On The Fly: Top Stock Stories For Friday, June 29, 2018

Stocks opened in positive territory after taking their cue from European and Asian markets, which traded higher overnight. The market entered the final trading day of the second quarter with gains for the year for both the Nasdaq and S&P, though the Dow had lost all its gains in the final two weeks of June. The market closed the quarter on a high note as the financials led a rally following solid stress test results on the country's 30 largest banks.

ECONOMIC EVENTS:
In the U.S., personal income rose 0.4% in May, in-line with expectations, and spending was up 0.2%, which was below expectations. The Chicago PMI rose another 1.4 points to 64.1 in June, which was significantly better than the consensus forecast for a pullback to a reading of 60.0. The final University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading for June came in at 98.2, which was up 0.2 points from 98.0 in May but lower than the preliminary June print of 99.3. In energy news, Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. rig count is down 5 rigs from last week to 1,047.

Meanwhile, Canada's government announced that it will impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports of steel, aluminum and other products. The tariffs will come into effect July 1.

COMPANY NEWS:
Nike (NKE) shares jumped 11.1% after the sneaker and athletic wear giant reported better than expected results for its fourth quarter, announced a new $15B stock repurchase program, and raised its revenue growth view for fiscal 2019...

Last night, the Federal Reserve Board released results of its latest Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, or CCAR, test. The central bank did not object to the capital plans of 34 firms and objected to the capital plan of one firm, Deutsche Bank USA (DB), citing "qualitative concerns," namely the firm's data capabilities and controls as well as weaknesses in its approaches and assumptions used to forecast revenues and losses under stress. The Fed also issued conditional non-objections to the capital plans of both Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), noting that both firms will maintain their capital distributions at the levels they paid in recent years, allowing them to build capital over the next year...

Synnex (SNX) and Convergys (CVG) confirmed that they reached an agreement under which Synnex would acquire Convergys for $26.50 per share in a cash and stock deal, or a total purchase price of $2.43B...

Meanwhile, shares of General Motors (GM) finished 2.8% lower after Reuters reported that the company said that tariffs on imported vehicles that the Trump administration is considering could lead to a "smaller GM." According to Reuters, the car maker said that such tariffs could result in a reduced presence and risk a loss of jobs in the U.S.

MAJOR MOVERS:
Among the noteworthy gainers was Gemphire Therapeutics (GEMP), which surged 94.5% after it said it achieved the primary endpoint in a Phase 2b clinical trial. Also higher was Acceleron (XLRN), which jumped 42.8% after luspatercept, a maturation agent jointly developed by Acceleron and Celgene (CELG), achieved primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 study.

Among the notable losers were Tenet (THC), which slid 3% after Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Also lower was Constellation Brands (STZ), which fell almost 6% after the beer and wine maker reported quarterly results.

INDEXES:
The Dow rose 55.36, or 0.23%, to 24,271.41, the Nasdaq gained 6.62, or 0.09%, to 7,510.30, and the S&P 500 advanced 5.68, or 0.2%, to 2,721.99.

Disclaimer: TheFly's news is intended for informational purposes only and does not claim to be actionable for investment decisions. Read more at  more

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