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☆ Fox News says little on air about its $787.5 million settlement with Dominion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Helen Coster | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, who had been expected to testify in the Dominion trial, did not reference the settlement, the largest struck by an American media company, during their primetime broadcasts on Tuesday night. Fox News is owned by Fox Corp (FOXA.O) and is the most-watched U.S. cable news network. Howard Kurtz, the host of Fox News' MediaBuzz show, appeared on Cavuto's show and during "Special Report with Bret Baier." On "Special Report" Kurtz read the Fox statement, but did not include the dollar figure of the settlement. In response to a Reuters request for comment about Fox's coverage of the settlement, a spokesperson shared the company's statement about the Dominion settlement that aired on Cavuto and Baier's shows.

[1/5] A sign is pictured in front of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) national headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada March 13, 2017. REUTERS/Chris WattieOTTAWA, April 19 (Reuters) - About 155,000 federal workers in Canada walked off the job on Wednesday after failing to reach a deal for higher wages and work-from-home guarantees, a strike that affects a range of public services from tax returns to passport renewals. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) union said contract negotiations would continue, and Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed the urgency of resolving the dispute. The contract negotiations cover two main groups of employees: 120,000 workers under the Treasury Board and more than 35,000 revenue agency workers. Tax agency workers want a pay bump of 22.5% over three years, while the Treasury Board workers are seeking a 13.5% pay rise over three years.

☆ Column: Germany goes all in on energy transition with nuclear shutdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

To combat that vulnerability, and ensure Germany's energy system can accommodate a recovery in power demand from last year's stunted levels despite lower gas-fired and nuclear output, Germany's power producers must continue to retool the country's entire power system at record pace. FIT FOR PURPOSEThe key near-term challenge for Germany's energy producers is to generate as much power and electricity as was delivered before Russia's incursions into Ukraine upended power markets. The lower electricity generation totals also indicate that power producers may be struggling to lift overall generation levels given the falling supplies of nuclear power output and continued tight availability of natural gas. The extent of coal's demand growth will be determined by overall power demand needs in Germany over the coming months. But with low-emitting nuclear power now off the table, more coal use looks inevitable, at least over the near term.

☆ Salvadoran lawmakers pass tech tax cut, including for AI businesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The tech tax cut was championed by President Nayib Bukele, who first touted the legislation late last month. Bukele's New Ideas Party dominates the country's Congress. The bill exempts eligible companies from income tax, capital gains and local government taxes, as well as tariff payments on imported goods that technology businesses need. The new tax incentives for the nascent tech sector are only the latest efforts by Bukele and his allies to re-brand the Central American country as an emerging hub for innovation. In 2021, El Salvador made waves as the first nation to adopt the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender, alongside the U.S. dollar.

REUTERS/Chris WattieOTTAWA, April 19 (Reuters) - About 155,000 federal workers in Canada walked off the job on Wednesday after failing to reach a deal for higher wages and work-from-home guarantees, a strike that affects a range of public services from tax returns to passport renewals. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) union and the federal government said negotiations are ongoing, and Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed the urgency of resolving the dispute. The contract negotiations cover two main groups of employees: 120,000 workers under the Treasury Board and more than 35,000 revenue agency workers. Tax agency workers want a pay bump of 22.5% over three years, while the Treasury Board workers are seeking a 13.5% pay rise over three years. "There's obviously still the concern that this contract could set a precedent for other public sector union negotiations," he said.

☆ China may hold lending benchmarks steady as recovery remains on track -analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, April 19 (Reuters) - China is widely expected to stand pat on lending benchmarks at the monthly fixing on Thursday, a Reuters survey showed, as economic recovery has been well on track - as seen from better-than-expected first-quarter data. China's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the first quarter, reducing the urgency for authorities to ease monetary policy to aid recovery, traders and economists said. The loan prime rate (LPR), which banks normally charge their best clients, is calculated each month after 18 designated commercial banks submit proposed rates to the People's Bank of China (PBOC). In a poll of 30 market watchers, 27 predicted no change to either the one-year LPR or five-year tenor . The interest rate on medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans serves as a guide to the LPR.

