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☆ US FDA seeks to allow salt substitutes in everyday foods
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies U.S. Food and Drug Administration FollowMarch 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday said it was proposing a rule to allow the use of salt substitutes in everyday foods including cheese, frozen peas and canned tuna, in a bid to cut Americans' salt consumption. The FDA had in 2021 set a new voluntary goal for manufacturers and chain restaurants to cut salt levels by an average of 12% in packaged foods, because excessive salt consumption has been linked to high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. The majority of sodium consumed comes from processed, packaged and prepared foods, not from salt people add to their food when cooking or eating," said Susan Mayne, the director of FDA's food safety and nutrition division. Friday's proposed rule looks to change the FDA's "standards of identity" (SOI) for over 20 items, ranging from cheese to cereal flour. The SOIs list ingredients that standardized foods must contain, and which ingredients are optional.

☆ Oil rises 2% in retreat from 15-mth low as banking fears subside
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Fears of a banking crisis and a recession have eased, brightening the oil demand outlook at least for now," said Fiona Cincotta, Senior Financial Markets Analyst at City Index. Wall Street indexes also closed sharply higher on Tuesday as fears over liquidity in the banking sector abated and market participants eyed the Fed. Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil inventories rose by about 3.3 million barrels last week, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures. OPEC+ sources told Reuters the drop in prices reflects banking fears rather than supply and demand. The CEO of energy trader Gunvor, Torbjorn Tornqvist, said he expected oil prices to move higher toward year end as rising Chinese demand tightens the market further.

☆ Gold in tight range with focus on Fed's rate-hike moves
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,903.64 per ounce as of 0316 GMT, trading in a $6 range. The dollar index was down 0.1%, making bullion less expensive for overseas buyers, while U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher. "Investor allocation to gold remains low," analysts at ANZ said in a note, but added they expect the banking turmoil to "reinvigorate investor demand over the longer term." Spot silver rose 0.6% to $21.81 per ounce, platinum added 0.5% at $987.64 and palladium firmed 0.3% at $1,510.92. Reporting by Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The hearing in Raleigh took place after the state Supreme Court's conservative justices agreed to reconsider a 2022 ruling that found partisan redistricting, or gerrymandering, was unlawful under the state constitution. In the same elections, Republicans flipped two Democratic seats on the court, installing a 5-2 conservative majority that weeks later made the extremely unusual decision to rehear the redistricting case. Several conservative justices appeared sympathetic to the Republicans' arguments, while the court's two Democrats expressed skepticism. The Supreme Court's conservative justices appeared to agree during oral arguments in December. But after the North Carolina court's decision to rehear the case, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the various parties in the case to weigh in on whether the court still has jurisdiction over the matter.

"HSBC is Europe's largest bank, and SVB UK customers should feel reassured by the strength, safety and security that brings them," Britain's finance minister Jeremy Hunt said. The Bank of England said it had organised the sale to underpin confidence in the financial system and minimise any fallout for British technology firms. "This acquisition makes excellent strategic sense for our business in the UK," HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said in a statement. The Bank of England said SVB UK had a total balance sheet size of around 8.8 billion pounds. Other potential buyers for SVB UK had included Bank of London, which said on Sunday it had submitted a formal proposal.

Wall Street's main indexes recorded steep losses in the previous session after startups-focused lender SVB Financial Group's (SIVB.O) share sale to shore up its balance sheet wiped out more than $80 billion in value from bank shares. The bank is in talks to sell itself, the report added. All three major U.S. indexes were headed towards weekly losses as Fed Chair Jerome Powell earlier this week left open the possibility of a large rate hike at the Fed's March meeting, after the central bank dialed down the size of its rate hike last month. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.33-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 3.88-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Shristi Achar in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] European Central Bank and SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) logos are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. SVB, which does business as Silicon Valley Bank, was not immediately available for comment. "Silicon Valley Bank is shedding light on vulnerabilities across the US banking sector, primarily in the bond holdings that many large institutions hold," said Karl Schamotta, Chief Market Strategist at Corpay. “The current liquidity run on Silicon Valley Bank is having a knock-on effect on the wider banking system," said Rick Seehra, Prudential Lead at Bovill. But banking experts said SVB's issues were unique and the worries about the broader sector were not warranted.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies U.S. stocks add to Thursday's gainsTreasury yields and dollar pull backEuropean, Asian stocks also advanceCrude oil gainsMarch 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks posted strong gains while Treasury yields and the dollar pulled back on Friday as data pointing to U.S. economic growth boosted risk appetite, even as expectations for rate hikes kept bond yields near multi-year highs. The recovery in euro zone business activity gathered pace last month, PMI survey data showed, in the latest piece of data to suggest the bloc would avoid a recession. U.S. Treasury yields paused their rally. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell to 3.967%, down from Thursday's high of 4.091% . The two-year Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, dipped 3.9 basis points at 4.865%.

