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☆ An $80 Million Duplex Is the Priciest Closing (So Far) This Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Vivian Marino | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The year’s most expensive sale in New York City took place in August at 220 Central Park South in Midtown, where an expansive duplex in the villa portion of the park-facing condo complex closed at $80 million. It sold for $30 million, far less than the $110 million initially sought by the developers six years ago. The buyer was Scott Lynn, an art collector and the founder and chief executive of Masterworks, an art investment platform. The crown penthouse at the new 20-story condo at 109 East 79th Street also sold, for $35 million, which was the month’s second biggest sale. The full-floor unit has 5,721 square feet, plus an additional 3,666 square feet of outdoor space.

Persons: Nima Capital, Suna Said, Scott Lynn Organizations: New York City, Nima, Woolworth, Masterworks Locations: New York, Midtown, TriBeCa

The Chevron office is pictured after the U.S. government granted a six-month license allowing Chevron to boost oil output in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela, in Caracas, Venezuela December 2, 2022. The Chevron-led (CVX.N) consortium proposed connecting the Aphrodite gas field via a subsea pipeline and existing infrastructure to Egypt, where the gas can be sold in the domestic market or liquefied and shipped to Europe, which has largely been cut off from Russian supplies. The partners have engaged in a new round of talks with the Cypriot government, Israel's NewMed (NWMDp.TA), which is a partner in the Aphrodite field, said earlier this week. Chevron is a partner in the field with NewMed and Shell (SHEL.L). "We believe it is important that Aphrodite is expeditiously developed for the benefit of Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean region and European and other international markets," Chevron said.

Persons: Gaby Oraa, George Papanastasiou, Papanastasiou, Israel's, Biden, expeditiously, Chevron, Mark Potter, Leslie Adler Organizations: Chevron, U.S, REUTERS, Washington, Cypriot Energy, Reuters, Cypriot, Shell, Cypriot Government, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, Caracas, Cyprus, U.S, Egypt, Europe, Republic of Cyprus, United States, Ukraine, Nicosia

☆ DocGo Used Unregistered Guards at Migrant Hotels, N.Y. Officials Charge
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Jay Root | More About Jay Root | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 50 security guards hired to protect asylum seekers bused upstate from New York City by a troubled migrant contractor are working without proper authorization, a New York Department of State investigation found. The department on Friday notified the two security companies that hired the guards — Trace Assets Protection Service L.L.C. and Wawanda Investigations and Security Company L.L.C. In some cases, it was not even clear if the guards were employees of the two security firms. “Please take notice that the continued employment of the above individuals, unless properly registered with the Department, is a continued and willful violation of law,” Ms. Clark wrote.

Persons: Whitney A, Clark, ” Ms Organizations: New York Department of State, Wawanda Investigations, Security Company, The New York Times, State, Business Development, Department Locations: New York City, New York, Erie County, Albany County

☆ Column: US offshore wind sector faces key test after weak Gulf auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLITTLETON, Colorado, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The low interest in the first-ever auction of offshore wind farm development rights in the Gulf of Mexico marks a potentially serious setback for U.S. President Joe Biden's green energy agenda, and the U.S. offshore wind sector in general. U.S. officials had touted the auction as a key milestone in Biden's agenda to make offshore wind a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to fight fossil-fuel-driven climate change. In addition to lower wind speeds and hurricane risks, potential wind farm developers in the Gulf waters must also accommodate relatively lower local power market prices than other parts of the United States, which greatly undermines wind power earning potential in the region. As offshore wind power systems are still in their relative infancy compared with other power sources, the average cost of power generated from offshore sites can be twice the cost of that from a gas-fired plant. Without a viable offshore wind sector, those industries may now struggle to secure the quantities of green hydrogen they may be anticipating in coming decades, and so could look for ways to support the wind sector's development in the years ahead.

Persons: Brian Snyder, Joe Biden's, Biden, hesitancy, Gavin Maguire, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Coast Guard, REUTERS, Offshore, U.S ., Gulf, Shell, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Rhode, LITTLETON , Colorado, Gulf, Mexico, U.S, Louisiana, Northeast, Texas, United States, U.S . East Coast , New York, New Jersey, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Littleton , Colorado

☆ First US offshore wind auction in Gulf of Mexico attracts paltry interest
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

RWE is among the world's largest offshore wind developers, with an extensive portfolio in Europe, and has also secured leases off the coasts of California and New York. The Southeast also has low power prices that could make it harder for higher-cost offshore wind generation to compete for electricity contracts. Texas does not have an offshore wind target. "Today's auction results show the important role state public policy plays in offshore wind market development," Liz Burdock, CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, said in a statement. They included offshore wind development arms of European energy companies Equinor (EQNR.OL) and Shell (SHEL.L), who also have oil and gas operations in the Gulf.

