| Close | Chg | Chg % |
|---|---|---|
| $40.55 | 1.94 | 5.02% |
| 5 Day |
|
| 1 Month |
|
| 3 Month |
|
| YTD |
|
| 1 Year |
|
Prominent insurance-linked funds logged their best daily gains in years on Friday, even as Hurricane Irma was ready to lash deadly rains and winds at Florida, among a trio of powerful storms brewing in the Atlantic. Still, PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance Portfolio jumped 3.7% on Friday, matching the exchanged-traded fund's best one-day rise since Nov. 30, 2011, according to FactSet data. All of its components finished in the green, led by a nearly 7% gain in shares of Maiden Holdings Ltd. and a 5.8% rise in XL Group Ltd.. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , Travelers Cos. Inc. , rallied 4%, its best day in about five years, since Dec. 5, 2012. Its gain alone added about 30 points to the price-weighted Dow's tepid climb on Friday. Other popular insurance closed sharply higher. The SPDR S&P Insurance ETF ended up 2.8% and the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF closed 2.6% higher. Despite, Friday's odd gains, most of the insurer funds were set to log steep declines. The property and casualty ETF booked a 3.4% weekly decline, the iShares insurance fund slumped 1.8% drop for the period, while the SPDR insurance registered a weekly decline of 2.8%. Winds from Hurricane Irma, already the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record, on Friday picked up steam as it barreled toward Florida, prompting Gov. Rick Scott to urge all Floridians to evacuate. The approaching storm comes less than two weeks since Hurricane Harvey devastated much of Houston and parts of Louisiana. Besides Irma, hurricanes Katia and Jose are also swirling in the Atlantic. In broader markets, the S&P 500 index closed off 0.2% at 2,461, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 0.6%. The Dow finished in the green on back of Travelers. The insurance giant wiped out its weekly decline to show slight weekly advance. One rationale for insurer gains on the day is the hope that Irma will produce less damaging floodwaters and lasting damage, compared with Harvey.
XL Group stock price target raised to $52 from $45 at J.P. Morgan
XL Group upgraded to overweight from neutral at J.P. Morgan
Financial stocks are having a rough run this week, with banks getting hit hard by falling rates and insurer stocks getting hammered by the expected impact of another hurricane.
U.S. stocks notched weekly declines, with severe weather and continuing tension between the U.S. and North Korea driving some of the biggest moves.
Shares of financial companies sagged under the pressure of falling bond yields and the threat of Hurricane Irma, weighing on major stock indexes. The Dow industrials declined 0.1%.
U.S. government bonds rallied and banking and insurance stocks tumbled in the latest signs of rising anxiety hitting financial markets.
Traders were bracing for another hurricane to hit the U.S., sending insurance stocks lower and driving up the price of orange-juice futures.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 234 points, as threats from North Korea and another powerful hurricane weighed on major indexes.
A continuous reading of frozen concentrated orange-juice futures jumped nearly 6% on Tuesday to about $1.44 a pound, according to FactSet. Florida is a major grower of oranges, and crops there could be impacted if a hurricane hits the state.
Shares of property insurance companies are falling Monday, the first trading session after Hurricane Harvey came ashore in Texas.
Monday was an exception day for the U.S. broad markets with all three major indices up. In fact, the market had its best day since earlier March of this year. Crude oil posted a solid gain which helped boost energy stocks. For the most part everything was positive in the markets with a few exceptions. The best performing S&P 500 sector was finance, following by materials and tech. The worst performing sector was real estate.
As Irma Weakens, Wall Street and Global Markets Up
Now that Irma has made a landfall on Florida, let's take a look at how disastrous or gainful it will be for the ETF world.
Markets suffered losses on Friday after Hurricane Irma gained traction, destroying swathes of the Caribbean and sending insurance stocks lower.
XL Group (XL) was a big mover last session, as the company saw its shares rise almost 6% on Friday amid huge volumes.
U.S. stocks notched weekly declines, with severe weather and continuing tension between the U.S. and North Korea driving some of the biggest moves.
Markets suffered losses on Thursday after investors sold off financial, consumer discretionary and telecom shares.
XL Group (XL) introduces new aviation insurance suite to protect the interests of the diverse market.
Shares of financial companies sagged under the pressure of falling bond yields and the threat of Hurricane Irma, weighing on major stock indexes. The Dow industrials declined 0.1%.
Dividend Champion, Contender And Challenger Stocks Going Ex-Div Next Week (September 11-15)
Insurance stocks continue to be hit by catastrophes -- Hurricane Harvey followed by Hurricane Irma -- adversely impacting underwriting results.
Get ready to hit the 'buy' button on reinsurers - Morgan Stanley
The Dow suffered a loss of more than 200 points on Tuesday to register its worst one-day drop since Aug 17, ending its four day winning streak.
Wall Street Breakfast: North Korean Bluster, New U.S. Hurricane Keep Global Investors On Edge
XL Catlin unveils online platform to quote and deliver newly enhanced personal & business aircraft insurance in the US
XL Catlin appoints Owen Williams and establishes Captive Centre of Excellence
Pillar Technologies Raises $2.75M Seed Round, Led by XL Innovate, to Scale Deployment of Smart Sensors For Construction Sites
XL Catlin's Global Excess Casualty Insurance Business Promotes New Regional Underwriting Leaders
Technical Insights on Insurance Stocks -- MBIA, Old Republic, XL Group, and AXIS Capital
XL Catlin's Design Professional Business Expands Insurance Coverage in the US Adding Protection for Design Technology and Individual Excess Directors & Officers Insurance
XL Catlin looks to help US aviation businesses take safety efforts to new heights with SOAR program
A.M. Best Affirms Credit Ratings of XL Group Ltd, Its Property/Casualty Subsidiaries and XLIT Ltd.
XL Catlin's North America Construction team builds GL Only Plus Wrap Up Insurance Program
XL Group Ltd Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.22 per Common Share
XL Catlin Strengthens North America Aviation Team with Key Appointments
Investor Network: XL Group Ltd to Host Earnings Call
XL Catlin introduces CyberRiskConnect - Enhanced Cyber & Technology Insurance Coverage in North America
XL Catlin Adds Commercial Bonds to Political Risk, Credit and Bond Insurance Product Suite
XL Catlin's North America Construction Business Reaches USD 2 Billion Insurance Premium Milestone
XL Catlin Opens New Office in Washington D.C. focusing on Political Risk, Credit and Bond Insurance
Governments and industry set for first-ever Ocean Risk Summit in Bermuda
XL Group Ltd to Release Second Quarter 2017 Results on Wednesday, July 26, 2017
XL Catlin appoints Sonja Ochsenkuehn as Head of Global Programs
XL Catlin Upgraded To Full Berne Union Membership
XL Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of general insurance services. The company operates in two segments: Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment provides commercial property, casualty and specialty insurance products on a global basis. The Reinsurance provides casualty, property risk, property catastrophe, specialty, and other reinsurance lines on a global basis with business being written on both a proportional and non-proportional treaty basis and also on a facultative basis. XL Group was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. (See Full Profile)
| Name | Chg % | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Arch Capital Group Ltd. | $12.33B | |
| RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. | $5.2B | |
| AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. | $4.59B | |
| Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. | $2.28B | |
| Validus Holdings Ltd. | $3.48B |
Storyful, a division of News Corp, which owns MarketWatch, is a leading social media services company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Storyful combines world class journalism with industry-leading technology to discover, verify and acquire original content and provide the on-the-ground sources news and media organizations need to tell the stories that matter to their audience.