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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationSummarySummary Companies Shell maintains dividend unchangedAnnounces $4 bln in share buybacksLONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) on Thursday posted first-quarter net profit of $9.65 billion, topping analysts' forecasts, as strong earnings from fuel trading and higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales offset cooling energy prices. Lower natural gas prices in the quarter weighed on Shell's giant integrated gas business, with profits slumping 18% to $4.9 billion. Shell shares were up 2% by 0830 GMT. Reuters GraphicsPROFITS BEATShell reported adjusted earnings of $9.65 billion in the first quarter, exceeding a company-provided analyst forecast of $8 billion. That compared with earnings of $9.1 billion a year earlier and $9.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, when Shell reported a record annual profit of $40 billion.

CNN —Sudanese actress Asia Abdel-Majid was killed in crossfire during fighting in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday, amid clashes between two warring factions that have devastated Sudan and led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians. The 80-year-old was killed after shells hit her home in Bahri, north of the capital, in fighting between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army, her nephew told CNN. It is unclear if it was the RSF or the army that fired the shot that killed Abdel-Majid. The kindergarten is next door to Abdel-Majid’s home, where she was alone when the shelling took place. ‘Torn apart’Smoke rises over Khartoum during clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese army on April 17, 2023.

SummarySummary Companies Shell, Equinor shares outperform sector indexRivals BP, Chevron, Exxon also beat expectationsOil and gas prices slumped in first quarterShell shares up 2.1%, Equinor up 2.7%LONDON/OSLO, May 4 (Reuters) - Energy giants Shell (SHEL.L) and Equinor (EQNR.OL) reported higher-than-expected first-quarter profits on Thursday, using the heft of their trading desks to offset lower oil and gas prices. The stronger-than-expected profits from the two companies follow forecast beating results from rivals Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron and BP over the past week. Shell's shares were up around 2.1% in early trading and Equinor shares rose around 2.7%, outperforming a European index of oil and gas companies (.SXEP) which was up around 1%. Benchmark Brent crude oil prices averaged $81 per barrel in the first three months of the year, down 16% from a year earlier and 7% from the fourth-quarter. Lower natural gas prices also weighed on Shell's giant integrated gas business, with profits slumping 18% on the quarter.

CompaniesCompanies Law Firms Google Inc FollowAlphabet Inc Follow(Reuters) - Alphabet's Google LLC won a jury trial on Tuesday in a long-running patent lawsuit in Delaware federal court over features in Google's smartphones and apps. The jury decided that Luxembourg-based patent owner Arendi SARL's patent was invalid and that Google did not infringe it, according to the verdict made public on Wednesday. Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company was pleased with the decision and appreciated the jury's "careful attention to the extensive evidence presented in this case." Norwegian inventor Atle Hedloy's Arendi sued Google in 2013 over the patent, which relates to retrieving information like names and addresses from a database and entering it into word processors and spreadsheets. It asked the court for $45.5 million in damages, according to a spokesperson for Google's law firm Paul Hastings.

☆ Haaland breaks Premier League record as Man City reclaim top spot
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

West Ham remain in trouble in 15th place, four points above the relegation zone. West Ham, hampered by the absence of midfielders Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, defended valiantly with the colossal Angelo Ogbonna heading away cross after cross. West Ham still looked capable of adding a twist to the title script until Grealish released Haaland for his milestone moment. Foden then put the icing on his side's ninth successive league win with the 1,000th goal in Guardiola's City reign. As well as five league games left, City are in the semi-finals of the Champions League and FA Cup final.

☆ Erling Haaland smashes EPL record with 35th league goal of the season
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Andrew Mcnicol | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Manchester City striker Erling Haaland broke the record for most Premier League goals in a single season on Wednesday as the 22-year-old Norwegian scored his 35th league goal of an incredible debut campaign in England. “35 Premier League goals. The previous Premier League record of 34 was jointly held by Andy Cole (1993/94) and Alan Shearer (1994/94), when league seasons were 42 games long. Martin Rickett/APHaaland, who had already set the record for a 38-game season, still has five league games left to add to his haul. He has now scored 51 goals in just 45 games in all competitions this season – more than any Premier League player ever.

