2018-07-18 16:25:20 | Fly Intel: Wall Street's top stories for WednesdayStocks opened with modest gains as investors appeared to be in a holding pattern. The averages moved in a narrow range throughout the session, with the Dow and S&P closing in the green and the Nasdaq finishing not far from where it began. The Fed's Beige Book report said the economy has continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace, though manufacturers have signaled some worries about tariffs. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., housing starts plunged 12.3% to an annual pace of 1.173M in June. Building permits declined 2.2% to a 1.273M rate. Also, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell appeared before the House Financial Services Committee to deliver his second day of testimony on monetary policy after presenting yesterday to members of the Senate. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said in today's Beige Book that economic activity has continued to expand across the U.S., with 10 of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts reporting moderate or modest growth. The Fed added that manufacturers in all districts have express concern about tariffs. COMPANY NEWS: The EU has hit Alphabet-owned Google (GOOG, GOOGL) with a record $5B antitrust fine for abusing the dominance of its Android mobile operating system. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, in response to the European Commission competition ruling, stated that the decision "rejects the business model that supports Android, which has created more choice for everyone, not less. We intend to appeal." Commenting on the decision, Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said he believes it to be a "pro-Amazon" (AMZN) ruling, benefiting the e-commerce giant and potentially Apple (AAPL) as well. Alphabet later said in a statement that it will take a charge of $5.07B in its second quarter results as a result of the fine... Amazon announced that its latest Prime Day surpassed Cyber Monday, Black Friday and the previous year's event, when comparing 36-hour periods, to become the biggest shopping event in Amazon history. Prime members worldwide purchased more than 100M products and small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon "far exceeded" $1B in sales, Amazon stated. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Morgan Stanley (MS), which rose nearly 3% after it reported better than expected quarterly results, authorized a $4.7B share repurchase program, and raised its quarterly dividend to 30c per share. Also higher after reporting quarterly results were United Continental (UAL), CSX (CSX), and Abbott (ABT), which gained a respective 9%, 7%, and 3%. Among the notable losers was Sonic Automotive (SAH), which slipped 4% after it provided downbeat guidance for the second quarter. Also lower was Healthcare Services (HCSG), which fell 9% after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: The Dow rose 79.40, or 0.32%, to 25,199.29, the Nasdaq slipped 0.67, or 0.01%, to 7,854.44, and the S&P 500 advanced 6.07, or 0.22%, to 2,815.62. | |
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