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 U.S. stocks opened flat on Wednesday as trade worries and concerns about the balance of monetary policy and growth outweighed solid results from Bank of America and a boost to chipmakers from Dutch company ASML.
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Overly optimistic expectations about trade tensions and monetary stimulus coupled with Brexit and Italy's spending plans could shake European stocks, four analysts have told CNBC.
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 Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that this year's two-day Prime Day shopping event was the biggest shopping event in the company's history, surpassing Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. More than 175 million items were purchased, with the event becoming the largest-ever for Amazon devices, including the Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote. Prime members also bought 100,000 lunchboxes, 100,000 laptops, 350,000 luxury beauty products, and more than one million toys. Amazon says Prime members around the world saved more than $1 billion. Eighteen countries participated this year. And Amazon reports it signed up the most new Prime members ever on July 15 and nearly as many on July 16. Amazon stock has gained 33.6% in 2019 while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 20% for the period.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Resurgent trade tensions, concern over the outlook for corporate America and the growing risk of a chaotic Brexit in the United Kingdom curtailed appetite for equities on Wednesday and stoked demand for "safe" government bonds.
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U.S. stock indexes tread water at the start of trading Wednesday, with investors finding few reasons to take benchmarks further into record territory, amid a round of earnings from U.S. corporations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 17 points, or less than 0.1%, lower at 27,316, the S&P 500 index retreated less than 0.1% at 3,003, while the Nasdaq Composite Index inched less than 0.1% lower at 8,224. Bank of America reported better-than-expected results, with earnings per share for the quarter at 74 cents, compared with estimates for 71 cents. But expectations for lower profits, in an environment of falling interest rates, have put some pressure on shares of the second-largest bank by assets. Meanwhile, shares of CSX Corp. were down after the rail company cut its full-year sales projections, citing economic uncertainty and a recent shutdown of a major oil refinery it served.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Massachusetts-based cannabis company Curaleaf Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it was buying multi-state operator GR Companies Inc. in a deal valued at $875 million in cash and stock. Under terms of the deal, Curaleaf will pay $75 million in cash and provide 102.8 million subordinate voting shares and $40 million worth of shares. The acquisition, which is expected to close in early 2020, will increase Curaleaf's presence to 19 states from 12, including Illinois, which legalized adult-use cannabis in June. The combined company will have 131 dispensary licences, 68 operational locations, 20 cultivation sites and 26 processing facilities. Curaleaf's U.S.-listed shares have tumbled 35.1% over the past three months, while the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF has lost 11.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.6%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Shares of Comerica Inc. dropped 2.0% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the Texas-based regional bank reported a second-quarter profit and net interest income (NII) that missed expectations, and provided a downbeat NII outlook. Net income was $298 million, or $1.94 a share, after earnings of $326 million, or $1.87 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted EPS rose to $1.94 from $1.90, but was below the FactSet consensus of $2.00. NII increased to $603 million from $590 million, but missed the FactSet consensus of $609 million, as an increase in deposit costs and higher levels of funding to support loan growth offset an increase in average loans and an additional day in this year's quarter. For 2019, the company NII growth of 2%, while the FactSet consensus of $2.42 billion implies 2.8% growth. The stock has shed 9.5% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF has slipped 3.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.6%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Tencent-backed live-streaming company DouYu International Holdings Ltd. priced its initial public offering at $11.50 per American Depositary Share, the low end of its $11.50 to $14.00 price range, Reuters reported. The company sold 67.4 million ADS to raise $775 million, according to Reuters. It has applied to list on Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol "DOYU. Every 10 ADS is equal to one ordinary share.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Concerns about the wholesale channel sparked downgrades of Levi Strauss & Co. , Ralph Lauren Corp , and Calvin Klein parent PVH Corp. at Goldman Sachs. The downgrades sent each of the apparel stocks down, with Levi Strauss tumbling 4%, Ralph Lauren falling 3.7% and PVH down 3.4% in Wednesday trading. Goldman expects headwinds for the wholesale channel to ramp up in the second half of the year. "The combination of persistently tough first-half retail trends and an optimistic spring ordering season has driven inventory overhangs at several multibrand retailers," the Goldman note said. "These retailers are thus tightening up ordering as we head into the critical back-to-school and holiday season. We thus see incremental sell-in risk for apparel brands, particularly those with high exposure to department stores." Goldman expects growth at PVH's Tommy Hilfiger brand to "fade," thinks Ralph Lauren's wholesale troubles will be amplified by brand challenges at Polo and Lauren, and is worried that growth in Levi's tops business will decline. Levi stock is down 19% over the last three months, Ralph Lauren is down nearly 16%, and PVH is down 32.2%. The ProShares Decline of the Retail Store ETF has climbed nearly 11% over the last three months and the S&P 500 index has gained 3.5% for the period.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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European stocks are set to start Wednesday's session in the red, as comments from President Donald Trump reignited fears over trade.
