Tag: stock market

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares ticked higher in the extended session Thursday following a report that the company may be considering selling off parts of its business. Valeant shares advanced 1.7% to $32.93 after hours. The drugmaker has turned to investment banks such as Goldman Sachs to review its strategic options given interest from buyout firms and other companies, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter. Valeant has recently fallen under pressure to trim its billions of debt following a potential default to its creditors on the grounds it has yet to file its annual report.

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Bats Global Markets Inc. priced its initial public offering at $19, raising about $253 million, according to a report on The Wall Street Journal. The price was at the top of the range for the Kansas-based stock exchange operator, which had sought to become public in 2012 but canceled the deal after a software glitch. Bats focuses on stocks and exchange-traded funds in the U.S. and Europe, stock options in the U.S., and the cash currency market globally. The company will trade on one of its own platforms, the BZX Exchange.

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Ensco PLC shares fell in the extended session Thursday after the offshore drilling company announced a secondary offering of its shares, but pared those losses following a revenue outlook. Ensco shares, which initially dropped below $9.80 a share after hours, declined 5.6% to $10 in the extended session. The company plans to offer 50 million shares, with an option for another 7.5 million shares to cover overallotments, to finance general corporate purposes. Ensco currently has about 235 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet data. In a separate filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ensco forecast first-quarter operating revenue of $812 million to $817 million, while analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $791.5 million.

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U.S. stocks squeaked out gains to close fractionally higher on Thursday as subdued corporate earnings weighed on investors’ sentiment. The S&P 500 edged up less than a point to close at 2,082.78 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 18.15 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 17,926.43. The Nasdaq shed 1.53 points to close at 4,945.89. Morgan Stanley analysts said expectations for first-quarter earnings are fairly modest with nine out of 10 sectors in the S&P 500 recording a drop in consensus estimate.

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Gold futures fell for a second session on Thursday as the dollar maintained its strength and demand for riskier assets remained relatively robust. The U.S. Dollar Index rose for a third day and U.S. stocks were marginally higher. June gold slid $21.80, or 1.8%, to settle at $1,226.50 an ounce. “Nothing new so far just the momentum is picking up towards the downside but we do not expect any major sell off or new trend developing,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.

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Seagate Technology PLC’s stock plunged toward its worst day since the depths of the Great Recession, in very active morning trade Thursday, after the disk-drive maker cut its fiscal third-quarter revenue and margin outlook. The stock tumbled 19%, the biggest one-day percentage decline since it fell 24% on Jan. 22, 2009. The biggest decline, since the company went public in Dec. 2002, was a 24.5% drop on Oct. 22, 2003. Trading volume reached 28 million shares within the first 90 minutes of Thursday’s regular session, or about six times the full-day average over the past 30 days of 4.7 million shares, according to FactSet. The company cut late Wednesday its revenue outlook for the current quarter to $2.6 billion from $2.7 billion, and its adjusted gross margin outlook to 23% from 25.6%. Pacific Crest analyst Monika Garg said her sector weight rating is now under review, as Seagate margins have been below its target range of 27% to 32% for the past three quarters.

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McDonald’s Corp. has pulled most of its wraps from its menus, with only the Ranch Snack Wrap remaining in some markets, a company spokesperson told MarketWatch. The fast-food giant phased out McWraps last summer, and discontinued two of its Snack Wraps nationally, the honey mustard and chipotle barbeque. The Ranch Snack wrap is made with grilled chicken, iceberg lettuce, jack and cheddar cheeses and a soft flour tortilla, according to the McDonald’s website. McDonald’s shares are up 0.5% in Thursday trading, and up 30.6% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 0.6% for the last 12 months.

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Natural-gas futures pared some of their earlier losses Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity fell by 3 billion cubic feet for the week ended April 8. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a decline of 1 billion to a climb of 3 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 2.477 trillion cubic feet, up 956 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 849 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. May natural gas fell 3.1 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.005 per million British thermal units. Prices traded at $1.98 before the supply data.

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Bats Global Markets increased the number of shares it will offer in its initial public offering Thursday to 13.3 million from 11.2 million. The company still has a price range of $17 to $19, and would now raise $239.4 million at the mid-point of its range. The IPO is expected to price Thursday and plans to trade on its own exchange, Bats BZX Exchange, under the symbol “BATS.”

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U.S. stocks opened unchanged on Thursday, after rallying for two straight sessions. U.S. economic data showed benign inflation and a historically low level of first-time jobless claims. A modest rise in oil futures helped boost sentiment. The S&P 500 gained less than a point at 2,082. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up 16 points, or 0.1%, at 17,924. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was up by less than a point, at 4,947 at the open.

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