STOCK MARKET NEWS: Inflation data lifts stocks, Walmart shares soar, FTX creditors mount

Amazon logo outside its JFK8 distribution center in Staten Island, N.Y., Nov. 25, 2020. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday launched Amazon clinic, a virtual platform where users can connect with healthcare providers to help treat common ailments like allergies and skin conditions.

Amazon has for years sought to expand its presence in healthcare. It bought online pharmacy PillPack in 2018, underpinning a prescription delivery and price-comparison site it later launched as Amazon Pharmacy, which lets users buy over-the-counter drugs via Prime memberships.

Amazon said its new service would operate in 32 states, where customers who seek treatment, will be connected to healthcare providers. The service does not include health insurance and pricing will vary depending on providers, it added.

The online retailer first piloted virtual care visits for its own staff in Seattle in 2019 before offering services to other employers under the Amazon Care brand, which it now plans to close down by the end of this year.The company is also waiting to close its $3.49 billion deal to buy One Medical, as it seeks to expand its virtual healthcare presence and add brick-and-mortar doctors' offices for the first time.

Representations of virtual cryptocurrencies are placed on U.S. dollar banknotes in this illustration taken Nov. 28, 2021. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve's top financial regulatory official, on Tuesday said he is concerned about risks from the non-bank sector, including cryptocurrencies, for which the U.S. central bank and other regulators have poor visibility.

"We're concerned about the risks that we don't know about in the non-bank sector," Barr said in response to a question during an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee. "That includes obviously crypto activity, but more broadly risks in parts of the financial system where we don't have good visibility, we don't have good transparency, we don't have good data. That can create risks that blow back to the financial system that we do regulate."

Barr's remarks came in his first congressional testimony since becoming the Fed's top Wall Street cop over the summer and augmented his prepared comments to the committee that he was keeping a close eye for stresses in the financial system amid a weakening economy. He had also signaled stiffer oversight of the cryptocurrency arena is in the offing, an issue that has taken on added urgency with the collapse last week of crypto-exchange FTX.

Recent events in crypto markets, Barr said in his written testimony, "while mostly occurring outside the banking sector, have highlighted the risks to investors and consumers associated with new and novel asset classes and activities when not accompanied by strong guardrails."

"We do not want to stifle innovation, but when regulation is lax or behind the curve, it can facilitate risk taking and a race to the bottom that puts consumers, businesses, and the economy in danger and discredits new products and services with consumers and investors."

Offices of gene sequencing company Illumina in San Diego, Calif., Jan. 11, 2016. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

Illumina Inc said on Monday it was cutting 5% of its global workforce to realign its operating expenses as stubborn inflation and a strong dollar weigh on the genetic sequencing equipment maker's business.

The company said it was expecting to take a restructuring charge, which would include expenses related to optimizing its facilities, in the fourth quarter.

The layoffs come on the back of a near $4 billion impairment it took in the third quarter related to its cancer test unit GRAIL.

The company, which is in the process of launching its next-generation NovaSeq X DNA sequencing systems, has over 9,100 employees globally, according to its website.

Energizer Holdings Inc. on Tuesday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $362.9 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the St. Louis-based company said it had a loss of $5.09. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 82 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 76 cents per share.

The battery and personal care products company posted revenue of $790.4 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $773.7 million.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $231.5 million, or $3.37 per share, swinging to a loss in the period. Revenue was reported as $3.05 billion.

Energizer expects full-year earnings in the range of $3 to $3.30 per share.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) headquarters, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Jan. 19, 2021. (Reuters/Ann Wang)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc said it bought more than $4.1 billion of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, a rare significant foray into the technology sector by billionaire Warren Buffett's conglomerate.

In a Monday regulatory filing describing its U.S.-listed equity investments as of Sept. 30, Berkshire said it owned about 60.1 million American depositary shares of TSMC.

TSMC's other foreign investors include U.S. asset managers BlackRock Inc and Vanguard Group Inc, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Berkshire also disclosed new stakes of $297 million in building materials company Louisiana-Pacific Corp and $13 million in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. It exited an investment in Store Capital Corp, a real estate company that agreed in September to be taken private.

TSMC, which makes chips for the likes of Apple Inc, Qulacomm and Nvidia Corp, posted an 80% jump in quarterly profit last month, but struck a more cautious note than usual on upcoming demand.

