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☆ Swedish crown gains on c.bank forecast for more hikes, softer dollar
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Alun John | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The Swedish crown rallied on Thursday after the country's central bank raised interest rates and forecast further tightening, while the dollar weakened against most other currencies alongside positive sentiment across markets. The dollar was last down 1.4% against the crown at 10.45 crowns and the euro was down 1.16% at 11.21, after the Riksbank raised its interest rate by 50 basis points to 3%, and forecast more increases in the spring. The Swedish currency has been under pressure, having hit its weakest since 2009 against the euro earlier this week as markets bet the central bank will raise rates less aggressively than the European Central Bank due to domestic economic conditions. Markets are also digesting a series of remarks from Federal Reserve policymakers about the U.S. interest rate plans after Friday's stronger-than-expected jobs data and ahead of next week's closely watched inflation numbers. Williams's comments followed Chair Jerome Powell's sticking by his interest rate outlook on Tuesday, when he reiterated that a process of "disinflation" was under way.

Meanwhile, the risk-sensitive Australian dollar rallied against a backdrop of gains for U.S. equity futures and a more hawkish Reserve Bank. Investors will closely watch consumer price inflation data on Tuesday for additional clues on the policy outlook. Market pricing anticipates the Fed funds rate peaking just above 5.1% by July then falling by the end of the year to 4.8%. "From where I stand today we need further, significant rate hikes," German central bank chief Joachim Nagel told the newspaper Boersen-Zeitung on Tuesday. His colleague Isabel Schnabel said it is not yet clear that the ECB rate hikes so far would bring inflation back to 2%.

Major Japanese banks, including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T), had issued letters of commitment to provide the loans to the JIP-led group, said two of the sources, who declined to be identified because the information has not been made public. The 1.4 trillion yen of loans included a commitment line of 200 billion yen for working capital, the sources said. The final buyout proposal would also include an equity portion of about 1 trillion yen, they said. The Nikkei business daily reported a final buyout proposal worth around 2 trillion yen. The banks asked Toshiba to promise the sale of underperforming businesses if earnings deteriorated after a buyout was concluded, sources, including those who spoke on Thursday, have previously said.

☆ In a first for India, transgender couple become biological parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A transgender couple are the first in India to become parents biologically, after one of the partners gave birth on Wednesday in Kerala state. The birth of the baby is a milestone for the South Asian nation, where transgender people continue to face discrimination and stigma despite being officially recognised as a "third gender" since 2014. Both Ziya Paval, who was born a man, and her partner, Zahad, who was female by birth, were going through hormonal therapy to change their sex when they conceived. Zahad gave birth at a government hospital on Wednesday and, along with the newborn, is currently under observation in the hospital's intensive care unit. Today is the day I got to hold my baby," Paval told Reuters partner ANI, smiling widely.

☆ Dollar pulls back as Powell sticks to usual Fed playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Rae Wee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. dollar struggled to recover its losses in Asia trade on Wednesday, after slipping in the previous session as Powell spoke. Similarly, the euro was last 0.04% higher at $1.0732, after falling to $1.06695 in the previous session, its lowest since Jan. 9. Against a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar index steadied at 103.31, after slipping 0.3% in the previous session. Futures pricing shows that markets are expecting the Fed funds rate to peak just above 5.1% by June. Elsewhere, the Japanese yen rose 0.16% to 130.88 per dollar, after surging 1.2% in the previous session.

☆ ABN Amro announces 500 mln euro share buyback as Q4 profit beats forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Net profit of the largely state-owned bank dropped to 354 million euros in the last three months of 2022, down from 552 million euros the year before - but much better than the 105 million euros analysts on average had predicted in a company-compiled poll. Impairments were 74% lower than a year before at 32 million euros as economic growth in Europe held stronger than expected despite surging inflation. Since its bailout by the Dutch state in 2008, ABN has refocused its operations and orientation on the Dutch market, cutting thousands of jobs in the process. One of three dominant banks in the Netherlands, it was re-privatized in 2015, but the Dutch state still owns 56% of the shares and has sold none since September 2017. The state will participate in the share buyback, which has been approved by the European Central Bank and will maintain its relative stake, ABN said.