Persons: Karen, Steve Nesius, Biden administration's, Germany's, RWE, Liz Burdock, Joe Biden's, ”, Elizabeth Klein, Nichola, Marguerita Choy, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, ASA, Texas, U.S . Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Carolinas, Business Network, Offshore, of Ocean Energy Management, Shell, . Developers, Thomson Locations: Dauphin Island , Alabama, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, California, Europe, U.S, Gulf, Mexico, Texas, of Mexico

Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone projects account for more than 5% of global LNG capacity, and news of the possible strikes sent European natural gas prices surging. "It's set to cost Chevron their LNG exports as (the industrial action) starts to bite," said the alliance that groups together the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Workers' Union. The unions last week warned that work stoppages could cost Chevron billions of dollars. "Ten hour work stoppages: it is a harsher initial industrial action than what the unions contemplated for Woodside," he said. Last week, Offshore Alliance and Woodside (WDS.AX) resolved worker disputes at North West Shelf, Australia's largest LNG facility, after negotiating higher wages, job security and employee-friendly rosters, averting industrial action.

Persons: Gaby Oraa, Wheatstone, Saul Kavonic, Renju Jose, Lewis Jackson, Florence Tan, Alasdair Pal, Chris Reese, Shri Navaratnam, Tom Hogue Organizations: Chevron, U.S, REUTERS, SYDNEY, Workers, Reuters, Offshore Alliance, Maritime Union of Australia, Australian Workers ' Union, Shell, Energy, Woodside, North West Shelf, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, Caracas, SINGAPORE, Australia, Woodside, WDS.AX, Asia, Chevron, Sydney, Singapore

☆ First US Gulf offshore wind auction to fuel region's green hydrogen push
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It is considered "green" if produced with renewable energy and "gray" if the process is fueled with carbon-emitting natural gas. "When we get to the Gulf, (offshore wind) will start becoming much more disconnected from the grid," said Cheryl Stahl, principal project manager at risk assessment firm DNV. In comments to BOEM on the planned Gulf sale earlier this year, those three companies noted the potential of offshore wind to produce green hydrogen in the region. "The Gulf of Mexico is uniquely situated to facilitate and benefit from green hydrogen production via offshore wind," Shell said in April, pointing to the region's existing port and pipeline infrastructure as well as new federal funding for green hydrogen development. The American Clean Power Association, a trade group that represents offshore wind and other renewable energy developers, also said in its comments to BOEM that green hydrogen would "increase market viability of offshore wind."

Persons: Biden, Cheryl Stahl, John Filostrat, Shell, TotalEnergies, Alon Carmel, Joe Biden's, Lacy McManus, McManus, Nichola, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Department's, of Ocean Energy Management, Companies, Shell, Clean Power Association, PA Consulting, New, New Orleans Inc, Thomson Locations: U.S, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, New York, New Jersey, New Orleans, South Louisiana

Brent crude was down 36 cents at $84.10 a barrel by 11:45 a.m. EDT (1545 GMT). China, the world's second-largest economy, is considered crucial to shoring up oil demand over the rest of the year. Amplifying demand concerns, U.S. central bank officials have not ruled out further interest rate hikes to contain inflation. A preliminary Reuters poll showed that crude oil and gasoline inventories were expected to have fallen last week, with data from American Petroleum Institute due later on Tuesday. Separately on Monday, Shell (SHEL.L) said it was investigating a possible leak on the 180,000 bpd Trans Niger oil pipeline, though no force majeure has been declared.

