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☆ Futures climb as hopes of a Fed pause gain steam
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points, as expected, on Wednesday but its policy statement no longer said "ongoing increases" would likely be appropriate. ET, Dow e-minis were up 158 points, or 0.49%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 27.5 points, or 0.69%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 123.25 points, or 0.97%. Those pre-market gains helped boost futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq. ET is expected to show a rise in jobless claims last week, hinting at some cooling in labor demand. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ London stocks fall ahead of BoE rate decision, banks down
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) fell 0.7%, after recording its highest closing level in more than a week on Wednesday. The focus now shifts to the BoE, which is widely expected to also raise its lending rate by 25 bps at 1200 GMT. "It's highly unlikely that the BoE would diverge from other central banks," said Julien Lafargue, chief market strategist at Barclays Private Bank. Ahead of its decision on interest rates, the BoE said in a letter to lawmakers that more sharp moves in asset prices could expose weaknesses in parts of Britain's financial system. Informa (INF.L) dropped 2.7% after Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the events organizer's stock to "equal-weight" from "overweight".

☆ Stratasys rejects Nano Dimension's $1.1 bln offer for remaining stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 22 (Reuters) - Stratasys Ltd (SSYS.O) said on Wednesday its board had rejected smaller peer Nano Dimension Ltd's (2N5By.F) $1.1 billion offer to acquire the stake it does not already own in the Israeli 3D printer maker. Following a review, the board concluded that Nano's proposal substantially undervalued the company, Stratasys said. Nano Dimension currently owns about 14.5% of Stratasys's outstanding shares and is the largest shareholder in the company founded over 30 years ago. The company had disclosed a 12.12% stake in July last year, shortly after which Stratasys adopted a limited shareholder rights plan or "poison pill". Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Sriraj KalluvilaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

March 21 (Reuters) - Altimmune Inc's (ALT.O) experimental obesity drug helped reduce weight by over 10% on average in a mid-stage trial, the company said on Tuesday, but safety concerns sent its shares tumbling more than 50%. Wolleben added that the drug showed " a little bit worse" tolerability than previous data. Patients who received a 2.4 milligram dose of Altimmune's experimental drug, pemvidutide, achieved average weight loss of 10.7% at the end of week 24, the company said. The data looked competitive to mid-stage data from Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) obesity drug Wegovy and Eli Lilly's (LLY.N) candidate for the condition, most analysts said. While Novo Nordisk's drug Wegovy is already available, Lilly expects approval for its obesity drug candidate, tirzepatide, this year.

☆ Microsoft launches image-creation tool on Bing powered by OpenAI's tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 21 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Tuesday rolled out an image-creation feature for search engine Bing and browser Edge that will use the technology behind OpenAI's DALL-E to create pictures based on text prompts. The tool, named 'Bing Image Creator', will be available to users of the latest AI-powered version of Bing and Edge preview. Bing Image Creator will be integrated into Bing chat, rolling out initially in Creative mode starting Tuesday for users on desktop and mobile, Microsoft said in a blog post. At the center are Microsoft and Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google, touting AI features for their most popular products from spreadsheet software Excel to Gmail. The software giant also launched new features - Visual Stories and Knowledge Cards 2.0 - for Bing users.

The boost was shortlived and fears of a banking crisis gripped the market on Friday, with shares of First Republic Bank (FRC.N), which also suspended its dividend payout, dropping 24.5%. The KBW regional banking index (.KRX) and the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) fell over 9% each in the week. Investors are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, due next week, to gauge how it will tame inflation. Money market participants now see a 67% chance of the Fed raising rates by 25 basis points on March 22. . Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5.46-to-1 ratio on the NYSE by a 3.56-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

Shares of First Republic fell 20.7% in early trading after the bank suspended its dividend payout. The KBW regional banking index (.KRX) and the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) fell over 2% each. "Deposits have fled from regional banks like First Republic into the big banks who are now bailing them out by putting the deposits back in. "Until you stop the deposit flight from regional banks into the systemically important banks that are too big to fail, it doesn't matter how much money you pour into the bucket." The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded seven new highs and 75 new lows.

