Tag: stock market

The Bank of Canada warned on the impact of trade policy on global and Canadian growth in its monetary-policy statement on Wednesday, when the central bank also left its overnight interest rate unchanged. Market participants had expected the benchmark rate to be kept at 1.25%. The BOC cited the current global growth momentum as positive, and said that Canadian inflation was close to target while wage growth firmed. “However, trade policy developments are an important and growing source of uncertainty for the global and Canadian outlooks,” the BOC said in its updated policy statement. Canada looks to be hit the hardest by the anticipated U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, which are expected to be announced formally later this week. Analysts expect at least one more interest rate increase from the BOC this year, following a hike in January. “While the economic outlook is expected to warrant higher interest rates over time, some continued monetary policy accommodation will likely be needed to keep the economy operating close to potential and inflation on target,” according to the statement. The BOC will also continue to monitor the economy’s sensitivity to higher rates, especially has household credit decelerated over the past three months. The BOC will next meet on April 18. One U.S. dollar last bought C$1.2940 , up 0.5%, close to its highest level since July 2017.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average early Wednesday gave up its year-to-date gains, before fighting back to positive for the year, as Wall Street wrestled with news that National Economic Adviser 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 212 points, or 0.9%, at 24,666, and was down by as many as 312 points, pushing into down 0.7% in the first three months of the year. It was most recently off by about 0.2% for 2018. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was off 0.6% at 2,712, hanging on to a 1.5% year-to-date return, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 0.4% at 7,341, maintaining a 2018 rise of 6.4%.

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Shares of Amazon.com Inc. slipped 0.3% in morning trade Wednesday, but with Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s stock underperforming with a 0.6% decline, Alphabet’s market-capitalization lead over third-place Amazon has been cut to just $18.5 billion, $760.7 billion to $742.2 billion. At the end of 2017, Amazon’s $566.2 billion market-cap was about $165.6 billion behind second-place Alphabet’s at $731.8 billion. Amazon’s stock has soared 31.1% year to date while Alphabet’s has gained 3.9%, compared with a 7.4% rise in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 this year and a 0.2% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Amazon has widened its lead over fourth-place Microsoft Corp. , which is worth $715.2 billion, but is still way behind first-place Apple Inc. , which is at $887.9 billion.

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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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average early Wednesday briefly gave up its year-to-date gains, before fighting back to positive for the year, as Wall Street wrestled with news that National Economic Adviser 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 150 points, or 0.6%, at 24,736, and was down by as many as 312 points, pushing into down 0.7% in the first three months of 2018. It was most recently up about 0.1% for 2018. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was off 0.6% at 2,712, hanging on to a 1.5% year-to-date return, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 0.4% at 7,341, maintaining a 2018 rise of 6.4%.

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U.S. stocks opened solidly lower on Wednesday, the first trading session after the resignation of Gary Cohn, the head of President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 308 points, or 1.2%, to 24,574. The S&P 500 was down 18 points to 2,710, a decline of 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 53 points, or 0.7%, to 7,321. The day’s losses were broad, with TKTK. Cohn’s resignation represents another question mark for investors, who have already been trying to figure out the Trump administration’s trade policy following the surprise announcement of tariffs last week. Cohn had opposed the tariff proposal and was widely viewed as having a moderating influence within the White House. Among the biggest decliners of the day were Boeing , down 2.6%, and Caterpillar Inc. , which fell 2.9%. Both stocks are seen as having an outsize impact from tariffs.

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Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that it is extending the $5.99-per-month Prime membership rate offered to low-income customers with a valid EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card to Medicaid recipients. Customers can sign up for a 30-day free trial, there’s no annual commitment and customers can cancel at any time. The monthly Prime membership fee was raised to $12.99 in January. There’s also a $6.49-per-month student membership and an $8.99-per-month Prime Video membership. Separately, Amazon also announced plans for its first Missouri fulfillment center in St. Peters, which will create more than 1,500 full-time jobs. The fulfillment center will span 800,000 square feet, and workers will pack and ship small items such as books and electronics. Amazon shares are up nearly 82% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 15.2% for the period.

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Piper Jaffray analyst Jason Deleeuw weighed in on PayPal Holdings Inc.’s potential cryptocurrency efforts Wednesday, after a crypto-related patent filing was made public earlier in the month. PayPal’s patent filing was for an “expedited virtual currency transaction system,” which could speed up cryptocurrency transactions by allowing buyers and sellers to trade private keys and not wait for transactions to be confirmed on the blockchain, Deleeuw wrote. He noted that “Bitcoin transactions are not confirmed until they are batched in a block and added to the blockchain,” which can take about 10 minutes. Deleeuw sees some challenges for PayPal if it were to get involved with crypto in this way, noting for one that “the reliance on PayPal for enabling this solution defeats the decentralized purpose of cryptos.” He added that while the patent was recently made public, it was filed in mid-2016, and recent comments from management suggest to him that PayPal may have “de-prioritized” such efforts in the last 18 months. “Still, we like that PayPal is exploring how to improve crypto asset accessibility,” he wrote. PayPal shares are up 85% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%. Square Inc. , another popular payments stock, has seen shares rise sharply in recent months after it began allowing users to buy and sell bitcoin on its peer-to-peer Cash app.

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Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. are little changed in premarket trading Wednesday after the Nikkei Asian Review reported that U.S. chipmaker GlobalFoundries has requested that regulators in China look into whether TSMC has violated anti-trust rules. The report, which cites two sources familiar with the situation, says that GlobalFoundries alleges TSMC used unfair tactics to discourage customers from placing chip orders elsewhere. TSMC’s CFO Lora Ho said in an email to the Nikkei Asian Review that the company planned to cooperate with any requests but that it “believes there is no anti-competition concern in such a highly competitive industry.” GlobalFoundries raised similar concerns about TSMC’s customer practices to European regulators last year, the article noted. TSMC shares are up 39% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 is up 15%.

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Jefferies analyst Brent Thill raised his price target on Match Group Inc. shares to $50 from $44 late Tuesday, writing that he believes new investors haven’t missed Match’s rally entirely, despite the stock’s 156% rise over the past 12 months. The S&P 500 is up 15% in that time. Thill wrote that Match Group shares still trade at a discount to shares of other subscription internet names, including Netflix Inc. , Zillow Group and Angi Homeservices Inc. , based on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda). “The argument can no longer be made that Match is a cheap asset, but we still believe that upside remains,” Thill wrote. He added that the company’s Tinder platform continues to perform well in App Store rankings and he thinks that a new paid Tinder feature due out later this year is potentially “a catalyst that can move the stock.”

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Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. shares rose 2.5% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company said that the first dose cohort of three patients in a phase 1/2 gene therapy study had “positive longer-term safety and efficacy” results. Moreover, after 24 weeks, the first patient dosed decided to discontinue all alternate medication three weeks ago and “continues to do well,” Ultragenyx Chief Executive Emil Kakkis said. While the first patient’s urea formation rate was increased “substantially” over 24 weeks, the second and third patients did not show a clinically meaningful change in rate of urea formation over 20 weeks and 12 weeks, Ultragenyx said. The gene therapy, DTX301, is being developed for ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, a genetic disorder that can cause acute and chronic neurological deficits and other toxicities; an estimated 10,000 patients have OTC deficiency worldwide, according to Ultragenyx, and the only way to cure it right now is a liver transplant. The study will next enroll a second, higher-dose cohort of three patients. The company expects to enroll the first patient in March and data on the three patients is expected in the second half of this year. Ultragenyx shares have surged 14.1% over the last three months, compared with a 3.5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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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