Persons: Lucy Nicholson, Brent, Jim Ritterbusch, majeure, Natalie Grover, Paul Carsten, Muyu Xu, Katya Golubkova, Tomasz Janowski, David Evans, David Goodman, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Companies Shell, West Texas Intermediate, Saudi, Ritterbusch, Associates, American Petroleum Institute, of Commerce, Shell, Thomson Locations: Bakersfield , California, China, Russian, Galena , Illinois, U.S, Iraqi, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi, Niger, London, Singapore, Tokyo

Zhang Yaoyu, PCI's global head of LNG trading, declined to comment on the company's traded volume, but said trading was part of the company's overall strategy. By 2026, Chinese companies are expected to have contracted LNG supplies of more than 100 million tons a year. That could mean a surplus of up to 8 million tons that year, according to consultancy Poten & Partners, or a deficit of 5 million to 6 million tons based on estimates from pricing agency ICIS. Qatar, which will be China's largest supplier for 2026, however, offers traditional LNG contracts that are restricted to a single destination or country. These openings in the market and a more liberalised domestic gas market have also prompted smaller Chinese gas distributors and importers to expand into the trading space.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Toby Copson, Copson, it's, Zhang Yaoyu, Zhang, Jason Feer, Feer, Chen Aizhu, Emily Chow, Marwa Rashad, Yuka Obayashi, Tom Hogue Organizations: REUTERS, 2026 Companies, Shell, BP, International Energy Agency, Offshore Oil Corp, China Gas Holdings, HK, Qatar, Trident LNG, Sinochem, PetroChina International, Poten, Partners, Rystad Energy, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, PCI, U.S, Beijing Gas, Zhejiang Energy, JOVO Energy, Thomson Locations: Qatar, US, Europe, Asia SINGAPORE, London, Singapore, U.S, Oman, Canada, Mozambique, Shanghai, China, Japan, Beijing, Central Asia, Russia, Southeast Asia, South Korea, Ukraine, ENN, Tokyo

☆ European shares open lower as China-exposed miners weigh
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The German share price index DAX graph is pictured as the German index celebrates its 35th birthday at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Staff/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies STOXX 600 down 0.2%Aug 16 (Reuters) - European shares opened lower on Wednesday as China-exposed miners led losses following lacklustre economic data from Beijing, while UK stocks were pressured by a higher-than-expected core inflation print. By 0708 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was down 0.2%, after closing at its lowest level in more than a month on Tuesday. European miners (.SXPP) lost 0.8% as traders assessed the prospects of a tepid economic rebound of top metals consumer China. Shares of Alcon (ALCC.S) gained 1.5% after the Swiss eye-care company raised its outlook for full-year net sales and core diluted earnings per share.

Persons: Shashwat Chauhan, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: REUTERS, Staff, Admiral, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, China, Beijing, Swiss, British, Bengaluru

Key hurdles for the two projects include the country's caps on domestic gas prices, limits on gas exports and the high costs for carbon capture and storage - required for new gas projects to help fight global warming. Last month, Shell (SHEL.L) said it would sell its holding in the Masela project to Indonesia's Pertamina and Malaysia's Petronas, while Chevron (CVX.N) agreed to sell its stake in the IDD project to Italy's Eni (ENI.MI). Reuters GraphicsNEW TERMS NEEDEDOnce one of the world's top five liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, Indonesia's LNG exports have halved in the past decade, Kpler data showed. The country has not approved a major oil or gas project since 2016 - the expansion of BP's (BP.L) Tangguh LNG plant. The current formula for splitting revenue between the government and investors in gas projects sets the base rate at 48% for companies.

Persons: magnifier, Dado Ruvic, Benny Lubiantara, Andrew Harwood, Wood Mackenzie, SKK Migas, Benny, Prateek Pandey, Takayuki Ueda, Naing, Inpex's Ueda, Fransiska Nangoy, Bernadette Christina Munthe, Emily Chow, Yuka Obayashi, Florence Tan, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Indonesia, Shell, Chevron, Indonesia Deepwater Development, Petronas, Eni, Essential Services, Reuters, Indonesia Petroleum Association, Rystad Energy, BMI Research, Fitch Group, Tcf, Thomson Locations: Indonesia, JAKARTA, Jakarta, Chevron, Tokyo, Masela, Singapore

☆ Chevron, Woodside in talks to avert strikes at Australian LNG operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Concerns over potential industrial action at three Australian LNG operations - North West Shelf, Gorgon and Wheatstone - sent European gas prices to a nearly 2-month high on Wednesday. Any industrial action would disrupt Australia's LNG exports and increase competition for the super-chilled fuel, forcing Asian buyers to outbid European buyers to attract LNG cargoes. About 99% of workers at offshore platforms that supply gas to the Woodside-operated North West Shelf LNG plant, Australia's biggest LNG plant, have voted in favour of a planned strike. Chevron said it was reviewing the applications from the union to Australia's independent Fair Work Commission (FWC) over planned strikes at its Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG plants. Gorgon, the country's second largest LNG plant, has capacity of 15.6 million metric tons a year and Wheatstone 8.9 million.

