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☆ Eight portfolio moves from Rob Sechan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEight portfolio moves from Rob SechanRob Sechan, CEO of NewEdge Wealth, joins CNBC's "Halftime Report" to share his trades on McDonald's, Adobe, eBay, Verisk Analytics, Ping An Insurance Group, KLA Corp, H&R Block, and Allison Transmission Holdings.

Persons: Rob Sechan Rob Sechan Organizations: NewEdge, Adobe, eBay, Ping An Insurance Group, KLA Corp, Allison Transmission Holdings

[1/3] The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. Beijing needs to pull "multiple levers" at the same time to address the "vulnerabilities" in the financial system, local government financing, as well as consumer sentiment, said Edward Al-Hussainy, head of emerging market fixed income research at Columbia Threadneedle, which owns Country Garden bonds. China property sector slumpShoring up confidence is the biggest challenge facing Beijing and is key to getting homebuyers spending again, which analysts says isn't likely to happen soon given an uncertain economic outlook. Reuters reported last week that Chinese authorities have asked domestic financial behemoth Ping An Insurance Group to take a controlling stake in Country Garden. "You need to fix the macro environment first; if you don't earn enough how do you buy a property?," said Xu, whose firm holds China property dollar bonds.

Persons: Aly, Edward Al, isn't, Morgan Stanley, Ping, Ping An, Elliot Hentov, Steven Xu, Xu, Raymond Cheng, Goldman Sachs, Clare Jim, Davide Barbuscia, Karin Strohecker, Summer Zhen, Rae Wee, Sumeet Chatterjee Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, HONG KONG, Columbia, Reuters, HK, Economic Work Conference, Reuters Graphics, HIT, Insurance Group, State Street Global Advisors, Country, Harmonia, Bloomberg, China, CIBM Securities, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG, Beijing, outflows, Hong Kong, New York, London, Singapore

☆ China's property sales extend declines, weighing on outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Property sales by floor area fell 20.33% year-on-year against a 19.77% fall in September, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Sales fell 7.8% year-on-year in January-October, compared with a 7.5% slide in the first nine months of 2023. Property investment fell 16.7% from a year earlier after an 18.7% slide in September, according to Reuters calculations. New construction starts measured by floor area fell 23.2% year-on-year, after a 23.4% slump in the first nine months. Funds raised by China's property developers were down 13.8% year-on-year after a 13.5% fall in January-September.

Persons: Thomas Peter, Ping, Liangping Gao, Ella Cao, Ryan Woo, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, National Bureau of Statistics, Authorities, Bloomberg, Reuters, HK, Ping An Insurance, Thomson Locations: Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, Rights BEIJING

The strength in iron ore is being driven by renewed optimism that China's vast property sector is emerging from the gloom of recent months. However, there are some fundamental reasons supporting iron ore, chief among them the low port inventories. Stockpiles at China's ports rose to 108.8 million metric tons in the week to Nov. 10, according to data from consultants SteelHome. This was up a modest 3.9 million metric tons from the previous week's 104.9 million, which was the lowest since October 2016. Stockpiles were 136 million metric tons in the same week in 2022 and 147.6 million in 2021, according to SteelHome data.

Persons: Ping, SteelHome, haven't, Miral Organizations: Dalian, Ping An Insurance, HK, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, China, Singapore, Beijing

☆ Exclusive: Country Garden aims to have offshore debt restructuring plan by year end
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Xie Yu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is displayed at a news conference in Hong Kong, China March 20, 2018. Country Garden, which has almost $11 billion of offshore bonds, declined to comment. The timeline for the company's debt restructuring plan has not been reported before. CreditSights said in a Nov. 2 research note that Country Garden had "formally defaulted" on its offshore bonds due to the missed payment. Sunac China Holdings Ltd (1918.HK) in October became the first to complete the debt revamp scheme for its $9 billion offshore debt after winning approval from creditors and courts.

