totaled $219.4 million, or $1.42 per share, compared with $271.3 million, or $1.64 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $1.77. Revenue totaled $1.44 billion, up from $1.35 billion last year. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.29 and sales of $1.38 billion. Michael Kors owned luxury brand Jimmy Choo for two months of the quarter. Same-store sales for Michael Kors’ MK Retail fell 3.2%. The company expects fourth-quarter revenue between $1.11 billion and $1.13 billion with a same-store sales decline in the low-single digits. EPS are expected to be in the range of 50 cents to 55 cents. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $1.14 billion and EPS of 59 cents. Fiscal 2018 revenue is expected to be about $4.66 billion with a same-store sales decrease in the mid-single digits. Earnings are expected to be in the range of $4.40 to $4.45. FactSet analysts expect full-year sales of $4.62 billion with EPS of $4.00. Michael Kors shares are up nearly 78% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 17.5% for the period.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party and its former center-left partner Wednesday clinched a deal to set up a governing coalition, according to media reports. Following marathon talks that started Tuesday morning, Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democrats early Wednesday agreed on distributing ministries, which was seen as a stumbling block to conclude the coalition negotiations. According to German news outlet Der Spiegel, the SPD secured the finance, foreign and labor minister posts, considered a major achievement for the party’s leader Martin Schulz. If confirmed, the coalition agreement would end four months of political wrangling in Europe’s largest economy, which has been without a new government after September’s general election failed to produce a majority for one party. Germany’s DAX 30 index rose 0.7% to 12,483.66.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party and its former center-left partner Wednesday clinched a deal to set up a governing coalition, according to media reports. Following marathon talks that started Tuesday morning, Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democrats early Wednesday agreed on distributing ministries, which was seen as a stumbling block to conclude the coalition negotiations. According to German news outlet Der Spiegel, the SPD secured the finance, foreign and labor minister posts, considered a major achievement for the party’s leader Martin Schulz. If confirmed, the coalition agreement would end four months of political wrangling in Europe’s largest economy, which has been without a new government after September’s general election failed to produce a majority for one party. Germany’s DAX 30 index rose 0.7% to 12,483.66.

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U.S. stock futures were dropping early Wednesday, a day after stocks staged a dramatic turnaround following a recent spate of extreme volatility for equities. Dow industrial futures fell 245 points, or 1%, to 24,550, while S&P 500 futures dropped 29.30 points, or 1.1%, to 2,665. Nasdaq-100 futures fell 79.25 points, or 1.2%, to 6,574.25. The Dow industrials rallied 567 points on Tuesday, reversing that exact same point fall seen at the open. The turnaround came after the index’s worst one-day point decline in history on Monday. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite returned to positive territory for the year after Tuesday’s action. Oil futures moved modestly higher, while gold inched up and the ICE Dollar Index was holding steady.

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Two people were killed and more than 200 injured Tuesday night, local time, when a 6.4-magnitude shook Taiwan’s east coast. Authorities in one county said at least four buildings had collapsed, and 173 people were still unaccounted for. There were also reports of streets that had buckled and at least one bridge was destroyed. Local news reports said the Marshal Hotel in downtown Hualien was one of the building that had collapsed, and people were believed to be trapped inside. Rescue efforts were under way. The area is about 120 miles from the capital, Taipei.

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Steve Wynn has resigned as chief executive and chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd. , the company said in a statement Tuesday night. Matt Maddox, the company’s president, will take over as CEO. “It is with a collective heavy heart, that the board of directors of Wynn Resorts today accepted the resignation of our founder, CEO and friend Steve Wynn,” non-executive director of the board Boone Wayson said in the statement. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported the casino magnate had a long history of sexual misconduct allegations against him, and had pressured his employees into sex acts. Wynn resigned as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee following the report. “In the last couple of weeks, I have found myself the focus of an avalanche of negative publicity,” Wynn said in a statement Tuesday. “I have reached the conclusion I cannot continue to be effective in my current roles.”

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President Donald Trump wants a big military parade, and the Pentagon may be delivering one, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The Post said Trump was so impressed by the Bastille Day parade in Paris, which he attended last year with French President Emmanuel Macron, that he wants to hold his own version in Washington, complete with troops, tanks and jets. The Pentagon is reportedly planning how to carry out his wishes and figuring out how to overcome the financial and logistical challenges a grand parade would pose. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the report, saying in a statement: “He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.” The Post said the Pentagon is considering holding the parade on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, which also marks 100 years since the end of World War I. Drawbacks to a huge military parade include the potential of heavy tanks tearing up Washington streets and optics reminiscent of military parades in Russia or North Korea.

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House Republicans passed a temporary spending bill late Tuesday in an effort to prevent another government shutdown at midnight Thursday. The bill, which passed 245-182, would fund the military through September and the rest of the government for another six weeks. It includes funding for two years of community health programs, but does not include a plan to resolve DACA or to fund a border wall. The Senate is expected to make major changes to the bill. Senate leaders are reportedly seeking a two-year spending bill that would increase military spending by $80 billion a year. “I’m optimistic that very soon we’ll be able to reach an agreement,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kent., told reporters Tuesday.

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