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Stock market news today: Stocks waver as investors evaluate Fed minutes

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U.S. stocks zigzagged between small gains and losses Wednesday as investors pored over minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting earlier this month.

The latest readout from the U.S. central bank’s Jan. 31- Feb. 1 gathering indicated officials were intent on proceeding with “ongoing increases” but open to reaching an endpoint later this year.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) teetered up 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) turned negative. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was a modest 0.3% higher.

“Participants concurred that the Federal Open Market Committee had made significant progress over the past year in moving toward a sufficiently restrictive stance of monetary policy,” the minutes said.

“Even so, participants agreed that, while there were signs that the cumulative effect of the Committee’s tightening of the stance of monetary policy had begun to moderate inflationary pressures, inflation remained well above the Committee’s longer-run goal of 2% and the labor market remained very tight.”

Discussions also reflected that most members favored the smaller 0.25% increase delivered during the latest policy decision but some in the group preferred raising rates by 50 basis points.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester admitted in a speech last week she would have favored the more sizable hike but officials did not want to surprise the markets, which were pricing in 0.25%.

“The worst of inflation may be in the rear view but it remains well-above the Fed’s target,” Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Office said in a note. “Bottom line is that many market headwinds aren’t going away and investors should expect volatility to stay as they parse over the impact rates being higher for longer will have.”

Earlier in the day, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard in a televised interview with CNBC said the U.S. central bank must bring the federal funds rate to a range of 5.25% to 5.5% in order to bring inflation back down to its 2% target.

Wall Street banks have recently revised their expectations for upcoming rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Teams at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America said last week they estimate three more rate increases this year. Ahead of February’s interest rate increase, some market participants had seen that move potentially marking the end of the Fed’s rate hiking cycle.

Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Coinbase (COIN) was among movers on Wednesday, falling 5% even after the cryptocurrency exchange reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates and losses for the full year that were narrower than feared.

Elsewhere in specific names, Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) stock jumped nearly 12% after the cybersecurity firm raised its annual profit outlook and said it was working on managing costs.

Chinese search engine Baidu (BIDU) reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results, boosted by strength in its cloud, advertising and artificial intelligence segments. Shares were down 3% in the afternoon after reversing gains from earlier in the session.

Meme stock darling AMC Entertainment (AMC) was on watch after the Allegheny County Employees’ Retirement System filed a class action lawsuit in Delaware alleging the movie theater company created preferred shares without their permission.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were steady early into the day after rising sharply Tuesday to the highest levels since November.

The moves follow a steep sell-off Tuesday that saw the S&P 500 nosedive 2% below 4,000, the Dow wipe out 700 points and the Nasdaq plunge 2.5% — the moves coming as investors adjust their expectations to higher interest rates for longer.

Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc

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Cineplex reports $24.7M Q3 loss on Competition Tribunal penalty

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TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.

The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.

The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.

Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Restaurant Brands reports US$357M Q3 net income, down from US$364M a year ago

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TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:QSR)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Electric and gas utility Fortis reports $420M Q3 profit, up from $394M a year ago

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.

The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.

Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:FTS)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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