The Traderszone Network

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8 percent after hitting a fresh three-month low. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) eased 0.1 percent to three-week lows while European shares were expected to dip further.

Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of investment firm DoubleLine Capital, said on Tuesday he still believes the U.S. Federal Reserve will probably not raise interest rates this year, in part because of a lack of wage inflation. Gundlach, reiterating his Federal Reserve call first made in early May, said on a client webcast that odds of a Fed rate increase in December are less than 50 percent and under 30 percent in September. The odds of a September interest rate hike “weirdly” have risen, Gundlach said.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based retailer said it had invested $3.7 billion through the first quarter of 2015 to retire 56.9 million shares under the buyback program. Target also raised its quarterly dividend to 56 cents per share from 52 cents in the prior quarter. “Given our outlook for capital expenditures and the strong cash generation of our core business, we expect to have the capacity to increase our annual dividend and repurchase billions of dollars of Target shares annually while maintaining our current credit ratings,” Target Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan said in a statement.

Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) does not want to fight for U.S. market share but instead hopes to help small U.S. businesses sell more goods in China, Executive Chairman Jack Ma said. Ma is visiting the United States this week to explain Alibaba’s global strategy and to “help dispel misconceptions” about the company, spokesman Greg Jenkins said in an email. “We’re not coming here to compete,” Ma told the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday.

Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) shareholders on Tuesday approved a massive increase in the number of shares the company is authorized to issue, the first step toward a possible stock split. Chief Executive Reed Hastings said at the company’s annual meeting that management will seek approval from the board of directors “in due course” to pursue a stock split, Netflix spokeswoman Anne Marie Squeo said. The company is the top performer on the Nasdaq 100 (.NDX) this year, with shares nearly doubling to close at $647.15 on Tuesday.

Oil traders scrambling to secure crude in the U.S. Midwest have pushed North Dakota’s Bakken to a near premium for the first time in two years, a rally stoked by record refinery runs and an unprecedented slump in Canadian imports. The buying frenzy pushed Bakken delivered at Clearbrook, Minnesota (WTC-BAK), to trade just 35 cents a barrel below the West Texas Intermediate benchmark last week, dealers say, the narrowest discount since July 2013. There are other compelling reasons for Bakken crude’s relative strength, to be sure.

Bank of Japan board member Takehiro Sato on Wednesday warned of diminishing returns and potential drawbacks of maintaining the central bank’s massive stimulus program for too long, such as delaying government efforts to fix Japan’s tattered finances. Steady progress in restoring Japan’s fiscal health is crucial for the success of the BOJ’s quantitative and qualitative easing (QQE) campaign including a smooth exit from the huge asset-buying program, the former market economist said.

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