N.Y. Fed awards $50.1 bln overnight repos

NEW YORK, Sept 26 (Reuters) – The New York Federal Reserve on Thursday awarded $50.1 billion in one-day loans to primary dealers at its overnight repurchase agreement (repo) operation following a term operation where it allotted $60 billion in 14-day loans earlier Thursday.

The amount of bids from primary dealers at Thursday’s overnight repo operation was lower the $91.95 billion submitted on Wednesday.

Argentine peso opens slightly weaker at 57.15 per dollar – traders

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Argentina’s peso opened 0.13% weaker at 57.15 per U.S. dollar on Thursday, traders said, following a meeting between the International Monetary Fund’s incoming director and Argentina’s treasury minister. IMF incoming director, Kristalina Georgieva, met with Argentine Treasury Minister Hernan Lacunza at the IMF’s headquarters on Wednesday and told him “she wanted the first meeting of her administration to be with Argentine officials,” a statement from the ministry said.

Argentina has a $57-billion financing agreement with the IMF.

Exclusive: An inside look at an Iranian nuclear research facility

Al Jazeera granted rare access to only nuclear research facility in Iran where much-disputed 20 percent enriched uranium is being used.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says the country will step up “immediately” its work on nuclear research and development.

Al Jazeera has been granted rare access to the only nuclear research facility in Iran where the much-disputed 20 percent enriched uranium is being used.

Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari has this exclusive report from the Tehran Nuclear Research Reactor.

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up Less Than Expected To 208,000

After reporting a much bigger than expected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest rebound in initial jobless claims in the week ended September 14th.

The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 208,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 206,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 213,000 from the 204,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Despite the upward revision, jobless claims in the previous week were at their lowest level since hitting a nearly 50-year low of 193,000 in April.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 212,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 213,000.

The report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 13,000 to 1.661 million in the week ended September 7th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claim also dipped to 1,677,500, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,681,250.

Q2 GDP Stays In Line

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Thursday that the domestic economy grew at a rate of 2.0% (annual) in the second quarter of 2019. This is the final report on gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter, and it came in just below the consensus estimate of 2.1% and was unchanged from the prior read.

Downward revisions to personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and nonresidential fixed investment were primarily offset by upward revisions to state and local government spending and exports. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down.

Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 1.8% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 3.2% in the first quarter. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 1.9% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 3.2% in the first quarter.

Current-dollar GDP increased 4.7%, or $241.5 billion, in the second quarter to a level of $21.34 trillion. In the first quarter, current-dollar GDP increased by 3.9%, or $201.0 billion.

The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.2% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 0.8% in the first quarter. The PCE price index increased by 2.4%, compared with a prior increase of 0.4%. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 1.9%, compared with an increase of 1.1%.

FDA Approves Abbott’s Spinal Cord Stimulation System For Chronic Pain

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company’s Proclaim XR, recharge-free neurostimulation system for people living with chronic pain.

The Proclaim XR platform offers a low dose of Abbott’s proprietary BurstDR stimulation waveform. It works by using low doses of mild electrical pulses to change pain signals as they travel from the spinal cord to the brain.

The delivery of lower doses of spinal cord stimulation helps extend the system’s battery life, allowing people to experience pain relief, without the hassle of recharging, for up to 10 years.

About 50 million people in the US are affected by chronic pain, many of whom could benefit from spinal cord stimulation, the company said.

Jazz Pharma Presents JZP-258 Phase 3 Study Data At World Sleep 2019

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (JAZZ) presented positive data from its Phase 3 study of its investigational medicine, JZP-258, for the treatment of cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness in adults with narcolepsy. The results from the trial were reported by the company on March 26, 2019.

Cataplexy is a sudden, uncontrollable muscle weakness, often triggered by a strong emotion.

JZP-258, a novel oxybate product candidate with a unique composition of cations, has 92% less sodium than its own Xyrem, which was approved in 2002 for the indication of cataplexy associated with narcolepsy.

Change in the weekly number of cataplexy attacks was the primary endpoint of the study. The number of cataplexy attacks in a week showed a significant increase in participants randomized to placebo compared with participants randomized to JZP-258.

The main secondary endpoint was the change in the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score with JZP-258 compared to placebo. At the end of the double-blind withdrawal period, there was a significant increase in median ESS scores in participants randomized to placebo compared with participants randomized to JZP- 258. A higher ESS score shows a higher level of daytime sleepiness.

The data were presented at World Sleep 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. 

JAZZ closed Wednesday’s trading at $130.95, down 1.47%.