☆ New Zealand recovers $300 mln of cocaine floating at sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] A view shows bricks of cocaine said to be recovered by New Zealand Police, Customs and NZDF at sea, in New Zealand, in this undated handout image released on February 8, 2023. New Zealand Police/Handout via REUTERSSYDNEY, Feb 8 (Reuters) - New Zealand authorities said on Wednesday they had recovered 3.2 tonnes of cocaine worth more than $300 million, believed to be bound for Australia and found floating at sea. New Zealand Police said it a statement it had collected the drugs from the Pacific Ocean in a joint operation with the New Zealand Customs Service and the New Zealand Defence Force. The seizure has a value of NZ$500 million ($320 million), according to New Zealand Customs Service Acting Controller Bill Perry. ($1 = 1.5815 New Zealand dollars)Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ LeBron rewrites playbook on athlete activism on way to the top
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

He said other players would approach him during his years in the league to discuss his activism - quietly. James became a leading voice in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The four-times MVP took aim at Republican then-President Donald Trump in 2018, saying Trump had emboldened racists in the United States. In response to his criticism of Trump, Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham told him to "shut up and dribble". "He kind of maintained as broad of a consensus appeal, not only because of his activism, but also because of the way he's kind of done marketing and business and commercialization," said Hartmann.

Following are some of the guests expected to attend:* Brandon Tsay: Tsay was called a hero by authorities for disarming a gunman who shot dead 11 people during a celebration of the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, California. The White House called it a "recognition of sustained U.S. support for Ukraine nearly a year after Russia launched its unprovoked attack." * The White House has also invited Paul Pelosi, husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "The attack reportedly was politically motivated, with the intruder's alleged intent to harm and kidnap the former Speaker," the White House said. The United States completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 after a 20-year war.

☆ Post-QE bond losses rising reality for central banks - BIS
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The building of the European Central Bank (ECB) is seen amid a fog before the monthly news conference following the ECB's monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany December 15, 2022. The ECB and a number of national central banks in Europe have issued warnings, though. There were dozens of past examples from developing economies, including Mexico, Chile, the Czech Republic and Israel, where central banks can operate without major difficulties in negative equity, it said. "To maintain the public's trust and to preserve central bank legitimacy now and in the long run, stakeholders should appreciate that central banks' policy mandates come before profits," the paper said. Central banks transfers turning to losses($1 = 0.9317 euros)Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

However, Boiardi said an earlier proposal from the industry for totally single-pilot flying by 2030 was "absolutely not realistic", because automation had not advanced far enough and solo flying required a level of safety equivalent to existing operations. Solo flying, even in cruise, needs approval from the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization, individual airlines and their pilot unions. Even limited solo flying, however, is dividing airlines and raising public fears, while sparking a growing backlash among pilot groups like the European Cockpit Association. Airbus said in a statement it was studying the concept of a single pilot in the cruise phase but not wholly single-pilot flights. Consumer resistance, however, could result in single-pilot flying starting with cargo flights, industry officials said.

☆ STMicro leans on AI, cloud as chip designs become more complex
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - European chipmaker STMicroelectronics (STM.BN) and chip design software maker Synopsys (SNPS.O) on Tuesday said STMicro had for the first time used artificial intelligence software running on Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) cloud to design a working chip. The achievement would help solve the growing problem of getting increasingly complex designs ready for customers in an acceptable time, STMicro said. The company is one of a several that are using AI to help design chips, which involves translating a complicated circuit architecture into a blueprint for fabricating billions of transistors on a small piece of silicon. Shankar Krishnamoorthy, general manager of the design automation group at Synopsys, said that company's AI engine got better results faster when it had more computing power behind it. Cloud providers like Microsoft offer the option to rent a huge burst of computing power in a short time.