☆ Man City have 'the mental strength' in home stretch, says Guardiola
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 2 (Reuters) - Manchester City have the mental strength to endure their packed schedule in the final stretch of the season as they target a possible treble of trophies, manager Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday. Everything is here, the mental strength, the best period we can live and we are not tired. I'm pretty sure he'll score more in the Premier League before the end of the season," Guardiola added. It is a surprise for us, but maybe not for him to do what he's done in this difficult league. Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Arsenal return to top of the league with 3-1 win over sorry Chelsea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over a woeful Chelsea, set on their way by two goals from Martin Odegaard, but the title is still Manchester City's to lose having played two games less than the leaders. After losing to City 4-1 last week, Mikel Arteta made three changes, including giving striker Leandro Trossard a start in the place of Gabriel Martinelli and handing Jakub Kiwior his first league start in midfield. His side dominated their slumping London rivals straight from the kick-off as they sought to shake off last week's potentially title-deciding setback. "Everyone was so hurt after the game (against City)," Odegaard said after taking his league goal tally for the season to 14. ($1 = 0.8024 pounds)Reporting by William Schomberg Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Recession talk tapers off on latest quarterly conference calls
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Noel Randewich | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 2 (Reuters) - While Wall Street frets that the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes will tip the U.S. economy into a recession, discussions on recent quarterly conference calls hint that corporations and analysts have become a bit less concerned. Reports for the first quarter broadly point to shrinking profits for the U.S.' largest companies but less than analysts feared. Reuters GraphicsDiscussion about economic downturns appears to have been relatively limited on recent quarterly analyst conference calls. Terms related to "recession" have been mentioned on 41% of conference calls held in recent weeks by companies in the S&P 500. That compares to 535 mentions on analyst calls for the entirety of the previous quarterly reporting season, equivalent to 1.1 mentions per call.

JPMorgan Chase & Co's (JPM.N) shares rose 3.1% to a near two-month high after the deal was announced earlier in the day. The S&P 500 Banks index (.SPXBK) gained 1.1%, while the KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) shed 1.5%. Shares of regional banks PNC Financial (PNC.N) and Citizens Financial (CFG.N), that were among the bidders for First Republic, dropped 4.7% and 5.2%, respectively. "But regional banks will face higher cost of doing business for some time until confidence is rebuilt or there is a different regulatory scheme." Analysts now expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 1.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 5.1% fall expected at the start of April, according to Refinitiv data.

The S&P 500 Banks index (.SPXBK) gained 1.4%. Big banks such as Bank of America (BAC.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) rose 0.3% and 2.8%, respectively. First Republic's woes kicked off last week on a bleak note, but upbeat earnings from Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) helped the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) notch its second consecutive month of gain on Friday. Analysts now expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 1.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 5.1% fall expected at the start of April, according to Refinitiv data. The S&P index recorded 21 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 48 new highs and 47 new lows.

☆ Norwegian Cruise lifts profit forecast on higher ticket prices, steady demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Ananya Mariam Rajesh Anne Florentyna Gnanaraja Sekar | Ananya Mariam Rajesh | Anne Florentyna Gnanaraja Sekar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

loss per share of 30 cents vs loss est. of 41 centsCompany says it sees "strong consumer demand"May 1(Reuters) - Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH.N) raised its annual profit forecast and sailed past first-quarter estimates on Monday, betting on higher ticket pricing, pent-up demand and robust on-board spending from wealthy customers. Norwegian, which mostly caters to the affluent, has also been raising prices of its tickets to offset the impact from higher costs of fuel and food due to supply chain snags worsened by the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The company expects 2023 adjusted profit of 75 cents per share, compared with its earlier forecast of about 70 cents per share. Shares in the company were up about 1% in premarket trade, paring some gains after it forecast second-quarter adjusted earnings per share below estimates.

