Tag: stock market

The pound was pushed below $1.23 Friday after a downbeat update on British retail sales in December. Sterling fell to an intraday low of $1.2283, according to FactSet, after data showed retail sales declined 1.9% in December on a month-over-month basis, the slowest pace of growth since 2012. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a rise of 0.2% in sales. The pound had traded hands around $1.2327 just before the data arrived from the Office for National Statistics. It’s the “sudden slowdown from November that is discouraging and this has dented sentiment around the pound,” said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, in a note. A consideration of quarterly figures offers “a more even view of the market. But the worry is that consumer sentiment is fickle and based largely on ballooning unsecured debt.” U.K. retail sales rose 5.6% in the fourth quarter.

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Federal authorities are investigating intercepted communications and financial transactions over possible links between Russia and members of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign team, the New York Times reported Thursday night. The counterintelligence investigation is focused on former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, policy adviser Carter Page and Republican strategist Roger Stone, the Times said. U.S. intelligence has concluded that Russia interfered in the presidential election, and worked in Trump’s favor. The newspaper’s sources did not say if the intercepts implicated anyone in illegal acts. Manfort told the Times the report was a “dirty trick and completely false.” The FBI is said to be leading the probe, which was not based on the secret dossier leaked last week containing a number of unsubstantiated claims.

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Former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert is seeking the repayment of $1.7 million in hush money from one of his molestation victims, according to a claim filed Thursday. Attorneys for Hastert, who is serving a 15-month prison sentence in Illinois for violating banking laws related to the payoffs, said the unnamed victim was paid money with the understanding he would not go public. Hastert claims that the deal was invalidated when the now-adult victim talked to investigators in 2014, and that he deserves his money back. Last year, the victim sued Hastert, seeking $1.8 million — the remainder of the total $3.5 million that Hastert originally agreed to pay for his silence. “Mr. Hastert has decided that rather than live up to his promise to compensate his victim for his molestation and resulting injury, he will ask his victim to pay him,” the victim’s attorney, Kristi Brown, said Thursday in a statement. At his sentencing last year, Hastert admitted molesting a number of teenage boys between 1965 and 1981. Prosecutors said Hastert could not be charged with those crimes because the statute of limitations had expired.

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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said it raised the pay of its Chief Executive Jamie Dimon by nearly 4%, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday. The bank will pay Dimon $28 million for 2016, the filing said. That’s up from last year’s $27 million. Dimon’s base salary of $1.5 million and cash incentive package of $5 million remain the same. The remaining $21.5 million of Dimon’s pay is in the form of performance share units, J.P. Morgan said. Shares of J.P. Morgan were down less than 0.1% at $83.28 after hours.

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Alcoa Corp. will restart the Portland Aluminium smelter in Australia following a power outage in December. Restoring production at the smelter is expected to take abuot six months. The facility had been operating at nearly 85% of capacity at 385,000 metric tons a year before the stoppage. The aluminum company also reached a four-year deal with AGL to secure a steady supply of electricity to the smelter. Alcoa shares were flat in the extended session after rising 1.8% to close at $35.42.

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Target Corp. said late Thursday it promoted Rick Gomez to executive vice president and chief marketing officer, effective Jan. 29. Gomez will be responsible for “furthering Target’s brand positioning and leading the integration of all marketing programs,” the company said in a statement. Gomez will report to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell. Gomez joined the retailer in 2013 after roles at PepsiCo and other companies. Shares of Target rose 0.2% in late trading after ending the regular session down 2.2%. The S&P 500 index ended the day down 0.4%.

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Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to pay $20 million to the Federal Trade Commission to settle claims that Uber had exaggerated driver earnings and terms of its vehicle leasing program, according to a filing Thursday. The order states that Uber is prohibited from misrepresenting the income a driver could earn, the terms and conditions of its leasing program and the terms and conditions of financing and leasing terms offered by Uber or by another partner. With the settlement, Uber neither claims nor denies any of the allegations, the filing says. Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Atlassian Corp. shares fluctuated between gains and losses in the extended session Thursday after the business collaboration software company topped Wall Street estimates for the latest quarter but issued an earnings outlook that fell short of the consensus. Atlassian shares, which at first rallied, then slipped into negative territory, traded up 0.3% to $27.50 after hours. The company reported adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings of 9 cents a share on revenue of $148.9 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 8 cents a share on revenue of $144 million. For the third quarter, Atlassian sees adjusted earnings of about 6 cents a share on revenue of $155 million to $157 million. Analysts expect third-quarter earnings of 8 cents a share on revenue of $154.4 million.

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International Business Machines Corp. topped 52-week highs in late trading Thursday after Big Blue beat earnings expectations. IBM reported net income of $4.5 billion, or $4.72 a share, on sales of $21.77 billion. After adjustments, IBM claimed profit of $5.01 a share. Analysts projected adjusted profit of $4.88 a share on sales of $21.63 billion, according to FactSet. IBM also projected better adjusted profit for 2017, saying it expected full-year profit to hit at least $13.80 a share, while analysts projected $13.74, according to FactSet. IBM, which declared a revenue decline for the 19th consecutive quarter, saw shares jump to more than $170 in late trading, topping the $169.95 intraday high of the past year.

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Shares of American Express Co. rose slightly late Thursday after the credit card company reported fourth-quarter earnings below expectations but quarterly sales slightly above forecasts. American Express said it earned $825 million, or 88 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $899 million, or 89 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $8 billion, down from $8.4 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 98 cents a share on sales of $7.9 billion. The quarter included higher spending on growth initiatives, largely marketing and promotion expenses, the company said in a statement. Shares of American Express ended the regular trading down 1%, which compares with losses of 0.4% for the S&P 500 index .

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