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☆ European shares slip after ECB rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | Bansari Mayur Kamdar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) -European shares slipped on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised borrowing costs as expected and signalled more policy tightening in its fight against sticky inflation. FILE PHOTO: The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Staff/ FILE PHOTOThe continent-wide STOXX 600 index closed 0.1% lower after falling as much as 0.8% earlier in the day. The ECB increased the deposit rate by 25 basis points to 3.5%, the highest level in 22 years. This was the central bank’s eighth successive raise.

Persons: Christine, Lagarde, ”, Stuart Cole, Halma, SoftwareOne Organizations: Reuters, European Central Bank, REUTERS, Staff, ECB, Equiti, U.S . Federal Reserve, ASOS, Bain Capital Private Equity, Informa Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, Swedish, British, Swiss

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.3%. The rate-sensitive tech sector index (.SX8P) added 1.6%, while miners (.SXPP) jumped 1.8% to a seven-week high. Industrial metal prices rose after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) lowered a short-term lending rate for the first time in 10 months to prop up risk sentiment. Embracer (EMBRACb.ST) jumped 5.2% to the top of the STOXX 600, after the Swedish games group announced a restructuring programme to slash costs and investments, including development of new products. Shares of Admiral(ADML.L), meanwhile, slid 6.1% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after traders said Citi cut its rating on the British motor and home insurer to "sell."

Persons: Stuart Cole, Shreyashi Sanyal, Rashmi Aich Organizations: Miners, U.S . Federal, People's Bank of China, Equiti, Traders, European Central Bank, Union, Nvidia, Citi, Thomson Locations: China, Swedish, Bengaluru

Morgan Stanley co-presidents Ted Pick and Andy Saperstein, and head of investment management Dan Simkowitz, are widely seen as contenders for the top job. Morgan Stanley shares were little changed in early trading, down 0.9%. The less volatile business of wealth management accounted for 45% of firm's revenue in the first quarter. Morgan Stanley's first-quarter profit beat expectations as rising revenue from wealth management offset declines in investment banking and trading. Simkowitz, the eldest of the three at 58, is head of investment management at Morgan Stanley and co-head of the firm's strategy and execution.

☆ Instant View: Morgan Stanley CEO Gorman plans to step down
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) CEO James Gorman told shareholders Friday that the company will likely appoint its next CEO in the next 12 months. Gorman, 64, said the board has identified three strong candidates to succeed him and that he will become executive chairman once a new CEO is chosen. Shares of Morgan Stanley slipped about 1% to $83.84 in morning trading. PHIL BLANCATO, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, LADENBURG THALMANN ASSET MANAGEMENT, NEW YORK:"I would applaud James Gorman here for taking the right time to step down. Building out their wealth management division has been a real boon to the company and they bested Goldman in that practice."

☆ AT&T's dismal cash flow sparks selloff in telecoms sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Tiyashi Datta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. wireless carrier AT&T Inc (T.N) missed market estimates for first-quarter revenue and free cash flow, underscoring the toll from strained consumer wallets and sparking a selloff in the telecoms sector on Thursday. In the first three months of the year, AT&T added 424,000 postpaid phone subscribers, almost in line with a Factset estimate of 422,800 additions. The metric is closely watched by Wall Street as postpaid customers pay a recurring monthly bill, making them valuable to the carriers. "It was not all bad news, and some aspects of AT&T's operations came in above estimates, but it is the free cash flow figure that seems to have caused all the damage, given that it points to likely lower dividend payouts going forward," said Stuart Cole, head macro economist at Equiti Capital. AT&T's free cash flow came in at $1 billion, compared with the $2.61 billion estimated by 18 analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) fell 0.4%, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) was down 0.8%, as of 0820 GMT. Data showed Britain now has Western Europe's highest rate of consumer price inflation, after a weaker-than-expected fall in March to 10.1% from February's 10.4%. The FTSE 100 clocked its longest winning streak since December 2020 on Tuesday, buoyed by defensive and commodity-linked stocks. Food, beverages and tobacco sector (.FTUB4510) was a bright spot, up 0.8% on the heels of sticky inflation numbers. Leading losses on the FTSE 250 was Liontrust Asset Management Plc (LIO.L), down 5.5% as the asset manager reported significant quarterly net outflows.

☆ Sterling eases against dollar; inflation keeps pressure on BoE
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] British pound banknote is displayed on U.S. Dollar banknotes in this illustration taken, February 14, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationLONDON, April 19 - Sterling eased on Wednesday as a higher dollar wiped out earlier gains made after data showed Britain has the highest inflation in western Europe, cementing market expectations for a rate hike at the Bank of England's meeting in May. The inflation data initially sent sterling as much as 0.8% higher against the dollar. On Tuesday data showed British wages rose faster than anticipated last month, further supporting more hikes by the BoE. The market is currently pricing in a 99% chance of a 25 bp rate hike from the Bank of England at its next meeting. .

