Tag: stock market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average logged a triple-digit drop on Monday, its worst one-day decline since early September, as the yield for benchmark 10-year Treasury note hit the highest level since April 2014 above 2.7%, raising concerns that rising borrowing costs could upend a relentless uptrend for equities. The Dow closed down about 180 points, or 0.7%, at 26,439, the S&P 500 index closed off 0.7% at 2,853, registering its worst daily fall since August, while the Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 0.5% at 7,466. The decline for the blue-chip benchmark was the worst daily slide since Sept. 5, according to FactSet data. Anxiety over a coming State of the Union address from President Donald Trump set for Tuesday, an updated policy statement from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, a monthly jobs report on Friday and corporate quarterly results throughout the week contributed to investor unease. In corporate news, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. soared 22% after a merger deal with privately held Keurig Green Mountain was announced early Monday. Meanwhile, shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd. finished off 6.5%, adding to losses from Friday, as investors reacted to allegations that founder Steve Wynn has a history of sexual misconduct.

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Electronic Arts Inc. shares moved higher Monday after a lightly-sourced report that Microsoft Corp. had considered an acquisition of the videogame publisher. Gaming blog Polygon, in a longer article about Microsoft’s difficulties in establishing exclusive games for its Xbox game console, reported that “a reliable source close to Microsoft” said that the name had been bandied about as a possible acquisition target to land some exclusive titles. Other potential targets mentioned in the story included Valve and PUBG, while Microsoft actually announced a gaming acquisition Monday morning, though its was not a game publisher. Microsoft told Kotaku that it “has no plans to purchase Electronic Arts.” EA stock gained more than 2% in Monday trading with about an hour to go in the trading session, and has increased 41.2% in the past year as the S&P 500 index has increased 25.2%.

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The U.S. Treasury expects to borrow $441 billion in the first quarter, $71 billion lower than previously estimated, according to a statement Monday. The new forecast includes an end-of-quarter cash balance of $210 billion. Analysts said debt ceiling constraints and the uncertain cash flow impact of the tax bill may make it difficult for the government to project borrowing. Experts say the government will hit the debt ceiling in early March unless Congress acts to allow borrowing. During the second quarter, Treasury said it expects to borrow $176 billion in net marketable debt with cash balance of $360 billion. During the October-December quarter, Treasury borrowed $282 billion in net marketable debt and ended with a cash balance of $229 billion. The government had estimated borrowing of $275 billion for the 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.

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Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s stock has outperformed Apple Inc. shares by so much this month that Apple’s market-capitalization lead has been cut by $100 billion to just under $30 billion. Apple ended 2017 with a market cap of about $860.88 billion, or $128.97 billion above Alphabet’s market cap of $731.91 billion. But with Apple’s stock down 1.9% in afternoon trade Monday, amid concerns over iPhone X production cuts, it has now lost $1.04, or 0.6% year to date, to bring its market cap down to $855.59 billion, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, Alphabet shares edged up 0.2% Monday, and have rallied $136.74, or 13.0%, to lift its market cap to $826.92 billion, or just $28.67 billion behind Apple. Over the past three months, Apple’s stock has edged up 3.2%, while Alphabet shares have run up 15.1%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has climbed 12.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has surged 13.2%.

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Gold prices fell for a second straight session Monday, as strength in the U.S. dollar helped send the metal to its lowest level in almost a week. Investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary policy meeting, which concludes Wednesday, and monthly U.S. jobs data due Friday to help gauge the demand outlook for the precious metal. February gold lost $11.80, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,340.30 an ounce.

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation announced criminal and civil enforcement actions against divisions of Deutsche Bank , HSBC Holdings and UBS and six individuals over alleged spoofing to manipulate metals futures prices. Deutsche Bank agreed to pay a $30 million civil monetary penalty, UBS agreed to pay a $15 million civil monetary penalty and HSBC agreed to pay a civil monetary penalty of $1.6 million. The CFTC said in accepting HSBC’s settlement, it “recognizes the bank’s cooperation during the Division of Enforcement’s investigation of this matter.”

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VMware Inc. shares fell Monday following a report that the computer virtualization company is considering merging with Dell Technologies. VMware shares dropped more than 10% to $134.60 in recent trading. On Monday, CNBC reported that the companies are considering a reverse merger, where VMware would acquire Dell, which already owns more than 80% of VMware through Dell’s acquisition of EMC Corp. in 2016. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported Dell was considering a number of strategic options including a deal to purchase VMware outright. Shares of VMware are still up 54% over the past 12 months, compared with a 25% rise in the S&P 500 index and a 32% gain in the Nasdaq Composite Index over the same period.

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Andrew McCabe, the deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is stepping down effective Monday, NBC News reported. McCabe had been set to retire in March. President Donald Trump has criticized McCabe, whose wife got nearly $500,000 in campaign contributions from allies of Hillary Clinton when she ran for a Virginia state Senate seat. McCabe oversaw the probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

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A measure of volatility on Wall Street on Monday rose to its highest level in more than 5 months as U.S. equity benchmarks dipped and as the yield in a benchmark Treasury note climbed to its highest level in more than three years. The CBOE Volatility Index was up 16% at 12.12, marking its highest level since Aug. 18, 2017, according to FactSet data. The VIX uses bullish and bearish option bets on the S&P 500 index to reflect expected volatility over the coming 30 days, and it typically rises as stocks fall. However, the gauge, sometimes referred to as the fear index, has been abnormally low, trading below its historical average at around 20. To be sure, it is still holding at a level below that historic mean but its recent pick up suggests that investors are betting that volatility will accelerate over the coming days and months. A rise in 10-year Treasury note yield above 2.71% also has drawn attention, because rising rates can undercut appetite for stocks if government paper offer richer yields than risk assets like stocks. Rising yields, President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve’s updated policy statement on Wednesday and a bevy of earnings set to be released throughout the week could induce choppy trade in an otherwise subdued market. The three main equity benchmarks were under pressure Monday afternoon, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 100 points, or 0.4%, at 26,517, while the S&P 500 index retreated by 0.4% at 2,862. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index , sometimes viewed as a proxy for risk appetite, was trading 0.3% lower at 7,483. That said, the uptrend for stocks remains intact with all three benchmarks looking at a monthly return of more than 7%.

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One of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, announced Monday he will plans retire from Congress at the end of this term. Frelinghuysen is the chair of the House Appropriations Committee. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Frelinghuysen was facing the first serious challenge of his 23-year congressional career. Even once-secure Republicans are seen to be at risk in the upcoming midterm elections.

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