☆ Futures muted as Fed caution sets in, JPMorgan to buy First Republic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The rescue comes less than two months after a deposit flight from U.S. lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank forced the Fed to step in with emergency measures to stabilize markets. Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is set to report later this week. Markets should take today's news in stride knowing that the repeated bank failures should now have the Fed back on its heels and defanged moving forward." ET, Dow e-minis were down 14 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 3.75 points, or 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 13.5 points, or 0.1%. Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Futures muted ahead of Fed meet this week; First Republic Bank shares tank
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts now expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 1.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 5.1% fall expected at the start of April, according to Refinitiv data. Meanwhile, First Republic Bank's (FRC.N) shares tanked 38.5% in premarket trading. The rescue comes after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March, amid a deposit flight, forced the U.S. central bank to step in with emergency measures to stabilize markets. The KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) and the S&P 500 Banks index (.SPXBK) have lost 22% and 10%, respectively, so far this year. ET, Dow e-minis were up 13 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis remained unchanged, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 1 point, or 0.01%.

☆ Syrian refugees deported from Lebanon face arrest, conscription, say relatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Youssef, a Syrian refugee and single father of two girls, attends an interview with Reuters, in Beirut, Lebanon April 26, 2023. One refugee told Reuters he and his three brothers were detained in a raid on a camp in Lebanon in late April. Another refugee said he was briefly held by the Fourth Division after being deported but paid smugglers to return to Lebanon. The Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR), a rights organisation, said it had documented the detention of at least two deported Syrians by the Fourth Division. Youssef, a Syrian refugee and single father-of-two, said he was so afraid of being deported and conscripted that he had stopped leaving his home in Lebanon.

☆ Russia’s battered wartime economy is still chugging along as it taps its wealth fund, raises taxes, and ramps up imports
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Shares of First Republic dropped more than 40% in pre-market trading today, while JPMorgan stock ticked 2.9% higher. Let's check in on Russia's wartime economy. To the surprise of many forecasters, Russia's economy has held up better than expected as it carries on into the second year of its war on Ukraine. And leaked documents, first reported by the Washington Post, suggest that Russia can fund its war for at least another year. Specifically, US intelligence says Moscow can rely on its sovereign wealth fund to help pay for its war efforts, as well as higher corporate taxes and ramped-up imports.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: First Republic, JPMorgan Chase, SoFi Technologies & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A view of the First Republic Bank logo at the Park Avenue location, in New York City, March 10, 2023. Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:First Republic Bank , JPMorgan Chase — First Republic shares were halted during premarket trading after falling more than 45%. The move comes after JPMorgan took control of First Republic after the beleaguered bank was taken over by regulators. SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF — The regional banking fund fell 0.4% in premarket trading as investors reacted to the failure of First Republic. Norwegian Cruise Line — The cruise line stock jumped 3% after Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings beat first-quarter expectations on the top and bottom lines.

☆ The US Navy is putting its submarines on rare public display in a message to Russia's growing undersea force
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The US Navy has announced several visits by its subs to North Atlantic ports in recent years. Since 2020, when Norway allowed NATO subs to use a port near Tromsø, announcements of such visits appear to have increased. 'We're in your backyard'British Royal Navy attack submarine HMS Astute sails to the base at Faslane in November 2009. Russian Navy Yasen-class submarine Kazan at its base in Severomorsk on Russia's Arctic coast in June 2021. During the Cold War, US attack subs operated in the high north to get the Soviets to keep their attack subs close by to protect their ballistic-missile subs.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, Exxon Mobil & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 24: A person walks past a First Republic bank branch in Manhattan on April 24, 2023 in New York City. First Republic , JPMorgan Chase — First Republic shares and were halted after JPMorgan Chase acquired the ailing bank and most of its assets after regulators seized control. General Motors — The automaker gained 2% after Morgan Stanley upgraded General Motors to overweight from equal weight and called the stock oversold. — Regional bank stocks were volatile on Monday as investors reacted to the seizure and sale of First Republic Bank over the weekend. However, management said on the company earnings call Monday that demand for loans originating from the fourth quarter would see a lower monetization level due to higher interest.

