Tag: stock market

Germany’s economy expanded by the fastest pace since 2011 last year, with gross domestic product rising 1.9% year-on-year in inflation-adjusted terms. That’s up from 1.7% in 2015 and beating the government’s own forecast of 2016 growth of 1.8%. “The German economy has once again defied several deep hits. Despite the stock market crash in China, Brexit, Turkey, Trump and Italy, the economy performed its best growth year since 2011. Strong domestic demand has shielded the German economy against most external risks,” said Carsten Brzeski, ING’s chief economist for Germany. “The year 2017 will in our view look very much like 2016, only with a bit less of everything,” he added. German stocks, however, traded lower on Thursday, pressured by a rise in the euro . The DAX 30 index dropped 0.5% to 11,592.02.

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Novo Nordisk A/S shares dropped 5.4% on Thursday after a U.S. law firm filed a class action lawsuit against the Danish pharmaceutical company on behalf of the Lehigh County Employees’ Retirement System in Pennsylvania. The complaint, filed by Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, alleges Novo Nordisk “reported materially false and misleading earnings and forecasts in that they were inflated through the collusive price fixing of the company’s insulin drugs.” The complaint also alleges the drug maker “misrepresented and concealed the true extent of the pricing pressures it was experiencing from pharmacy benefit managers.” Novo Nordisk is the world’s largest insulin maker for the treatment of diabetes. The lawsuit covers the time between April 30, 2015 to Oct. 27, 2016.

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China’s implied oil demand in November hit the second highest level on record at an average 11.44 million barrels a day, according to an analysis of Chinese government data by S&P Global Platts released Thursday. That was 4.1% higher than the same month a year earlier. The increase came as the nation’s imports of key oil products rose to a six-month high of 1.1 million barrels a day, the report said. “Gasoline and jet fuel demand for the transport sector are likely to rise significantly prior to the start of the holidays as people across the country travel home to celebrate the new year, which falls on January 28,” said Song Yen Ling, senior analyst with Platts China Oil Analytics. February West Texas Intermediate crude was at $52.30 a barrel in electronic trading, after settling Wednesday at $52.25 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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The San Diego Chargers intend to move to Los Angeles, ESPN reported Wednesday night. The official announcement may come as early as Thursday. After more than two decades with no NFL teams, Los Angeles will now have two, after the St. Louis Rams moved back last year. The teams will share the same stadium, a $2.6 billion facility in Inglewood that broke ground in November. ESPN reported the team has yet to formally notify the NFL or San Diego officials about the move. The Chargers played in San Diego for 55 years, but spent their first season in Los Angeles in 1960. The move also has implications for the Oakland Raiders, who had a league-approved option to move to L.A. if the Chargers decided to stay put. The Raiders’ choices are now to move to a proposed stadium in Las Vegas, or work out a new stadium deal in Oakland. The Chargers’ move leaves the nation’s 17th-largest metro area — bigger than Denver, St. Louis or Charlotte — with only one pro team, baseball’s Padres. The NBA’s Clippers left San Diego for Los Angeles in 1984.

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The Department of Treasury on Wednesday added Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, to its sanctions list along with six other North Korean officials. Two North Korean government agencies–the Ministry of Labor and the State Planning Commission–were also sanctioned to further punish the Communist country for its human rights abuses. U.S. citizens are banned from conducting business with persons and organizations on the Treasury’s sanctions list. Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong Un, was widely reported to have run North Korea while her brother was hospitalized for an extended period in 2014.

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Shares of Applied Optoelectronics Inc. rallied in the extended session Wednesday after the optical network equipment company forecast earnings well above its original outlook. Applied Optoelectronics shares jumped 19% to $27.08 after hours. The company expects adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 77 cents to 82 cents a share on revenue of $84.5 million to $84.8 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 50 cents a share on revenue of $77.5 million, based on the company’s previous earnings guidance of 46 cents to 51 cents a share on revenue of $75 million to $79 million.

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Worldwide PC shipments fell 1.5% in the fourth quarter, a big improvement from a 10.6% decline last holiday shopping season, with Lenovo Group holding the top position in the market despite close competition from HP Inc. . Lenovo shipped 15.7 million PCs during the quarter, a 1.7% year-over-year improvement, which lifted its share of the market slightly to 22.4%, according to IDC. HP was a stone’s throw away, shipping 15.3 million, representing growth of 6.6% over the same quarter last year, as HP’s share of the market grew to 21.7%. Rounding out the top four were Dell and Apple Inc. . Apple’s PC shipments declined by 1% to 5.3 million year-over-year, despite reflecting sales of the new MacBook Pro, according to IDC. Gartner, another tracker of such metrics that doesn’t include Alphabet Inc.’s Chromebooks, was more pessimistic on the industry, reporting a 3.7% decline in total shipments.

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Oil futures settled higher Wednesday, recouping much of the losses they suffered over the past two trading sessions. Prices found support amid expectations that President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to boost the economy will help lift energy demand and from signs of Saudi compliance with the output cut agreement. U.S. government data revealed a hefty weekly climb in crude and crude-product supplies but that failed to put any lasting pressure on prices. February West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.43, or 2.8%, to settle at $52.25 a barrel.

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Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries marked its first monthly decline in seven months, according to a recent survey from S&P Global Platts. Output from the group’s 13 members fell by 280,000 barrels a day in December from a month earlier, to 32.85 million barrels a day. Including Indonesia, whose membership was suspended at a meeting in December. Output fell to 33.57 million barrels a day. The survey showed that the declines were due to “hefty falls” in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, “a month before the group’s pledge to rein in production.” February West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $52.50 a barrel, up $1.68, or 3.3%, just ahead of the settlement on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Gold futures rallied Wednesday, with the price climb gaining steam in the last hour before the settlement. The metal found support as the U.S. Dollar Index turned lower and the stock market saw some pressure in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s news conference. Trump’s press conference “was a sign of things to come, with his hyperbolic, unpredictable style bringing volatility to investment markets,” said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. “Gold will react positively to the uncertainty Trump creates, but only over very brief periods.” February gold rose $11.10, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,196.60 an ounce–the highest settlement since Nov. 22, according to FactSet data.

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