Tag: stock market

Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that it has added alcohol to the Prime Now service in Cincinnati and Columbus, OH. Prime Now offers Prime members one-and two-hour delivery for $7.99. Products available include beer, wine and champagne. Amazon shares are up 0.2% in premarket trading, and up 47.8% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 17.3% for the last 12 months.

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Shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 10% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the biotech reported positive data from a trial of a treatment for a form of myasthenia gravis, a rare neuromuscular disease, for which there is currently no treatment. The company said the investigator-sponsored trial of Firdapse as a treatment for myasthenia gravis patients with anti-MuSK antibodies met its main goals. The study was conducted in Milan, Italy. “Not only are the results statistically significant, but more importantly, there was a large clinical benefit to the patients,” Dr Renato Mantegassa, director, department of neuroimmunology and neuromuscular diseases, Fondazione Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, said in a statement. Catalyst shares have gained 11% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.7%.

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The U.K. Treasury chief is ditching a plan to raise National Insurance contributions by self-employed Britons, reports said Wednesday. Philip Hammond in last week’s spring budget presentation said there would be a 2% rise in the contributions. That announcement was met with a backlash as critics said it broke a promise by the Conservative Party not to raise taxes or the insurance contributions. The proposal was estimated to increase contributions by an average of £240 ($293) a year for the self-employed.

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The European Commission on Wednesday approved AT&T Inc.’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. , AT&T said in a release. The companies are expecting the deal to close by year-end. AT&T shares have gained 9% in the last 12 months, while Time Warner has gained 39%. The S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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South Korea will hold a snap election May 9 to replace ousted President Park Geun-hye, a vote that is expected to usher in a government with dramatically different political priorities. The acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, announced the snap election and said he won’t run, depriving Park’s conservatives of an obvious flag bearer and strengthening the position of opposition leader Moon Jae-in, the Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, prosecutors investigating the political corruption scandal that toppled Park announced that they would summon the former president for questioning Tuesday, March 21, over her alleged role in the case.

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Oil prices fell Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude down a seventh straight session. Monthly data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries showed growth in U.S. crude production and Saudi Arabia told OPEC that its output increased in February. April WTI crude fell 68 cents, or 1.4%, to settle $47.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Gold futures settled modestly lower Tuesday, but held ground above $1,200 an ounce a day ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates. Expectations that the central bank will announce a rate increase on Wednesday have climbed, providing support to the U.S. dollar and pressuring prices for gold. April gold fell 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,202.60 an ounce.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission fined junior staff auditor Nima Hedayati, an employee of Ernst & Young, $87,000 to settle charges he allegedly traded on inside information about a planned merger between EY client Lam Research Corporation and another semiconductor equipment manufacturer KLA-Tencor Corporation . According to the SEC’s order, Hedayati purchased out-of-the money call options in KLA common stock in his own brokerage account as well as his fiancée’s brokerage account, and encouraged his mother to also purchase KLA shares. KLA’s stock price increased nearly 20% after the merger was announced. EY has terminated Hedayati, who did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings. Hedayati agreed to be suspended from appearing and practicing before the SEC as an accountant, which includes not participating in the financial reporting or audits of public companies for at least five years.

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French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon has been charged with misuse of public funds related to a fake jobs scandal that has significantly hurt his election campaign, media reports said on Tuesday. His lawyer, Antonin Levy, reportedly confirmed that Fillon was given the charges this morning after a hearing was brought forward “so that it could take place in a calm manner.” The conservative candidate was scheduled to be questioned by prosecutors on Wednesday as part of an investigation into whether he used public funds to pay his wife and children for phony jobs. Fillon has consistently denied any wrongdoing and refused to end his bid to become France’s next president.

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Airline stocks slumped again Tuesday, as investors felt the impact of thousands of cancelled flights in the face of winter storm Stella. There have been 6,041 flights cancelled Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com, as well as 2,352 delays. Among the more-active airlines, shares of American Airlines Group Inc. shed 3% to a four-month low in morning trade, with the carrier saying it had canceled more than 1,675 flights Tuesday, and 400 flights Wednesday because of the storm. Delta Air Lines Inc.’s stock slid 1.6%, also toward a four-month closing low. Delta said it had canceled 130 flights on Monday and 800 flights on Tuesday. Elsewhere, shares of United Continental Holdings Inc. dropped 3.4%, of Southwest Airlines Co. slumped 2% and of JetBlue Airways Corp. lost 1.7%. The NYSE Arca Airline Index gave up 1.3% to a 3 1/2-month low, after shedding 0.6% on Monday. The index was down 4.5% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.9%.

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