Tag: stock market

Oil prices settled lower Tuesday, giving up their highest levels in about three years as the market took a break from a rally that lifted prices for five-consecutive sessions through Friday. Analysts generally expect the Energy Information Administration to report a decline in U.S. crude supplies, but the agency’s report won’t be released until Thursday, a day later than usual because of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. February West Texas Intermediate crude fell 57 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $63.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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The Justice Department on Tuesday said it’s filed an appeal against a case brought by the state of California, and is seeking a direct review in the U.S. Supreme Court, after a federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. “It defies both law and common sense for DACA-an entirely discretionary non-enforcement policy that was implemented unilaterally by the last administration after Congress rejected similar legislative proposals and courts invalidated the similar DAPA policy-to somehow be mandated nationwide by a single district court in San Francisco,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a statement.

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Gold prices extended their gains on Tuesday to settle at their highest since early September, even as a key U.S. dollar index edged up from a three-year low it hit on Monday. “The near-term trend remains higher for gold, and that is in line with inflation taking hold,” said analysts at the Sevens Report. “That, in turn, is weighing on real interest rates, which is bullish for gold.” February gold rose $2.20, or about 0.2%, to settle at $1,337.10 an ounce–the highest since Sept. 8, according to FactSet data.

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The U.S.-listed shares of Switzerland-based Nestle S.A. rose 0.8% in midday trade Tuesday, after the company said it agreed to sell its U.S. confectionery business to Ferrero for the equivalent of about $2.9 billion. Nestle’s U.S. confectionery business includes brands such as Butterfinger, BabyRuth, Raisinets and SweeTarts, while Ferrero’s brands include Nutella, Tic Tac and Ferrero Rocher. the deal is expected to close around the end of the first quarter. The deal comes about seven months after Nestle said it was putting its U.S. confectionery business up for sale. Nestle’s U.S. shares have lost 0.7% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.2%.

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General Electric Co.’s credit ratings were affirmed Tuesday at Moody’s Investors Service, based on the plans GE Capital plans to take in response to the billions in insurance-related charges and statutory capital contributions announced before the market’s open. The long-term debt rating is A2 and the short-term rating is P-1, and the outlooks on the ratings are “stable.” The actions GE Capital plans to undertake to restore capital adequacy and preserve liquidity in the face of the charges and capital contributions include the suspension of dividends to GE and a further reduction of assets. “Together with the increase in insurance reserves, this will moderate asset and refinancing risks and strengthen capital levels,” Moody’s said in a statement. “Moody’s estimates that GE Capital’s plan will restore leverage to the company’s September levels within two years and to within a more acceptable long-term range of 11% to 12% within three years.” Earlier, Fitch Ratings affirmed GE’s rating, but said the risk of a downgrade increased after the insurance charge. The stock dropped 3.7% in midday trade. It has plunged 23% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 13%.

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President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon was subpoenaed last week by special counsel Robert Mueller to testify as part of the probe into possible links between Trump associates and Russia, the New York Times reported Tuesday. It was the first time Mueller is known to have used a grand jury subpoena to seek information from a member of Trump’s inner circle, the Times said.

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Shares of Avis Budget Group Inc. tumbled 10.2% in midday trade, enough to turn the Dow Jones Transportation Average negative despite the rally in the other broad market barometers to record highs. The car rental company’s stock fell, on the heels of a 26-month closing high on Friday, after company said before the open that it expected to continue to face certain ongoing headwinds in 2018, such as the negative impact of rising interest rates. The stock’s $5.02 price decline shaved about 31 points off the price of the Dow transports, which was down about 16 points, or 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 153 points, or 0.6%.

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Shares of Boeing Co. jumped as much as 3.4% to a seventh-straight record high in morning trade Tuesday, before paring some gains. The gains come after the aerospace and defense giant announced last week it delivered a record 763 aircraft in 2017, raised its dividend by 20% and launched a new $18 billion share repurchase program. After paring gains, the stock was up 1.3% at $340.68, and had run up $44.01, or 14.8%, during its seven-session win streak. That gain added about 303 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s price, or more than a third of the Dow’s 873-point gain during that period.

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President Donald Trump told President Xi Jinping of China that the U.S.’s trade deficit with Beijing is “not sustainable,” the White House said in a readout of the leaders’ call. The two spoke on Monday and Trump told Xi he was disappointed “that the United States’ trade deficit with China has continued to grow.”

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Shares of Qualcomm Inc. rose 2.9% in Tuesday morning trading after analysts at Instinet upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. The analysts, led by Romit Shah, believe that Broadcom Ltd.’s attempt at a hostile takeover will light a fire under a management team they consider having been “unassertive” at times. “We expect the company to more aggressively focus on driving shareholder value in order to remain a standalone franchise,” Shah wrote, including by closing the acquisition of NXP Semiconductors . He added that, while “not necessarily an immediate catalyst,” Qualcomm might also consider settling its legal battle with Apple Inc. . “This would likely come as the strongest counter to Broadcom’s attempt to buy the company,” Shah wrote. Qualcomm also gave an overview of its 2017 financials in a filing released Tuesday. The company said it generated $23.2 billion in non-GAAP revenue for the year, above the FactSet consensus estimate of $22.8 billion. The company also sent a letter to shareholders asking them to reject Broadcom’s takeover bid. Qualcomm shares have gained 4.6% so far this year, compared with a 4.9% rise for the S&P 500 Index and a 6.8% gain for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .

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