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☆ European shares hit fresh nine-month high on earnings boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ankika Biswas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was up 0.8% at 0920 GMT, extending gains for a third straight session. Shares of Sweco AB (SWECb.ST), a Swedish construction and engineering company, jumped 11% to top the STOXX 600 following its upbeat fourth-quarter earnings. An over 5% gain in AstraZeneca (AZN.L) on 2023 earnings and revenue growth forecast boosted the healthcare sub-index (.SXDP). Of the 93 STOXX 600 companies that have reported earnings so far, more than half have beaten market expectations, Refinitiv data showed on Tuesday. Signs of economic resilience and better-than-feared corporate earnings have helped European stocks outperform their U.S. counterparts so far this year.

Analysts said the new cash may afford Bed Bath only a few quarters to revive its business, and a weakening economy would diminish any chance of a successful turnaround. Bed Bath declined to comment on Hudson Bay Capital's role in the share sale. "All is on hold," a maker of children's apparel said last week, adding that it had stopped shipping products to Bed Bath since early January. A shopping cart is seen at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., June 29, 2022. Reuters reported late last month that Bed Bath had lined up liquidators to close additional stores unless a last-minute buyer emerged.

☆ European shares hit nine-month high on upbeat cues from Fed's Powell
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 8 (Reuters) - European shares hit a more-than-nine-month high on Wednesday as investors drew positive cues from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks overnight, while Linde's and Akzo Nobel's upbeat forecasts led material and chemical stocks higher. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was up 0.6% at 0818 GMT, hitting its strongest level since April 2022. German gas giant Linde and Dutch paints maker Akzo Nobel (AKZO.AS) jumped 2.4% and 6.5%, respectively, after giving higher 2023 earnings forecasts. Finnish refiner Neste (NESTE.HE) jumped 11% and was the top performer on the STOXX 600 on the back of a comparable fourth-quarter core operating results beat. Norwegian energy firm Equinor (EQNR.OL) gained 6.1% following a record $74.9 billion adjusted operating profit for 2022.

Hudson Bay Capital is unrelated to Canadian department store chain Hudson's Bay Co. Bed Bath & Beyond declined to comment earlier Tuesday on Hudson Bay Capital leading investment in the share sale. A shopping cart is seen at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., June 29, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew KellyPrices on Bed Bath & Beyond bonds due in 2024 climbed to 24 cents on the dollar from around 5 cents, a level still indicating financial distress. Bed Bath shares rose 2.7% in extended trading, after closing down 49% on Tuesday.

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☆ Bed Bath & Beyond plunges after last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY.O) fell more than 30% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the retailer's plans to raise about $1 billion through an offering failed to convince investors the company could avoid bankruptcy. "Unfortunately, we see a low probability that the company will be able to raise equity and view this as a 'last gasp' before filing for bankruptcy protection," Wedbush analyst Seth Basham said. Reuters reported late last month Bed Bath & Beyond was preparing to seek bankruptcy protection and had lined up liquidators to close additional stores unless a last-minute buyer emerged. Bed Bath & Beyond's shares closed more than 92% higher in the last session on interest from retail traders. A part of the meme stock phenomenon, Bed Bath & Beyond stock surged to as high as $30 in August when activist investor Ryan Cohen took a stake in the company and pushed for changes.

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☆ AI stocks rally in latest Wall Street craze sparked by ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Shares of C3.ai Inc, BigBear.ai and SoundHound AI extended a rally on Monday as artificial intelligence becomes a new buzzword on Wall Street with the viral success of ChatGPT chatbot, attracting interest from retail punters. Software firm C3.ai (AI.N) rose 11%, analytics firm BigBear.ai (BBAI.N) jumped nearly 21% and conversation artificial intelligence company SoundHound (SOUN.O) surged 40%. "Any company that mentions ChatGPT or something about AI, sees this rally ... it's just the hot buzzword of the month," said Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading. The success of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which drew multi-billion dollar investment from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), has left investors scouring for companies that develop AI-related technologies. C3.ai and SoundHound have more than doubled in value this year while BigBear.ai has surged more than 700%.

☆ Fed seen hiking policy rate above 5% as hiring surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to need at least two more interest-rate hikes, lifting the benchmark rate to above 5%, to slow an unexpectedly strong labor market seen as contributing to high inflation. The Fed earlier this week increased its benchmark rate by a quarter-of-a-percentage-point to 4.5%-4.75%. Interest-rate futures prices, initially skeptical of that view, now reflect that expectation, with a better than even chance seen that the Fed will continue get its policy rate to the 5%-5.25% range by June, if not by May. The Fed targets 2% inflation, now running at 5% by the Fed's preferred measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index. Friday's Labor Department report did show slower growth in average hourly earnings to a 4.4% pace, from an upwardly revised 4.8% in December.

