Tag: stock market

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission settled charges against Citigroup Global Markets Inc. on Thursday for spoofing – bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution – in U.S. Treasury futures markets between July 16, 2011 and December 31, 2012. Citigroup will pay a $25 million penalty. Five of its traders spoofed more than 2,500 times in various Chicago Mercantile Exchange U.S. Treasury futures products by placing bids or offers of 1,000 lots or more with the intent to cancel those orders before execution. On at least one occasion, some of the traders coordinated with each other to implement the spoofing strategy, by placing one or more spoofing orders after another trader had placed one or more smaller resting orders in the same or a correlated futures or cash market. The regulator also cited the bank’s broker-dealer subsidiary for failing to diligently supervise the activities of its employees and agents in conjunction with the spoofing activity. The CME Group assisted in the investigation. Citigroup neither admitted nor denied the allegations. Citi shares have gained 35% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 20.7%.

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Cytori Therapeutics Inc. stock surged 7.9% to $1.78 per share in morning trade Thursday after the company said it had agreed to purchase assets from privately-held Azaya Therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, Cytori will issue $2 million of its common stock and will pay off about $2 million of Azaya’s trade payables, with future milestone, royalty and other payments possible. The purchase includes a portfolio of investigational oncology therapies and related intellectual property, and at its close Cytori will enter a five-year lease for San Antonio, Tx-based Azaya’s nanoparticle manufacturing and development facility. The purchase will give Cytori’s late-stage cell therapy technology access to a clinically proven pharmaceutical delivery system, Cytori said, and its clinical pipeline will expand with the addition of two oncology drugs. Cytori shares have dropped 9.1% over the last three months, compared with a 6.0% rise in the S&P 500 .

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U.S. stocks opened marginally higher on Thursday as investors awaited the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who will take the oath of office on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained less than 0.1% to 19,822k. If the blue-chip gauge finishes lower, it’ll notch its fifth straight drop — its longest losing streak since before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. The S&P 500 index gained one points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,273. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 7 points, or 0.1%, to 5,562. Netflix Inc. rose after the company late Wednesday reported blockbuster fourth-quarter earnings. Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. also rose after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight from equal-weight. The euro fell , helping to drive the dollar higher, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi played down a recent pickup in eurozone inflation.

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Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares surged 17.1% in pre-market trade Thursday after the company released positive early-stage clinical trial results for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug. The drug, edasalonexent, works to inhibit the NF-kB pathway, thought to play a key role in the rare disease’s characteristic muscular degeneration. Unlike the first drug approved for DMD, which is made by Sarepta and intended for patients with a specific gene mutation, edasalonexent could potentially treat all patients with the disease. Catabasis also has a partnership with Sarepta to study a combination treatment, which was announced last fall. Catabasis shares have dropped 12.6% over the last three months, compared with a 6.0% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Netflix Inc.’s stock ran up 6.6% in premarket trade Thursday after a better-than-expected quarterly report, prompting Macquarie Research to back off its bearish stance on the video streaming company. Analyst Tim Nollen upgraded Netflix to neutral from underperform, and raised his stock price target to $135 from $85, which was 36% below Wednesday’s closing price of $133.26. Nollen said that while he remains cautious Netflix’s free cash flow burn in the face of rising competition, subscribers are what drives the stock, and strong sub additions during the fourth quarter has eased some of his concerns. “We’re not going to fight the trends: Netflix is doing a good job driving subs with a wealth of content that is proving popular,” Nollen wrote in a note to clients. The stock has rallied 9.4% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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Tesla Motors Inc. was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley Thursday, on the belief that Model 3 volume is improving and a “surprisingly supportive political environment,” supported by CEO Elon Musk’s role as strategic advisory to president-elect Donald Trump, will aid the company’s expansion plans. Morgan Stanley raised its 12-month price target on the stock to $305 from $242, implying an increase of 30% from Wednesday’s closing price. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said the upgrade also reflects a greater push by original equipment manufacturers to address the strict regulatory landscape affecting electric cars, and a recent pullback by some major competitors, such as Alphabet Inc. , that once posed a risk to Tesla. Shares of Tesla have risen 17% in the past three months and 16.5% in the past year. The S&P 500 , by comparison, is up 6% in the past three months and 21% in the past year. The stock traded 3.8% higher to $247.50 in premarket trade.

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Pizza Hut, a Yum Brands Inc. subsidiary, said Thursday that it plans to fill about 11,000 jobs in the U.S. Last year, the brand said it planned to grow to 8,500 stores in the U.S. and 20,000 worldwide. The new positions, announced weeks before Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5, will range from pizza makers to store managers and delivery drivers. Yum Brands shares are unchanged in premarket trading, and are up 30.2% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 20.8% for the past 12 months.

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Allergan PLC said early Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved its cream for persistent facial redness in adults. An estimated 16 million Americans have rosacea, which most commonly manifests as persistent facial redness and can be triggered by sun exposure, stress, exercise and more. The treatment, Rhofade, will be available commercially starting in May, Allergan said. Allergan shares, which were up a scant 1.0% in pre-market trade, have dropped 5.4% over the last three months, compared with a 6.0% rise in the S&P 500 .

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U.S. stock futures on Thursday traded slightly lower after the European Central Bank kept its interest rates unchanged as expected. Dow futures were off 0.1% at 19,712, the S&P 500 index futures slipped 0.1% at 2,264, while those for the Nasdaq-100 were near break-even levels at 5,051. The ECB Governing Council left its rate on main refinancing operations at 0%, while holding the rate on its overnight deposit facility at minus 0.4% and the rate on its marginal lending facility at 0.25%. ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to hold a conference call in about half an hour. Last month, the ECB decided to extend its bond-buying program through the end of 2017.

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The European Central Bank, as expected, left interest rates unchanged Thursday, putting the focus on ECB President Mario Draghi’s news conference. The ECB Governing Council left its rate on main refinancing operations at 0%, while holding the rate on its overnight deposit facility at minus 0.4% and the rate on its marginal lending facility at 0.25%. The decision was expected after the ECB last month decided to extend its bond buying program through the end of 2017. In its statement, the ECB said it would stick to the pace and timetable for purchases laid out in December, but that the Governing Council was ready to “increase the program in terms of size and/or duration” if the outlook “becomes less favorable, or if financial conditions become inconsistent with furhter progress toward a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation.” Draghi’s news conference is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. Frankfurt time, or 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

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