Tag: stock market

Amazon.com Inc. has acquired smart-home startup Blink, a young rival to Alphabet Inc.’s Nest, amid a growing fight with the Google parent company. “We’ll continue to operate under the Amazon umbrella selling and supporting the same great products you know and love,” Blink said in a blog post on its website. Amazon and Google recently engaged in a public spat over their competing television-streaming offerings, with Alphabet cutting off YouTube support for some Amazon devices. Blink sells connected security cameras, which Nest moved into this year, and could boost Amazon’s attempt to offer smart-home products that include the ability to allow Amazon delivery workers to enter a person’s home when they are not there. Amazon and Alphabet shares were down about 0.3% early in Friday’s trading session, while indexes like the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down about 0.2%.

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President Donald Trump on Friday signed the Republican tax overhaul into law, enacting the most significant remake of the U.S. tax code in more than three decades. The $1.5 trillion tax cut permanently slashes the corporate rate to 21% while temporarily cutting individual rates. Among many other provisions, it also nearly doubles the standard deduction and eliminates the personal exemption. No Democrats voted for the bill in either the House or Senate. Trump also signed a bill to keep the government running through Jan. 19.

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Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. sank 5.2% in active trade Friday, enough to pace the S&P 500 decliners, as they were pulled down by the chip maker’s connection to cryptocurrencies, which were plunging in morning trade. Volume topped 21.5 million shares, making the stock the most actively traded on major U.S. exchanges. Also linked to cryptocurrencies, shares of fellow graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. slid 1.7%. The companies’ graphics processing units are used for mining digital currencies. But on Friday, bitcoin futures plummeted over 20% to $12,213. Separately, shares of Square Inc. slumped 3.1%. The company said last month that it was allowing a “small number” of users of its mobile money-transfer service, Square Cash, to buy bitcoin from its app. AMD’s stock has lost 9% year to date, Nvidia shares have rallied 80% and Square’s stock has soared 155%. In comparison, the PHLX Semiconductor Index has climbed 40% and the S&P 500 has gained 20%.

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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Nike Inc. stock tumbled 4.5% in morning trade Friday, enough to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average into negative territory, after the athletic apparel and accessories maker reported fiscal second-quarter results. The stock’s price decline of $2.93 was shaving about 20 points off the Dow’s price, which was down 9 points. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 inched up less than 0.1%. Nike’s stock was the biggest decliner among the Dow’s 30 components, 18 of which were gaining ground.

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U.S. stock-market indexes opened marginally lower on Friday but were still on track to post modest weekly gains. The S&P 500 was flat at 2,684.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the session off 20 points, or 0.1%, at 24,770. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index traded at 6,956, 9 points, or 0.1%, below its previous close. Among the worst performers on Wall Street shares of Celgene were down sharply after reporting disappointing Phase III data on Revlimid.

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The bitcoin rout deepened Friday, with the digital currency extending its decline to trade below $12,000 for the first time since early December. A single bitcoin fetched $11,767.05, according to Coindesk, a drop of 24.4% on the day. Bitcoin had traded just shy of $20,000 early this week. Bitcoin futures followed suit, with CME Group’s January contract down its daily limit of 20% at $12,265, while the Cboe January contract fell 19.7% to $12,280.

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Instinet analysts led by Mark Kalinowski say Papa John’s International Inc.’s announcement that Chief Executive John Schnatter will step down from his position shows that the fourth-quarter has been a “rough” one for the company following comments Schnatter made blaming the NFL for poor sales. Instinet cut its price target to $58 from $65, though it maintains its neutral rating, and lowered their fourth-quarter earnings per share estimate to 69 cents from 71 cents. “Given the weakened momentum in the business, and also given what we believe is a better understanding of 2018 as a year of investment for the company, we also reduce our 2018 EPS projection by 25 cents to $2.75,” analysts wrote. Chief Operating Officer Steve Ritchie will succeed Schnatter, who will stay on as chairman. The company hasn’t decided whether Schnatter will also continue as the company spokesperson, according to a statement from Ritchie. The company is expected to announce fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 27. Papa John’s shares are down 32.2% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 18.7% for the period.

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RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. said Friday net income will be reduced by about $40 million after the tax bill is enacted, because the insurance and reinsurance provider plans to write down a portion of its deferred tax asset. The write-down plan is a result of the drop in the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%, effective Jan. 1. Other than the write down, the company said it expects the economic impact of the tax bill to the company will be “minimal,” but added that uncertainty regarding the impact of the bill remains. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 7.8% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has gained 11% and the S&P 500 has climbed 20%.

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Shares of Party City Holdco Inc. rallied 4.1% in premarket trade Friday, after the party goods retailer announced a deal to buy back all of the shares owned by Advent-Party City Acquisition L.P. for $242 million. Before the deal, Advent owned 19.84 million Party City shares, making it the second-largest shareholder. The deal implies a value of $12.20 for each Party City share, which equals Thursday’s closing price. Party City said it plans to fund the deal with borrowings under its revolving credit facility. “We believe this transaction provides an opportunity to increase shareholder value and is immediately accretive to earnings per share,” said Chief Executive Jim Harrison. “Additionally, this transaction removes a share over hang associated with Advent’s long term shareholder interest in the business.” The stock had dropped 14% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF had gained 3% and the S&P 500 had climbed 20%.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)- Consumer spending jumped in November, as Americans spent their savings on nondurable goods and services. Outlays rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% last month, while personal incomes climbed 0.3%, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast 0.5% increase in spending and a 0.4% gain in incomes. The amount of money individuals save in November fell to a decade-low of 2.9%. Inflation as gauged by the PCE price index edged up 0.2%. The PCE index has risen 1.8% in the past 12 months, up from 1.6% in October. The core PCE index that excludes food and energy rose 0.1%. That was enough to boost the annual rate to 1.5% in November from 1.4% in the prior month, still well below the Fed’s 2% target.

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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