Wall Street's major indexes had lost ground immediately after the Fed announced its rate hike decision. After the press conference, money markets were betting on a terminal rate of 4.892% in June compared with bets for 4.92% just before the Fed's statement. U.S. futures were still pricing in rate cuts this year with the fed funds rate seen at 4.403% by the end of December, the same as before the meeting. The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 136 new highs and 23 new lows. About 13.7 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 11.5 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

The Fed is widely seen as raising its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in its first policy meeting of the year, after rapid increases in 2022 to tame decades-high inflation. That's the Fed's issue as they finish up their two-day policy meeting today," Turnquist added. All of the 11 major sectors on the S&P 500 were down, with technology shares (.SPLRCT) falling the least. Seventy percent of the 200 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported fourth-quarter earnings have topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts now see earnings of S&P 500 firms declining 2.4% for the quarter, per Refinitiv estimates.

Investors will also parse Chair Jerome Powell's news conference for clues on the trajectory of future rate hikes. All of the 11 major sectors on the S&P 500 were down, with the technology shares (.SPLRCT) falling the least. Dow component Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) slipped 3.7% as the drugmaker said its fourth-quarter revenue fell slightly. With nearly 200 companies in the S&P 500 having reported fourth-quarter earnings, about 70% have topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts now see earnings of S&P 500 firms declining 2.4% for the quarter, per Refinitiv estimates.

Investors will also parse Chair Jerome Powell news conference for clues on the trajectory of future rate hikes. Meanwhile, the ADP National Employment report showed that private payrolls increased by 106,000 in January, lower than expectations of 178,000 additions. Snap Inc (SNAP.N) tumbled 12.5% after the social media company said it expects current-quarter revenue to decline by as much as 10%. ET, Dow e-minis were down 138 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 9.75 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 8.25 points, or 0.07%. Dow Jones Industrial Average component (.DJI) Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) dipped 0.6% as the drugmaker said its fourth-quarter revenue fell slightly.

☆ India Budget 2023: Here's what the experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

"This budget, therefore, has rewritten the rules for financilisation of savings in India, which will induce expenditures rather incentivise savings. LAKSHMI IYER, CEO-INVESTMENT ADVISORY, KOTAK INVESTMENT ADVISORS LTD"India budget 2023 has offered a multi-dimensional view. The 3 Cs which stand out are - Capex increase - consumption boost - capital gains tax status quo. Additionally, the budget has provided significant direct tax benefits to individuals which will help increase disposable income and support spending. The budget keeps in mind the needs of future India while focusing on Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.

☆ Instant View: Adani's $2.5 billion offer rides out share storm with investor backing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

COMMENTARYAMBAREESH BALIGA, INDEPENDENT MARKET ANALYST, MUMBAI"The FPO did get subscribed, thanks to a few institutional as well as large family offices. DEEPAK JASANI, HEAD OF RETAIL RESEARCH, HDFC SECURITIES, MUMBAI"For Indian markets, one of the concern areas is out of the way for the time being as this was weighing on investor sentiment. Since the current market price is below the offer price, the retail subscription was low as investors can rather buy it from the market." That was their focus area considering the fact that there was a difference between the market price and the floor price of the FPO. It seems that retail investors did not consider the fact that there is more to rates than just the price."

☆ Tech stocks lead losses in Europe on rate jitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SummarySummary Companies STOXX 600 down 0.6%Jan 30 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Monday amid a rout across the board as caution crept in ahead of a slew of central bank policy meetings later this week, with shares of rate-sensitive stocks like technology among the major drags. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was down 0.6% at 0818 GMT. Europe's technology index (.SX8P), led by losses in Prosus NV (PRX.AS) and ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS), was the top decliner among sectors - down 2.1%. German renewable firm PNE AG (PNEGn.DE) slid 15.3% after Morgan Stanley's (MS.N) infrastructure investment arm informed PNE AG's board that it is no longer pursuing talks with potential buyers of Photon's PNE stake. Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane VenkatramanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ BuzzFeed soars on reports of Meta deal, plans to use OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Shares of BuzzFeed Inc (BZFD.O) jumped on Thursday on reports of a deal with Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) and plans to use artificial intelligence to personalize and enhance the digital media firm's online quizzes and content. Buzzfeed, in an emailed response to Reuters, said "we are not using ChatGPT - we are using OpenAI's publicly available API (application programming interface)." Earlier in the day, the stock had jumped 50% on a separate report by the Journal that said Meta was paying BuzzFeed millions of dollars to bring more creators to Facebook and Instagram. Indicating interest from retail traders, BuzzFeed shares were among the top three orders on Fidelity's platform on Thursday. Its third-quarter net loss had widened to $27 million from $3.6 million a year ago.

