An hour ago
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rises 2%, driven by financial sector
3 hours ago
Exxon’s $60 billion deal to buy the shale giant is “an entry for the record books,” an analyst says
Exxon Mobil’s acquisition of shale rival Pioneer Natural Resources is the largest oil and gas merger in a decade and “one for the record books,” says Pavel Molchanov, managing director and equity analyst at Raymond James.
On Wednesday, Exxon Mobil said it had agreed to buy Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5 billion in an all-stock deal, or $253 per share. The deal is Exxon’s largest since its acquisition of Mobil and is expected to close in the first half of 2024.
While this is a “good deal” for Exxon from a historical perspective, Molchanov noted that it is important to also recognize that Exxon’s shares are trading at a much lower value than before.
Exxon estimated its production volume in the Permian Basin would more than double to 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
“It is no coincidence that the Permian is at the center of his deal,” Molchanov said, adding that it is the “most productive and economically attractive basin.”
Pioneer shares rose 1.44% at the close, while Exxon shares fell 3.58%.
–Lee Ying Shan, Fred Imbert
6 hours ago
India’s inflation data for September is expected to ease
India is expected to release its September inflation numbers later on Thursday. Analysts at Portal forecast a 5.5% increase from last year.
The forecast value would represent an increase of 6.83% in August, mainly due to food prices.
“A moderation in food and fuel inflation likely led to a moderation in the overall rate,” said a Barclays report that dated the forecasts to early October.
However, slower inflation may still not be enough for India’s central bank to start cutting interest rates.
“Even with a big fall to below 5.5%, inflation merely settles back into the upper half of the RBI’s inflation target of 4+/-2%,” Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho, wrote in a daily note. He assumes that the document would simply give the country’s central bank the “comfort of maintaining interest rates, not lowering them” and would also maintain a “slightly hawkish bias.”
The Reserve Bank of India kept interest rates steady at 6.5% last week.
–Lee Ying Shan
8 hours ago
More than three out of four new stocks launched this year are trading below their IPO price
A record number of companies went public this year, but many of them have not met their IPO price since then.
Year to date, 88 companies have made their debut on the public markets, up 37.5% from a year ago. However, 76% of these stocks are trading below their IPO price. That includes sandal maker Birkenstock, whose IPO price was $46 per share but closed at $40.20 on Wednesday, down 12.6%.
Kenvue and Instacart are also among the stocks trading below their offering price. Kenvue is down 11% since trading began, while Instacart has lost nearly 17% since its debut.
-Darla Mercado, Gina Francolla
8 hours ago
Kevin Simpson says the defense sector remains “lousy”.
Defense stocks have surged this week following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, with the iShares US Aerospace and Defense ETF up 5.8% for the week so far. Still, Kevin Simpson, chief investment officer of Capital Wealth Planning, sold some of his Lockheed Martin shares on the strength – noting that he remains bearish on the defense sector overall.
“We have been selling Lockheed since September due to relative underperformance. That’s how bad this sector and the stock was,” Simpson told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday.
Simpson added that he was selling the stock due to its underperformance compared to relative price action.
Reducing his exposure to the defense contractor “says nothing about what happened over the weekend; [it] “It speaks more to the fact that I think there’s dysfunction in Washington and it’s going to take some time before they maybe get their act together and do what we’re all hoping for,” Simpson said.
– Hakyung Kim
9 hours ago
Stocks make the biggest moves after hours
Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading.
Victoria’s Secret & Company – Shares rose 1.1% after the company’s third-quarter forecast came in stronger than expected. The company reduced its forecasts for adjusted net and operating losses.
Microsoft – The technology company fell 0.5% after reports that the Internal Revenue Service is demanding $28.9 billion in additional taxes from the company. Microsoft said it would dispute the claims and take the matter to court if necessary.
Neogen – Shares of the food safety company rose nearly 4% after Chief Financial Officer David Naemura bought 10,000 shares, according to an SEC filing.
– Hakyung Kim
9 hours ago
Stock futures rose slightly on Thursday
US stock futures opened slightly higher on Thursday evening.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 38 points, or 0.1%.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also rose 0.1%.
– Hakyung Kim