☆ New box jellyfish species found in Hong Kong's waters -study
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, April 19 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong university team said it has discovered a new species of box jellyfish in the city's Mai Po Nature Reserve, the first discovery of the venomous species in China's waters. Baptist University (HKBU) together with WWF-Hong Kong, Ocean Park Hong Kong and University of Manchester said on Tuesday that the team collected jellyfish samples from a brackish shrimp pond over 2020-2022 and found they contained a new species. Box jellyfish "are poorly known in Chinese marine waters. Our discovery of Tripedalia maipoensis in Mai Po - a relatively well-studied area in Hong Kong - highlights the rich diversity of marine life in Hong Kong and even the whole of China," he said. Box jellyfish, scientifically known as class Cubozoa, includes some of the highly venomous marine animals that are widely known in tropical waters, the study said.

☆ US warship sails through Taiwan Strait following China war games
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, April 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in what the U.S. Navy described on Monday as a "routine" transit, just days after China ended its latest war games around the island. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around Taiwan last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island. The U.S. Navy sails warships through the strait around once a month, and also regularly conducts similar freedom of navigation missions in the disputed South China Sea. Last week, the USS Milius sailed near one of the most important man-made and Chinese controlled islands in the South China Sea, Mischief Reef. China has continued its military activities around Taiwan since the drills ended, though on a reduced scale.

☆ Dollar set for longest stretch of weekly losses since 2020
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Amanda Cooper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The dollar index , which measures the performance of the U.S. currency against six others, slid to a roughly one-year low of 100.78. This would mark a fifth straight weekly loss, the longest such stretch since July 2020. Out of the G10 currencies, investors hold the largest bearish position in the dollar against the euro. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.1% to $0.63035, after jumping 1.3% on Thursday. The Japanese yen rose marginally, leaving the dollar 0.2% down on the day at 132.27, while the offshore yuan rose 0.4% to 6.8463 per dollar.

☆ Dollar sinks to one-year low as cooling inflation raises Fed pause expectation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Rae Wee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Dollar banknotes are seen through a printed stock graph in this illustration taken February 7, 2018. The greenback took another leg down on Friday and the U.S dollar index , which measures the currency against six major peers, slid to a roughly one-year low of 100.78. Meanwhile, the euro rose to a fresh one-year top of $1.1075, pushing past its previous high from Thursday. The New Zealand dollar similarly gained 0.19% to $0.6309, after jumping 1.3% on Thursday. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's yen rose marginally to 132.47 per dollar, while the offshore yuan gained more than 0.5% to 6.8327 per dollar.

☆ Morning Bid: Singapore signals a peak for policy tightening
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. Singapore's central bank sprang the surprise of the Asian day by halting its tightening cycle when markets had expected a sixth straight round of restraint. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said there was enough currency appreciation - controlling the SGD is its primary policy tool - already in the pipeline to ensure inflation slowed sharply as the year progressed. It also sounded more downbeat on the economic outlook as GDP growth missed forecasts with a rise of just 0.1%. It made a five-month top on the yen, a 10-month peak on the Singapore dollar and a 17-month high on the Australian dollar.

Imbalance had long riled Nissan executives who complained Renault did not pay its fair share of costs for innovation and development. In a joint statement to Reuters, Nissan and Renault said they were working toward final partnership terms that would make them more competitive. Nissan will invest and provide technology for the venture but will limit its operational involvement, one of the people told Reuters. In rebalancing talks, Nissan has pushed for protection of its technology to limit any downside from continued partnership, people involved have said. Among technology Nissan wants to protect is its work on solid-state lithium-ion battery making and its e-Power electric hybrid powertrain, the people said.

