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In the United States, the manufacturing sector pulled out of a five-month contraction on a pickup in new orders, and services activity accelerated modestly amid signs of easing inflationary pressures. HEADACHE FOR THE ECBIn the euro zone, business activity drooped as demand fell in a broad-based downturn across the region, causing the bloc to enter the fourth quarter on the wrong foot and suggesting it may slip into recession. "The flash PMIs mark a poor start to October for the euro zone, especially after showing some early signs of recovery in September," said Rory Fennessy at Oxford Economics. Suggesting a recession is well underway in Germany, Europe's largest economy, business activity contracted there for a fourth straight month as the downturn in manufacturing was matched by a renewed decline in services, its PMI showed. In France, the euro zone's second-largest economy, business activity remained in contraction territory in October, PMI data showed, improving just slightly from September's near three-year low.

Persons: Rebecca Cook, Chris Williamson, Christine Lagarde's, Rory Fennessy, Williamson, Ajay Banga, Dan Burns, Jonathan Cable, Lindsay Dunsmuir, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle, REUTERS, P Global, Composite, Federal, Commerce Department, Reuters, P, P Global Market Intelligence, P Global PMI, September's, European Central Bank, Oxford Economics, PMI, European Union, Bank of, Palestinian, Hamas, Thomson Locations: Dearborn , Michigan, U.S, United States, joblessness, Germany, Europe's, France, September's, Britain, Gaza, Ukraine

☆ Stocks swoon, dollar firms as Powell speech looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2023. Crude oil found its footing around one-month lows, but remained on course for a second weekly decline amid a firmer dollar and simmering China-centred worries about global growth. "However, there is also no real reason for Powell to strike a dovish tone," he added, "and that could mean an ugly end to the week for stocks, while the dollar shines." Against Japan's currency , the dollar edged tentatively back toward last week's nine-month high of 146.545, trading as strong as 146.21. In energy markets, crude prices rose slightly on Friday, but remained on track for weekly declines of between 1.5-2.5%.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Jerome Powell, Jackson, Kazuo Ueda, Christine Lagarde, Powell, Matt Simpson, Simpson, Patrick Harker, Susan Collins, Joseph Capurso, Brent, Kevin Buckland, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Rights, Federal, People's Bank of, Bank, Nasdaq, Japan's Nikkei, Nvidia, Advantest, Fed, Boston Philadelphia Fed, CNBC, Yahoo, U.S, Bank of Japan, CBA, Treasury, West Texas, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, . U.S, China, People's Bank of China, Asia, Tokyo, Jackson

☆ Morning Bid: Jitters mount as Powell retakes centre stage
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Any hints about the Fed's rate outlook are sure to reverberate across asset classes. Stock markets around the globe slid as nerves grew, with Wall Street taking a tumble overnight and Japan's Nikkei (.N225) dropping 2% in the Asian morning. Stoxx 50 futures didn't offer much hope for the coming day after Europe's benchmark (.STOXX) drooped on Thursday. The pristine U.S. resiliency story took a hit earlier this week after surveys showing dismal business activity shook confidence. Reuters GraphicsFed officials squeezed in some final public comments before the boss's speech: Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker leaned towards holding policy steady for the rest of the year, while Boston Fed President Susan Collins kept the door open for additional hikes.

Persons: Brigid Riley, Jerome Powell, Jackson, drooped, Patrick Harker, Susan Collins, Christine Lagarde, Kevin Buckland, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse, REUTERS, Staff, Japan's Nikkei, Thursday, Fed, Reuters Graphics, Philadelphia Fed, Boston Fed, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Silicon, Germany, U.S, Sweden

☆ Stocks sink, dollar climbs as risk of hawkish Powell looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2023. Crude oil found its footing around one-month lows, but remained on course for a second weekly decline amid a firmer dollar and simmering China-centered worries about global growth. "However, there is also no real reason for Powell to strike a dovish tone," he added, "and that could mean an ugly end to the week for stocks, while the dollar shines." Against Japan's currency , the dollar edged back toward last week's nine-month high of 146.545, last trading at 146.15. The Chinese yuan traded slightly weaker in offshore markets , slipping 0.07% to 7.2866 per dollar.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Jerome Powell, Jackson, Kazuo Ueda, Christine Lagarde, Powell, Matt Simpson, Simpson, Patrick Harker, Brent, Kevin Buckland, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Rights, Federal, People's Bank of, Bank, Nasdaq, Japan's Nikkei, Nvidia, Advantest, Philadelphia Fed, CNBC, U.S, Treasury, West Texas, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, . U.S, China, People's Bank of China, Asia, Tokyo

