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☆ Instagram down for more than 98,000 users - Downdetector
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 21 (Reuters) - Meta Platform Inc's (META.O) Instagram is down for more than 98,000 users on Sunday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources including users. Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Calling the move "surprising", the transport unit Grupo Mexico Transportes (GMXT.MX) said the Navy had occupied its facilities at the Coatzacoalcos-Medias Aguas section at 6 a.m.(1200 GMT), and that it was weighing up its options. Grupo Mexico Transportes will keep providing services under supervision of the armed forces, it said. The section "expropriated" is about 1.1% of the 11,137 km run by Grupo Mexico's transport division, analysts at brokerage Vector said in a client note. Grupo Mexico, owned by tycoon German Larrea, has been closing in on the acquisition of U.S. Citigroup Inc's retail banking operations in Mexico. Shares in Grupo Mexico were down by more than 4% on Friday afternoon, a drop mirrored by Grupo Mexico Transportes' stock.

☆ Foot Locker slumps as weak demand, heavy discounts drive annual outlook cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Deborah Mary Sophia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 19 (Reuters) - Foot Locker Inc's (FL.N) shares closed down 27% on Friday as the footwear retailer cut its annual sales and profit forecasts amid a sharp drop in demand and a hit from heavy discounts aimed at clearing excess inventories. The company also missed analysts' estimates for first-quarter results and named former Kohl's Corp (KSS.N) executive Mike Baughn as its new finance chief, effective June 12. Foot Locker doubled down on discounts to drive demand, which coupled with an increase in theft-related inventory losses led to a 400-basis point hit to the company's quarterly gross margins. Foot Locker now expects full-year comparable sales to fall between 7.5% and 9.0%. The company also forecast annual adjusted per-share earnings between $2.00 and $2.25, compared with its previous outlook of $3.35 to $3.65.

☆ Catalent cuts annual forecast hurt by operational challenges
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 19 (Reuters) - Catalent Inc (CTLT.N) cut its full-year net revenue and profit forecast on Friday, reflecting operational challenges and higher-than-expected costs after it flagged an over $400 million hit to both its annual sales and core profit forecasts earlier this month. The contract drug manufacturer now sees its full-year revenue in the range of $4.25 billion to $4.35 billion compared with its prior forecast of $4.63 billion to $4.88 billion. Catalent said it now sees adjusted net income for the year in the range of $187 million to $228 million, compared with the previous forecast of $567 million to $648 million. Shares of Catalent reversed losses to be up 7.7% at $34.63 before the bell. Reporting by Bhanvi Satija, Sriparna Roy and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Krafton says India revoked ban on its battle-royale game
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The government had in July blocked Krafton's title Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), citing concerns about its data-sharing and mining in China. Following a government directive, the app was removed from Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google Play Store and Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) App Store. A Facebook page for the title says the game will be available for download soon. New Delhi had, back in 2020, banned another Krafton title, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) following which the company launched BGMI. India had ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses since a 2020 border clash between the neighbours that led to a ban of more than 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok.

☆ Russian billionaires bid for stake in Yandex's local assets -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 19 (Reuters) - Technology company Yandex (YNDX.O) has received bids from Russian billionaires for a stake of about half of the company's local business, valuing it at over $7 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Billionaires Vladimir Potanin and Vagit Alekperov bid for at least a 51% controlling stake in Yandex's Russian business, which they value at about 560 billion roubles ($7.21 billion) to 600 billion roubles, the report said citing people familiar with the matter. The board of Yandex might discuss the bids next week when it meets in Dubai, the report added. Yandex's primary advertising competitor, Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O), stopped selling online advertising in Russia last year. The company also sold its news aggregator platform Yandex News and content recommendation service Yandex Zen to its Russian rival VK (VKCOq.L) in 2022.

☆ U.S. FDA approves Krystal Biotech's skin-disorder gene therapy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Pratik Jain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Krystal Biotech Inc's (KRYS.O) first-of-its kind topical gene therapy for patients with a genetic skin disorder, sending its shares up 7% in afternoon trading. Patients with the rare dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa disorder suffer from open wounds, causing skin infections and are at an increased risk of vision loss, scarring and skin cancer. The therapy, Vyjuvek, is expected to be available in the United States in the third quarter of 2023, Krystal Biotech CEO Krish Krishnan told Reuters ahead of the FDA decision. Our intent is to provide access to all the patients if possible in the United States," Krishnan said. About 9,000 to 10,000 people suffer from dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa globally, including a U.S. population of about 3,000 patients, according to Krystal Biotech.

India's antitrust body in October fined Google $275 million in two cases, which involved abusing its dominant position in the Android operating system market, and pushing developers to use its in-app payment system. "The ministry has to take action," Chandrasekhar said. India's competition watchdog has begun another inquiry into Google after Tinder owner Match Group (MTCH.O) and many startups alleged that a new service fee system Google uses for in-app payments breaches the competition commission's October decision. Google has previously said the service fee supports investments in the Google Play app store and the Android mobile operating system, ensuring it can distribute it for free. About 97% of India's 620 million smartphones run on Android, and the company counts India as a critical growth market.