Persons: David Gray, Gorgon, Wheatstone, Brad Gandy, Woodside, Renju Jose, Jacqueline Wong, Sonali Paul Organizations: Woodside Petroleum, REUTERS, Northwest Shelf, Chevron, Woodside Energy Group, North West, North West Shelf, LNG, West Shelf, Offshore Alliance, Shell, Wheatstone, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, SYDNEY, Japan, Woodside, Chevron

An employee of a private security company stands in front of the logo of commodities trader Glencore during the company's annual shareholder meeting in Cham, Switzerland May 24, 2017. Analysts at Deutsche Bank had expected half-year earnings of $9.9 billion, while Citi's estimate was $11.4 billion. The company announced additional returns of around $2.2 billion, including a $1 billion special dividend and a $1.2 billion share buyback programme that will run until February 2024. Glencore in June offered to buy Teck's coal business as a standalone unit, having been rebuffed twice in its $22.5 billon bid to combine the two companies. As part of the deal, Glencore would spin-off and merge its thermal coal business with Teck's steelmaking coal one to form a separate New York-listed company.

Persons: Arnd, Glencore, Gary Nagle, Nagle, MARA, didn't, Bunge, Clara Denina, Pratima Desai, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, Canada's, Canada's Teck Resources, Tinto, Teck Resources, Deutsche Bank, Citi, U.S, Thomson Locations: Cham, Switzerland, Canada's Teck, Teck, China, New York, London, U.S

☆ Flagship Odey fund slimmed down by manager Neave, exits commodity futures
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OAM, which declined to comment, will send out further correspondence about how the Odey European Inc fund will be restructured, the letter said. OAM reorganised many of its funds in June and Neave took over the flagship Odey European Inc fund, amid fears of an investor exodus following the allegations. Since then, Neave has reduced the size of the hedge fund's investments in stocks, bonds and, in June, sold out of its gold futures. The fund closed out its direct exposure to gold futures, the letter said. Odey European Inc has kept some exposure to commodities through long positions related to the crude and palm oil company stocks, the letter said.

Persons: Freddie Neave, Crispin Odey's, Crispin Odey, Odey, Neave, Leopalace, Nell Mackenzie, Amanda Cooper, Alexander Smith Organizations: Reuters, Odey Asset Management, Financial Times, Tortoise Media, Inc, United Rentals, Learning Technologies, Jadestone Energy, Thomson

For investors looking to weed out climate laggards from portfolios, these are vital questions but existing guidelines on emissions reporting and new rules due to come in for the United States and Europe are unlikely to provide hard answers. The United States is on track to announce similar rules this year and the corporate standard, first launched in 2001 and revised in 2004, is also embedded in other international emissions reporting standards. Nonetheless, many investors scrutinise carbon emissions data to gauge how polluting a company is, how it compares with rivals and how this might affect its bottom line and share price. Another area of investor concern is how companies account for their own energy use, or Scope 2 emissions. The GHGP allows companies to buy green energy to offset their emissions, using contractual instruments such as renewable energy certificates, and reflect this in their reporting.

Persons: Fabrizio Bensch, Vanessa Bingle, David Lubin, Subaru, SCA's Lubin, Laura Kane, Kane, Jimmy Jia, Jia, abrdn, Pedro Faria, Faria, Pankaj Bhatia, Douglas Gillison, Sumanta Sen, Dan Flynn, David Clarke Organizations: REUTERS, Toyota, Shell, Greenhouse, World Business, Sustainable Development, World Resources Institute, Reuters, Alpha Financial Markets Consulting, Analytics, Subaru, North, Voya Investment Management, Voya, EU, Sustainability, IFRS, Oxford Smith School of Enterprise, Reuters Graphics, U.S . Securities, Exchange, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, United States, Europe, Japan, North America, U.S, Britain, British, EU

SummaryCompanies BP hikes dividend by 10%Will repurchase $1.5 billion of sharesWeak refining, oil trading and high maintenance weighLONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - BP's (BP.L) second-quarter profit slumped 70% from a year earlier to $2.6 billion, missing forecasts, as refining margins and oil trading income fell, but still allowing the energy giant to boost its dividend by 10%. BP's underlying replacement cost profit, its definition of net income, missed expectations of $3.5 billion in a company-provided survey of analysts. It fell from $8.5 billion a year earlier and from $5 billion in the first quarter. BP's gearing, or debt-to-capital ratio, stood at 21.7% in the second quarter, compared with 19.6% in the first quarter and 21.9% a year earlier. For the third quarter, BP expects oil prices to be supported by OPEC supply cuts alongside above-historical-average refining margins helped by lower inventories and U.S. demand.

