U.S. stocks continue to decline in pre-market trading on Friday despite a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs the past month. The average hourly wage rose 0.3%, registering an increase of 2.9% in the year, the fastest pace in almost a decade.
Shares of Mattel Inc. (MAT, Financial) gained more than 8% in today´s pre-market trading on the back of the company reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. The company posted a loss of 72 cents per share on revenue of $1.61 billion. Moreover, the company fell short in earnings per share expectations by 89 cents and $80 million on revenue.
By region, net sales in North America decreased 17% when compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. In the International Region, net sales decreased by 4%. Further, the decline in reported and adjusted gross margin was due to inventory management efforts, unfavorable product mix and higher freight and logistics expenses.
For the quarter, the operating loss was $252.8 million, compared to the prior year's fourth quarter reported operating income of $262.6 million. Adjusted operating loss was $164.8 million, compared to the prior year's fourth quarter adjusted operating income of $269.2 million.
Gainers
• Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW, Financial)
• Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN, Financial)”‹
• Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR, Financial)
• Amgen Inc. (AMGN, Financial)
• CME Group Inc. (CME, Financial)
Losers
• Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX, Financial)
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, Financial)
• Seagate Technology PLC (STX, Financial)
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT, Financial)”‹
Global Markets
The main European stock markets traded in negative ground. The U.K.'s FTSE lost 0.63%, France's CACdeclined 1.56%, Germany's Dax slid 1.51% and Spain's Ibex retreated 1.68%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei lost 0.90%, India’s BSE Sensex declined 2.34% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated0.12%, while China´s SSE Composite gained 0.44%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