☆ Growing debt ceiling deal hopes send stocks higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Chuck Mikolajczak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) rebounded from early declines on news that top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy said a deal to raise or suspend the debt ceiling could potentially be reached in time to hold a House vote next week. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden and McCarthy reiterated their aim to strike a deal soon to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt ceiling and agreed to talk as soon as Sunday. The debt ceiling has drawn attention away from uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.31-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.14-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and seven new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 88 new highs and 83 new lows.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban TikTok in the state, effective Jan. 1. The TikTok users argue the state seeks to "exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress." The suit adds users believe the law violates their First Amendment rights. "Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes," the lawsuit said. TikTok has faced growing calls from U.S. lawmakers and state officials to ban the app nationwide over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform.

☆ Debt ceiling optimism helps lift S&P 500, Nasdaq
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Chuck Mikolajczak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) rebounded from early declines on news that top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy said a deal to raise or suspend the debt ceiling could potentially be reached in time to hold a House vote next week. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden and McCarthy reiterated their aim to strike a deal soon to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt ceiling and agreed to talk as soon as Sunday. The debt ceiling has drawn attention away from uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.12-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.17-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 23 new 52-week highs and seven new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 74 new lows.

President Joe Biden and McCarthy reiterated their aim to strike a deal soon on Wednesday to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt ceiling and agreed to talk as soon as Sunday. Growth stocks led gains, with Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) rising between 1% and 4.4%. Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) gained 9.6% after the beauty and skincare firm raised its annual profit forecast. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.07-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 68 new highs and 50 new lows.

That would appear to contradict the FTC's practice of preventing companies from using market power to push up prices. The FTC lawsuit spurred concern among investors who had brushed off the antitrust risk in Amgen's deal because of its limited business overlap with Horizon. "Our complaint is firmly rooted in longstanding antitrust law and we look forward to making our argument in court," an FTC spokesperson said. AMGEN OFFERS REMEDYAmgen said on Tuesday it had made an offer to the FTC in hopes of resolving the issue. "These are valid concerns that FTC has raised but what a court will do about it is uncertain," he said.

☆ Recalled Peloton treadmills get US regulator approval for repair
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Thursday approved a repair for a rear guard of Peloton Interactive Inc's (PTON.O) recalled 'Tread+' treadmill. "The approved rear guard repair eliminates the potential for entrapment near the rear roller of the treadmill," the safety regulator said in a statement. "The rear guard repair features a breakaway design that pivots away from the treadmill when it comes into contact with a person or object, shutting off power to the unit and decelerating the belt." To date, in addition to the reported death, Peloton has received a total of 351 incident reports of pull-unders, including 90 reports of injuries to consumers, according to the CPSC. Peloton will offer the guard free of charge to all members who own a 'Tread+', the virtual workout company said in a statement on its website.

☆ Apple slashes sales estimates of its headset - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has lowered sales estimates for its long-awaited mixed-reality headsets by about two-thirds, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The iPhone-maker had initially hoped to sell about 3 million units a year, but has now pared back those estimates to about 1 million, and then to 900,000 units, the report said. The mixed-reality headset, which can overlay digital objects on a view of the real world, is widely anticipated to be Apple's next major product. The headset is expected to cost around $3,000, Bloomberg News had reported in February. Meta Platform Inc's (META.O) Quest Pro virtual and mixed reality headset is priced at about $1,000.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) constituent Cisco Systems Inc's (CSCO.O) shares fell 4.3% in premarket trading after it said a large backlog of products weighed on demand for new orders from customers. Shares of Walmart Inc (WMT.N) rose 1.7% after the retailer raised its annual sales and profit targets, befitting from inflation-wary consumers trading down to cheaper groceries. ET, Dow e-minis were down 31 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.75 points, or 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 15 points, or 0.11%. Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) gained 13% after the beauty and skincare firm raised its annual profit forecast. Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he welcomed and expected more investment from global chipmakers in the country.

☆ NYSE to bust erroneous CDW Corp trades as shares briefly dive 96%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Medha Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 18 (Reuters) - NYSE Arca Equities is looking into likely erroneous trades in the shares of IT solutions provider CDW Corp (CDW.O) after they briefly plunged as much as 96% to $7 in premarket trading on Thursday. The exchange operator, owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N), said it would bust all trades in the stock between 04:00 a.m. CDW Corp shares quickly recouped most of their losses and were last down 0.7% at $172.09 before the bell. ET, closed at $173.25 with a market value of $23.35 billion on Wednesday. CDW Corp and CaliberCos did not immediately respond to a Reuters requests for a comment.

