Tag: stock market

Hasbro Inc. said Monday it had net income of $175.8 million, or $1.39 a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $169.9 million, or $1.34 a share, in the year earlier period. The toy company said revenue rose to $1.47 billion from $1.30 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.30 and revenue of $1.37 billion. The company said growth in the boys, games and preschool categories in the U.S. offset a decline in the girls category for the full year. The growth was driven by franchise brand Nerf revenues, as well as revenues from Star Wars, Jurassic World and Marvel. The company said it is raising its quarterly dividend by 11% to 51 cents per share. The new payment will be made May 16 to shareholders of record as of May 2. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 33% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has lost 8.5%.

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Gold prices jumped on Monday to the highest level since October, as a continued risk-off mood in the financial markets boosted the metal’s safe-haven appeal. Gold for April delivery rallied $16.40, or 1.4%, to $1,174.10 an ounce, setting it on track for the highest settlement since Oct. 28. The metal has risen 11% so far in 2016, in a trading environment where stocks and oil have suffered significant losses on the back of global growth concerns and oversupply in the energy market. Gold on Monday also benefited from a weaker dollar, with the ICE Dollar Index off 0.2% at 96.863. A softer greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities such as gold cheaper for foreign buyers.

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U.S. stock futures fell sharply in early trade on Monday, indicating Wall Street may carry on with heavy losses seen at the end of last week. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 179 points, or 1.1%, to 15,958, while S&P 500 futures dropped 20 points, or 1%, to 1,855.50. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 51.2 points, or 1.3%, to 3,970.25. The losses come on the heels of the biggest weekly drop in a month for U.S. equities, with a 3.3% drop for the hard-hit Nasdaq Composite on Friday. Investors will be looking ahead to comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Wednesday and Thursday when she testifies to Congress about the economy and monetary policy. And while China’s markets are closed this week for the Lunar New Year holiday, some investors might be watching data over the weekend that showed China’s foreign currency reserves fell by nearly $100 billion, the lowest level in more than three years.

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Apollo Education Group Inc. shares declined in the extended session Friday after the parent company of the University of Phoenix said it received a second subpoena from the California attorney general’s office. Apollo shares fell 5.2% to $6.59. In addition to a subpoena received in August, Apollo said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Friday the second subpoena calls for documents “relating to marketing, recruiting, compensation of enrollment advisors, complaints, financial aid, compliance, accreditation, other governmental investigations, private litigation and other matters, as well as additional information relating to marketing and services to members and former members of the U.S. military and California National Guard” going back to July 1, 2010. Back in July, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission required the company to produce documents concerning its business practices. Shares have fallen 32% year to date and are down 62% over the past 12 months.

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Shares of GoPro Inc. rose 5% in late trading Friday after Microsoft Corp. announced a patent licensing deal with the wearable camera for certain file storage and other system technologies. Terms were kept confidential. “Microsoft’s licensing of personal wearable technologies is seeing strong demand as we partner with companies from all industries to optimize solutions for their customers around the globe,” Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC President Nick Psyhogeos said in a statement. Shares of GoPro had ended the day up 1.8%. Microsoft shares were flat in late Friday trading after ending the regular session down 3.5%. GoPro shares tanked earlier this week after the company posted weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results and outlook.

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U.S. stocks sold off on Friday to end the week with steep losses after two straight weeks of gains. Technology shares saw the biggest losses this week with the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite closing down 146.41 points, or 3.3%, at 4,363.14 on Friday and recording a 5.4% weekly loss. On Friday, investors grappled with a jobs report that had a weak headline number, but sharp improvements in wage growth and participation rate. The S&P 500 closed 35.40 points, or 1.9%, lower at 1,880.05 and ended the week 3.1% lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 211.82 points, or 1.3%, to 16,204.83 and was down 1.6% over the week.

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Twitter Inc. said Friday that it has suspended more than 125,000 Twitter accounts for “threatening or promoting terrorist acts” since the middle of 2015. Most of the tweets were related to ISIS, the company said. Additionally, the company said it had created bigger teams to review reports, which cuts down on response time. “We have already seen results, including an increase in account suspensions and this type of activity shifting off of Twitter,” the blog post said. Twitter added that it cooperates with law enforcement and anti-terrorism organizations. Shares of Twitter were down 6.5% Friday.

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Oil futures settled lower on Friday, pressured by the ongoing glut of crude supplies and data pointing to a lack of significant declines in global output. March West Texas Intermediate crude prices fell 83 cents, or 2.6%, for the session to settle at $30.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, it lost 8.1%, its first weekly loss in three weeks.

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Gold futures tipped higher Friday as U.S. stock markets came under selling pressure, nudging investors into the perceived safety of the yellow metal. April gold closed 20 cents, or less than 0.1% higher, at $1,157.70 an ounce. For the week, gold gained 3.7%, marking its best weekly advance since Aug. 21. Gold had been dipping lower for most of Friday’s session after the U.S. employment report, which reignited the expectation for an interest-rate hike in March by the Federal Reserve. Higher rates are a headwind for precious metals, which don’t bear a yield.

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Oil prices seesawed between losses and gains after data from Baker Hughes showed that the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs edged down for a seventh week in a row. They fell by 31 to 467 as of Friday. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was down 48 at 571. Compared to last year, the total U.S. rig count has fallen by 885, with oil rigs down by 673. March crude was at $31.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up a penny. It was trading lower at $31.42 before the data.

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