The Market Close – Carnival cruises into the green after good results

Today’s Closing Update

US Stocks were mixed in early trading as investors wait for Congress to start voting on a tax bill that would lower corporate tax rates. Technology companies, which have done far better than the rest of the market all year, are down but smaller companies are doing better.

European shares European stocks struggled for direction on Tuesday as traders weighed up rising optimism that U.S. tax reforms will get passed this week against a disappointing reading on German business sentiment.

The South Korean Cryptocurrency exchange Youbit has been hacked for a second time this year, resulting in the loss of 17% of its total assets, leading to the announcement of a halt in trading in order to staunch losses. A pop-up notice on the Youbit website said: “I am very sorry to inform you again with the sad news. After the accident in April, we have done our best to improve the security, recruitment and system maintenance, and have managed to lower the hot wallet rate. Then, at 4:35 am, we lost our coin purse due to hacking.” “We will close all trades, suspend all deposits or withdrawals and take steps for bankruptcy,” the exchange said in a statement.

The US current-account deficit decreased to $100.6bn (preliminary) in the third quarter of 2017 from $124.4bn (revised) in the second quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said today. The deficit decreased to 2.1% of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.6% in the second quarter.

Carnival Corporation has reported FY 2017 US GAAP net income of $2.6bn, or $3.59 diluted EPS, compared to $2.8bn, or $3.72 diluted EPS for the prior year. FY 2017 adjusted net income was $2.8bn, or $3.82 EPS, higher than adjusted net income of $2.6bn, or $3.45 EPS for the prior year. The Company said adjusted net income excluded unrealized gains on fuel derivatives and other net charges of $224m and previously reported ships, trademark, and goodwill impairments of $387m for FY 2017, and unrealized gains on fuel derivatives of $236m and other net charges of $37m for FY 2016.

Shareholders at the London Stock Exchange Group general meeting voted to reject a proposal from an activist shareholder seeking to remove Chairman Donald Brydon. At the meeting, 79% of voting shareholders, or around 212.4 million votes, rejected the resolution tabled by The Children’s Investment Fund, a 5% stakeholder, which took issue with Brydon’s handling of the departure of the company’s Chief Executive Xavier Rolet last month. 21% of shareholders, or 56.2 million, voted in favour of the proposal. The total votes cast made up 77% of the company’s total shares in issue, whilst 8.9 million votes were withheld.

Oil prices edged up towards $64 a barrel, helped by a North Sea pipeline outage, OPEC-led supply cuts and expectations that U.S. crude inventories had fallen for a fifth week.

Gold held firm above $1,260 an ounce as caution over the passage of sweeping tax legislation in the United States weighed on the dollar, supporting the precious metal after two days of gains.