While you were sleeping: Shazam, Wall St rises again

Tuesday 12th December 2017

Wall Street moved higher, while the US dollar and Treasuries fell, as Federal Reserve policy makers are expected to be gearing up to raise interest rates for the third time this year.

On Tuesday the Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to starts its two-day meeting, during which it is widely expected to hike interest rates. Investors will scrutinise the FOMC’s
statement and forecasts, as well as a press conference by Chair Janet Yellen, on Wednesday.

“Coming off a week of pretty good economic data, investors will certainly take a close look at what the Fed has to do, what they say coming out of a meeting,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in Boston, told Reuters

In 1.33pm trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 percent. In 1.18pm trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent.

Investors shrugged off an explosion in Manhattan in what authorities called an “attempted terrorist attack.

“When you see one of these events in a major city, you get a little cautious,” Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W Baird in Milwaukee, told Reuters. “But it’s never enough to really rout a stock market intraday.”

The Dow rose as gains in shares of Apple and those of Walt Disney, recently up 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent respectively, outweighed declines in shares of Home Depot and those of Travelers, recently down 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.

Apple said it agreed to buy the UK’s Shazam, a music identification service. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but a person familiar with the situation said Apple is paying about US$400 million for the startup, Bloomberg reported.

“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS,”" the company said in a statement, according to media reports.

"Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users," it said.

Investors will also scrutinise any fresh developments on the Trump administration’s tax reform bill.

"Further work on tax reform from a conference perspective and there will probably be issues that get leaked out as they try to reconcile the Senate and House bills,” Ernie Cecilia, the chief investment officer at Bryn Mawr Trust, told Bloomberg. “That will be key and whether or not there are any significant changes.”

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index edged lower from the previous close. Germany’s DAX Index fell 0.2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 Index also shed 0.2 percent.

The UK’s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.8 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

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