☆ Morning Bid: Hot air
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Still, stocks rallied and bond yields fell as markets priced in lower rates. Now, it appears that some of these expectations were a load of hot air. The U.S. jobs data showed the unemployment rate hit more than a 53-1/2-year low of 3.4%. U.S. stock futures traded lower and FTSE futures indicated a weaker start for British stocks (.FTSE), which vaulted to a record high on Friday. European index futures also traded lower.

☆ BOJ's deputy governor warns against watering down inflation target
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Wakatabe, a vocal proponent of aggressive monetary easing, said watering down the inflation target risked making the objective of the BOJ's monetary policy too vague. "It could undermine the transparency of monetary policy and its effectiveness," he said in a speech. But there was uncertainty on whether such changes in the price outlook would be sustained and help Japan achieve the inflation target in a sustainable manner, he said. The outcome of annual wage negotiations between businesses and unions would be crucial, Wakatabe said, stressing the importance of achieving solid wage increases for Japan to see inflation sustainably meet the BOJ's price target. "The BOJ will continue to conduct monetary policy with the aim of achieving its 2% inflation target, accompanied by wage increases," Wakatabe said.

☆ Sony Group CFO Totoki to succeed Yoshida as president
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Sony Group Corp (6758.T) said on Thursday chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki would become president and chief operating officer on April 1 while retaining his current role. Incumbent president Kenichiro Yoshida will remain as chairman and chief executive officer. The entertainment and electronics conglomerate will hold a news conference on its new leadership at 4:00 p.m. (0700 GMT). Besides his role as chief financial officer in 2018, Totoki has been chief of the company's mobile phone division and head of the banking division. Reporting by Gokul Pisharody in Bengaluru and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Samsung's newest Galaxy S smartphones a test of brand power in weak market
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Joyce Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Samsung Electronics' flagship smartphone Galaxy S23 is seen on display at an unveiling ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, January 30, 2023. The Galaxy S23 smartphone series has better cameras and faster chips than its predecessor, but analysts said early sales would face weak demand as consumers spent less on discretionary goods amid surging inflation. In the United States, the base Galaxy S23 will be priced from $799 and two higher-specification versions, the S23 Plus and S23 Ultra, from $999 and $1,199, respectively. In that tough environment, analysts said Samsung's mobile strategy would centre on profitability through premium offerings, including the S series and foldables. Samsung said on Tuesday that a decline in low- and mid-range smartphone sales in the fourth quarter had been greater than expected.

In France, the bloc's second-biggest economy, factory activity returned to growth albeit not as strongly as initially forecast. In Asia, factory activity contracted in January as the boost from China's COVID reopening had yet to take full effect. China's factory activity shrank more slowly in January after Beijing lifted tough COVID curbs late last year, a private sector survey showed. China's Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing (PMI) nudged up to 49.2 in January from 49.0 in December, staying below the 50 mark for a sixth straight month. Factory activity expanded in January in Indonesia and the Philippines but shrank in Malaysia and Taiwan, PMI surveys showed.

☆ China's Jan factory activity contracts at slower pace - Caixin PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The data contrasted with a stronger-than-expected result from an official survey that on Tuesday showed manufacturing activity swinging back to growth. The official survey largely focuses on big and state-owned firms, whereas the Caixin survey centres on small firms and coastal regions, which includes many exporters. With global economic growth sluggish and customer demand cooling, a sub-index of new export orders indicated shrinkage for a sixth straight month in January, though less quickly than in December. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday revised China's growth outlook sharply higher for 2023, to 5.2% from 4.4% previously, because of the end of zero-COVID. The policy and its lockdowns had slashed China's 2022 growth rate to 3.0%, a pace below the global average for the first time in more than 40 years.

