Stock Alert: Lowe’s Has Been Moving Higher

Shares Home improvement retailer Lowe’s Companies,Inc. (LOW) have spiked nearly 60% in the past few weeks from its 52-week low of $60 hit on March 19.

It had recorded a 52-week high of $126.73 on February 20. Monday the stock was down $0.09 or 0.094% before closing at $95.20.

While reporting fourth-quarter earnings in February, the company had provided full-year outlook, better than the Street estimates.

For the full-year 2020, Lowe’s expects to report adjusted EPS in the range of $6.45 to $6.65. On average 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters see earnings of $6.02 for the period.

The company sees sales growth of approximately 2.5 to 3.0 percent for the year 2020. This compares with 0.60% growth expected by analysts.

Lowe’s also plans to buy back approximately $5 billion of shares in the year.

In the fourth-quarter the company had earnings of $0.94 that beat estimates at $0.91. Adjusted earnings for the year-ago quarter was $0.80 per share.

Sales for the fourth quarter increased to $16 billion from $15.6 billion in the same quarter a year ago, driven by strong sales from the company’s brick and mortar stores.

The company had bought back $670 million of shares in the fourth quarter.

Lowe’s expects to report its first-quarter results on May 20. Analysts expect earnings of $1.31 per share on revenue of$17.96 billion for the quarter.

As of Jan 31, 2020, Lowe’s operated 1,977 home improvement and hardware stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Stock Alert: Will Uptrend At Merck & Co. Continue?

Shares of Pharma giant Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) is on an uptrend after touching its 52-week low of $65.25 on March 23. It has gained nearly 25% since then.

On April 10, Merck and AstraZeneca’s (AZN) Koselugo (selumetinib) was approved by the FDA for the treatment of inoperable plexiform neurofibromas (PN) in children of two years and older with rare, genetic neurological disorder neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The drug, which is being jointly developed and marketed by AstraZeneca and Merck, is under review by the European Medicines Agency.

On April 7, Merck’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for KEYTRUDA was accepted by FDA for treating patiens with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with tissue tumor mutational burden-high (TMB-H) =10 mutations/megabase, who have progressed following prior treatments with no better treatment options. The decision by the FDA on sBLA is expected on June 16.

Monday, MRK was down 1.93 or 2.34% before closing at $80.54. It has recorded a 52-week high of $92.64 on December 20, 2019.

The company expects to report its first-quarter results on April 28. On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters see earnings of $1.35 per share on revenue of$11.5 billion for the quarter.

Oil Prices Decline On Demand Worries

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as concerns surrounding a coronavirus-driven collapse in global oil demand outweighed planned output cuts from the world’s biggest producers as well as expectations of a drop in U.S. shale oil production next month.

Benchmark Brent crude eased half a percent to $31.59 a barrel, after having risen 0.8 percent on Monday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 1.6 percent at $22.05, after having fallen 1.5 percent the previous day.

Analysts and oil industry executives expect a contraction of around a third of global oil demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Global oil demand is being destroyed as the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, forcing people to remain indoors and avoid all unnecessary travel.

Inventories are expected to fill up fast despite some countries among the G20 agreeing to buy oil for their national reserves.

On the positive side, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said it expects U.S. shale output to decrease sharply this month and next.

U.S. shale oil production is expected to drop by 193,625 barrels per day from March this month, while output is seen at 8.526 million barrels per day come May, according to new data published on Monday.

Norway central bank to auction $5 bln to banks on Thursday

OSLO, April 14 (Reuters) – Norway’s central bank said on Tuesday it would offer an F-loan in U.S. dollars with a maturity of three months.

The auction will open at 1400 CET (1200 GMT) on Thursday and will have a maximum allotment volume of $5 billion.

In March the U.S. Federal Reserve opened up swap lines to nine central banks including those of Denmark, Norway and Sweden to tap up a combined total of $450 billion. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)

South Africa to revise budget as COVID-19 hurts economy

JOHANNESBURG, April 14 (Reuters) – South Africa will revise its budget as the COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll on an economy already in recession, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday.

“We will naturally revise our fiscal framework to take into account the effect of COVID-19,” Mboweni told journalists on a teleconference.

The National Treasury tabled the 2020 budget in parliament in February, forecasting that the budget deficit would hit an 18-year high in the 2020/21 fiscal year. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Alex Richardson)

UK economy could shrink by a third under OBR’s coronavirus scenario

The UK economy could shrink by 35% in the second quarter and see unemployment jump by two million, according to a scenario published by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

How coronavirus is disrupting food supply chain in US

The pandemic has forced processing factories to shut down and produce goes to waste.

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the meat and dairy industries in the United States.

As workers become sick, meat processing factories are being shut down. And with cafes and restaurants closed, dairy products are going to waste.

Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane reports from Washington, DC.