☆ European shares gain on earnings optimism
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - European shares gained on Thursday as upbeat quarterly results from STMicroelectronics, Sabadell and Nokia eased worries over the corporate earnings season amid signs of a recession. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) rose 0.6% at 0835 GMT, with technology (.SX8P) and financial services (.SXFP) stocks leading gains. Spanish lender Sabadell (SABE.MC) gained 8.8% following the management's upbeat commentary on 2024 net interest income despite a fall in fourth-quarter net profit. Nokia (NOKIA.HE) rose 5.5% after the Finnish telecom equipment maker beat quarterly operating profit expectations and forecast higher 2023 sales. Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Battered BuzzFeed shares rally after report of multi-million dollar Meta deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Shares of BuzzFeed Inc (BZFD.O) jumped over 50% in early trading after a report said Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) was paying the digital media firm millions of dollars to bring more creators to Facebook, Instagram. About 30 million shares changed hands by 9:50 a.m. The $132 million company has seen its shares tank over 90% to just under $1 since going public via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in December 2021. SPACs typically sell shares for $10 each, put the cash in a trust account and then search for a company to buy. Its third-quarter net loss had widened to $27 million from $3.6 million a year ago.

☆ Tech drags European stocks lower on earnings jitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ankika Biswas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) fell 0.3%, heading lower for a second day with technology (.SX8P) and telecom (.SX8P) declining the most. "The weak outlook painted by Microsoft is weighing on the wider tech sector," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets in London. European stocks came under pressure on Tuesday, as an improvement in economic activity spurred speculation that the European Central Bank (ECB) might have more room to raise interest rates to tackle inflation. Boosting UK stocks, EasyJet PLC (EZJ.L) jumped 10.6% after projecting it would beat current market expectations for 2023 and deliver a full-year profit. Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT.O) fell 3.9% after it warned that growth in its lucrative cloud business could stall, while its PC unit continued to struggle. The S&P 500 technology index (.SPLRCT) shed 2.1% to lead declines among the 11 major sector indexes. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Salesforce Inc (CRM.N) and ServiceNow Inc (NOW.N), which have substantial cloud businesses, fell between 2.5% and 4.5%. Other major growth stocks, including Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), also dropped between 1.5% and 3.0%. The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 29 new highs and 16 new lows.

☆ European shares slip as investors weigh earnings reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - European stocks inched lower on Wednesday as investors assessed a slew of earnings reports including chip equipment maker ASML's, while fears of more interest rate hikes kept investors on edge. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) fell 0.2% by 0816 GMT, with technology (.SX8P) and financials declining the most. Shares of ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS) lost 2% and were among the top drags on the STOXX 600, despite forecasting sales growth of more than 25% for 2023. Lonza Group AG (LONN.S) fell 2.8%, even as the Swiss drug contract manufacturer reaffirmed its longer-term growth prospects. Investors will monitor Germany's 2023 annual economic report in Berlin due at 1315 GMT amid easing fears of a recession in the euro zone's largest economy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) climbed 0.3% at 0936 GMT, boosted by gains in banks (.SX7P) and industrials (.SXNP). European shares were on track to snap a two-week winning streak, thanks to the worst single-day selloff so far this month on Thursday following disappointing earnings reports, weak U.S. economic data and hawkish comments from central bankers. Energy stocks (.SXEP) gained 0.8%, tracking firm crude prices on hopes of demand recovery in the world's second-biggest economy. "Europe has more exposure to China reopening and luxury is a big part of the European market," said Jamie Mills O'Brien, investment manager at Abrdn. "Some of the big players are pure China reopening bets."

The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was down 0.8% at 0929 GMT, and on track to snap a six-day winning streak. Energy stocks (.SXEP) fell 1.9%, tracking weakness in crude prices, after U.S. economic data stoked fears of recession in the world's largest economy. "Economic data remains noisy, making it hard to say for certain that the recent encouraging economic trends will continue," said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot added to the chorus, saying markets may be underestimating planned rate hikes by the European Central Bank and investors should take more seriously its forecast to raise rates in multiples of 50 basis points. Investors are focussed on minutes from last month's European Central Bank meeting due later in the day, as well as an appearance from ECB President Christine Lagarde at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

A reading from the Commerce Department showed retail sales fell 1.1% in December, compared with expectations of a 0.8% drop. Another report showed U.S. producer prices rose less than expected year-on-year in December, adding to evidence of a moderation in inflation. Earnings from big U.S. banks were a mixed bag, with many stockpiling rainy-day funds preparing for a looming recession. Shares of other major carriers including American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O), Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) and Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) rose between 1.6% and 2.2%. IBM Corp (IBM.N) slipped 1.5% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the company's shares to "equal weight" from "overweight", citing slowing revenue growth.

The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was up 0.1% by 0910 GMT, extending gains for a sixth straight day on boost from rate-sensitive technology stocks (.SX8P) and industrials (.SXNP). Richemont (CFR.S) rose 2% on reporting higher quarterly sales as tourists returned to Europe and Japan. Still, the luxury group missed market estimates after sales in China plunged by almost a quarter. "For luxury, China is quite important with more hopes of rebounding activity in the first half of this year," said Emmanuel Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays Investment Bank. Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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