☆ Lifted by Lea Michele, ‘Funny Girl’ Recoups on Broadway
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Michael Paulson | More About Michael Paulson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Broadway revival of “Funny Girl” starring Lea Michele is now officially a hit: It has recouped its capitalization costs, completing a remarkable box office turnaround of the sort rarely seen in the commercial theater. The show’s lead producers, Sonia Friedman, Scott Landis and David Babani, announced on Monday that the production had made back the $16.5 million it cost to mount. That milestone not only gives the production bragging rights, but also means that “Funny Girl” can generate a profit during the last few weeks of its run, which ends on Sept. 3. Only a handful of Broadway productions have announced the recoupment of their capitalization costs since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as higher expenses and smaller audiences have made the always challenging economics of Broadway even more difficult. Critics were underwhelmed; the show won no Tony Awards (it was only nominated for one); and by summer its sales had drooped.

Persons: Lea Michele, Sonia Friedman, Scott Landis, David Babani, Barbra Streisand —, Beanie Feldstein, Critics Organizations: Wilson Theater

European stocks (.STOXX) fell 0.2%, stepping back from a 2% gain in July, its second month of gains. UK stocks (.FTSE) edged up 0.1%, however, with HSBC (HSBA.L) climbing 2.6% after announcing a $2 billion share buyback and raising its key profitability target. Oil prices traded near a three-month high hit on Monday amid signs of tightening global supply. Also buoying prices were producers cutting output and demand in the United States, the world's biggest fuel consumer, remaining resilient. The U.S. dollar index - which measures the currency against six major peers - rose as high as 102.07 for the first time since July 10.

Persons: Sandrine Perret, Hong, HSI, Alec Jin, Tom Wilson, Kevin Buckland, Ankur Banerjee, Lincoln, Bernadette Baum Organizations: HSBC, LONDON, . Federal, Fed, Brent, Energy, BP, Bank of, Japan's Nikkei, Reserve Bank of Australia, U.S, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Unigestion, United States, London, Asia, Tokyo

☆ Inside the private meeting at Jack Ma's apartment where he plotted to take on Silicon Valley with a trusted 'ragtag bunch' of early employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Brian A. Wong | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In one apartment, Jack, Lucy Peng, and a few other leaders worked alongside the firm's engineers. Everyone's enthusiasm flowed from their strong identification with the company's mission and Jack's vision, and if it was part of our mission, all believed, it was certainly achievable. In fact, in time, I would grow to better understand and more deeply embrace Alibaba's mission, vision, and values and the way they motivated our people. That's what Savio Kwan, Alibaba's first COO, did, codifying Jack's ideas into our company mission, vision, and values. Their efforts would form the basis of Alibaba's core mission, vision, and values statement— the guiding force or beliefs for Alibaba's development then and now.

☆ U.S. yields sink amid dovish Fed signals; HK stocks slip on COVID concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Kevin Buckland | Vivek Mishra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The 10-year Treasury yield dipped to 3.659%, the lowest since Oct. 5 in Tokyo trading, after Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. S&P 500 E-mini futures pointed 0.2% higher for the restart of Wall Street trading on Friday. Mainland Chinese blue chips (.CSI300), though, rose 0.51%, buoyed by government measures to support the real estate market. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures jumped 35 cents, or 0.5%, from Wednesday's close to $78.32 a barrel. Gold ticked 0.2% higher to $1,758.44 an ounce amid dollar weakness.

Oct 7 (Reuters) - Deciding who gets hurt by sweeping new U.S. curbs on selling technology to China will come down in part to what constitutes a "supercomputer," experts told Reuters. Around the world, the semiconductor industry on Friday began to wrestle with wide-ranging U.S. restrictions on selling chips and chip manufacturing equipment to China. Shares of chip equipment makers drooped, but industry experts said a new U.S. definition of a supercomputer could be pivotal to the new rules' impact on China. The new definition is unlikely to change as industry technology improves. "The issue is that the definition of a supercomputer will change over time," he said by email.

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