Tag: stock market

President Donald Trump said Thursday he’d like to “speed up” talks over renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he said has been a “catastrophe” for U.S. workers and jobs. In brief remarks at the White House, Trump suggested doing a “new Nafta” with an extra “f” representing the word “fair.” Trump spoke ahead of meeting Harley Davidson executives.

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New York’s Independent Drivers Guild, an organization of 50,000 drivers, called on Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick to resign from President Donald Trump’s business advisory council Thursday. The group launched a petition calling for Kalanick to step down in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration ban. Kalanick and Uber have faced backlash after the company was seen as undermining a protest related to the ban, and as Kalanick was seen as working with Trump, after he said he would bring concerns on the ban to the President. The group notes that many of their drivers are immigrants and 90% said the ban would affect them, a friend or a family member. The group is circling a petition, which currently has 132 out of 200 signatures. In addition to asking Kalanick to step down from the council, it asks for in-app tipping, which it says would support immigrant drivers, not penalizing drivers protesting the ban and for Uber to make a large donation to support a group fighting the immigration ban.

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Natural-gas futures showed little reaction Thursday to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing that supplies of natural gas fell by 87 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 27. That was generally in line with the decline of 83 billion expected by analyst polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 2.711 trillion cubic feet, down 266 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 59 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. March natural gas fell 3.7 cents, or 1.2%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $3.131 per million British thermal units. It traded at $3.129 before the data.

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U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday as uncertainty related to the new political environment continued to grow. President Donald Trump had raucous exchanges with Australia and Mexico, both of which are important allies and trading partners, and he also put Iran “on notice” over potential new sanctions after the country performed a ballistic missile test. The developments underlined the confusion that remains over the Trump administration’s policy priorities and aims. In economic news, jobless claims fell by 14,000 in the latest week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points, or 0.2%, to 19,858. The S&P 500 lost 4 points to 2,276, a drop of 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 16 points, or 0.3%, to 5,626. Among the most actively traded Nasdaq stocks was Facebook Inc , which fell 0.7% a day after it reported its quarterly results.

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Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. slumped 1.8% in premarket trade Thursday, after the air carrier’s January performance data showed that supply growth outpaced demand. Total system traffic rose 0.4% to 15.34 billion revenue passenger miles, while capacity increased 0.6% to 19.26 billion available seat miles. That pushed load factor down to 81.2% from 81.3%., with domestic load factor declining 30 basis points to 80.8% and international load factor rising 10 basis points to 81.8%. Delta’s stock had rallied 8.4% over the past 12 months through Wednesday, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index soared 43% and the S&P 500 gained 20%.

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New York Times Co. shares rose nearly 2% after the news company reported slightly lower fourth-quarter earnings but had its best quarter for digital subscription adds since 2011, the year the pay model launched. The company added 276,000 new digital subscribers. Net income for the quarter was $37.1 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with $51.7 million, or 31 cents during the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 30 cents, above FactSet’s consensus of 24 cents. Revenue hit $439.7 million in the quarter, down compared with the $444.7 million in revenue from a year ago, but just above FactSet’s $438.0 million consensus. Revenue from the company’s digital advertising increased 10.9% to $77.6 million, compared with $69.9 million last year, as print advertising revenue fell 20.4%. “With the rate of growth accelerating over the past year, we believe that there is further opportunity to significantly extend our subscription reach, both in the U.S. and around the world,” said New York Times Chief Executive Mark Thompson in a statement. Shares of the New York Times have increased 7% in the trailing 12-month period, while the S&P 500 Index has gained 20%.

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Merck & Co. Inc. shares surged as much as 1.4% in pre-market trade after company earnings numbers appeared to show its blockbuster Keytruda cancer drug beat expectations. But on the company’s earnings call, management said fourth-quarter sales for the drug included a one-time adjustment of $40 million in revenue “that had previously been deferred,” according to the FactSet transcript. As such, Keytruda fourth-quarter revenue was $443 million, compared with the FactSet consensus of $470 million. The Keytruda revenue number — at $483, a 125% increase from the year-earlier period — had previously appeared to be “the most important positive,” said Evercore ISI’s Mark Schoenebaum. “In fact, Keytruda missed the US consensus estimate.” Merck shares have risen 5.5% over the last three months, compared with a 8.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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CBS Corp. said Thursday it has entered an agreement with Entercom Communications Inc to merge the latter with CBS radio. The move will give the two a footprint of 244 stations across the country, and in 23 of the the top 25 U.S. markets, according to a news release. The merger is expected to be tax-free to CBS shareholders, who will gain 72% of all outstanding shares of the combined company after the transaction. Existing Entercom shareholders will own 28% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. “Radio reaches more Americans than any other medium, and offers advertisers outstanding ROI and local activation,” Entercom Chief Executive David Field said in a statement. Field will lead the combined company. “This transformational transaction creates scale-driven efficiencies and opportunities to compete more effectively with other media to better serve our listeners and our advertisers.” CBS shares have gained 38% in the trailing 12-month period and shares of Entercom have gained 43%, while the S&P 500 Index is up 20%.

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Ralph Lauren Corp. shares slid 10% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company said its chief executive is leaving and warned of charges to cover a restructuring program. The designer apparel brand had net income of $82 million, or 98 cents a share, in its fiscal third quarter, down from $131 million, or $1.54 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per share earnings came to $1.86 a share, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.64. Revenue came to $1.7 billion, down 12% from the year-earlier quarter, to match the FactSet consensus. Chief Executive Stefan Larsson said he has mutually agreed with the company to part ways. Larsson will stay on until May 1, while a search for a replacement is carried out. CFO Jane Nielsen will lead the company’s Way Forward plan in the interim, which aims to achieve $180 million to $220 million of annualized savings. The company is still expecting fiscal 2017 revenue to decline at a low-double digit rate. It expects operating margins of about 10% as cost savings kick in. For the fourth quarter, the company is expecting revenue to be down in the mid-teens. It expects to book restructuring charges of about $400 million and a $150 million inventory charge. Shares have fallen 22% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has lost 20%.

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The British government has published its White Paper on Brexit, which formally lays out its strategy for the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union. The 77-page document was presented in the House of Commons on Thursday by David Davis, the minister in charge of Brexit, at the same time it was published online. The paper’s release comes a day after lawmakers in the House of Commons voted in favor of a bill, which if it completes its process through parliament will allow U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to begin the Brexit. May had previously rejected calls for a White Paper on her plans, but had given way in the face of pressure from her own Conservative Party as well as from opposition lawmakers.

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