Persons: Bobby Yip, Ping, CreditSights, CICC, Houlihan Lokey, Sidley Austin, Houlihan, China Evergrande, Hui Ka Yan, Xie Yu, Clare Jim, Sumeet Chatterjee, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Insurance Group, Ping An, Sunac China Holdings Ltd, HK, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, China, HONG KONG, HK, Beijing

☆ Euro finds footing on hawkish policy remarks, lower energy prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. Dollar and Euro banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. The Australian dollar fell 0.5% overnight and was last at $0.6405, just above its 50-day moving average. It seems set for its largest weekly fall since June, as the central bank appeared to raise the bar for further hikes after lifting rates on Tuesday. In Asia, China's yuan touched a two-month high in overnight offshore trade. China's consumer prices fell in October, data showed on Thursday, stoking expectations for lower interest rates.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Gabriel Makhlouf, Joachim Nagel, Jane Foley, Mario Draghi, Brent, Ping, Michael Wan, Jerome Powell, Tom Westbrook, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: REUTERS, Central Bank's, Bank of Japan, Rabobank, Treasury, New Zealand, Canadian, Italian, ECB, Financial, Reuters, Ping An Insurance Group, HK, MUFG, Bank of Israel, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Ireland's, U.S, Asia, Europe, Singapore, East, Gaza City

☆ Asian shares rise as S&P 500 records longest win streak in two years
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Scott Murdoch | Thomson Reuters | Scott Murdoch Has Been A Journalist For More Than Two Decades Working For Thomson Reuters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was flat, although up 4.6% so far this month. The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies of other major trading partners, was down slightly at 105.52. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 0.10% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 0.08%. The S&P 500 rose for the eighth consecutive day, extending its longest win streak in two years. In Asia on Thursday, U.S. crude and Brent crude both rose 0.8% following the weak performance in the U.S. session.

Persons: Kim Kyung, Ping, Brent, Gold, Scott Murdoch, Tom Hogue Organizations: Nikkei, REUTERS, Rights, CPI, ANZ, Reuters, Ping An Insurance Group, Garden Holdings, HK, Ping An, U.S, U.S . Federal, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Federal Reserve, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Asia, Pacific, U.S, U.S ., China

☆ Morning Bid: Range-bound markets awaits Powell - again
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell answers a question during a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, U.S., November 1, 2023. At a separate event on Wednesday, European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane said his bank needs to see further progress in dampening inflationary pressure, and companies along with governments need to chip in to prevent more policy tightening. "A decrease in the policy rate is not something that is likely to happen in the short term," he said. The approval paves the way for a powerful rival to blockbuster drug Wegovy in addressing record obesity rates. Ping An subsequently said in a statement to Reuters it had "not been asked by (the) Government to take over Country Garden".

Persons: Jerome Powell, Kevin Lamarque, Ankur Banerjee, Powell, Philip Lane, Patrick Harker, Huw Pill, Eli Lilly's, Ping, Merck KGaA, BOE, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Federal, Committee, REUTERS, Ankur, U.S, European Central Bank, . Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Bank of England, Investors, Novo Nordisk, Reuters, Ping An Insurance, Government, HK, AstraZeneca, Merck, Deutsche Telekom Speakers, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Asia, Guangdong, Ping, Singapore

☆ Ping An loses $2.1 billion in market value, China property rallies on Country Garden rescue report
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Company logo of Ping An Insurance Group is shown at a news conference following the company's announcement of its annual results in Hong Kong, China March 16, 2016. Ping An's Hong Kong-listed shares tumbled 5.4%, their sharpest daily fall in more than a year, wiping out almost $2.1 billion in market capitalisation. "Such a move should mitigate or control the risks in the market," said Lu Wenxi, analyst at property agency Centaline. "This move is a big boost to market confidence, because now the whole real estate market, especially some major real estate enterprises are under pretty big pressure, and their bankruptcy risks triggering a chain reaction." Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong.