☆ Asia's factory activity contracts despite China's COVID reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

China's factory activity shrank more slowly in January after Beijing lifted tough COVID curbs late last year, a private sector survey showed. The data was contrasted with a better-than-expected official PMI survey issued on Tuesday. South Korea's factory activity contracted for a seventh straight month in January. Factory activity expanded in January in Indonesia and the Philippines but shrank in Malaysia and Taiwan, PMI surveys showed. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slightly raised its 2023 global growth outlook on "surprisingly resilient" demand in the United States and Europe and the reopening of China's economy after Beijing abandoned its strict pandemic controls.

☆ Mutual funds have low exposure to Adani companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Mutual funds have low exposure to listed Adani Group companies, whose shares have dropped since publication of a report into the group by Hindenburg Research on Jan. 24. Mutual funds from India and elsewhere hold just 3.4% of Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), 2.8% of Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) and 3.6% of Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS). Adani Enterprises and Adani Port (APSE.NS) are constituents of the Nifty 50, so they are automatically in portfolios of some exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds. But active funds have very little exposure to Adani stocks and are largely unscathed by their fall. Among active funds, the Kotak Balanced Advantage fund , which has positions in Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, has shed just 0.5%.

☆ South Korea Jan inflation ticks up, leaves policy outlook steady
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The annual rate of price rises was the highest since October, when it was 5.7%. Temporary effects that had pushed up inflation included a lift in electricity charges, unfavourable weather for vegetables and a strong round of regular annual price rises, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. A breakdown of the data showed January public utility costs had risen 4.6% from the previous month while agricultural products had jumped 6.2%, leading the index higher. The Bank of Korea said in a separate statement that the tick-up in the inflation rate was in line with its expectations. The annual rate would be just as high in February, around 5%, it said.

The 8.4 trillion yuan ($1.24 trillion) decrease in profits in 2022 followed a 34.3% rise in 2021. Frequent and widespread COVID disruptions hit production at industrial firms, hurting both supply and demand sides and putting huge upward pressure on costs, said Bruce Pang, chief economist at Jones Lang Lasalle. In 2022, profits at foreign firms slumped 9.5%, while those at private-sector firms shrank 7.2%, NBS data showed. Industrial profits data covers firms with annual revenue above 20 million yuan from their main operations. Liabilities at industrial firms rose 8.6% in 2022 from a year earlier, compared with 9.0% growth as of end-November.

☆ U.S. solar prices still soaring as projects stalled
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - U.S. solar energy contract prices have soared by a third over the past year as project developers have struggled to get imported panels, according to a report published late on Monday. But wind energy prices fell a little in recent months, thanks to major new federal subsidies. Wind PPA prices were 1.9% lower in the fourth quarter than in the third - their first decline since early 2021. The spike in solar prices resulted from the seizure by U.S. customs officials of hundreds of shipments of solar energy components at U.S. ports since June. Clark added, however, that demand was still strong for solar projects and that prices might stabilize in the second half of 2023.

☆ Tokyo booms for shareholder-relations advisers as activists raise pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Makiko Yamazaki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Men walk past an electric board displaying Nikkei and other countries' indexes outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan January 16, 2023. At that company, activist shareholders have forced board changes, rejected the management's turnaround plan and prompted the company to consider going private to remove them. Shareholder relations advisers do that, too, and they say they are generally more focused on longer-term strategies. EY announced a foray into shareholder relations in Japan in December, with a full-service line-up from identification of shareholders to proxy solicitation. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp said it would continue to expand its shareholder-relations support unit, Japan Shareholder Services Ltd (JSS), which now has about 80 staff members.

☆ China economic activity swings back to growth in January - official PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Joe Cash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Jan 31 (Reuters) - China's economic activity swung back to growth in January, official data showed on Tuesday, after a wave of COVID-19 infection passed through the country faster than expected following abandonment of pandemic controls. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI), which measures manufacturing activity, rose to 50.1 from 47.0 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday. Non-manufacturing activity, which includes provision of services, the construction industry and catering, for example, surged to 54.4, up from 41.6 in December. The official composite PMI, which combines manufacturing and services, rose to 52.9 from 42.6 in December. The private sector Caixin manufacturing PMI, which centres more on small firms and coastal regions, will be published on Feb. 1.

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