Persons: Bernard Looney, Looney, Biraj Borkhataria, Ron Bousso, Jason Neely Organizations: Rivals Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Reuters, Reuters Graphics Reuters, RBC, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Germany

☆ BP appeal requires more than short-term sweeteners
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bernard Looney is throwing cash at BP’s (BP.L) shortcomings. In the three months to the end of June the $109 billion European oil major missed expectations by a wide margin, with net income falling 70% to $2.6 billion year-on-year. Wael Sawan, his counterpart at rival Shell (SHEL.L) who only took the helm this year, has refocused his company on “molecules” – from oil and gas to low-carbon hydrogen and biofuels. But Shell has done better, and Bernstein analysts recently estimated BP was trading at a yawning 87% discount to the sum of its parts. The risk for Looney is that if investors want to own one European oil major, it won’t be his.

Persons: Bernard Looney, Looney, Wael Sawan, Shell, Bernstein, won’t, Yawen Chen, Steve Cohen, ’, George Hay, Pranav Kiran Organizations: Reuters, Shell, outperforming, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Twitter, Sequoia, Thomson Locations: outperforming U.S, India

☆ Aston Martin flips from cash-guzzler to carmaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Aston Martin Lagonda (AML.L) is making a painful transition from cash-guzzler to viable carmaker. A 216 million pound cash call on Monday brings its total capital raised since 2018 to just under 1.8 billion pounds. By this year, Aston Martin will have grown revenue by 13% per annum since 2019, according to Refinitiv data, thanks to new models like the DB12 and higher prices. Aston’s current enterprise value is just under 2 times forecast 2024 sales, a discount to Porsche, and far below Ferrari’s (RACE.MI) more than 8 times multiple. Yet Aston still needs to show it can make an electric vehicle, with the first due in 2025.

Persons: Aston Martin Lagonda, James Bond, Lawrence Stroll’s, Aston Martin, Aston, Neil Unmack, Steve Cohen, Liam Proud, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Public Investment Fund, Porsche AG, Porsche, Twitter, Sequoia, Thomson Locations: Japan, India

SummaryCompanies Q2 profits slump 56% at Shell, 49% at TotalEnergies y/yOil, gas, LNG prices much lower in 2023 vs 2022TotalEnergies sees LNG prices recover somewhat in winterShell slows pace of share buyback programmeLONDON/PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) reported sharp falls in second-quarter profit from bumper 2022 earnings as oil and gas prices, refining margins and trading results all weakened. Oil and gas prices soared last year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine but energy prices have dropped sharply this year as fears of shortages eased amid global economic challenges. Reuters GraphicsShell's shares were down 1.9% at 0755 GMT and TotalEnergies' slipped 0.4%, compared with a 1% decline in the European index of oil and gas companies (.SXEP). Prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG), a key product for both groups, dropped to $11.75 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from around $33. Both Shell and TotalEnergies had flagged shrinking profit from refining crude oil into fuel and chemicals in the quarter.

Persons: TotalEnergies, Shell, Wael Sawan, Patrick Pouyanne, Ron Bousso, Shadia, America Hernandez, Susan Fenton Organizations: Shell, Reuters Graphics, Brent, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Ukraine, TotalEnergies

The earnings, which missed forecasts, follow bumper earnings in 2022 after energy prices surged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but were in line with its second-quarter performance two years ago. In June, Shell announced it would buy back at least $5 billion in shares in the second half of the year. Shell shares were down 1.7% by 0730 GMT, compared with a 1% decline for the broader European energy index (.SXEP). Reuters GraphicsWEAKER QUARTERThe lower results mainly reflected lower liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading results, lower oil and gas prices, lower refining margins, and lower sales volumes, compared with the previous quarter, Shell said. Oil and gas prices soared last year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine but energy prices have dropped sharply this year as fears of shortages have eased.

