Tag: stock market

Guidewire Software Inc. announced plans to sell $200 million in fresh shares Wednesday afternoon, after the company’s stock hit a new all-time high in the regular trading session. The software company said it plans to offer $200 million in common stock, as well as $300 million in convertible debt. Guidewire stock hit an all-time intraday high of $92.65 in Wednesday’s session and closed with a 7% gain at a record of $91.17 after announcing fiscal second-quarter earnings Tuesday afternoon. Guidewire said the proceeds would be for general corporate purposes. Shares declined about 1% in late trading after the announcement, but have gained 59.6% in the past year, as the S&P 500 index has increased 15.2%.

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Costco Wholesale Corp. shares traded between slight gains and losses in the extended session Wednesday after the wholesale club’s revenue for the quarter topped Wall Street estimates. Costco shares, which had been up as much as 2.5% after hours, were last down 0.8%. The company reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $701 million, or $1.59 a share, compared with $515 million, or $1.17 a share, in the year-ago period. Earnings for the latest quarter include a benefit of 17 cents a share from the U.S. tax overhaul, Costco said. Revenue rose to $33 billion from $29.77 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $1.47 a share on revenue of $32.74 billion.

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Shares of Caesars Entertainment Corp. rose more than 3% late Wednesday after the casino and entertainment company swung to a profit in the fourth quarter. Caesars said it earned $2 billion, or $2.48 a share, driven by a tax benefit of $2.03 billion thanks to the U.S. tax overhaul and to the emergence from bankruptcy of one of its units, versus a loss of $463 million, or $3.15 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $1.90 billion from $949 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 8 cents a share on sales of $1.99 billion. Shares of Caesars ended the regular trading session up 1.6%.

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The White House said Wednesday President Donald Trump’s attorneys had won a case brought against him by former adult-movie star Stormy Daniels. “The president has denied the allegations against him, and again, this case has already been won in arbitration,” said press secretary Sarah Sanders. Sanders said Trump’s personal lawyers won the case. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a suit against Trump saying his lawyer forced her to sign a false statement in response to inquiries about an alleged sexual encounter with the president.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday afternoon briefly gave up its year-to-date gains, as Wall Street wrestled with news that Cohn is National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn has resigned from the White House. Market participants fear that Cohn’s departure suggests that President Donald Trump will push forward on tariffs and on steel and aluminum imports that the key adviser has opposed. Moreover, Cohn was viewed as a chief engineer of the president’s pro-business agenda. The Dow was down 349 points, or 1.4%, at 24,535 at its lows, pushing the average down 0.7% in the first three months of the year. Most recently, the Dow was off 71 points, or 0.3%, at 24,813, off its worst levels of the day. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was down flat at 2,726, hanging on to a 2% year-to-date return, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.3% at 7,394, maintaining a 2018 rise of 7.1%. U.S. stocks fell to session lows as the energy sector took a sharp turn lower at around noon.

Corrections and Clarifications: An earlier version of this article misstated Gary Cohn’s title. His official role at the White House is National Economic Council Director.

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The Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar snapped back against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after the White House said that there could be potential carve-outs from anticipated steel and aluminum tariffs for Mexico and Canada. This would be on ground of national security. There could be carve-outs for additional countries, the White House said. Canada is the largest exporter of steel and aluminum products to the U.S. and would be hit the hardest by the tariffs, which were first introduced by President Donald Trump last week and are expected to be announced officially later this week. Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are currently also in the process of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. The news led the Mexican peso to reverse and strengthen against the buck, with one U.S. dollar last buying 18.7271 pesos, down from 18.7397 pesos Tuesday. The Canadian dollar pared some of its losses but remained in negative territory, with the greenback buying C$1.2922, compared with C$1.2878.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was threatening to log a decline of at least 1% on Wednesday, which would mark a ninth decline of at least 1% for the average so far in 2018. Even without that drop, the blue-chip index has posted enough down days of 1% or more to represent the highest number of such drops on a year-to-date basis since 2016, when the index suffered 14 declines of that magnitude by March 6, according to WSJ Market Data Group. The slump for the Dow comes after it posted no decline of greater than 1% in 2017. In total, including moves up or down, the Dow has registered swings of at least 1% on 17 times this year, through March 6. Wednesday’s downdraft for the Dow comes after National Economic Adviser Gary Cohn, viewed as a pro-business champion in President Donald Trump’s administration, resigned amid a high-stakes White House battle over implementing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Stock markets have been acutely sensitive to shifts in political and monetary policy in the first three months of the year after a period of placidity that saw measures of volatility on Wall Street, notably the CBOE Volatility Index , hover around the most docile levels in decades, until erupting higher last month. The index which reflects bullish and bearish option bets on the S&P 500 index in the coming 30 days, tends to rise as markets tumble. The S&P 500 was most recently off 0.4% at 2,716, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was trading in break-even territory, as the market traded well off its intraday nadir, as investors tried to shake off worries about turmoil in the White House.

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General Dynamics Corp. raised its quarterly dividend by 11% to 93 cents a share, with the new dividend payable May 11 to shareholders of record on April 13. The aerospace and defense company said this marks the 21st-straight year it has increased its dividend. The stock was up less than 0.1% in afternoon trade. Based on current share prices, the new annual dividend rate of $3.72 implies a dividend yield of 1.65%, compared with the implied dividend yield for the S&P 500 of 1.90%, according to FactSet. The stock has rallied 12.4% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.1%.

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Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng on Wednesday said its customers’ funds were safe, as the head of the popular exchange attempted to assure investors after a glitch in its system. Reports of problems on the platform surfaced via online forum Reddit, indicating that so-called altcoins, or alternatives coins to bitcoin , were being liquidated from users’ accounts without their consent. The technology issue resulted in Binance temporarily suspending withdrawals. However, in a tweet from its official account, Binance described the issues as “irregularities in trading activity” and emphasized that “all funds are safe.” Binance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Gold prices settled lower Wednesday, giving back roughly half of what they gained a day earlier. Upbeat data on U.S. private-sector jobs helped the U.S. dollar reverse losses fueled by news that Gary Cohn, the top economic adviser to President Donald Trump, will leave his post. Gold prices fell even further in electronic trading from their settlement shortly after the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which offers a snapshot of domestic economic activity. Among the report’s findings was “modest to moderate” growth across the country. April gold was at $1,326.10 an ounce in electronic trading. Prices had lost $7.60, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,327.60 an ounce after climbing 1.2% on Tuesday.

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