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 Our call of the day takes a look at the popular segment of stocks referred to as growth. We are reaching a point where some of those may start to underperform. But this is no time to throw the baby out with the bath water.
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U.S. stocks open slightly lower on Wednesday, after markets retreated from record territory Tuesday following comments from President Donald Trump on the lack of progress between Beijing and Washington in the long-running tariff dispute.
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Apple Inc. plans to start trial production of its AirPods product in Vietnam, according to a new report from the Nikkei Asian Review, as it looks to reduce its dependence on Chinese manufacturing. One of the company's contract manufacturers will start testing its production processing for the next iteration of AirPods at a Vietnam facility, said the report, which cites multiple anonymous sources, though the initial trials would be very small. Apple declined to comment in the Nikkei Asian Review's story. Its shares are down 0.3% in Wednesday trading. They've gained 29% so far this year, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 17%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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 Middle East stock markets were mixed on
Wednesday with Qatar and Abu Dhabi rising on financial stocks,
while property stocks weighed on Dubai.
Qatar's index edged up 0.1% with Commercial Bank
rising 1.9% after the lender recorded a net profit of
934.1 million riyals ($256.62 m
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 Need to Know: UBS says these pricey growth stocks are worth hanging on to
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Shares of Abbott Laboratories gained 0.8% in premarket trade Wednesday after the medical-device maker reported second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations and raised full-year guidance, though the company missed expectations for revenue. Profit for the latest quarter rose to $1.465 billion, or 56 cents a share, from $733 million, or 41 cents a share, from the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted EPS was 82 cents, topping the FactSet consensus of 80 cents. Revenue rose 2.7% to $7.979 billion from $7.767 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $7.997 billion in sales. Sales of the company's nutrition unit rose 0.9% to $1.875 billion, while the diagnostics sales rose 1.7% to $1.905 billion. Sales of the established pharmaceuticals business fell 1.8% to $1.108 billion, while sales of the medical devices unit rose 6.4% to $3.075 billion, boosted by strong sales of the company's FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring system and MitraClip. Abbott raised its full-year EPS to between $3.21 and $3.27 from between $3.15 and $3.25. "Our sales growth accelerated and is sustainable," Abbott's Chief Executive Miles D. White said in a statement. "We have great momentum and are raising our guidance above the strong outlook we previously set for the year." Shares of Abbott have gained 15% so far this year through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 19.8%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies fell by 1.4 million barrels for the week ended July 12, according to sources. The API also reportedly showed a stockpile decline of 476,000 barrels for gasoline, but distillate inventories jumped by 6.2 million barrels. Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday. The EIA data are expected to show crude inventories down by 4.2 million barrels last week, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. They also forecast a fall of 1.5 million barrels for gasoline and an increase of 300,000 barrels for distillate supplies. August West Texas Intermediate crude was at $57.50 a barrel in electronic trading, down from the contract's $57.62 settlement on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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