☆ Amazon's cloud unit to invest $13 billion in India by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The latest investment will be used to build its cloud infrastructure in India and it will support over 100,000 full-time jobs annually, AWS said. AWS' total planned investment in India adds up to about $16.4 billion by 2030, the company said in a statement. The cloud platform offers more than 200 services, including storage, robotics and artificial intelligence. The country is currently in the process of drafting a cloud and data center policy to oversee the sector. A host of global companies, including Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google are ramping up cloud investments in India, betting on the rising digital consumption in one of the fastest-growing markets.

☆ Ampere Computing launches its custom chips aimed at cloud computing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Ampere Computing on Thursday released a new family of data center chips with technology it has custom-designed for cloud computing companies. Founded by former Intel Corp (INTC.O) president Renee James, Ampere has focused on courting cloud companies that buy thousands of chips at a time and in turn rent them out. Unlike Intel, Ampere uses a computing architecture from SoftBank Group Corp-owned (9984.T) Arm Ltd, which is also an investor in Ampere. The new Ampere chips will have as many as 192 of those cores where Intel chips tend to have only a few dozen. We are ever hopeful that the market will open and that it will open for growth companies," James said.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) constituent Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) slipped 1.7% after it said a large backlog of products weighed on demand for new orders from customers. Shares of Walmart Inc (WMT.N) rose 2.8% after the retailer raised its annual sales and profit targets, benefiting from inflation-wary consumers trading down to cheaper groceries. And you got a little follow through from the optimism around getting a (debt ceiling) deal done," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital LLC. Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) gained 8.7% after the beauty and skincare firm raised its annual profit forecast. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.30-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.47-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

☆ US exchanges to bust erroneous CDW Corp trades after shares briefly dive 96%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Medha Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

They would bust all trades in the stock between 04:00 a.m. CDW Corp shares quickly recouped most of their losses and were last up 0.2% at $173.50. ET, closed at $173.25 with a market value of $23.35 billion on Wednesday. Scottsdale, Arizona-based CaliberCos jumped 44.8% to $8.65, a day after it jumped in its Nasdaq debut to notch a market value of $123.7 million. CDW Corp and CaliberCos did not immediately respond to a Reuters requests for a comment.

☆ Factbox: Amazon to Walmart, investors in India boost Modi ahead of vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMAZONAmazon Web Services said it planned to invest $13 billion in India by 2030 to build its cloud infrastructure and create thousands of jobs. APPLE (AAPL.O)The U.S. tech giant launched its first company-owned store in Mumbai last month and then another in New Delhi. CISCO SYSTEMS (CSCO.O)The U.S. networking equipment maker will begin manufacturing from India as it looks to diversify its global supply chain. It has set a target of $1 billion in production and exports from India over the next few years. WALMART (WMT.N)The retail giant's CEO met Modi this month and reiterated that the company planned exports from India worth $10 billion a year by 2027.

☆ Netflix ad tier now has nearly 5 million monthly active users
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LOS ANGELES, May 17 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc's (NFLX.O) recently launched tier that offers lower subscription fees but includes commercials on its programming now has nearly 5 million global monthly active users, a company executive said on Wednesday at a presentation to advertisers. The median age of those viewers is 34, said Jeremi Gorman, Netflix's president of worldwide advertising. Netflix launched a $7-per-month ad-supported tier in November in 12 markets. A Netflix subscription without advertising starts at $10 a month. Netflix had planned to make the presentation live in New York but switched to a virtual event to avoid protests from striking members of the Writers Guild of America.

☆ US FTC expands probe into pharmacy benefit managers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it had sought information from two privately held companies that negotiate drug rebates on behalf of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as part of its probe into how PBMs affect pricing of prescription drugs. The two companies, Zinc Health Services and Ascent Health Services, are group purchasing organizations, that negotiate after-market discounts or rebates with drug manufacturers on behalf of PBMs and hold the contracts that govern those rebates. Zinc Health negotiates rebates for CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) and Ascent Health for Cigna Group's (CI.N) Express Scripts unit and Prime Therapeutics, which is a privately held PBM, the FTC said on Wednesday. PBMs act as middlemen and negotiate rebates and fees with drug manufacturers, create lists of medications that are covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for patients' prescriptions. Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Futures edge higher as debt ceiling talks grind on, Target results eyed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Tuesday after weak results from Home Depot (HD.N) and a reading on U.S. April retail sales that missed expectations highlighted the impact of higher prices and interest rates on consumers. The company is also seen reporting a rise in first-quarter revenue, helped by steady demand from cost-conscious consumers. Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday made progress in talks to determine whether to increase the U.S. debt limit. After an hour of talks, however, McCarthy told reporters the two sides remained far apart on an agreement. ET, Dow e-minis were up 85 points, or 0.26%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 9.25 points, or 0.22%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 16.25 points, or 0.12%.

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