SummarySummary Companies First Republic Bank tumbles on suspending dividendFedEx jumps on full-year profit forecast raiseFutures mixed: Dow down 0.30%, S&P down 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.10%March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Friday as investors remained wary about a potential banking crisis despite the country's largest banks throwing troubled regional lender First Republic Bank a lifeline. Big U.S. banks were mixed, with JPMorgan and Citigroup (C.N) flat, while Wells Fargo (WFC.N) edged 0.1% higher. European Central Bank supervisors saw no contagion to euro zone banks from the recent market turmoil, a source said. Investors are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, due next week, to gauge how it will tame inflation amid a banking crisis. Money market participants now see an 83% chance of the Fed raising rates by 25 basis points on March 22.

☆ Walmart pumps $200 mln in Indian fintech PhonePe in ongoing fundraise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, March 17 (Reuters) - Indian digital payments firm PhonePe said on Friday it has raised $200 million from majority backer Walmart Inc (WMT.N) at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. PhonePe, already India's most valuable payments firm and among the country's most highly-valued startups, said the investment is part of its ongoing fundraise of up to $1 billion. American retail behemoth Walmart, which acquired a majority share in PhonePe in 2018, will continue as a majority investor, the Indian company said, without disclosing its stake. PhonePe said it plans to deploy these funds to build and scale new businesses including insurance, wealth management and lending. The relocation, according to some reports, was to ensure an easier entry into the country's highly-regulated financial services industry, especially lending.

☆ Jefferies sees softer impact of Credit Suisse crisis on India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 16 (Reuters) - India's banking sector will likely have a softer impact from the troubles at Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), given the Swiss lender's relatively small presence in the country, equity analysts at Jefferies said on Thursday. Credit Suisse has a 1.5% share among foreign banks' assets in India and a 'small' 0.1% share of overall banking assets in the country, Jefferies estimated. It has only 1 branch in India and total assets of over 200 billion rupees ($2.42 billion), it said. "Given the relevance of Credit Suisse to India's banking sector, we see softer adjustments in assessment of counter-party risks, especially in the derivative market," analysts Prakhar Sharma and Vinayak Agarwal said in a note. This may also lead to institutional deposits moving more towards larger or quality banks, Jefferies said.

☆ FTSE 100 gains as British banks bounce back; Rentokil rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.4%, rebounding from its steepest fall in over a year on Wednesday. British banks (.FTNMX301010) gained 1.8%, after falling 5.6% in the previous session. Rentokil Initial (RTO.L) jumped 6.1% to the top of the FTSE 100 after the pest control services provider lifted its medium-term outlook after posting a better-than-expected annual profit. The more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) were subdued, though asset manager Bridgepoint Group (BPTB.L) rose 2.9% after reporting a higher revenue for 2022. Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Uttaresh VenkateshwaranOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ S&P says SVB fallout won't lead to rating actions on APAC banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 16 (Reuters) - Ratings agency S&P on Thursday said the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank's (SIVB.O) collapse may not lead to any rating actions on Asia-Pacific banks as they are well placed to absorb potential contagion effects. The direct exposure of APAC banks to SVB is negligible and secondary impacts are manageable, the agency said, adding that some Japanese banks that have large holdings of U.S. government bonds are the most exposed to weakened market sentiment, but not to the extent of initiating rating actions. "A key rating factor across the region is continuing depositor and stakeholder confidence," S&P said. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has sparked a crisis of confidence in the banking sector, leading to a run on deposits at a host of regional banks despite U.S. authorities launching emergency measures to shore up confidence. read more read moreReporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EY's break-up plan stalled - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 16 (Reuters) - Ernst & Young (EY) has suffered a series of delays in its plan to split its global auditing and consulting businesses, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The top executives of the accounting firm are considering several back-up options, including selling off just the non-U. S. consulting operation, likely to a private equity buyer, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ European shares sink as banks resume selloff, Credit Suisse hits new low
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 2.5% by 1118 GMT, languishing at 10-week lows, as was the banks sector index (.SX7P) after plunging nearly 6%. The bank index is set to lose more than 120 billion euros ($127.26 billion) in market value since the close of March 8. Shares of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) fell below 2 Swiss francs ($2.18) after the lender's biggest shareholder said it could not raise its 10% stake, citing regulatory issues. There was also a cooling of optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will tone down its rate-hiking spree next week in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank's (SVB) collapse. Retailers (.SXRP) shed 5.0% after shares of Zara-owner Inditex (ITX.MC), the world's biggest fashion retailer, fell 5.2% as it flagged higher investment spending.