Persons: Bobby Yip, Ping, Lu Wenxi, Anne Marie Roantree, Tom Westbrook, Edmund Klamann, Kim Coghill Organizations: Ping An Insurance, REUTERS, Ping, Ping An Insurance Group, Reuters, HK, Ping An, China, Sunac China Holdings, Wanda, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, China, HONG KONG, Singapore

☆ Reaction to Reuters report on potential Ping An rescue of Country Garden
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

EUGENE LAW, DIRECTOR OF CHINA GALAXY INTERNATIONAL:"If the central government steps in to help Country Garden, it's for easing the debt crisis and preventing a spillover to financial institutions. But it will not help the China property market, which depends on factors, including employment and consumer confidence. Homebuyers would not rush to buy property just because Country Garden gets out of trouble. For the broader property market, the key is still home sales." Country Garden may have reached a tipping point where it will need more liquidity to fulfill such a policy goal.

Persons: Tyrone Siu, Ping, EUGENE LAW, Homebuyers, MICHAEL WONG, XU TIANCHEN, YAO, homebuyers, GARY NG, Clare Jim, Anne Marie Roantree, Edwina Gibbs, Kim Coghill Organizations: Ping An Insurance, REUTERS, Ping An Insurance Group, HK, Reuters, LU, OF CHINA GALAXY, Garden, Central Financial Work Conference, Thomson Locations: Shenzhen, China, HONG KONG

☆ China property rescue? Who are Ping An Insurance Group and Country Garden?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Julie Zhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Ping An, based in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, vies with China Life (601628.SS) for the title of the country's biggest insurance group by market value. Country Garden has said repeatedly that "home delivery" is its top priority. WHY HAS BEIJING PICKED PING AN TO RESCUE COUNTRY GARDEN? Ping An was a natural choice because it is based in Guangdong and has been a major Country Garden shareholder, said the sources. Ping An said after the Reuters report that it no longer holds Country Garden shares.

Persons: Ping, Ma Mingzhe, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Yang Huiyan, Alex Ren, Julie Zhu, Kim Coghill Organizations: Ping An Insurance Group, HK, Reuters, WHO, China, Lufax, Ping An Healthcare, Technology, HSBC, Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co, Central Huijin Investment, Charoen Pokphand, CP, China Evergrande, Evergrande, Regulators, BEIJING, Authorities, Garden, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, Shenzhen, vies, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangdong

Nov 9 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever, financial markets columnist. Producer and consumer price inflation figures will be released, the highlights of a regional calendar that also includes Japanese bank lending, trade and current account figures, Indonesian retail sales, and Philippines GDP. Global yields are moving too - the 10-year Japanese Government Bond yield is back below 0.85%, having come within two basis points of 1% last week. The decline in U.S. bond yields is removing some of the dollar's shine, which in turn is allowing Asian currencies to fight back. Yen traders on Thursday are also eyeing Japanese bank lending figures for October and September's trade and current account report.

Persons: Jamie McGeever, Pan Gongsheng, Ping, Fed's Powell, Josie Kao Organizations: Treasury, People's Bank of China, Financial, Ping An Insurance Group, Reuters, Nissan, Honda, Sony, Group, China PPI, CPI, Thomson Locations: Asia, Philippines, Beijing, China's, Japan, Philippine, China

☆ Exclusive: China authorities ask Ping An to take controlling stake in Country Garden, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Ping An has "not been asked by (the) Government to takeover Country Garden. Country Garden declined to comment. Country Garden shares were up 4% in afternoon trade. The insurer had as of Aug. 11 a 4.99% stake in Country Garden, according to Hong Kong stock exchange data. Country Garden had total liabilities of 1.4 trillion yuan ($190 billion) at the end of June.

