IMF board to meet on Dec. 19 to review Pakistan funds release

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s board will meet on Dec. 19 to review a staff-level agreement with Pakistan to release about $450 million from the Fund’s $6 billion financing program with the south Asian country, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.

“What that indicates is that all prior actions and performance criteria under the program with Pakistan have been met and that the financing assurances needed for the program to go forward are in place,” Rice told a regular news briefing. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Train with hazardous materials derails in Detroit

DETROIT (AP) – A train carrying hazardous materials derailed on Thursday (Dec 12) in Detroit, authorities said.

Deputy fire commissioner Dave Fornell said 11 train cars derailed, including one that was partially hanging off a viaduct over a street.

“One of the cars does have hazardous materials,” Fornell told WWJ-AM.

No other details were immediately available.

J.P. Morgan: Bausch to better weather the market than other specialty drugmakers

Shares of Bausch Health Companies BHC, +6.72% gained 1.6% in premarket trading as J.P. Morgan analysts upgraded the stock Wednesday morning to neutral from overweight, saying that "fundamentals for Bausch [are] looking increasingly solid." They said that the company is well-positioned for future growth and is moving past its legacy issues, which had included kickback convictions for former executives from Bausch (then called Valeant) and its pharmacy partner Philidor and allegations of price gouging. Going forward, J.P. Morgan analysts say that there may be additional value for Bausch to separate its eye-care business, which makes up 55% of its revenue. The company’s lack of participation in the generics and the opioid markets are now considered positive, as generic drugs face price erosion and many opioid makers are fighting legal battles. "We see BHC’s business as fundamentally better-positioned than specialty pharma peers," they wrote. Bausch’s stock is up 58.8% year-to-date, compared to the S&P 500 SPX, +0.55%, which has gained 25%.

China In Close Touch With U.S. on Trade as Tariff Deadline Nears

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Trade teams from China and the U.S. remain in close touch, a government spokesman said, as a Sunday deadline for higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods approaches.

Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular briefing in Beijing that he had no new information on the talks to release. Gao repeated that the government is processing applications for tariff waivers for agricultural commodities, a step that would ease the cost of importing of U.S. goods.

Chinese officials expect President Donald Trump to delay the threatened tariff increase set for Sunday, according to people familiar with the discussions, giving more time to negotiate an interim trade deal that both sides continue to insist is close to fruition despite a series of missed deadlines.

— With assistance by Miao Han

Bill.com stock rockets 60% in its trading debut after IPO

Shares of cloud-software company Bill.com Holdings Inc. surged more than 60% in Thursday trading after the stock made its public debut. The first trade was executed for $37.25 at 11:29 a.m. Eastern time. Shares recently changed hands near $36. The company priced its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange at $22 a share, above an already-raised range of $19 to $21 a share. Bill.com makes software that helps automate financial tasks including accounts payable and invoicing. The company’s IPO comes as the Renaissance IPO ETF IPO, -0.35% has climbed 31% on the year and as the S&P 500 SPX, +0.55% has increased 26%.

Dow climbs 150 points on gains in Cisco, JPMorgan Chase shares

Shares of Cisco and JPMorgan Chase are seeing strong returns Thursday morning, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory. Shares of Cisco CSCO, +2.43% and JPMorgan Chase JPM, +2.71% have contributed to the blue-chip gauge’s intraday rally, as the Dow DJIA, +0.43% is trading 152 points, or 0.5%, higher. Cisco’s shares have climbed $1.19, or 2.7%, while those of JPMorgan Chase are up $3.40, or 2.5%, combining for an approximately 31-point bump for the Dow. Also contributing significantly to the gain are Goldman Sachs GS, +1.90%, Chevron CVX, +1.62%, and Dow Inc. DOW, +1.32%. A $1 move in any of the index’s 30 components results in a 6.78-point swing.

Editor’s Note: This story was auto-generated by Automated Insights using data from Dow Jones and FactSet. See our market data terms of use.

OPEC For Deeper Oil Production Cuts

The Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and a 10-nation coalition led by Russia called OPEC+ have agreed to deeper oil production cuts in order to prevent oversupply. The new deal will apply for the first three months of 2020.

The oil exporting countries have recommended to deepen the cuts by 500,000 bpd to existing cuts of 1.2 million bpd. A cut of 1.7 million bpd would amount to 1.7% of global supply.

Saudi Arabia was more interested in reducing output as the Arab country needed to anchor oil prices just before the IPO of the state-run oil company Saudi Aramco.

Existing supply curbs of 1.2 million barrels per day, which prevents excess supply, was set to expire in March.

“We really do see some risks of oversupply in the first quarter due to lower seasonal demand for refined products and for crude oil,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said, according to Reuters.

He said cuts would last through the first quarter of 2020, a shorter timeframe than suggested by some OPEC ministers, who have called for extending cuts until June or December 2020.