BlackRock Inc's (BLK.N) quarterly profit also beat analysts' estimates as investors continued to pour money in the world's largest asset manager's various funds. The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) has lagged the broader S&P 500 (.SPX) this year with a 13% decline, while the KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) has already lost 20% in its worst performance since 2009. Bank stocks lag S&P 500 this yearThe S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial (.DJI) closed at almost two-month highs on Thursday as economic data showed cooling inflation and a loosening labor market, fueling optimism that the Fed could be nearing the end of its aggressive interest rate-hike cycle. Among other big-ticket earnings, healthcare conglomerate UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) beat estimates for quarterly profit and raised its annual forecast, pushing its shares up 0.7%. ET, Dow e-minis were down 9 points, or 0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 68.75 points, or 0.52%.

MSCI's Europe index, for example, still trades more than a point below its average historic valuation - with the index priced at less than 13 times its 12-month forward earnings. The top sectoral weighting in the STOXX Europe 50, for example, is healthcare - at almost 23%. With British-based stocks the biggest country weighting in the STOXX Europe index at 26%, the other top four sectors in the index include the food, beverages and tobacco grouping, consumer products, industrial goods and energy. The dollar peaked late last year against most European currencies as the Federal Reserve raced to ratchet up interest rates. Some think the slide in the dollar index of some 12% since last September is barely half of the whole move.

☆ S&P, Nasdaq futures fall on inflation worries after OPEC+ output cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures mixed: Dow up 0.36%, S&P down 0.10%, Nasdaq down 0.64%April 3 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Monday as soaring oil prices renewed worries of persistent inflationary pressures, while energy stocks surged at the start of the week. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers announced further oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day, threatening an immediate rise in prices. Oil prices jumped 5.4% on Monday, propelling over 3% gains in energy firms such as Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N) in premarket trade. ET, Dow e-minis were up 119 points, or 0.36%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 84.5 points, or 0.64%. Remarks by Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook on economic outlook and monetary policy are also expected later on Monday.

☆ Trump-linked stocks gain on attracting retail traders' attention
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoMarch 31 (Reuters) - Shares of companies tied to former U.S. President Donald Trump gained in premarket trading on Friday, drawing interest from retail investors after the ex-president was indicted in a historic first. "It might seem counter intuitive ... but Donald Trump's indictment might actually make him more electable with a certain portion of U.S. voters," Danni Hewson, analyst at AJ Bell, said. "If more people are talking about Trump, more will gravitate to his social media platform and there's likely to be a lot more cash swelling the coffers of his campaign budget." Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.O), the blank-check company looking to take Trump's social media venture Truth Social public, rose 12.1%. Digital World and Rumble were among the top 10 most touted stocks on investor-focused social media stocktwits.com.

☆ China's Alibaba to break up empire into six units as Jack Ma returns home
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Alibaba said the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history would see it split into six units - Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. Zhang will continue as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, which will follow a holding company management model, and also serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group. The exception would be Taobao Tmall Commerce Group that handles China commerce businesses and will remain a wholly owned unit of Alibaba Group. Investors said the split signals the clearing of regulatory worries and allays concerns that Alibaba had lost the potential to grow. [1/2] The logo of Alibaba Group is seen at its office in Beijing, China January 5, 2021.

☆ Alibaba to break up empire into six units, seek IPOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The six units are Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group, it said in a statement. Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, which will follow a holding company management model, and concurrently serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group. Each business group and other investments will retain the flexibility to raise outside capital and seek an initial public offering, it said, with the exception being Taobao Tmall Commerce Group that handles its China commerce businesses and will remain an Alibaba Group wholly owned unit. Each business group, he said, had to actively tackle the rapid changes in the market and each Alibaba employee had to "return to the mindset of an entrepreneur." The restructuring "does inject an element of flexibility and adaptability into the company, which currently is something of a behemoth," he added.

☆ Alibaba to split into six units
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 28 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) said it plans split its business into six main units covering e-commerce, media and the cloud, adding that each of the units will explore fundraising or initial public offerings. STUART COLE, HEAD MACRO ECONOMIST AT EQUITI CAPITAL, LONDON"I am not sure how quickly Alibaba could be broken up. To me, it suggests something that Alibaba has been wanting to do for some time, but has been waiting for the opportunity to do so." With this expectation, investors will be more positive on Alibaba. It may reflect a new round of development for the business and reduce worries of regulatory issues."

☆ Alibaba is splitting into six to prepare for IPOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Alibaba Group plans to split its business into six main units covering e-commerce to cloud in the biggest restructuring of its 24-year history. Five of the business units will explore fundraising or initial public offerings, the company said Tuesday. The six units are Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group, it said in a statement. Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group (BABA), which will follow a holding company management model, and concurrently serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group. The restructuring “does inject an element of flexibility and adaptability into the company, which currently is something of a behemoth,” he added.

Bank of America (BAC.N) and UBS (UBS.N) now see the Fed funds rate target peaking at 5-5.25% in May compared to earlier forecasts of 5.25-5.5%. Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) rose 1.9% after Needham raised its price target on the chipmaker on likely benefit from near-term data center strength. ET is expected to show a rise in jobless claims last week, hinting at some cooling in labor demand. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN.O) jumped 8.6% on promising results on its blockbuster asthma drug Dupixent from a lung disease trial. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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.