☆ Freya, the Walrus Killed by Norwegian Officials, Is Immortalized as a Sculpture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When a 1,300-pound walrus showed up in Oslo last summer, lounging on piers and eating mussels, she became a beloved local delight and an overnight international media sensation. The walrus, a rare guest for Norway’s capital, was named Freya, after the Norse goddess of love, beauty and war — all of which she inspired to varying degrees. Freya spent time in highly populated areas, where some people ignored warnings from officials to keep their distance, and would help herself onto boats, some of which she threatened to sink because of her weight. Norwegian authorities declared Freya a threat to human safety last August and killed her in a move that critics argued was too hasty. Her death divided a country that is associated with diplomacy and a love of nature.

☆ Freya the Walrus: Norway unveils sculpture of euthanized walrus in Oslo
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The artist behind a sculpture of a walrus that was controversially euthanized over public safety concerns says she hopes her creation becomes a “three-dimensional history lesson” after it was unveiled in Norway’s capital Oslo. The life-sized bronze statue shows Freya the walrus curled up on her side close to the water’s edge. She hopes it will serve as a “three-dimensional history lesson.”The statue of Freya was unveiled on Saturday in Oslo. She believes that Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries should have dealt with the situation in a more ethical manner. Previously, the directorate told CNN that it was considering multiple solutions, including relocating Freya out of the fjord.

☆ Stock futures are flat after Dow notches best month since January
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. stock futures were flat in overnight trading Sunday after the major averages logged gains for April, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its best month since January. Futures tied to the Dow dipped 30 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures each inched 0.1% lower. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.69% as Big Tech earnings took center stage. For the month, the Dow gained 2.5% to notch its best monthly stretch since January, while the benchmark index gained 1.5%. "There was definitely a very positive surprise on the big tech earnings," said Jan Szilagyi, CEO of Toggle AI.

☆ A solid start to earnings season will be put to the test in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

The biggest week of this earnings season showed us that things aren't as bad as many feared. The week ahead of earnings, including several more Club names, should tell us more. The results are always important, but it's the guidance and management commentary we will really hone in on to better understand the path ahead. In Amazon's case, a solid first quarter for its AWS cloud business was overshadowed by management seeing a material slowdown in April. ET: Nonfarm Payrolls Looking back It was the biggest week of this earnings season for the Club as several of our mega-cap holdings and industry bellwethers reported results.

☆ In change for oil market, new US crude in Brent index lacks loading plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Alex Lawler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oil-index publisher S&P Global Platts is adding U.S. WTI Midland crude to its dated Brent oil price assessment for June deliveries, which is now in focus as the market trades roughly a month ahead. Dated Brent is part of the wider Brent complex including physical cargoes, swaps and futures that is used to price millions of barrels of oil each day. The companies that run the North Sea crude streams, known as the operator, issue planned cargo loading lists which the industry monitors as an indication of supply. "We see no reason for issues," said Joel Hanley, global director, crude and fuel oil, at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Thomson Reuters competes with S&P Global Platts in providing news and data about the oil market.

Norway has become Europe's largest supplier of gas, following a drop in Russian gas flows, which it supplies via a network of pipelines stretching some 9,000 kms (5,590 miles). "The state wants complete state ownership of the central parts of the Norwegian gas transport system," it said, without giving reasons. The gas pipeline network is owned by Gassled, a partnership set up in 2003 by the oil companies that were producing gas offshore Norway at the time. Gassled owns the Kaarstoe and Kollsnes processing plants as well as the majority of the pipelines delivering Norwegian gas to the European Union and Britain. Over time, the oil companies have reduced, or sold entirely their stakes, often selling to investment companies.

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