- 1. Facebook stock soars after unexpectedly strong results
- 2. SpaceX unveils plan to send unmanned spacecraft to Mars
- 3. Dow futures plunge after Bank of Japan rejects calls for new stimulus
- 4. Pending home sales rise in latest sign of housing market strength
- 5. Abbott Labs to buy St. Jude Medical for $25 billion
1. Facebook stock soars after unexpectedly strong results
Facebook shares jumped by 8 percent Wednesday after the social networking site reported first quarter revenue that smashed Wall Street's expectations. Facebook's revenue rose to 77 cents per share after adjustments. Analysts had forecast 62 cents per share. Mobile ads accounted for 82 percent of Facebook's ad revenue, up from 73 percent last year. The company also said it would create a new class of non-voting stock that will allow Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to maintain control as he fulfills a pledge to donate nearly all of his stock to charity.
2. SpaceX unveils plan to send unmanned spacecraft to Mars
Private rocket builder SpaceX announced Wednesday that it plans to land an unmanned spacecraft on Mars as soon as 2018. The company was founded 10 years ago by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk with the aim of colonizing Mars, and has become a leader in private space flight with a waiting list of orders for satellite launches. It said it would make the 140-million-mile trip with help from NASA.
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3. Dow futures plunge after Bank of Japan rejects calls for new stimulus
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a triple-digit, 1 percent loss early Thursday after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly said it was offering no additional stimulus measures. The news sent Japan's Nikkei 225 index plunging by 3.6 percent, its biggest daily loss since February. The turmoil came after U.S. stocks gained on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve announced at the end of its two-day meeting that it was holding U.S. interest rates unchanged for now, but left the door open to a June hike as the U.S. economy improves despite global weakness.
MarketWatch The Associated Press
4. Pending home sales rise in latest sign of housing market strength
Pending sales of previously-owned homes rose in March to their highest level in nearly a year, the National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday. The 1.4 percent sale increase year-over-year beat economists' expectations of a 0.5 percent increase. The data added to recent indications that the housing market is strong, although the National Association of Realtors said prices had climbed so high in the West that demand there has weakened.
5. Abbott Labs to buy St. Jude Medical for $25 billion
Abbott Laboratories has agreed to buy medical device maker St. Jude Medical for $25 billion. The deal amounts to about $85 per share, representing a 37 percent premium on St. Jude's Wednesday closing price. The stock was trading at $79.45 before the market opened Thursday. Abbott said the deal would help boost its offerings of cardiovascular and neurological devices.
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