Tag: stock market

Gold futures closed fractionally higher Monday, but momentum for the precious commodity and other metals remained strong in the wake of a failed attempt to freeze oil output by some of the world’s largest producers on Sunday. Traders believe that the metal is likely to trade higher amid worries about global growth and slumping crude prices . June gold settled 40 cents, or less than 0.1%, higher at $1,235 an ounce. The upbeat close for the yellow metal comes even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed, touching an intraday level of 18,000 on Monday–a point not reached by the blue-chips benchmark since July, suggesting growing optimism around risky assets like stocks.

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From:: Stock Market News

Imax Corp. said Monday that Walt Disney Co.’s “The Jungle Book” took in $20 million on 901 3-D screens this weekend, making it the biggest-ever Imax opening for a PG-rated movie. The movie theater operator said the movie’s domestic take was $10.3 million on 376 Imax screens, while the movie brought in $9.7 million on 525 screens internationally. Imax’s stock surged 3%, putting it on course to close at the highest level since Jan. 11. it has lost 8.2% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.2%. Overall, “Jungle’s” total weekend box office was about $103.6 million, according to Box Office Mojo, or well above expectations of around $80 million.

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S&P Ratings Services on Monday warned of rising default risks at Chinese state-owned companies as the government pursues its restructuring to transition to a consumption-driven economy. The reforms are likely to most negatively affect companies in capital-intensive sectors, such as steel, mining, building materials, and shipbuilding, said S&P credit analyst Christopher Lee in a statement. The analyst warned that debt at some of the largest state-owned enterprises have reached a “critical level” with debt at about five times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “We believe the leverage of SOEs will continue to rise in 2016 as a weak topline is not fully offset by cost cuts and capex reduction,” he said. China is in the process of revamping its economy to be less reliant on the manufacturing sector but the process is expected to be a painful one for the country as it is expected to result in an economic slowdown. Economists are projecting China’s gross domestic product growth to slow further in 2016 following a 6.9% expansion in 2015.

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From:: Stock Market News

Loxo Oncology Inc. stock was up as much as 15.6% in Monday morning trade after announcing positive phase 1 trial results for its cancer drug LOXO-101. The company said the drug showed results for five different cancers, and five of seven patients with a cancer mutation called TRK gene fusions showed a “confirmed partial response.” The trial enrolled 43 patients that were treated with the drug at five dose levels. Loxo stock was trading at $29.61 late Monday morning, compared with Friday’s closing price of $25.92. Loxo shares have swelled 44.9% in the past three months, compared with an 11% rise in the S&P500.

Related: Almost half of venture-backed IPOs this year are losers

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Citigroup Inc.’s stock shed 0.9% in morning trade Monday, bucking the gains in financial sector and the broader stock market, after the bank was downgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, which cited concerns over relative relative returns and valuation. Analyst Brian Kleinhanzl cut his rating to market perform from outperform, but kept his stock price target at $51, which is 14% above current levels. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was up 0.3% and the SPDR Financial ETF gained 0.2% in morning trade, while shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. climbed 0.4%, of Bank of America Corp. rose 0.5% and of Wells Fargo & Co. tacked on 0.4%. “We are downgrading shares of Citigroup since we believe returns will remain range-bound near term and shares are not expected to outperform peers,” Kleinhanzl wrote in a note to clients. Citigroup’s stock surged 11% last week, after it was one of the few banks that beat first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, and was the only the bank that has its “living will” approved unanimously. It has lost 14% year to date, while the financial ETF has slipped 3.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.2%.

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Shares of Walt Disney Co. surged 2.4% to a three-month high in morning trade Monday, after the “The Jungle Book” box office take in its opening weekend was well above expectations. Disney’s stock was by far the best performer among components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , with the second-biggest gainer–J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s stock –up just 0.9%. “Jungle” took in $103.6 million this weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, compared with expectations of around $80 million. “‘The Jungle Book’ will be the talk of the town for the next couple weeks,” analyst Mike Hickey at Benchmark wrote in a note to clients. “It’s an opening number that exceeds all expectations despite the pre-release buzz.” Disney’s stock has now run up 13% since closing at a 16-month low of $88.85 on Feb. 10. It is still down 4.2% year to date, while the Dow is up 2.8%.

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Brazilian stocks suffered a blow in Monday’s trade after the country’s lower house of congress voted to impeach embattled President Dilma Rousseff over the weekend. The Bovespa index lost 0.8% to 52,972.89, with only two stocks trading in positive territory. Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies on Sunday voted 367-137 in favor of impeaching the leftist Brazilian leader, whose popularity has plunged recently as the country has slipped into recession. The upper house will now decide in coming days whether Rousseff will stand trial for allegedly violating Brazil’s budget laws. This means she could be forced from office just months before the nation hosts the Olympic Games. “A quick resolution would certainly be preferable to a long, drawn out affair, but we note that a new government can do little to drag the economy out of the doldrums,” said analysts at BBH in a note. “We suspect all of the good news (and then some) has already been priced in by the markets. While Brazilian assets should continue to participate in a wider EM rally, the days of massive outperformance are probably over for now,” they added.

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U.S. stocks opened lower Monday, tracking tumbling oil prices after a weekend meeting of major oil producers in Doha, Qatar, failed to reach an agreement on a production freeze. Losses were somewhat contained thanks to better-than-expected earnings reports from companies such as Morgan Stanley and Hasbro . The S&P 500 was off by 5 points, or 0.2% at 2,075. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 31 points, or 0.2%, at 17,864. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was off by 23 points, or 0.5%, at 4,916 at the open.

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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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks opened lower Monday, tracking tumbling oil prices after a weekend meeting of major oil producers in Doha, Qatar, failed to reach an agreement on a production freeze. Losses were somewhat contained thanks to better-than-expected earnings reports from companies such as Morgan Stanley and Hasbro . The S&P 500 was off by 5 points, or 0.2% at 2,075. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 31 points, or 0.2%, at 17,864. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was off by 23 points, or 0.5%, at 4,916 at the open.

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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Carnival Corp. said that it may have to push back the May 1 start of travel to Cuba on its Fathom brand of cruises if an agreement isn’t reached with Cuban authorities that will allow Cuban-born passengers to travel to and from the island nation by boat. “As we continue our discussions with Cuba, and in anticipation of Fathom travelers being on equal footing with those who travel by air, we are accepting bookings from all travelers, including Cuba-born individuals,” said Carnival Chief Executive Arnold Donald in a note to employees obtained by MarketWatch. “However, if Cuba’s decision is delayed beyond May 1, we will delay the start of our sailings.” Cuba-born travelers are allowed to enter and leave the country by air, but the island nature has not allowed Cuba-born people to travel to or from the country by boat for decades, Arnold continued. Fathom, the newest Carnival brand that adds cultural immersion to the cruise experience, is set to begin sailing the 704-passenger Adonia cruise ship to Cuba every other week on May 1, the first time in more than 50 years that a cruise ship has traveled from the U.S. to Cuba. Carnival is asking that travelers by ship “be on a level playing field with air charter travel to Cuba,” according to a press release. Carnival shares are up 1.6% in premarket trading and up 8.5% over the past 12 months. The S&P 500 is nearly flat for the past year.

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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From:: Stock Market News