☆ Short sellers may pocket $2.3 bln from U.S. bank rout over last three days -S3 Partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Short sellers may have raked in $2.29 billion in profit in the past three sessions, as they took advantage of a selloff in regional bank shares following the collapse of SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O), S3 Partners said. SVB Financial and Signature Bank are among the top five most profitable shorts among regional banks this year, the research firm said in a client note. Short sellers have pocketed $3.53 billion so far in March on a mark-to-market basis, according to S3. "SIVB and SBNY short sellers are sitting on massive mark-to-market profits but have no way to realize those profits at the moment," S3 Managing Director Ihor Dusaniwsky said. Short sellers profit from stock declines by borrowing shares of companies that they believe are overvalued, selling them, and then buying them back at a lower price later.

☆ Gold in tight range with focus on Fed's rate-hike moves
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,903.64 per ounce as of 0316 GMT, trading in a $6 range. The dollar index was down 0.1%, making bullion less expensive for overseas buyers, while U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher. "Investor allocation to gold remains low," analysts at ANZ said in a note, but added they expect the banking turmoil to "reinvigorate investor demand over the longer term." Spot silver rose 0.6% to $21.81 per ounce, platinum added 0.5% at $987.64 and palladium firmed 0.3% at $1,510.92. Reporting by Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ S&P says not seen rampant deposit outflows to merit rating action
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 15 (Reuters) - S&P has not placed other U.S. banks on CreditWatch negative since First Republic Bank as it has not seen widespread deposit outflows, the ratings agency said on Tuesday, hours after Moody's cut its outlook on the U.S. banking system to negative. read more read moreEarlier on Tuesday, S&P Global Ratings placed First Republic Bank (FRC.N) on CreditWatch negative, reflecting lower confidence in the lender's financial strength. However, later in the day, S&P said it had not seen evidence that the unmanageable deposit outflows seen at a few banks had widely spread across the banks it covers. Moody's Investors Service revised its outlook on the U.S. banking system to "negative" from "stable" earlier on Tuesday to reflect the rapid deterioration in the operating environment. Reporting by Lavanya Ahire and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ First Citizens agrees to buy collapsed Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Destroyed SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) logo is seen in this illustration taken March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoMarch 27 (Reuters) - First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co, a unit of First Citizens BancShares Inc (FCNCA.O), said it will acquire $110 billion in assets, $56 billion in deposits and $72 billion in loans of failed lender Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O). SVB was the largest bank, since the 2008 financial crisis, to collapse when California regulators closed the bank on March 10, sparking massive market disruption and heightened stress across the banking sector globally. Santa Clara, California-based SVB was the sixteenth biggest U.S. lender at the end of last year, with about $209 billion in assets, while First Citizens has around $109 billion. Below is a timeline of key events leading to the acquisition:Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Priyamvada C; Editing by Maju Samuel, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Sriraj Kalluvila and Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ JPMorgan, other big U.S. banks flooded with new clients post SVB collapse-FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Even the U.S. government's emergency measures to stop the collapse of more banks have not stopped depositors from trying to move their accounts to larger banks or to shift to money market funds, FT reported. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped in on Friday to protect the deposits of up to $250,000, but deposits over that amount - which accounted for 85% of SVB accounts - are at risk. Citi declined to comment on the report, while JPMorgan and Bank of America did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Shares of U.S. regional banks such as First Republic Bank (FRC.N), Western Alliance (WAL.N) and KeyCorp (KEY.N) have slumped on fears of possible bank contagion following the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank (SBNY.O). Reporting by Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Janane VenkatramanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Honeywell company veteran Kapur to replace Adamczyk as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

He has held several key positions in the company, including CEO of its building technologies as well as performance materials and technologies units. Kapur also oversees the company's operating model, Honeywell Accelerator, which uses various tools, processes and best practices to improve efficiency. Adamczyk, who has been Honeywell's CEO since 2017, will continue to serve as executive chairman and draw a base salary of $1.3 million, the company said in a regulatory filing. Kapur's base salary as CEO will be $1.5 million, Honeywell said. They have risen 61% since Adamczyk became CEO.

