Tag: stock market

U.S. stock futures rose sharply on Tuesday, as a recovery for global stock markets continued, partly fueled by hopes that central banks will launch more easing. U.S. markets were closed Monday’s for the Presidents Day holiday, but stock futures rallied in a shortened trading session. For Tuesday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 268 points, or 1.7% to 16,181, while those for the S&P 500 index gained 31.95 points, or 1.7%, to 1,890.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 87.75 points, or 2.2%, to 4,094.25. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index jumped 3.2%, led by financials. Crude oil prices surged nearly 5% ahead of a meeting of Russian and Saudi oil ministers, as hopes grew for a potential move on production cuts. Mirroring weakness on Monday, gold prices slid $41.50, or 3.3%, to $1,198.40 as appetite for riskier investments such as stocks grew.

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

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has died at the age of 79 from natural causes, Texas media outlets reported, citing law-enforcement sources. The conservative firebrand’s death is likely to result in 4-4 deadlocks at the Supreme Court, unless President Barack Obama can get a nominee confirmed by the Senate in his final year in office.

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

Standard & Poor’s on Friday cut Freeport-McMoRan Inc. debt two notches to BB, assigning it a negative outlook on lower metals prices and the company’s debt levels. Freeport’s new operating plan is “aggressive and could be derailed by commodity price volatility and delays,” S&P said in a statement. Shares of Freeport McMoRan fell 0.9% in late trading Tuesday after ending the regular trading day up 13%.

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

Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund, Third Point LLC, bought a new 3 million-share stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter, while selling off its entire 8.5 million-share stake in T-Mobile US Inc. . Among other changes Third Point made, from the end of September 2015 through the end of December, it cut its holding of EBay Inc. to 4 million shares from 9 million shares, its holding in Yum Brands Inc. was slashed to 75,300 shares from 11.6 million shares and the Kraft Heinz Co. holding was cut to 82,000 shares from 8.25 million shares. The fund’s overall value of its equity holdings as of Dec. 31 was $9.86 billion, down 7% from $10.6 billion as of Sept. 30. declined to $9.86 billion. The S&P 500 gained 6.5% over the fourth quarter.

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

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. responded Friday to the lawsuit Burberry filed Tuesday alleging the retailer copied its plaid design. One of J.C. Penney’s suppliers, Levy Group LLC, is also named in the lawsuit. Penney “is fully indemnified by the supplier, and therefore any damages awarded in the case will be fully covered by the supplier,” the statement said, adding that the suit will have “no financial impact” on the company. “While no assurance can be given as to the ultimate outcome of the lawsuit, the Company believes the final resolution of the lawsuit will not have a materially adverse effect on its results of operations, financial position, liquidity or capital resources.” J.C. Penney shares closed Friday at $6.99 and were down 0.6% in after-hours trading. The stock is down 11.6% in the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 is down 10.7% for the same period.

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

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. responded Friday to the lawsuit Burberry filed Tuesday alleging the retailer copied its plaid design. One of J.C. Penney’s suppliers, Levy Group LLC, is also named in the lawsuit. Penney “is fully indemnified by the supplier, and therefore any damages awarded in the case will be fully covered by the supplier,” the statement said, adding that the suit will have “no financial impact” on the company. “While no assurance can be given as to the ultimate outcome of the lawsuit, the Company believes the final resolution of the lawsuit will not have a materially adverse effect on its results of operations, financial position, liquidity or capital resources.” J.C. Penney shares closed Friday at $6.99 and were down 0.6% in after-hours trading. The stock is down 11.6% in the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 is down 10.7% for the same period.

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

U.S. stocks ended Friday’s session sharply higher, led by big gains in the financials and oil. Oil futures surged 12%, their biggest one-day gain in seven years. Meanwhile, a rally in J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. shares led gains on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. However, the main indexes, booked their second consecutive weekly declines due to losses earlier in the week. The S&P 500 gained 35.69 points, or 2%, to 1,864.77 but ended the week 0.8% lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 313.66 points, or 2%, to 15,973.84, but booked a 1.4% weekly loss. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite rose 70.67 points, or 1.7%, to 4,337.51 and ended the week 0.6% lower.

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

Oil futures rallied Friday, buoyed in part by comments from the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister who said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is willing to cooperate on possible production cuts. Prices, however, still posted a loss for the week on the back of the ongoing global crude surplus. March West Texas Intermediate crude jumped $3.23, or 12.3%, to $29.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the largest one-day percentage gain since January 2009, 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

Gold futures settled lower on Friday, pulling back after rallying to a one-year high a day earlier. For the week, however, prices for the metal jumped about 7.1% to score their best percentage gain since the week ended Dec. 12, 2008 as a rout in global equities helped to buoy investment interest in gold. April gold settled at $1,239.40 an ounce, down $8.40, or 0.7%, for the session.

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

Shares of Vulcan Materials Co. climbed 1.1% in afternoon trade Friday, after the construction materials maker said it was doubling its quarterly dividend. The new dividend of 20 cents a share, up from 10 cents a share, will be payable March 10 to shareholders of record on Feb. 24. At current share prices, the new annual dividend would imply a dividend yield of 0.88%, compared with the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.39%, according to FactSet. The stock has lost 8.1% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has dropped 9.5%.

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