Persons: Damir Sagolj, Ping, Li Qiang, Ping An, Ma Mingzhe, Ma, Peter, Yang Huiyan, Yang, Anne Marie Roantree, Antoni Slodkowski, Don Durfee, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Ping An Insurance, Global Mobile Internet Conference, National Convention Center, REUTERS, Ping An Insurance Group, HK, Council, Ping An, Reuters, Government, China, Information, Country Garden, People's Bank of China, Financial Regulatory Administration, Shenzhen Metro, Peking University Founder, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, China's, Guangdong province, Guangdong, Hong Kong, GUANGDONG, Shenzhen, Ping An

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photoAug 10 (Reuters) - A China-based tutoring company has agreed to settle a U.S. government agency's novel lawsuit claiming it used hiring software powered by artificial intelligence to illegally weed out older job applicants. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) involving a company's use of AI to make employment decisions. The commission, which enforces workplace bias laws, in 2021 launched an initiative to ensure that AI software used by U.S. employers complies with anti-discrimination laws. Many worker advocates and policymakers are concerned about the potential for existing biases to be baked into AI software, even unintentionally. Experts expect an increasing number of lawsuits accusing employers of discriminating through their use of AI software.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, ITutorGroup, EEOC, Daniel Wiessner, Alexia Garamfalvi, Andy Sullivan Organizations: REUTERS, iTutorGroup Inc, U.S, Opportunity Commission, Ping An Insurance, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, New York, California, Albany , New York

☆ Morgan Stanley still likes these Chinese stocks despite a country downgrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Morgan Stanley has decided to take a break, downgrading MSCI China to equal weight while recommending a few consumer and industrial names. The Politburo meeting signaled policy easing, but outstanding issues — of debt, property, jobs and geopolitics — need significant improvement for sustainable inflows, the Morgan Stanley analysts said. Morgan Stanley has so far only changed it once this year: a cut in July to 5%. And despite their downgrade of Chinese stocks, the analysts added two mainland-traded A shares to their focus list. In its latest report, Morgan Stanley analysts also turned overweight on India.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Laura Wang, Fran Chen, Wood, Warren Buffett, behemoth BlackRock, Biden, Liqian Ren, Ren, Hang Seng, Jack Ma's Alibaba, Morgan Stanley's, Morgan, WisdomTree's Ren doesn't, Ren doesn't, Michael Bloom Organizations: U.S, Chinese Communist Party, China ETF, WisdomTree Trust, Owned Enterprises ETF, Wall, JPMorgan, Baidu, State, Owned Enterprise Fund, Ping An Insurance Locations: China, . U.S, WisdomTree, WisdomTree Trust China, Morgan, Morgan Stanley's China, Hong Kong, India

HSBC posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. HSBC said the planned $10 billion sale, originally slated to be completed by the end of this year, will now only likely go through in the first quarter of 2024. HSBC reported deposits fell 0.6% to $1.6 trillion, excluding those it acquired by bailing out the UK arm of failed U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank and the reclassification of French retail deposits. Despite the surging profit, HSBC did not raise its key performance target of a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from this year onwards, which analysts were anticipating. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said the results showed its strengths in a rising rate environment, and played down the risks of further contagion for the banking sector. HSBC posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. The profit was much higher than the $8.64 billion average estimate of 17 analysts compiled by the bank. Despite the surging profit, HSBC did not raise its key performance target of reaching a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from this year onwards, while analysts were estimating the key metric would be lifted. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HONG KONG, May 2 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) reported on Tuesday a better than expected tripling of quarterly profit, as rising interest rates worldwide boosted the lender's income and helped it pay a first quarterly dividend since 2019. Europe's largest bank posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the first quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. The results were better than the $8.64 billion average estimate of 17 analysts compiled by HSBC. It announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, its first quarterly dividend since 2019, following calls of shareholders to increase the dividend payout. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"We feel it's the right thing to do by allowing all shareholders to vote on such critical issues rather than keeping it away from the voting process," Lui told Reuters. Ping An in November urged HSBC to lower costs by cutting jobs and disposing of peripheral non-Asian businesses. "The shareholders will need to demonstrate that the requisition is valid before it can be formally accepted," a spokesperson for HSBC said. HSBC's other institutional shareholders, particularly in Britain, have so far shown little appetite for a break-up. Lui told Reuters that HSBC has requested both proposals to be submitted as 'special' resolutions, which he said shows the lender is "very worried" that the proposal will be passed.

