Gold Little Changed As Dollar Rebounds On Recovery Hopes

Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday as the dollar found some support from solid U.S. manufacturing data released overnight.

Spot gold slid 0.1 percent to $1,968.53 per ounce, after having hit as high as $1,991.91 on Tuesday, its highest since Aug. 19. U.S. gold futures were down 0.2 percent at $1,974.35.

On Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. expanded at a faster rate in the month of August.

The ISM said its purchasing managers index rose to 56.0 in August from 54.2 in July. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 54.5.

Elsewhere, solid manufacturing PMIs this week from China and the euro zone also fueled optimism of a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

All eyes are now on the U.S. ADP jobs report due later in the day, with economists expecting the U.S. private sector to add 950K jobs in August vs. +167K last.

In addition, Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester and NY Fed President John Williams are scheduled to speak later in the day.

Fed Governor Lael Brainard on Tuesday said the U.S. central bank would need to roll out more stimulus in the months ahead to fulfil its new promise of stronger job growth and higher inflation.

Vix Latino Streaming Service Checks In To 500,000 Hotels In SoniFi Deal

Vix, one of the world’s largest free streaming services dedicated to Latino-focused films and TV shows, has struck a deal with SoniFi’s guest entertainment platform that will put its content in 500,000 U.S. hotel rooms.

It is the first Hispanic-focused content partner to launch on SoniFi’s platform, and the pact will also allow VIX mobile app users to stream content to SoniFi’s hotel room TVs via SoniFi’s Staycast technology. Vix’s global streaming services are already distributed across more than 30 mobile and connected TV platforms including Apple TV, Fire TV and Android TV.

The latest deal comes after Vix, which is backed by by Discovery Communications and Harbourvest Capital, acquired Latino streaming company Pongalo at the end of 2019. Last month, its channels Pongalo NovelaClub and movie outlet Moovimex joined Roku Channel, Xumo, Redbox, Vizio and Tivo.

“Vix’s expansion into the U.S. hotel market marks a major milestone in our effort to super-serve our Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking audiences wherever they may be, and to expose travelers to our unique content offering,” said Rich Hull, Vix’s head of streaming platforms.

Said Jennifer Leslie, SoniFi’s VP Content and Advertising: “Vix is an ideal partner for SoniFi’s content offerings. The high quality of Vix’s programming is sure to appeal to a diverse audience and drive guest satisfaction for hoteliers.”

Stock Alert: Sea Ltd. Shares Hit New 52-Week High

Shares of Sea Ltd. (SE) that have been trading in the range of $26.41 – $165.23 for the past one, year, touched a 52-week high Wednesday morning. SE is currently trading at $154.14, down $7.66 or 4.73% in the regular trading session Wednesday.

As recently as on August 18, the company reported Q2 net loss of $393.5 million or $0.68 per share compared to a loss of $280.1 million or $0.48 per share last year.

Revenue for the quarter was $882.0 million, a jump of 102.2% from the previous year’s revenue of $436.2 million.

Michael Jordan Takes DraftKings Equity Stake, Boosting Shares

NBA legend Michael Jordan is taking an equity interest in DraftKings Inc. and becoming a special adviser to the online sports-betting company’s board of directors.

The six-time NBA Finals MVP will provide guidance and advice on company strategy, product development and marketing activities.

DraftKings shares rose as much as 18% in U.S. premarket trading and were up 14% to $41.95 at 8:28 a.m. in New York.

“Michael Jordan is among the most important figures in sports and culture, who forever redefined the modern athlete and entrepreneur,” DraftKings co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jason Robins said in a statement.

Details of the equity stake weren’t disclosed. Jordan is also the chairman and majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Oracle Loses Appeals in $10 Billion Pentagon Jedi Contract Fight

A U.S. appeals court rejected Oracle Corp.’s challenges to the Pentagon’s disputed $10 billion cloud-computing contract.

Oracle had raised a number of issues, including allegations of conflicts of interest with Amazon.com Inc., and accused the Pentagon violating its own rules when it set up the contract to be awarded to a single firm. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that Oracle wasn’t harmed by any errors the Pentagon made in developing the contract proposal because it wouldn’t have qualified for the contract anyway.

Oracle was fighting its exclusion from seeking the lucrative cloud-computing deal, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. The Pentagon awarded the contract to Microsoft Corp. in October over market leader Amazon Web Services. The project, which is valued at as much as $10 billion over a decade, is designed to help the Pentagon consolidate its technology programs and quickly move information to warfighters around the world.

The case is Oracle America Inc. V. U.S., 19-2326, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington).