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☆ Britain's FirstGroup to add another 117 electric buses to fleet by 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies FirstGroup PLC FollowMarch 2 (Reuters) - Britain’s FirstGroup (FGP.L) will add another 117 electric buses to its fleet by next year after the public transport operator secured new funding as part of the country's move towards cleaner travel. The group was able to secure 25 million pounds of government co-funding in partnership with local authorities through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) funding programme. Britain is on the road to investing heavily in policies that promote public transport, including buses, providing incentives for operators to convert diesel buses to electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles. The company, which runs First Bus and First Rail, was also awarded funding under the first ZEBRA scheme last March. The new funding will take the total number of electric buses in its fleet to more than 600 by March 2024.

☆ INDIA RUPEE Rupee scales near 3-wk high as Chinese yuan boosts Asian FX
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Anushka Trivedi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, March 1 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee hit a near three-week high against the dollar on Wednesday after a stronger Chinese yuan sparked a rally in Asian currencies. The rupee rose 0.20% to 82.50 per dollar, having strengthened up to 82.37 at one point, near its 55-day moving average of 82.3514 and at its highest level since Feb. 10. There were a "decent" amount of inflows into the market, and the broader sentiment was better, while a pullback in the dollar index helped the rupee, said a dealer at a private bank. Hence, the local unit is likely to stay in the range of 82.60-83.00 in the near term, Krishnamurthy said, noting that technically, only a break of either side on a daily close basis would trigger a directional move. Asian currencies and equities rose in response, while the dollar index fell 0.5%.

☆ Indian shares struggle for direction ahead of GDP data
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Bharath Rajeswaran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Indian shares swung between gains and losses on Tuesday, as gains in auto and media stocks were mostly offset by a slide in metals, ahead of the domestic GDP data for the December quarter. Eight of the 13 sectoral indexes advanced with auto stocks (.NIFTYAUTO) adding nearly 1% ahead of the monthly sales numbers, due on Wednesday. Foreign portfolio investors have so far offloaded 325.18 billion rupees ($3.93 billion) worth of Indian equities in 2023, according to official data. Investors now await domestic GDP data for the December quarter, due later in the day, which is expected to show year-on-year growth slowing to 4.6%. ($1 = 82.7150 Indian rupees)Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Oaktree Capital seeks to raise $10 billion for new fund- FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Oaktree Capital plans to raise $10 billion for a new fund that will help finance large private equity takeovers, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing a letter sent to the U.S. asset manager's clients. The new fund, known as Oaktree Lending Partners, may tap into bank loans to ultimately invest $20 bln in sponsor-backed debt, the report said. The credit investment manager plans to raise and invest the $10 billion within the next two years, FT reported. Oaktree expects to offer loans of about $500 million or more to leveraged buyout groups, the newspaper said. The company and asset management firm Brookfield, which owns a majority stake in the investment firm, will invest $2 billion in the new fund, the report added.

☆ Upbeat earnings help FTSE 100 rebound from last week's selloff
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Bunzl, Associated British Foods up after resultsRolls-Royce top of FTSE 100 after price target raiseFTSE 100 up 0.8%, FTSE 250 adds 0.4%Feb 27 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 rose on Monday after upbeat earnings reports from Associated British Foods and Bunzl helped pull the index up from last week's battering on worries about high U.S. interest rates. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) rose 0.8%, after recording its worst weekly performance so far this year as hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer spending data on Friday sparked a selloff on both sides of the Atlantic. Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF.L) climbed 1.3% after raising its outlook for the full year 2022-23 for the clothing retailer. The FTSE 100 has had a stellar start to the year so far, rising 6.4% as strong earnings and a steady rise in commodity prices helped the index outperform major global peers, outweighing a gloomy economic outlook. The more domestically-inclined FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) rose 0.4%, with a near 16% slump in shares of Dechra Pharmaceuticals(DPH.L) capping gains.

☆ European shares kicks off week on solid footing, all sectors rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The blue-chip index (.STOXX) added 0.9%. It fell 1.4% last week after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data fuelled bets that the Federal Reserve would continue to raise rates. European retailers (.SXRP) rose 1.1%, led by a 3.1% increase in shares of Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST). Mould highlighted that consumer spending has been buttressed by gas prices coming down and help from government-support schemes across the single-currency bloc. Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH.L) tumbled 15.5%, to the bottom of the STOXX 600, as the veterinary drugs maker warned its full-year operating profit would be at the lower end of analysts' expectations.

☆ Australia's Medibank posts profit, policyholder growth; shares jump
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Harish Sridharan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The loss of confidence following the hack led to Medibank losing 13,000 customers between October and December, curbing the growth in policyholders for the July-December period to 0.1%. However, the rate of losses slowed in January and reversed to a net addition of 200 policyholders this month through Feb. 18, Medibank said. Medibank stock recovering Medibank stock recoveringMedibank reported that its net profit after tax rose 5.9% to A$233.3 million ($159.4 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31, which, according to brokerage firm UBS, beat the consensus estimate of A$211 million. The 17% jump in policyholders in that business came as more international students, visitors and workers return to the country as the pandemic waned. Medibank also declared an interim dividend of 6.3 cents per share, up from 6.1 cents last year.

☆ Australia's Medibank beats profit view, says customer losses slow
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

However, Medibank said it still recorded a 0.1% growth in policyholders for the six months that ended on Dec. 31. The rate at which it lost customers slowed in January and it has even recorded a net growth of 200 policyholders this month through Feb. 18, Medibank said. Medibank's net profit after tax rose 5.9% to A$233.3 million ($159.4 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31, beating the consensus estimate of A$211 million, according to brokerage firm UBS. The company's shares were up 6.5% to A$3.28 by 0426 GMT, set for their best session in nearly three years. Since Medibank first reported the cyber incident on Oct. 13, its stock had declined nearly 13% as of last close.

☆ Australia's Medibank profit beats view as foreign students, workers return
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Medibank Private Ltd FollowFeb 23 (Reuters) - Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX) on Thursday beat profit estimates for the first half of fiscal 2023, as its international business received a boost from students, workers and visitors returning to the country. Australia's biggest health insurer posted a net profit after tax of A$233.3 million ($159.41 million) for the six months ended Dec. 31, up 5.9% from A$220.2 million a year earlier. Shares in Medibank, which has been in the spotlight since a cyber hack in October compromised the data of millions of customers, rose as much as 6.8% to A$3.29. As of the last close, the stock had declined over 10% since first reporting the cyber incident. ($1 = 1.4635 Australian dollars)Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) closed 0.1% higher ahead of a slew of economic data due later this week. Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) fell 2.7% as a government-sponsored offer rivalling KKR's bid for the former phone monopoly's prized grid failed to materialise over the weekend. The EURO STOXX index (.STOXXE), which houses major companies in the eurozone, inched down 0.1%. On the economic front, euro zone consumer confidence rose by 1.7 points in February from January, as expected, figures showed. Forvia, the European car parts maker born from Faurecia's (EPED.PA) takeover of Hella (HLE.DE), forecast stable 2023 sales, sending Faurecia nearly 2.3% higher.

☆ India opposes Hindustan Zinc's $2.98 bln deal for Vedanta zinc assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Vedanta's sale of its zinc assets in South Africa and Namibia to Hindustan Zinc is critical to ensuring liquidity at parent company Vedanta Resources. The government holds a near 30% stake in Hindustan Zinc, while Vedanta owns almost 65%. "As far as Hindustan Zinc is concerned, we always believe in and operate in perfect manners of corporate governance, so (there is) no deviation on that count," Hindustan Zinc Chief Executive Arun Misra told CNBC-TV18 on Monday. Hindustan Zinc has three months from the deal announcement to hold the shareholders' meeting to seek approval for the deal. Hindustan Zinc and Vedanta did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

☆ European shares flat as Telecom Italia drags eurozone stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) was flat after opening marginally higher. That also boosted oil prices, lifting European energy stocks (.SXEP) by 0.3%. The EURO STOXX index (.STOXXE), which houses major companies in the eurozone, dipped 0.1%. Telecom Italia (TIM)(TLIT.MI) shares dropped 3% as a government-sponsored offer rivalling KKR's bid for the former phone monopoly's prized grid failed to materialise over the weekend. The European autos and auto parts sector index (.SXAP) rose 0.6%.

☆ Musk shuts two Twitter India offices - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc has closed two of its three offices in India, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Twitter, under new owner Elon Musk, fired more than 90% of just over 200 of its staff in India last year, Bloomberg had reported. Last month, the company ordered at least a dozen more job cuts in Dublin and Singapore offices as part of wider cost-cutting measures at Twitter that saw layoffs of about 3,700 employees in early November. Twitter did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ T-Mobile down for thousands of users in U.S. - Downdetector
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - T-Mobile (TMUS.O) users across the United States reported network outages that prevented several customers from making phone calls or using other cellular services late on Monday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. The website, which tracks outages through a range of sources including user reports, showed there were more than 60,000 incidents reported. Many customers took to Twitter to share updates about the service disruption, with several users saying they saw 'SOS' notifications on their phones. The U.S. wireless carrier has been adding thousands of wireless subscribers lately, thanks to discounts on smartphones, bundled offerings, industry-low plan prices and an edge in 5G. The carrier added 927,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the fourth quarter, the highest among its peers.

