NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / February 16, 2017 / U.S. markets continued to trade at record highs for the fifth consecutive day on growing optimism of the strength of the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.52 percent to close at 20,611.86, up 4.3 percent year-to-date, while the S&P 500 Index increased 0.50 percent to close at 2,349.25, up 4.93 percent year-to-date. Data released Wednesday showed that inflation posted it largest monthly gain in nearly two years in January with surge in gasoline and energy commodities as they accounted for nearly half of the gain.

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The consumer-price index, which measures the changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in January when compared to the previous month. Economists' estimates had called for an increase of 0.3 percent. The new economic data has raised the chances of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve in March to 42 percent from 30 percent two days ago, according to Bloomberg.

"The January US CPI report is a strong set of data which justifies the belief that reflationary forces have been building within the US economy in recent months well in advance of any legislative program being enacted by the new administration," Michael Shaoul, chief executive officer at Marketfield Asset Management wrote in a note to clients.

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Groupon's shares soared 23.26 percent to close at $4.66 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $4.30 and $4.71 on volume of 83.03 million shares traded. The company reported revenues were $934.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, up from $917.2 million in the comparable quarter a year ago and above analysts' expectations of $913 million, according to FactSet. North America active users totaled 31.1 million as of December 31, 2016, an addition of 5.2 million for 2016, which was the highest growth in four years. Groupon expects gross profit to be in the range of $1.30 billion and $1.35 billion for the full year 2017, an increase of $40 to $90 million when compared to gross profit for full year of 2016. Before the release of the fourth quarter earnings on 15th February, it was reported in the morning that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has a passive 5.7 percent passive stake in the company.

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Wal-Mart's shares gained 0.04 percent to close at $68.69 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $67.76 and $68.71 on volume 8.56 million shares traded. The Business Insider has reported that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has sold roughly $900 million worth of Walmart shares last quarter, nearly all of Buffet's position in Walmart, and purchased billions in airlines stocks.

In an attempt to better complete with Amazon, Walmart has recently announced free two-day shipping to home and stores on more than two million items, without membership fee.

"I couldn't be more excited. We are moving at the speed of a startup," said Marc Lore, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. eCommerce. "Two-day free shipping is the first of many moves we will be making to enhance the customer experience and accelerate growth."

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Today's Features Includes:

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT)

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