Our Business News

SAN FRANCISCO Ciena Corp. shares rose 5% Thursday, to $ 16.28, following the optical-networking company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results. Before the market opened, Ciena reported a loss of $ 38.8 million, or 39 cents a share, on $ 465.5 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $ 22.3 million, or 23 cents a share, on sales of $ 455.5 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Ciena would have lost 7 cents a share. Wall Street analysts had forecast Ciena to lose 6 cents a share on $ 468.3 million in revenue. For its fiscal first [...]

TOKYO Asian shares extended gains for a seventh day on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve took new stimulus steps to bolster the economy, pressuring the yen with expectations the Japanese central bank will follow suit with more easing next week. While stocks gained, oil and gold fell from post-Fed rallies, as investors took profits ahead of the year-end, and concerns over the U.S. budget impasse also weighed on sentiment. The upside for equities was also contained despite the Fed’s fresh dose of liquidity-pumping measures, as investors were worried the United States would miss a year-end deadline to avert the [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Seagate Technology shares fell almost 3% Wednesday, to $ 27.86 a share, as J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz cut his rating on the hard-disk drive maker to underweight, or sell, from neutral. In a research note, Moskowitz said “macroeconomic and secular factors” are likely to put pressure on Seagate’s revenue and gross margins. Moskowitz said there are signs of fundamentals weakening in the hard-disk drive market next year, and he cut his 2013 forecast for hard-disk sales to decline by 1.5% from and earlier estimate of a gain 2.4% from 2012.

TOKYO Asian shares rose on Wednesday buoyed by strength in global equities markets, hopes of a deal from U.S. budget talks and expectations for more stimulus from the Federal Reserve when it ends its two-day policy meeting later in the day. Oil, copper and gold prices were also underpinned while the dollar remained broadly pressured, but the yen weakened against the dollar on expectations the Bank of Japan will take additional easing steps at its policy meeting next week. European shares were expected to climb, with financial spreadbetters predicting London’s FTSE 100 , Paris’s CAC-40 and Frankfurt’s DAX will open [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc. saw its shares rise nearly 3% to $ 545.50 on Tuesday morning. Earlier in the day, China Unicom said it has received pre-orders for more than 300,000 units of the iPhone 5 ahead of the device’s launch in that market this Friday. This was up from 100,000 units on the first day of pre-orders last week. Brian Marshall of ISI Group estimates that the company ships about 5 million iPhones into China each quarter, “and we expect a strong China Unicom iPhone launch to continue momentum.” Also, the telecommunications analyst team for J.P. Morgan raised their [...]

LONDON European shares hit an 18-month high and the euro and euro zone periphery bonds climbed on Tuesday, buoyed by a pick-up in German confidence indicators and expectations the Federal Reserve will keep pumping money into the U.S. economy. Following some disappointing euro zone data this month, the ZEW survey provided some relief for markets, showing confidence among German investors and economists increased sharply in November. Markets had been rattled on Monday by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti’s announcement he would step down some weeks early. But the upbeat ZEW data helped lift shares and the euro from their gloom. [...]

LONDON European shares and Italian bonds edged lower on Tuesday as political turmoil in Italy weighed on confidence, but moves were subdued as investors waited for German confidence data later and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s end of year meeting. Following some disappointing euro zone data this month, the ZEW survey of German business sentiment will be released at 4 a.m. EST, with investors hoping for signs of a pick up in confidence. Markets were rattled on Monday by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti’s announcement he would step down early, and the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index <.FTEU3> dipped 0.1 percent [...]

TOKYO Asian shares edged up to a 16-month high on Tuesday and the euro firmed, but prices were capped as investors waited for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision this week and any progress in U.S. budget talks. European shares were likely to crawl higher too, with financial spreadbetters predicting London’s FTSE 100 , Paris’s CAC-40 and Frankfurt’s DAX will open as much as 0.3 percent higher. But a 0.2 percent drop in U.S. stock futures hinted at a soft Wall Street open. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> nudged up 0.3 percent to a 16-month high. [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Apple Inc. slipped in early trading on Monday after Jefferies and Co. cut its price target for the stock to $ 800 citing potentially slower growth at the computer maker. Apple was down 1.7% at $ 525.33 at the opening bell, weighing down the Nasdaq Composite Index which gave up 3 points to stand at 2,975. The tech sector got a lift from shares of Cisco Systems which were up nearly 1% at $ 19.48 on upbeat reviews from analysts following its meeting with analysts on Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Palo Alto Networks fell more than 3% to $ 49.56 on Friday morning. Late Thursday, the maker of enterprise network software reported a 50% jump in revenue for its first fiscal quarter, with the results slightly beating Wall Street’s expectations. It’s forecast was in line with Street estimates. In a note to clients on Friday, Daniel Ives of FBR Capital maintained a market perform rating and $ 58 price target on the stock, praising the “impressive top-line growth” but adding that the in-line forecast creates “a dynamic we believe will disappoint investors who were hoping for [...]