Alibaba, one of the most valuable assets in SoftBank's portfolio, tumbled as much as 5.2% in Hong Kong and closed down about 2%. On Wednesday, the FT said forward sales based on filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed SoftBank's Alibaba stake would eventually fall to 3.8% from almost 15%. The Japanese group, led by billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, has sold about $7.2 billion worth of Alibaba shares this year through prepaid forward contracts, the newspaper said. "It is well within the realms of expectations that the proportion of Chinese shares among its total investment will shrink further." In New York, Alibaba's shares were up 3% as analysts noted that the stake sale was more due to SoftBank's circumstances.

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) has moved to sell almost all of its remaining shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), , the Financial Times reported, sending the Chinese e-commerce major's stock tumbling. Alibaba, one of the most valuable assets in SoftBank's portfolio, tumbled as much as 5.2% in Hong Kong after the report before paring the loss to 2.8%. SoftBank has been seeking ways to monetise its stake in Alibaba, which the Japanese conglomerate bought into more than two decades ago with just $20 million spending. On Wednesday, the FT said forward sales based on filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed SoftBank's Alibaba stake would eventually fall to 3.8% from almost 15%. The Japanese group, led by billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, has sold about $7.2 billion worth of Alibaba shares this year through prepaid forward contracts, the newspaper said.

☆ Dollar eases as US inflation cools
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - The dollar was on the back foot on Thursday after cooler-than-anticipated U.S. inflation data lifted risk sentiment and stoked expectations that the Federal Reserve will be done with its monetary tightening after hiking one last time next month. The dollar index , which measures the currency against six major peers, eased 0.03% to 101.44, hovering around a one week low of 101.40 after sinking 0.6% overnight. "While disinflation trends continue and broadened across headline, core and supercore measures, the CPI report is hardly an all clear on inflation," strategists at Saxo Markets said. Taylor Nugent, an economist at National Australia Bank, said the CPI data and the minutes provided ample fodder for those reading the Fed tea leaves, noting that inflation showed welcome, but not overwhelming progress. The Japanese yen weakened 0.04% to 133.20 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2486, up 0.04% on the day.

The inflation data came on the heels of last Friday's employment report, which showed a solid pace of job growth in March and the unemployment rate falling back to 3.5%. In Europe, stock markets rose after the U.S. data and the broad STOXX 600 index was last up 0.5% (.STOXX) and holding near one-month highs. BONDS UP, DOLLAR DOWNU.S. bonds yields fell after the CPI numbers. Rate-sensitive two-year Treasury yields were last down 12 basis points at 3.93% , while U.S. 10-year yields fell 6 bps to 3.37%. The dollar fell with an index measuring the U.S. currency against six rivals down 0.4% at 101.72.

☆ Intel to work with Arm on chip manufacturing compatibility
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Intel Corp (INTC.O) on Wednesday said its chip contract manufacturing division will work with U.K.-based chip designer Arm Ltd to ensure that mobile phone chips and other products that use Arm's technology can be made in Intel's factories. Intel's turnaround strategy hinges in part on opening up its factories to other chip companies, particularly those in mobile phones. It has said firms such as Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) are planning to use its factories for future chip designs. For its part, Arm, owned by Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) and which plans to go public later this year, is a major supplier of intellectual property to many chip companies, especially in mobile phones. Arm has partnerships with major chip contract manufacturers in place to ensure that its designs will work well on their manufacturing processes.

REUTERS/StaffApril 12 (Reuters) - World stocks and bond yields stalled on Wednesday as markets anticipated crucial U.S. inflation data which could give signals on how soon the Federal Reserve will end its aggressive rate hikes. Markets were in wait-and-see mode ahead of the data, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index inching up 0.3% by 0820 GMT, while Britain's FTSE (.FTSE) was up 0.6%. Government bond yields were also little moved with benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields unchanged on the day at 3.43%. "We do not assume that the discrepancy between Fed and market expectations will end today or in the near future," Reichelt said. With oil prices rising again and labour market cooling only gradually, risk remains tilted for core inflation to remain elevated for longer," they said.