The greenback briefly cut its losses after data showed the U.S. services sector grew at a steady pace in February, with new orders and employment rising to more than one-year highs. "This suggests traders think yields have been pushed too far, too fast, and could augur a peak in implied terminal rates," he added. "Next week's job opening and non-farm payrolls reports could generate a lift in yields and the dollar. The dollar eased 0.4% to 136.26 yen , after climbing to 137.10 on Thursday, the highest since Dec. 20. For the week, the dollar is down 0.4% versus the yen, but any gain would preserve its win streak since mid-January.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies U.S. stocks add to Thursday's gainsTreasury yields and dollar pull backEuropean, Asian stocks also advanceCrude oil prices fallMarch 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks opened higher while Treasury yields and the dollar pulled back on Friday as risk appetite was boosted by data pointing to economic growth, even as expectations for rate hikes kept bond yields near multi-year highs. The recovery in euro zone business activity gathered pace last month, PMI survey data showed, in the latest piece of data to suggest the bloc will avoid a recession. U.S. Treasury yields paused their rally. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.007%, down from Thursday's high of 4.091% . The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up 0.5 basis points at 4.909%.

☆ Fears of European industry exodus to U.S. may be overdone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, the risks are offset not only by the substantial existing European incentives, but also other factors - such as proximity to European consumers - that many companies cite as critical in their decisions. Think tank Bruegel says EU support is already on a par with, or even larger than, IRA money. Moreover, well over half of the IRA support is for renewable energy production, with local content requirements playing a very limited role. Some executives say rather than providing more subsidies, Europe needs to simply improve the way they are given. The United States is not a panacea for European firms, not least due to questions about what approach the next U.S. administration might take.

☆ Oil holds gains on China rebound, even as U.S. crude stocks rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Emily Chow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

However a tenth consecutive week of crude stock builds in the United States capped the market's gains. U.S. crude inventories (USOILC=ECI) rose by 1.2 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 24 to 480.2 million barrels, their highest level since May 2021, the Energy Information Administration reported. Record exports of U.S. crude oil, however, kept the build smaller than in recent weeks, with shipments rising to 5.6 million barrels per day (bpd) last week, according to the EIA. Meanwhile, crude oil processed by Indian refiners reached record levels in January, provisional government data on Wednesday showed, as the country boosted imports of Russian barrels that Western countries shunned. Refinery throughput in the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer reached 5.39 million barrels per day for January, the highest since Reuters records going back to 2009.

The approved rulemaking is not expected to take effect until summer of 2024, the sources said. The rule would be a win for the ethanol industry, which has sought for years to expand sales of so-called E15, which contains 15% ethanol, and for the farm industry, as ethanol is made from corn. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to seek a public comment period on the rule, sources said. President Joe Biden lifted the ban last summer in an attempt to lower historically-high gasoline prices. Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The U.S. Department of Labor rule, which took effect Jan. 30, lifts barriers to ESG investing imposed by the Trump administration. The new rule sets guidelines for ESG investing, including requiring that socially conscious investments are still financially sound. They claim that allowing ESG investing will jeopardize the retirement savings of millions of people and lower state tax revenue. The Biden administration rule has divided the business community. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed various rules aimed at increasing transparency related to ESG investing.

[1/5] Israeli troops aim their weapons as they clash with Palestinians during a raid in Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 1, 2023. The head of a pro-settler party in Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition, Smotrich made the comments at a conference on Wednesday amid a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks and Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Asked about a weekend settler rampage through the Palestinian village of Huwara, which an Israeli general on Tuesday described as a "pogrom," Smotrich said: "I think that Huwara needs to be erased". Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and arrested six in the West Bank. One Palestinian was killed and scores were hurt as dozens of houses and cars were torched in what one Israeli commander described as a "pogrom".

☆ Stocks close slightly up after prior week's selloff
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Chuck Mikolajczak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

All three main stock indexes climbed more than 1% shortly after the opening bell, in part due to an easing in Treasury yields, and all three closed well off their session highs. Stocks steadily gave up gains throughout the session as U.S. Treasury yields moved off the day's lows. Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 27, 2023. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.69-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.41-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 4 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 71 new highs and 102 new lows.

☆ Wall Street bounces modestly after prior week's selloff
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Chuck Mikolajczak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Each of the three main indexes climbed more than 1% shortly after the opening bell, in part due to an easing in Treasury yields. The yield on two-year Treasury notes , which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, slipped after touching a near four-month high. Seagen Inc (SGEN.O) surged 9.73% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer (PFE.N) was in early talks to acquire the biotech firm. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.30-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.66-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and five new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 82 new lows.