☆ Applied Materials announces new $10 bln share buyback plan, hikes dividend
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Applied Materials (AMAT.O), which makes equipment to produce chips, said on Monday that its board has approved a new $10 billion share repurchase scheme, and also raised its quarterly dividend. Applied Materials said its board also approved a 23% increase in its quarterly dividend, the largest in five years, to 32 cents per share, up from 26 cents per share. The semiconductor industry has been facing a downturn in demand for chips used in personal computers and mobile devices, although, in a bright spot, demand from data center and automotive sectors has been steady. Last month, Applied Materials forecast quarterly revenue that was largely above analysts' expectations as it benefited from resilient demand for its tools used to make chips for the automotive and artificial intelligence industries. Applied Materials said its services business has become larger and more subscription-based helping its revenue and profitability become more predictable.

☆ JPMorgan, PNC among suitors for SVB Financial in deal excluding SVB Bank - Axios
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and PNC Financial Service Group Inc (PNC.N) are among those in talks about acquiring SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O) in a deal that would exclude its commercial banking unit Silicon Valley Bank that is currently under U.S. control, Axios reported on Monday citing sources. Apollo Management (APO.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) are also part of the discussions, Axios reported, adding Apollo was interested in financing a deal or acquiring some of the business. Reuters reported on Sunday that Silicon Valley Bank had received interest from PNC and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) but that had cooled on Sunday as U.S. regulators invited bids for the failed lender. The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) had given a Sunday afternoon deadline for bids for the failed Silicon Valley Bank, Reuters reported. Reporting by Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SAP-controlled Qualtrics accepts $12.5 bln offer from Silver Lake, CPPIB
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Qualtrics International Inc (XM.O) said on Monday it will go private after the customer survey software maker's controlling shareholder, SAP SE (SAPG.DE), accepted a $12.5 billion bid from an investor consortium led by Silver Lake and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). SAP agreed to the consortium's $18.15-per-share offer for Qualtrics, saying it would get about $7.7 billion for its stake. Qualtrics said earlier this month it would negotiate on an exclusive basis with Silver Lake and CPPIB until March 15 to see whether a deal could be finalized. Silver Lake Partners currently holds a 13.94% stake in Qualtrics. In 2018, SAP bought Qualtrics for $8 billion and three years later listed it in New York.

☆ No relief for European stocks as bank selloff continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - European stocks fell on Monday as bank stocks continued to tumble in the region even as authorities stepped in to cap the fallout from the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 0.6% by 0812 GMT, having closed at a more-than-five-week low on Friday. European banking stocks (.SX7P) dropped 1.1%, after their worst two-day selloff in more than five months, on worries about the resilience of the sector's balance sheet in the face of SVB's collapse and the interest rate outlook. Goldman Sachs said on Sunday it expects no rate hike in light of the recent stress in the financial sector. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is set to hike rates by 50 bps later this week.

☆ JPMorgan among suitors for SVB Financial in deal excluding SVB Bank- Axios
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) is in talks to acquire SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O) in a deal that would exclude commercial banking unit Silicon Valley Bank, which is currently under U.S. control, Axios reported on Monday, citing sources. PNC Financial Services Group Inc (PNC.N), Apollo Management (APO.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) are also in talks with the defunct lender, Axios reported, adding Apollo was interested in financing a deal or acquiring some of the business. A PNC spokesperson told Reuters that it was "not in talks to acquire SVB Financial or Silicon Valley Bank," while the other companies did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters reported on Sunday that Silicon Valley Bank had received interest from PNC and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) but that had cooled on Sunday as U.S. regulators invited bids for the failed lender. The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) had given a Sunday afternoon deadline for bids for the failed Silicon Valley Bank, Reuters reported.

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