Home Depot store, West Berlin, N.J., Nov. 12, 2022

Home Depot Inc on Tuesday left its annual forecasts unchanged even as quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations, raising concerns about demand heading into the holiday season amid a slowing housing market.

Home Depot reiterated its full-year outlook, which Jefferies analysts said implied its fourth-quarter earnings would come in below Wall Street.

Although demand from contractors, builders and other professional customers remained strong, DIY customers who had splurged on paint, tools and gardening equipment last year cut back on spending in the third quarter of this year.

Comparable sales at Home Depot rose 4.3% in three months ended Oct. 30, beating estimates of a 3.1% increase, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Net earnings increased to $4.34 billion, or $4.24 per share, while analysts on average expected a profit of $4.12 per share.

The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2022 comparable sales growth forecast of about 3%.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin were all higher early Tuesday morning. (Getty Images)

Cryptocurrency prices edged higher early Tuesday with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin all showing gains.

At approximately 4:45 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading at nearly $16,786 (+0.87%), or higher by $145.

However, for the week, Bitcoin was trading lower by more than 19%. For the month, the cryptocurrency was lower by nearly 13.25%.

Ethereum was trading at approximately $1,259.40 (+1.41%), or higher by more than $17.50.

For the week, Ethereum was trading lower by nearly 2`%. For the month, it was trading lower by approximately 4.25%.

Dogecoin was trading at $0.08685(+1.15%), or higher by approximately $0.000988. 

For the week, Dogecoin was lower by nearly 23%. For the month, however, the crypto was higher by more than 46.5%.

Gasoline and diesel prices fell overnight for the third-consecutive day. (gasprices.aaa.com)

The nationwide price for a gallon of gasoline dropped nearly 1 1/2 cents early Tuesday to $3.759. On Monday, the price was $3.773. On Sunday, it slipped to $3.776, according to AAA. 

One week ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.804. A month ago, that same gallon of gasoline cost $3.892. A year ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.415. 

Gas hit an all-time high of $5.016 on June 14, approximately 23 weeks ago. 

Diesel prices also fell as well on Tuesday to $5.358. On Monday, diesel prices nationwide were $5.359. On Sunday, it slipped to $5.362. 

One week ago, a gallon of diesel cost $5.351 A month ago, that same gallon of diesel cost $5.252. A year ago, a gallon of diesel cost $3.646.

COVID cases in China continued to rise Tuesday as major cities are being hit with the virus. (Getty Images)

Oil prices held steady on Tuesday as rising COVID-19 cases in China sparked fears of lower fuel consumption from the world's top crude importer and a cut in OPEC's 2022 global demand forecast offset worries about tight supply. 

Brent crude futures edged up 11 cents, or 0.1%, to $93.25 a barrel by 0715 GMT after settling 3% lower on Monday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $85.68 a barrel, down 19 cents, or 0.2%, after tumbling 3.5% in the previous session. 

While investors cheered China's announcements last week that it would lessen the impact of a strict zero-COVID policy to spur economic activity and energy demand, analysts said lockdowns and surging case numbers continue to be a key downside risk. 

The country's COVID cases rose further on Tuesday, including in the capital Beijing, even as many cities scaled back routine testing. 

"Rolling lockdowns across heavily populated areas in China penalize mobility and oil demand even more than economic activity," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, in a note. 

The country's factory output growth slowed, retail sales fell and property slumped further in October, the latest sign that the world's second-largest economy is losing momentum as it struggles with protracted COVID curbs and a property downturn. 

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its 2022 global oil demand growth forecast for a fifth time since April, citing mounting economic challenges including high inflation and rising interest rates. 

This comes after the International Monetary Fund said on Sunday the global economic outlook has become gloomier than projected last month, citing a steady worsening in purchasing manager surveys in recent months. 

However, concerns about tight supplies this winter continued to support oil prices. A European Union embargo on Russian oil is set to start on Dec. 5. The ban will be followed by the halting of oil product imports in February. 

U.S. crude oil stocks were expected to have dropped by about 300,000 barrels in the week to Nov. 11, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. 

The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute due at 4:30 p.m. ET (2130 GMT) on Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) due on Wednesday.