Tag: stock market

FedEx Corp earnings came up short of analysts’ expectations Tuesday, and shares declined 3% in late trading. The shipping giant reported net income of $700 million, or $2.59 a share, on sales of $14.9 billion for its fiscal second quarter Tuesday afternoon. After adjustments for costs related to acquisitions, integration and restructuring, FedEx claimed profit of $2.80 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected FedEx to report adjusted earnings of $2.91 a share on sales of $14.9 billion. FedEx shares fell below $194 after closing with a 0.6% gain at $198.74.

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Nike Inc. shares surged in the extended session Tuesday after the athletic apparel giant topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Nike shares rose 3.5% to $53.61 after hours. The company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $8.18 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 43 cents a share on revenue of $8.09 billion.

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U.S. stocks finished higher on Tuesday, led by a rally in bank stocks, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished just below the psychologically important 20,000 level. Both the Dow and Nasdaq Composite Index closed at fresh all-time highs, with the S&P 500 index falling just short of its own record. The S&P 500 gained 8.23 points, or 0.4%, to 2,270.76, led by financials and consumer-discretionary stocks. The Dow climbed 90.95 points, or 0.5%, to 19,974.14, as Nike Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group led the blue-chip benchmark. The Nasdaq gained 26.50 points, or 0.5%, to 5,483.94.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve on Tuesday extended the comment period on its plan to make it more difficult for banks to be involved in physical commodities. Under the proposal, firms would have to hold more capital, not be able to engage in activities involving power plants and not be allowed to own or store copper. Comments are now due on Feb. 20 rather than later this week. The Fed said more time was needed so that interested parties could analyze the issues.

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Crude-oil prices finished higher Tuesday, and futures scored a third positive session of gains in a row, ahead of weekly supply updates on crude inventories in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery , the most active contract, finished at 24 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $53.30 a barrel, while the January contract , which expired Tuesday, settled up 11 cents, or 0.2%, at $52.23 a barrel. A weekly U.S. supply update is due from the trade industry group American Petroleum Institute at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday and on Wednesday weekly inventory data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be released at 10.30 a.m. Eastern. Both reports are likely to be influential to crude-oil futures, which have traded in a relatively narrow, albeit positive, range since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers forged a pact to cut production. Fears that producers will not adhere to those production limits has caused oil futures to experience volatile trade.

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Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp rallied 2% in afternoon trade Tuesday, after the bank said it was increasing its dividend by 8%. The new quarterly dividend of 14 cents a share, up from 13 cents a share, will be payable Jan. 17 to shareholders of record on Dec. 30. Based on the stock’s current price of $27.77, the new annual dividend rate of 56 cents a share represents a dividend yield of 2.02%, compared with the yield of 1.97% for the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF and the aggregate dividend yield for the S&P 500 of 2.08%, according to FactSet. The stock has run up 38% year to date, while the financial ETF has climbed 22% and the S&P 500 has gained 11%.

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Gold prices dropped to settle lower Tuesday, following a brief reprieve Monday, as the dollar strengthened and stocks edged higher. Gold for February delivery settled down $9.10, or 0.8%, at $1,133.60 an ounce as the U.S. Dollar index ticked up 0.1% to its highest levels since December 2002. On the other hand, silver for March delivery settled up 2.8 cents, or 0.2%, at just under $16.12 an ounce.

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AMC Entertainment Holding Inc.’s proposed $1.2 billion buyout of Carmike Cinemas Inc. was approved Tuesday by the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, with certain conditions. AMC will have to sell off theaters in 15 local markets, sell most of its holdings and give up governance rights in cinema media company National CineMedia LLC and transfer 24 theaters to the network of Screenvision LLC to close the deal. “Moviegoers across the United States have benefitted from head-to-head competition between AMC and Carmike that has kept ticket prices in check and delivered a higher quality movie experience,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse of the DOJ’s antitrust division. “Today’s settlement will ensure that movie theatre competition is preserved in 15 local markets where AMC and Carmike currently compete.” AMC’s stock rose 0.9% while Carmike shares eased 0.3%. Year to date, shares of AMC have rallied 39% and of Carmike have soared 45%, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.

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Allergan plc shares slumped 1.4% in morning trade Tuesday after the company announced a $2.9 billion cash deal to buy Acelity’s regenerative medicine company LifeCell. The company said that its portfolio, combined with LifeCell’s regenerative medicines business, would provide “significant opportunity to enhance the overall product offering for plastic and geenral surgery customers globally.” Allergan said it expects LifeCell, which sells various products used for breast reconstruction and soft tissue repair, to generate about $450 million in revenue next year. As part of the acquisition Allergan will also get LifeCell’s New Jersey manufacturing space and R&D operations. The purchase is “both strategically and financially compelling to Allergan,” said CEO Brent Saunders, with the company citing statistics about the growing number of reconstructive breast surgeries and breast cancer’s prevalence. Allergan shares have dropped 39.2% year-to-date, compared with a 11.0% rise in the S&P 500 .

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The Securities and Exchange Commission said it’s fined Morgan Stanley & Co. $7.5 million for allegedly using trades involving customer cash to lower the firm’s borrowing costs. The SEC order said from March 2013 to May 2015, Morgan Stanley’s U.S. broker-dealer used transactions with an affiliate to reduce the amount it was required to deposit in its customer reserve account. The affiliate used margin loans from the U.S. broker-dealer to finance the costs of hedging swap trades with customers, the SEC said. Morgan Stanley didn’t admit or deny the findings.

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