☆ Scottish politics are in turmoil, but it's small fry for the pound
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Naomi Rovnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Any prospect of Scotland breaking away from the United Kingdom used to have momentous implications for U.K. markets. The lack of any discernable reaction in the pound, gilts or London blue-chips to the resignation on Wednesday of pro-independence Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon's resignation showed. "Ten years ago it was a real risk, it was quite close," said Jon Day, global bond portfolio manager at UK-based asset manager Newton Investment Management. Reuters GraphicsThe Scottish independence discourse "doesn't have much of an impact on the pound these days", said George Brown, economist at fund manager Schroders. The U.K. market chaos following former Prime Minister Liz Truss's badly received mini-budget collided with heightened anxiety among investors in general as the U.S. Fed raised interest rates.

☆ Istanbul bourse rises nearly 10% after quake closure, govt measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

RAPID NEW REGULATIONSTurkish authorities pushed through new regulations including measures incentivizing company share buyback programs, and increasing obligatory pension fund allocation for stocks. The general assembly decision mandate for share buybacks was also waived, allowing listed companies to start share buyback programmes with just a management board decision. Additional measures could still be needed to stabilize the stock exchange, according to Tunc Satiroglu, strategist and founder of financial consulting firm Kanal Finans. The cancellations followed multiple market-wide circuit brakers in the two trading days following the earthquake, which failed to halt the slide to no avail. "I expect the stock market to be more stable...

The BOJ’s YCC faces a reckoningThe surprise news left investors and analysts trying to parse Ueda's recent commentary. "There is probably a lack of clarity on Ueda's policy leanings at the moment, but at least it is clear that Amamiya (who is seen as a dove) is out. That removes one of the headwinds for the yen," said Christopher Wong, currency strategist at OCBC in Singapore. "The knee-jerk reaction in yen appreciation is more of a reaction to Amamiya being out of the race." I think the new team means that they will redesign the BOJ's monetary policy, not maintain the current policy," said Takayuki Miyajima, a senior economist at Sony Financial Group in Tokyo.

Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) was the latest to join the list as it said it was cutting 12,000 jobs on Friday. "And we already have some insight into that because a lot of them have been coming out with massive layoffs." ET, Dow e-minis were down 10 points, or 0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 9 points, or 0.23%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 77.25 points, or 0.68%. The S&P 500 (.SPX) has lost 2.5% so far in the week and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) is down more than 2%. Also on the radar are comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Fed Governor Christopher Waller.

☆ UK economy ekes out growth in November surprise — but recession still seen as inevitable
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a 0.2% contraction amid a bleak overall picture for the British economy. watch nowThe boost in services seemingly offset some of the negative impact of mass strike action across the U.K., particularly in the rail and postal sectors. "What's more, the effects of the Bank's monetary tightening are still to feed through the economy fully. Together with the corporation tax increase to 25% and the expiration of the tax reduction on new investments, the economy only stands to contract further." The Bank of England has projected that the U.K. economy will experience at least a four-quarter recession, its longest on record.

Bloomberg had earlier reported that FAB had been exploring an offer for Standard Chartered as part of a plan aimed at building an emerging markets bank, driving StanChart shares up as much as 20%. The Abu Dhabi lender said it had been in "the very early stages of evaluating a possible offer" for the emerging markets-focused bank. Furthermore, the mooted combination of FAB and StanChart would have been subjected to more onerous capital requirements that would burden the resulting lender, a banking source said. FAB was created via a merger between National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank in 2016. The lender sources around half its deposits from the Abu Dhabi government and reported total assets of 1.15 trillion AED ($313.1 billion) as of end-September 2022.

☆ Futures rise as Nike posts strong quarter, consumer confidence data on tap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We had some better news from the likes of Nike yesterday, which suggested that consumer sentiment and spending was holding up," said Stuart Cole, head macro economist at Equiti Capital. Other data expected through the week on core inflation and the labor market will likely determine the future course of interest rate hikes by the Fed. ET, Dow e-minis were up 233 points, or 0.7%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 20 points, or 0.52%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 47 points, or 0.42%. Market volumes are expected to decline this week before the Christmas and New Year holidays. Reporting by Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ VIEW Bank of England raises rates to 3.5%, says inflation has peaked
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Bank of England on Thursday raised interest rates by a widely expected 50 basis points (bps) to 3.50%, in its ninth straight increase - and its eighth this year. UK rates began rising in December 2021, making the BoE the first of the world's major central banks to kick off a monetary policy-tightening cycle. MONEY MARKETS: Interest rate swaps showed investors expected rates to peak at 4.46% by next August, compared with an anticipated terminal rate of 4.53% just before the decision. Their own numbers have been pointing to a recession for a little while, and they've still materially hiked interest rates. EDWARD HUTCHINGS, HEAD OF RATES, AVIVA INVESTORS, LONDON:"The Bank of England duly delivered on financial markets expectations of a 0.50% hike.

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