Tag: stock market

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he has ordered troops to deploy on the unoccupied and disputed South China Sea islands, Agence France-Press reported, based on a press briefing by Duterte. Boosting the military presence there could provoke rival claimants, including Beijing. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbors and has built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. Duterte has previously sought to improve his nation’s relations with China by adopting a non-confrontational approach, but that may be changing. “I have ordered the armed forces to occupy all,” Duterte reportedly said. Asian regional peace is expected to be among the topics when U.S. President Donald Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

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Cardinal Health Inc. is close to a $6 billion deal to acquire Medtronic PLC’s medical supplies business, according to a report late Wednesday. Medtronic, which specializes in high-tech medical devices like heart stents and implantable heart defibrillators, acquired a large portfolio of products like syringes and surgical instruments from its $43 billion acquisition of Covidien in 2014. Medtronic and Cardinal are engaged in exclusive talks over the medical supplies business in a deal that could be announced later this month, according to Reuters. Medtronic shares advanced 1% to $81.05 after hours, while Cardinal shares were flat at $80.53.

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MGM has agreed to buy a 80.91% stake on pay-television channel Epix for $1.032 billion, buying out partners Viacom Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. . The transaction gives MGM control over Epix’s four pay television channels and is expected to close later this month, the companies said. Epix is the “fastest-growing premium network over the past 5 years,” with approximately $4 billion in box-office hits, according to the statement. As part of the deal, Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate will continue to provide their first-run theatrical releases to Epix under multi-year agreements. The Wall Street Journal reported about the potential deal last month.

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Winnebago Industries Inc. shares slipped in the extended session Wednesday after the recreation-vehicle maker said a major shareholder is looking to liquidate its position. Winnebago shares declined 4.6% to $26.10 after hours. The company said that funds affiliated with Summit Partners LP intend to sell 2.3 million shares with Morgan Stanley as the underwriter. That represents Summit’s entire 7.3% stake in Winnebago’s outstanding shares, according to FactSet data. The company said it will not receive proceeds from the sale.

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Shares of Yum China Holdings Inc. rallied in Wednesday’s extended session after the fast-food chain company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. The operator of KFC and Pizza Hut in China reported its first-quarter earnings rose to $175 million, or 44 cents a share, from $145 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue, however, slipped to $1.28 billion from $1.3 billion while same-stores sales grew 1%. Yum China had spun off from Yum Brands late last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 38 cents on revenue of $1.27 billion. Yum China shares jumped 11% while Yum rose 1.5% after hours.

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Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer said on Wednesday it’s reached an agreement with Viacom Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. to acquire full ownership of Epix. The premium entertainment network was jointly owned by the three companies and MGM bought Lions Gate and Viacom’s 80.9% aggregate interest for about $1.03 billion. “The addition of Epix provides MGM with a premier distribution platform that complements our strong stable of new and library content in both film and television,” said MGM Chief Executive Gary Barber in a statement. “The acquisition creates increased revenue diversity, new opportunities for growth and earnings accretion.” MGM is home to the Emmy’s, the Golden Globes, the highly-anticipated Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale” and award-winning show “Fargo”. The deal gives MGM control over the pay TV channels operated by Epix and under the deal Lions Gate and Viacom’s Paramount Pictures have multi-year agreements to bring first-run theatrical output to Epix.

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Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. rose more than 4% late Wednesday after the retailer reported per-share quarterly earnings above expectations but said it expects a decline in profit for the year. The company said it earned $268.7 million, or $1.84 a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter, compared with $303.5 million, or $1.91 a share, for the fiscal 2015 fourth quarter. Sales reached $3.5 billion, from $3.4 billion a year ago. Comparable-store sales rose 0.4% in the period. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report earnings of $1.77 a share on sales of $3.5 billion. Bed Bath & Beyond is modeling a decline in net per-share earnings in the low-single digits to 10% for fiscal 2017, the company said in a statement.

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U.S. stocks pared gains in Wednesday afternoon, losing much of their early momentum, as oil prices came off their intraday high to trade lower. The S&P 500 rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 2,366 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 69 points, or 0.3%, to 20,760. The Nasdaq advanced 4 points to 5,902 after hitting a record of 5,936.39. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery shed 0.1% to $50.98 a barrel after settling at $51.15 a barrel earlier.

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Oil futures ended with modest gains Wednesday, trimming an earlier rally after government data showed an unexpected rise in U.S. oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 12 cents to end at $51.15 a barrel after trading as high as $51.88 in earlier action. Oil retreated, briefly trading in negative territory, after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories rose 1.6 million barrels last week versus forecasts for a fall of 200,000 barrels. A further rise in refinery utilization, however, limited selling pressure, analysts said.

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The dollar and Treasury yields moved higher on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting revealed that the central bank plans to begin shrinking its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year. The minutes, from the Fed’s two-day policy meeting that ended March 15. also revealed that Fed officials discussed how the impact of any fiscal stimulus measures promised by President Donald Trump likely won’t be felt until 2018. Despite this, Fed officials still expect rates to rise gradually, unless the economy suddenly overheats. The yield on the 10-year note climbed 1.4 basis point to 2.376%, while the dollar strengthened to 111.33 yen, compared with 110.75 yen late Tuesday in New York. The euro , meanwhile, weakened to $1.0648, compared with $1.0670. Stocks dipped after the minutes, likely driven by officials’ concerns that present valuations are uncomfortably high.

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