The London-headquartered bank (HSBA.L) said on Tuesday it would pay a special dividend of $0.21 per share, from the proceeds of the $10 billion sale of its Canada business. HSBC's conservative outlook echoed that of British rival NatWest (NWG.L), which warned last week that profit earned from rising interest rates may have peaked. HSBC said annual expected credit losses rose to $3.6 billion, more than the $3.2 billion analysts had estimated, due to rising inflation pressuring borrowers and lingering problems in China's property market. That matched the $17.5 billion average estimate of 22 analysts compiled by the bank. Meanwhile, HSBC said it still expects to complete the sale of its Russia business in first-half 2023, taking a $300 million loss.

But some analysts had expected HSBC to also raise its key performance target of reaching a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from this year onwards, a target the bank stuck to in its earnings report. Meanwhile, HSBC said it still expects to complete the sale of its Russia business in first-half 2023, taking a $300 million loss. So far this year, the shares have risen 20% versus a 7% rise in the FTSE index (.FTSE). HSBC said annual expected credit losses rose to $3.6 billion, more than the $3.2 billion analysts had estimated, due to rising inflation pressuring borrowers and lingering problems in China's property market. Despite the fourth-quarter surge, annual profit fell to $17.5 billion from $18.9 billion for 2021, due to an impairment of $2.4 billion related to the sale of its retail banking operations in France.

☆ Factbox: Global banks cut jobs as cost pressures mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The British investment bank has performed well in recent quarters, especially in fixed income trading, but a blunder in the United States that saw it sell more securities than permitted has cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties. CITIGROUPCiti (C.N) eliminated dozens of jobs across its investment banking division, as a dealmaking slump continues to weigh on Wall Street's biggest banks, Bloomberg News reported on Nov. 8. The cost savings reported are likely to involve more job cuts than previously announced for the first wave of reductions, including in its wealth business, Reuters reported. DEUTSCHE BANKDeutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Germany's largest bank, cut staff in its investment bank's origination and advisory teams in October, in a move than affected mostly junior bankers. MORGAN STANLEY (MS.N)In December, the investment bank slashed about 2% of its workforce, a source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters.

☆ HSBC's disgruntled shareholders launch new campaign for spinoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Selena Li | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bank's management was "turning a deaf ear to the voice of minority shareholders," he said. Shareholders including Lui began pushing for the spinoff earlier this year. Hong Kong is HSBC's biggest market and home to a large number of retail shareholders who formerly benefited from the bank's once stable dividend payments. HSBC has resumed paying a dividend but not quarterly, and retail investors are dissatisfied with payouts that, overall, are smaller than before. Analysts have said retail shareholders are unlikely to have the heft to eventually force a vote on a break-up.

HSBC "underperforms its peers, violates dividend commitments (and) ignores shareholders' interests," Ken Lui, convener of the group , said in a Thursday newspaper advertisement. London-headquartered HSBC, which is opposed to breaking up its business, dismissed the possibility of the proposal gaining traction among large shareholders. Hong Kong is HSBC's biggest market and home to many retail shareholders. DIVIDEND SUSPENSIONHong Kong retail shareholders were particularly upset when HSBC scrapped its formerly stable dividend in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Bank of England asked lenders to conserve capital. It has resumed paying a dividend but not quarterly, and retail investors are dissatisfied with payouts that, overall, are smaller than before.

☆ FTSE Russell, Ping An jointly launch China ESG indexes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHANGHAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Global index publisher FTSE Russell and Chinese financial conglomerate Ping An announced a partnership on Thursday to promote sustainable investment, launching a series of China indexes integrating environmental, social and government (ESG) considerations. The FTSE Ping An China ESG Index Series, which combines Ping An's China-specific ESG approach into FTSE Russell's China indexes, shows how Chinese and western institutions can join hands in sustainable investment, despite tensions over sensitive areas such as human rights and Communist Party control. The initial index launch will target onshore investors, but the multi-year partnership aims to ultimately serve international investors as well, said FTSE Russell, a unit of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L). "It's really about leveraging the market-specific insights" that Ping An brings, said Helena Fung, Head of Sustainable Investment, APAC at FTSE Russell. In China, however, internet censorship is not factored into ESG considerations by domestic institutions.

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