Tag: stock market

A group of ethics experts and constitutional scholars plans to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Monday morning, claiming that Trump is breaking the law by allowing his hotels and other businesses to profit from foreign governments. Trump was pressed to divest his business holdings before he took office, but did not, instead passing day-to-day operations to his two adult sons. The group, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, claims that Trump is breaking the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause. “His Constitutional violations are immediate and serious, so we were forced to take legal action,” said CREW in a statement late Sunday. CREW is not seeking monetary damages, but will ask a federal court to block Trump’s businesses from accepting payments from foreign governments.

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Merck & Co. Inc. will pay $625 million and royalties to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to settle patent litigation over Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda, the companies said Friday afternoon. As part of the settlement all patent litigation will be dismissed, and the companies have granted certain patent rights to each other. Merck will pay royalties on global Keytruda sales of 6.5% between 2017 and the end of 2023 and 2.5% between 2024 and 2026, with the royalties being split 75/25 between Bristol-Myers and Ono. Merck said the $625 million payment would be recorded in its fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 results, but excluded from its non-GAAP results. In their lawsuit against Merck, Bristol-Myers and Ono, which made cancer drug Opdivo, said its Keytruda sales infringed on various of its global patents. Bristol-Myers shares slumped 2.2% over the last three months, compared with a 1.0% rise in Merck shares and a 6.1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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U.S. stocks closed higher Friday after coming off intraday highs as Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the U.S. In his inauguration speech, the new president reiterated his protectionist stance but did not offer details on how he would go about pursuing his agenda. The S&P 500 rose 7 points, or 0.3%, to close at 2,271 for a weekly decline of 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 92 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 19,824, falling 0.3% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 15 points, or 0.3%, to close at 5,555, down shed 0.3% on the week.

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Moody’s Investors Service on Friday downgraded ratings on Sears Holdings to Caa2 from Caa1, sending the credit further into speculative, or “junk” territory. The action reflects the retailer’s steadily deteriorating performance after it said holiday same-store sales fell 12% to 13% from the year-earlier period. “Although Sears has been able to fund its continued cash shortfalls through planned asset monetization, and additional financings, a meaningful business turnaround in fiscal 2017 is critical given the continued reduction of its asset base”, Moody’s Vice President, Christina Boni said in a statement. “We expect operating cash flow to approach a disappointing loss of $1.5 billion for fiscal 2016.” Sear’s most active bonds, the 6.625% notes due October 2018 were trading at 93 cents on the dollar, according to MarketAxess.

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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that oversees the commodity futures, options and swaps industry, named J. Christopher Giancarlo acting chairman on Friday. Giancarlo succeeds Timothy Massad, a Democrat, who was appointed by former President Obama in June 2014 and resigned in early January. Giancarlo, a Republican, joined the CFTC as a commissioner in June 2014.

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AutoZone Inc. said Friday that it will hire more than 12,000 part-tme and full-time workers through April. The most hiring will occur in New York City, Oakland, CA, Cincinnati and Columbus, OH, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas and Pittsburgh. The company will hire across a number of positions, including sales representatives and store managers. Applications must be submitted online at autozone.com/careers. AutoZone shares are nearly flat in Friday trading, and are up nearly 8% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 22% for the past 12 months.

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Oil futures settled higher on Friday, supported by declines in crude output among major producers. Data released Friday from Baker Hughes, however, showed a sharp weekly rise of 29 rigs actively drilling for oil, prompting prices to pare some of their earlier gains. February West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.05, or 2%, to settle at $52.42 a barrel. The contract, which expired at the settlement, gained 0.1% for the week. March WTI crude , the new front-month contract, added $1.10, or 2.1%, to $53.22.

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Gold futures climbed Friday as weakness in the U.S. dollar and uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency helped to lift prices by roughly 0.7% for the week. February gold rose $3.40, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,204.90 an ounce.

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Data from Baker Hughes Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil jumped higher by 29 to 551 rigs this week. The oil rig count had edged lower last week, but rose in each of the 10 previous weeks. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also rose by 35 to 694, according to Baker Hughes. February West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.02, or 2%, at $52.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange from Thursday’s settlement. It traded below the $52.59 it traded at before the rig data.

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The Mexican peso rallied after President Trump’s inauguration speech didn’t specifically mention Mexico. The country was a frequent target of criticism by Trump, who had pledged to build a wall along the U.S. southern border. The peso, which fell about 20% over the past 12 months, rose 1.3% on Friday, with the dollar buying 21.66 compared with 21.56 late Thursday in New York. The peso is still on track to post weekly declines against the dollar.

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