Supreme Court to rule on Trump’s travel ban

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about President Donald Trump’s travel ban in April, it announced Friday. Trump’s ban was struck down last month by a federal appeals court in San Francisco. A final ruling is expected by late June.

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Gold prices settle higher to cut their loss for the week

Gold prices settled higher Friday, cutting their loss for the week down to roughly 0.1%, with the market wary of a potential U.S. government shutdown this weekend. The weekly decline for the yellow metal, however, followed five weeks of gains in a row. February gold rose $5.90, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,333.10 an ounce.

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Baker Hughes reports a weekly decline in the U.S. oil-rig count

Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by 5 at 747 this week. The oil-rig count had climbed by 10 last week. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also declined by 3 to 936, according to Baker Hughes. February West Texas Intermediate crude was down 61 cents, or 1%, from Thursday, to $63.34 a barrel–up from $63.29 shortly before the rig data.

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Trump asks Schumer to White House to strike deal averting shutdown: report

President Donald Trump has reached out to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, inviting him to the White House to try to strike a deal to avert a government shutdown, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. Without a deal before midnight the federal government would partially shut down for the first time since 2013.

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A.O. Smith stock rises toward record after dividend hike

Shares of A.O. Smith Corp. traded up 0.9% in midday trade Friday, putting them on track for a record close, after the maker of water heating equipment said it raised its quarterly dividend by 29%. The new dividend of 18 cents a share, which is up from 14 cents a share, will be payable Feb. 15 to shareholders of record on Jan. 31. At current share prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 1.08%, compared with an implied yield for the S&P 500 of 2.02%, according to FactSet. “The company’s strong balance sheet and cash-generating ability give us the confidence to increase our dividend,” said Chief Executive Ajita Rajendra. The stock has rallied 40% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 24%.

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10-year Treasury yield seesaws around 3-year high as shutdown looms

The 10-year Treasury note yield is flitting around a 3-year high amid speculation that the federal government could go into a partial government shutdown if a stopgap spending bill is not passed. The yield for the benchmark maturity was at 2.635%, the highest since September 2014, according to Tradeweb. In addition, improving global growth and growing inflation concerns have put U.S. government paper under pressure. Debt prices fall when yields rise. Investing luminaries including Bill Gross of Janus Henderson and Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital have recently warned that a bond bear market could end the the record bull run in equities.

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Dow industrials dragged lower in late-morning trade as IBM’s stock drop cuts 40 points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday morning was being dragged lower on the back of a sharp decline in shares of International Business Machines Corp. The Dow component was down 3.7%, or about $6.14, which translates to a more than 40-point weight on the blue-chip benchmark. The slide in IBM’s shares occurred despite fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, and returning to revenue growth. IBM’s shares has beaten earnings expectations for 13 straight quarters but its stock has still suffered. A $1 swing in any one of the Dow’s components translates to a $6.83-point move in the benchmark. The Dow was most recently flat, with Armonk, N.Y.-based technology company anchoring the average lower. The S&P 500 index was up 0.2% at 2,803, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was showing a 0.2% gain at 7,311.

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ADT’s stock opens below IPO price, which was already well below expectations

ADT Inc.’s stock opened at $12.65 on the NYSE at 10:21 a.m. ET, or 9.6% below the initial public offering price of $14. Since the open, the stock has traded in a range of $12.55 to $12.97. The home security services company’s IPO had priced late Thursday well below the expected range of $17 to $19. The company sold 105 million shares in the IPO, before options granted to underwriters, to raise $1.47 billion, and to give the company a $10.5 billion valuation. ADT’s IPO comes at a time when the Renaissance IPO ETF has gained 5.5% over the past three months and the S&P 500 has rallied 9.4%.

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IBM’s stock slump is a 40-point drag on the Dow industrials in late-morning trade

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday morning was being dragged lower on the back of a sharp decline in shares of International Business Machines Corp. The Dow component was down 3.6%, or about $6, which translates to a roughly 40-point weight on the blue-chip benchmark. The slide in IBM’s shares occurred despite fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, and returning to revenue growth. IBM’s shares has beaten earnings expectations for 13 straight quarters but its stock has still suffered. A $1 swing in any one of the Dow’s components translates to a $6.83-point move in the benchmark. The Dow was most recently down 33 points with the lion’s shares of that decline coming from the Armonk, N.Y.-based technology company. The S&P 500 index was up 0.1% at 2,800, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was showing a 0.1% gain at 7,303.

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GE stock’s 5-day plunge of 15% is its worst run in 9 years

General Electric Co.’s stock tumbled 3.6% in morning trade Friday, putting it on track to suffer the worst five-day stretch since the depths of the Great Recession, in the aftermath of the company’s disclosure of a surprise massive loss in its legacy insurance business. The stock, which was trading at the lowest level seen since Dec. 2, 2011, has now plunged 15.0% amid a five-session losing streak. That would be the biggest five-day percentage decline since it plunged 17.0% in the five days ending March 6, 2009, which was the day after it closed at a 16 1/2-year low of $6.66. On Monday, GE said it take a fourth-quarter after-tax charge of $6.2 billion and make a $3 billion capital contribution to its insurance subsidiary that will grow to $15 billion by 2024. That follows GE’s transformation plan announced in November, which also helped extend price declines. The stock has now shed 48% over the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 32%.

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