Persons: Shell, Wael Sawan, Sawan, Jefferies, Giacomo Romeo, TotalEnergies, Norway's, Ron Bousso, Christina Fincher, Jason Neely Organizations: Shell, Reuters Graphics, Benchmark Brent, Thomson Locations: Ukraine

☆ Morning Bid: ECB to follow Fed hike, Meta surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Fed Chair Jerome Powell remained equivocal about whether there was one more policy rate rise left this year and said Fed staff were no longer forecasting a recession - but futures markets continue to see a less than 50% chance of another move. Global stocks (.MIWD00000PUS) hit their highest since April last year on Thursday, with European stocks up more than 1% ahead of the ECB decision. The euro pushed higher against a softer dollar ahead of the announcement and press conference from ECB chief Christine Lagarde. The yen also firmed as the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its easy policy unchanged on Friday. The euro zone's biggest bank BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), by contrast, beat Q2 estimates and the stock jumped 4%.

Persons: Mike Dolan, Meta, Jerome Powell, Dow Jones, Christine Lagarde, Willis Towers Watson, Giorgia Meloni, Joe Biden, Toby Chopra Organizations: Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Fed, Treasury, Boeing, Dow, Wall, ECB, Bank of, Shell, Barclays, BNP, Central Bank, Intel, Ford, Boston Scientific, Myers Squibb, Honeywell, Xcel, Eastman Chemical, Pentair, Mastercard, P Global, Hershey, Digital Realty, Northrop Grumman, Weyerhaeuser, Cincinatti, Verisign, Comcast, Southwest Airlines, HCA, . Federal Reserve Board, Washington Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Exxon, Chevron, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bank of Japan, Asia, Hong Kong, China, Abbvie, Bristol, Edison, Kansas, Basel III, Washington

☆ Banks to fuel boom in UK Plc regular dividend payouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The estimate from financial services company Computershare is 2.7 billion pounds higher than its April forecast and reflects improved profit prospects across the rate-sensitive industry. Computershare's latest quarterly Dividend Monitor showed bank payouts rose 61% on an underlying basis to around 7.8 billion pounds in the second quarter. The sector is set to raise headline payouts by over 3 billion pounds this year. That estimate is 1 billion pounds more than what it forecast three months ago. In the second quarter, UK dividends rose 3.5% on an underlying basis, but fell 9% to 32.8 billion pounds on a headline basis, it said.

Persons: Computershare, Rio, Danilo Masoni, Amanda Cooper, David Evans Organizations: MILAN, HSBC, Bank of England, Rio Tinto, Tobacco, Thomson

LONDON, July 27(Reuters Breakingviews) - The world is getting hotter, but when it comes to achieving net zero investors are cooling. Glencore (GLEN.L), the $75 billion Swiss group that is one of the world’s biggest coal miners, makes an interesting case study for what’s changed. Either way, the plan raises the prospect of Glencore bulking up in coal before offloading some or all of the enlarged business. True, a listing of Glencore’s enlarged coal business might not happen for a few years. While prices have now more than halved, Glencore‘s coal business would still make $9 billion in EBITDA in 2023 if they averaged $200 a tonne.

Persons: what’s, Glencore, Gary Nagle, Nagle, Teck, wouldn’t, There’s, Wael Sawan, Larry Fink, underwhelmed, ” Nagle, Glencore’s, George Hay, Karen Kwok, Peter Thal Larsen, Aditya Munjuluru Organizations: Reuters, Resources, Teck Resources, Bluebell Capital Partners, Investment, International Energy Agency, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Rio Tinto, BHP, GQG Partners, Capital Research Group, BlackRock, Vanguard, Services, Saudi, Aramco, United Nations, of, Pensions, Shell, Financial Times, “, Melbourne Mining, Capital Partners, Thomson Locations: Glasgow, Ukraine, EBITDA, American, U.S, Glencore, London, New York, Europe, Melbourne

☆ Aston Martin races past second quarter expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Yadarisa Shabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] FILE PHOTO-Employees work on a car at the Aston Martin factory in Gaydon, Britain, March 16, 2022. Aston Martin kept its 2023 forecast for volumes of about 7,000 vehicles and an adjusted core profit margin of about 20%. Aston Martin reported an adjusted operating loss of 38.9 million pounds ($50.2 million) and revenue of 381.5 million pounds in the quarter to June. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted operating loss of 51 million pounds on revenue of 344 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus. Aston Martin said it was also on track to meet its medium-term financial targets.

Persons: Aston Martin, Phil Noble, Amedeo Felisa, Felisa, JP Morgan, James Bond's, China's Geely, Yadarisa, Savio D'Souza, Mark Potter Organizations: Aston, REUTERS, HK, Lucid, Thomson Locations: Gaydon, Britain, Bengaluru

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