Tag: stock market

Natural-gas futures continued to rally in electronic trading, after settling at a more than one-year high on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading was so volatile that a circuit breaker was triggered in natural-gas futures at around 2 p.m. Central time, prompting a five-minute pause in electronic trading, according to Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. He referred to the move as a “big short squeeze on a changing weather forecast, as well as expectations for another big drawdown in supply” in Thursday’s weekly Energy Information Administration report. Richard Hastings, macro strategist at Seaport Global Securities said “contract prices associated with early February were just trending too low, and now that very big regional demand is coming back,” so “the futures contract went crazy.” February natural gas was at $3.545 per million British thermal units in electronic trading, up from the Nymex settlement at $3.444.

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From:: Stock Market News

The American Petroleum Institute reported Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 4.8 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 19, according to sources. The API data also showed a climb of 4.1 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while inventories of distillates fell by 1.3 million barrels, sources said. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday morning. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect the EIA to report a decline of 1.6 million barrels for crude inventories. They also forecast a rise of 2.1 million barrels for gasoline, but a decline of 2.5 million barrels for distillate supplies. March crude was at $64.48 a barrel in electronic trading, little changed from the settlement of $64.47 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which was the highest since December 2014.

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Shares of Valero Energy Corp. rose in Tuesday’s extended session after the world’s largest refiner said its board approved a stock buyback program worth up to $2.5 billion. The board also raised the company’s quarterly dividend to 80 cents from 70 cents. The dividend will be paid on March 6 to shareholders of record on Feb. 13. Valero shares rose 1% to $99.70 after hours and are up more than 7% so far in 2018.

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SandRidge Energy Inc. said late Tuesday its board of directors has turned down a plan from activist investor Carl Icahn that sought to make changes on its board and modify some of the bylaws. The company reached that decision after board members met with “several large shareholders” to discuss their input, SandRidge said in a letter to shareholders. Icahn had called for the resignation of two out of five board members and wanted his firm to appoint a new director. Icahn is SandRidge’s largest shareholder with a 13.5% stake. Icahn and other investors had also criticized the company for its bid for Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. , a deal SandRidge later dropped. SandRidge shares were flat in late trading after ending the regular session down 0.1%.

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Puma Biotechnology Inc. shares fell Tuesday after the biotech company said it will likely not get a positive result on its European marketing application for a breast cancer treatment. Puma Biotechnology shares dropped 25% to $68 after hours. The company said the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency issued a “negative trend vote” for the drug neratinib to treat early stage HER2-positive breast cancer, meaning it will not likely get approval in a decision scheduled in February, and that additional steps would likely be needed to get a positive approval.

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Payday lender World Acceptance Corp. ended Tuesday with an 8.5% gain after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dropped an investigation into the company’s marketing and lending practices.

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Sigma Designs Inc. said Tuesday it would sell one of its businesses to Silicon Labs Inc. and then liquidate, after failing to meet conditions of a full merger. Silicon Labs had agreed to acquire the Fremont, Calif., chip maker for $7.05 a share late last year, but said Tuesday that initial closing conditions for that deal could not be met. Instead, Sigma will sell its Z-Wave home-automation business to Silicon Labs for $240 million and enter liquidation proceedings with the goal of returning cash to shareholders. Sigma will look to sell or wind down other segments within the next year – for instance, Sigma said it would lay off nearly 300 of 416 employees in its smart-television and set-top box businesses. Sigma shares were halted ahead of the announcement Tuesday afternoon, while Silicon Labs stock was quiet in late trading after closing at an all-time high of $99.80.

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The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to cut off debate on the nomination of Jerome Powell to be chairman of the Federal Reserve, setting up a final vote later today. The vote to cut off debate was 84 to 12. Only 50 votes would be needed to confirm Powell. The final vote will take place at 5 p.m.

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Norfolk Southern Corp. said Tuesday it is raising its quarterly dividend by 18% to 72 cents a share. The new dividend is payable March 10 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 2. Shares were halted for the news, but have gained 33% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 25%.

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Shares of Mattel Inc. ran up 10% in active afternoon trade Tuesday, which puts them on track for the highest close since Nov. 30. Volume ballooned to 11.5 million shares, which is nearly double the full-day average, according to FactSet. The toy maker confirmed that it did not release any news Tuesday and did not file anything with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Separately, shares of fellow toy maker Hasbro Inc. rallied 4.4%, also on volume that was almost double the full-day average. When asked about the stock-price surges, Mattel said in an emailed statement to MarketWatch: “As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation.” Mattel’s stock was still down 41% over the past 12 months, while Hasbro shares have gained 13% and the S&P 500 has climbed 25%.

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