☆ Wall Street edges higher after last week's rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Sruthi Shankar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Some relatively significant losses last week is the starting point," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth. "Also, when you look at the drivers last week, better-than-expected economic data pushed yields higher. The yield on two-year Treasury notes , the most sensitive to short-term rate expectations, slipped after touching a near four-month high earlier. Seagen Inc (SGEN.O) surged 10.5% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer (PFE.N) was in early talks to acquire the biotech firm. The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 51 new highs and 64 new lows.

☆ Wall Street climbs after worst weekly selloff of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Sruthi Shankar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"February historically is the second worst month of the year for the stock market. So investors are concluding from a seasonal perspective that maybe stocks could rally at least in the near term." The yield on two-year notes , the most sensitive to short-term rate expectations, slipped after touching a near four-month high earlier in the session. After last week's hawkish comments from the Fed policymakers, investors will turn to Fed Governor Philip Jefferson's speech later in the day. Seagen Inc (SGEN.O) surged 12.2% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer (PFE.N) was in early talks to acquire the biotech firm.

Companies U.S. Food and Drug Administration FollowFeb 24 (Reuters) - Twelve Democratic-led states have sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to challenge certain federal restrictions imposed on the distribution of the abortion pill mifepristone, saying those limits are not supported by evidence. Mifepristone, in combination with the drug misoprostol, was approved in 2000 by the FDA for medication abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The decision enabled more than a dozen Republican-led states to adopt new abortion bans. The FDA's special restrictions on mifepristone are imposed under a safety program meant to minimize the risk of potentially dangerous drugs. After last year's Supreme Court ruling, Democratic President Joe Biden directed federal agencies to expand access to medication abortion.

☆ Oil falls on fuel demand woes ahead of U.S. Fed comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Rowena Edwards | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Higher interest rates tend to lift the dollar, making dollar-denominated oil more expensive for holders of other currencies and reducing demand. Other economic reports from the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, showed some troubling signs however. A preliminary Reuters analyst poll on Tuesday also showed a rise in U.S. crude inventories, exacerbating the demand worries. Analysts expect China's oil imports to hit a record high in 2023 to meet increased demand for transportation fuel and as new refineries come on stream. Morgan Stanley has raised its global oil demand growth estimate for this year by about 36%, citing growing momentum in China's reopening and a recovery in aviation, but flagged higher supply from Russia as an offseting factor.

☆ Oil steadies as investors await U.S. Fed Reserve comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Shariq Khan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Brent crude futures for April delivery were up 2 cents to $83.07 a barrel by 0242 GMT after falling 1.2% on Tuesday. read moreOther economic reports from the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer, showed some troubling signs however. "Further rate hikes could dampen oil demand." Higher interest rates tend to lift dollar prices, making dollar-denominated oil more expensive for holders of other currencies. Expectations of tighter global supplies and rising demand from China have recently lent support to oil prices.

☆ Dutch host first summit on 'responsible' use of AI in the military
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Tosterling Stephanie Van Den Berg | Stephanie Van Den Berg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We're taking the first step in articulating and working toward what responsible use of AI in the military will be." The event may be an early step toward someday developing an international arms treaty on AI, though that is seen as far off. Some 2,000 people including experts and academics are attending a conference alongside the summit, with discussion topics including killer drones and slaughter bots. Hoekstra said the summit will not replace that debate but will look at other aspects of military AI. Examples include definition of terms, how AI could safely be used to accelerate decision-making in a military context, and how it could be used to identify legitimate targets.

"It's judge shopping on steroids," said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, executive director of the progressive legal advocacy group Take Back the Court. The Biden administration has called the lawsuit "unprecedented" and urged Kacsmaryk to not deprive women of a long-approved safe and effective drug. At least eight have led to rulings blocking Biden policies, with several more pending. The chief judges of Texas federal courts have the authority to reallocate cases to other judges, but have largely not done so, he said. Absent a change, litigants have every right to take advantage of that structure to seek a favorable judge, he said.

/USThe dollar index fell 0.21% from one-month highs, while the Japanese yen gained 1.21% to 131.08 per dollar after unusually strong Japanese wage data. The Australian dollar bolted 1.02% higher after its central bank reiterated further increases would be needed. Asian stocks stabilized overnight after they, like most global share markets, suffered steep losses following that U.S jobs data. Oil prices climbed more than 3% after Powell eased market concerns over rate hikes, while recovering demand in China also boosted prices. Gold eked out gains, tracking a slight pullback in the dollar, as investors mulled comments by Powell and the outlook for the Fed's rate-hike policy.

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