THE WORLD'S TODAY FINANCIAL NEWS ON MARCH 25, 2015 - TIN THỊ TRƯỜNG TÀI CHÁNH THẾ GIỚI NGÀY 25-3-2015

One key government economic report is set for release ahead of the opening bell, with February durable goods orders out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are looking for a 0.2 percent increase, following January's 2.8 percent rise. The Energy Department's usual Wednesday assessment of oil and gasoline inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET-a report that's being watched closely because of the oversupply concerns in the crude market. Mortgage applications soared to their highest level since January last week, thanks to the lowest interest rates since February. Total volume rose 9.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Payroll processing company Paychex (PAYX) is among the companies releasing quarterly earnings this morning, while retailer Five Below (FIVE), clothing maker PVH (PVH), and software maker Red Hat (RHT) are out with quarterly numbers after the closing bell. Sonic (SONC) reported late Tuesday adjusted earnings and revenue thatbeat expectations. Comparable restaurant sales were up 21 percent, although the fast food chain's earnings outlook was on the conservative side.

	STOCKS TO WATCH

In buyback news: Dow stock Merck (MRK) is increasing its stock repurchase program by up to $10 billion. Separately, AutoZone (AZO) is adding $750 million to the auto parts retailer's current stock repurchase program. Nationstar Mortgage (NSM) announced a secondary stock offering of 17.5 million shares. Meanwhile, Ocwen Financial (OCN) is selling an additional $25 billion of residential mortgage servicing rights to a subsidiary of Nationstar. American Express (AXP) CEO Ken Chenault outlines the financial services giant's future plans in a presentation to investors today. American Express, another Dow component, has faced bumpy times in recent months, including the loss of its long-standing partnership with Costco (COST). Lexmark (LXK) is buying customer service software maker Kofax (KFX) for $11 per share in cash, or about $1 billion. The price represents a nearly 47 premium to Kofax's Tuesday closing price. Hertz Global (HTZ) said it received a notice from the NYSE that it's out of compliance with the exchange's listing requirements because of a late filing of its annual report. That comes as the car rental giant is in the process of restating past results because of accounting errors.