Tag: stock market

After a disappointing initial public offering last week, Stitch Fix Inc. closed at a record high Wednesday. Investors fueled gains ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and sent the online clothing retailer’s shares up 9.8% to $17.35. The stock closed at $15.15 its first day trading Nov. 17, just above the $15 that it debuted at. The stock reached its intraday record of $18.53 Nov. 17. Despite the lackluster IPO, several analysts MarketWatch spoke with last week said that the underlying business is quite interesting. The S&P 500 index has gained 16% this year.

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Stocks ended mostly lower in thin, pre-holiday trade Wednesday, although the Nasdaq Composite eked out another record close. Stocks maintained a soft tone after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s November policy meeting showed a rate rise remains likely next month but underlined worries about persistently subdued inflation. The S&P 500 declined 0.1%, while the Dow industrials ended around 65 points lower, a loss of 0.3%, a day after all three major benchmarks logged record finishes. The Nasdaq Composite posted another record, however, advancing 0.1%. U.S. markets are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, followed by a shortened session on Friday.

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Qualcomm Inc. shares traded higher Wednesday following a report that Broadcom Ltd. is considering raising its offer to buy the chipmaker. Qualcomm shares rose 1.6% to $67.79, after jumping to an intraday high of $68.15, in recent activity. Shares of Broadcom declined 0.3%. On Wednesday, Reuters reported. Broadcom has consulted with several top shareholders of Qualcomm and was told they needed to offer at least $80 a share. Last week, Qualcomm’s board unanimously rejected Broadcom’s $70-a-share offer.

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Shares of Urban Outfitters Inc. rallied 1.9% in afternoon trade Wednesday, putting them on track to close at an 11-month high. The 7.1% run up this week, ahead of Black Friday, is the best three-day pre-Thanksgiving performance since 2008, in the depths of the Great Recession. The gains come as the apparel retailer reported Monday fiscal third-quarter profits, revenue and same-store sales that beat expectations. Urban’s stock, which is headed for a seventh-straight gain, has now rocketed over 80% since it closed at an eight-year low in June. It is the most heavily weighted component of the SPDR S&P Retail ETF , with a 1.61% weighting as of Tuesday’s close. In comparison, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s weighting was 1.46% and Amazon.com Inc. had a weighting of 1.41%. The retail ETF was up 0.4% in afternoon trade Wednesday. Urban’s stock has gained 4.9% year to date, while the retail ETF has lost 5.3% and the S&P 500 has rallied 16.1%

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U.S. oil prices rallied above $58 a barrel on Wednesday to mark their highest settlement since the end of June 2015. Data from the Energy Information Administration showed a slightly smaller-than-expected weekly fall in U.S. crude supplies, but the decline marked the first weekly fall in three weeks. The data also came ahead of a key OPEC meeting next week, where oil producers are expected to extend a production-cut agreement beyond March of next year. January West Texas Intermediate crude climbed by $1.19, or 2.1%, to settle at $58.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Shares of Twitter Inc. rallied 1.9% in afternoon trade, putting them on track for a fifth straight gain to the highest level in over 13 months. The stock has now run up 30.0% since the social media company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results before the Oct. 26 open, and has rocketed 34.2% over the past three months, despite concerns over the potential impact of the FCC’s plan to reverse “net neutrality” protective regulations. It is headed toward the highest close since Oct. 5, 2016. In comparison, the Global X Social Media ETF has rallied 14.1% over the past three months toward a record close Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.9%.

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Gold prices ended sharply higher Wednesday, getting a boost as the U.S. dollar weakened, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index trading near the session’s lows as gold trading settled. Prices for the metal then held ground near their settlement level after minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting earlier this month showed the central bank viewed a near-term increase in interest rates as likely. Officials, however, also expressed more alarm about persistently low inflation, a sign that the bank may not be as aggressive in 2018 as previously expected. In electronic trading, December gold was at $1,292 an ounce, after settling with a gain of $10.50, or 0.8%, at $1,292.20 an ounce.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks were little changed after the Fed minutes from the latest policy meeting underlined expectations for a rate hike in December. The minutes show that top officials also expressed more alarm about persistently low inflation in a sign the bank might not be aggressive in 2018 as previously expected. The S&P 500 was off by a point at 2,597.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 57 points, or 0.2%, to 23,533. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was flat at 6,865.87.The ICE U.S. Dollar index held on to earlier losses, trading 0.5% lower at 93.454.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The Federal Reserve in early November viewed a “near-term” increase in interest rates as likely, but top officials also expressed more alarm about persistently low inflation in a sign the bank might not be aggressive in 2018 as previously expected. The language from the Fed’s Oct. 31-Nov. 1 meeting was softer than in the September discussions, reflecting worries that low inflation might also be a result of “developments that could prove more persistent,” according to the Fed minutes released Wednesday. Despite the nagging doubt the Fed still appears on the cusp of raise interest rates again soon. The benchmark fed funds rate, now between 1% and 1.25%, is likely to be raised a quarter-point at the bank’s Dec. 12-13 meeting, Wall Street predicts. The big question is whether the Fed will stick to three planned rate increases in 2018 if inflation remains low. The outlook is also clouded by the pending departure of Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who’ll be replaced by board member Jerome Powell early next year.

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Baker Hughes on Wednesday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil was up 9 at 747 this week. The report was issued ahead of the usual Friday release because of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, climbed by 8 to 923, according to Baker Hughes. January West Texas Intermediate crude was up 93 cents, or 1.6%, from Tuesday, to $57.76 a barrel. Prices traded at $57.73 shortly before the rig data.

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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