☆ Asian stocks ease ahead of US inflation data, Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Eurostoxx 50 futures was down 0.16%, German DAX futures up 0.01% and FTSE futures down 0.07%. The consumer price index is expected to show core inflation rose 0.4% on a monthly basis and 5.6% year-over-year in March, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Markets are now pricing in a 66% chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May and then pausing for the subsequent meetings, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The Fed last month raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, taking it to a range of 4.75% to 5.00%. With oil prices rising again and labour market cooling only gradually, risk remains tilted for core inflation to remain elevated for longer," they said.

☆ Binance.US to delist digital asset tokens TRON, Spell
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance said it will remove digital asset tokens TRON and Spell from its trading platform, sending the prices of both down sharply on Wednesday. The TRON token fell nearly 5% against the U.S. dollar after the announcement, which was posted on Twitter and the Binance.US website, while the much smaller Spell token fell more than 5%, based on data from CoinMarketCap. Justin Sun, founder of the TRON token, told Reuters in a text message that the impact would be "relatively small". "Binance.US trading volume is less than $1 million per day. TRX's current trading volume is $400 million," said Sun, using the token's ticker symbol.

Emerson outbid other bidders including Fortive Corp (FTV.N) and Keysight Technologies Inc (KEYS.N) in the final stages of a sale process for National Instruments with an offer of about $60 per share, the sources said. National Instruments launched a formal sale process in January after Emerson threatened to challenge its board if it did not engage in deal negotiations. Emerson dropped its hostile bid once the auction for National Instruments got underway. Reuters first reported in March that Emerson, Fortive and Keysight were through to the final round of bidding for National Instruments, after breaking news of Emerson's interest in January. Austin, Texas-based National Instruments specializes in the production of automated testing and measurement tools for the semiconductor, transportation, aerospace and defense industries.

☆ Asian stocks subdued ahead of US inflation data, Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Data on Tuesday showed China's consumer inflation in March was at its slowest since September 2021. The consumer price index is expected to show core inflation rose 0.4% on a monthly basis and 5.6% year-over-year in March, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Markets are now pricing in a 66% chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May and then pausing for the subsequent meetings, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The Fed last month raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, taking it to a range of 4.75% to 5.00%. "Investors seem to be getting ahead of themselves in expecting the Fed to begin cutting interest rates", said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management.

☆ China records world's first human death from H3N8 bird flu, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

All of the cases have been in China, with the first two cases reported last year. Sporadic infections in people with bird flu are common in China where avian flu viruses constantly circulate in huge poultry and wild bird populations. Though rare in people, H3N8 is common in birds in which it causes little to no sign of disease. There were no other cases found among close contacts of the infected woman, the WHO said. Monitoring of all avian influenza viruses is considered important given their ability to evolve and cause a pandemic.

☆ Data startup Cybersyn raises $63 mln in Snowflake-led funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Data startup Cybersyn said it has raised $62.9 million from investors including Snowflake Inc (SNOW.N), Coatue Management and Sequoia Capital, its chief executive told Reuters. The investment marks the first time that Snowflake has led a startup funding round, as the data cloud giant looks to expand its data marketplace for enterprise users to acquire live and ready-to-use dataset. Cybersyn plans to use the capital to expand its eight-person team and acquire more proprietary data to create data products with a focus on macroeconomic trends. Besides using public data sources, the startup is also working on identifying and partnering with proprietary data sources, including buying aggregated anonymized data from non-data provider corporations. Snowflake Marketplace allows users to access third-party data and pay for specific datasets, and combine it with their own corporate data using its platform.

☆ Coyotes and Kings to play first pre-season games in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MELBOURNE, April 12 (Reuters) - The Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings will clash in pre-season games in Melbourne, Australia in September, the first National Hockey League contests in the southern hemisphere. The Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 games will be held at Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park, the venue for the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam. "The Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings are two of our League's rising young teams and among our most innovative and adventurous franchises," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman added. "We look forward to their two games at Rod Laver Arena and know this history-making visit will thrill our many avid fans in Australia." Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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