☆ Indian shares set to rise ahead of U.S. inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Indian shares are set to open higher on Tuesday, tracking the gains in global equities ahead of U.S. inflation data due later in the day, with a rise in domestic retail inflation in January above the Reserve Bank of India's upper threshold likely capping the move up. Wall Street equities closed higher on Monday, as investors expected consumer price index (CPI) data for January to ease. STOCKS TO WATCH** FSN E-Commerce Ventures (FSNE.NS): Co posts slide in consolidated net profit in Q3 on high expenses. ** Zee Entertainment (ZEE.NS): Co reports fall in consolidated net profit in third quarter on slide in ad spends and rise in costs. ** Steel Authority of India (SAIL.NS): Co reports fall in consolidated net profit in Q3** Power Finance Corporation (PWFC.NS): Co reports rise in consolidated net profit in Q3.

☆ European shares up as travel stocks shine, Thyssenkrupp slides
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.4%, while European travel & leisure stocks (.SXTP) advanced 0.8%. TUI's German-listed shares (TUIGn.DE) rose 2.5%, with its shares listed in London adding 2.5% after the company reported more bookings and higher first-quarter revenue. In Europe, a flash reading of fourth quarter GDP is also on the radar on growing hopes that the euro zone economy most likely avoided a recession. The STOXX 600 has risen over 9% so far this year led by better-than-expected earnings and a brighter outlook for the euro zone economy. Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ G1 Therapeutics to scrap cancer drug trial, shares plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The drug, trilaciclib or Cosela, was unlikely to meet the main goals of extending overall survival or the time that a patient lives without the disease worsening, G1 Therapeutics said. Cosela is the company's lead therapy and the only drug being tested in clinical trials. However, the drug achieved its goal in the trial of the drug to reduce the occurrence of Neutropenia - an abnormally low count of a type of white blood cell - during induction and reduce its duration. The company is studying the drug in other indications such as breast and bladder cancer. The study was testing a combination of the drug administered along with chemotherapy and Roche's (ROG.S) therapy Avastin in patients with a type of colorectal cancer.

☆ Ford cuts Rivian stake to about 1% amid production woes at EV maker
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Employees works on an assembly line at startup Rivian Automotive's electric vehicle factory in Normal, Illinois, U.S. April 11, 2022. REUTERS/Kamil KrzaczynskiFeb 10 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) has cut its stake in struggling EV maker Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O) to 1.15%, a week after the Detroit automaker reported a fall in profit and predicted a tough year ahead. Ford, which wrote down the value of its Rivian investment by $7.4 billion in 2022, has been paring down its stake amid production struggles at the Irvine, California-based company. Ford held a 11.4% stake in Rivian at the end of 2021. Rivian shares also had a bleak 2022, losing about 82% of their value.

☆ Indian shares muted on Fed rate-hike concerns; Adani stocks tumble
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Indian shares struggled for direction on Thursday, on concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate-hike trajectory, while a drop in Adani Group company stocks also dampened sentiment. Twenty-six of the Nifty 50 constituents declined, with Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) and Adani Ports (APSE.NS) falling 7.9% and 3.5%, respectively. Index provider MSCI said on Thursday it had determined that some Adani securities should no longer be designated as free float. read moreSeveral institutional investors and funds allocate as per the MSCI index and consider it a benchmark. If the weightage of Adani stocks gets reduced in the index following a review, it would lead to outflows and likely result in a slide in the group's stock, two analysts said.

MUMBAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is expected to decline against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, weighed by hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials and higher oil prices. The non-deliverable forwards indicated the rupee would open around 82.60-82.62 per dollar, compared with the 82.4925 closing in the previous session. Fed officials on Wednesday said more interest rate rises are on the cards in the central bank's efforts to bring down inflation. Moving to a rate of between 5.00% and 5.25% "seems a very reasonable view," New York Fed President John Williams said. Fed fund futures are pricing in rate cuts of about 30 to 35 basis points after peaking at around 5.12% in July.

☆ First Abu Dhabi Bank could renew $35 billion offer for StanChart -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) (FAB), the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, could renew a potential offer for Britain's Standard Chartered (STAN.L), once lock-up rules from its previous aborted bid expire, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. A StanChart spokesperson declined to comment on the report, while FAB could not immediately be reached for comment. News of the potential offer first came on Jan. 5, when FAB said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing so. The Abu Dhabi lender is considering reviving the bid once a lock-up period that prevents it immediately doing so expires, offering $30 billion to $35 billon compared with StanChart's market value of $24 billion, Bloomnberg reported. Saudi National Bank in October announced it was investing up to $1.5 billion in Credit Suisse, representing a stake of up to 9.9%.

☆ Indian shares rise ahead of RBI policy decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Market participants will focus on the RBI's commentary on the future trajectory of rate hikes, liquidity, the country's economic outlook and whether the central bank changes its stance from "withdrawal of accommodation" to "neutral." The RBI had raised key lending rate by 35 basis points in December, after three straight 50 bps hikes, and had said its fight against inflation was not over yet. Fed's Powell said on Tuesday disinflation has started and that he expects significant declines in inflation this year, raising hopes of less aggressive rate hikes in the future. Wall Street closed higher overnight, while MSCI's gauge of the broader index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was up 0.75%. Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Eileen SorengOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rupee eyes RBI policy decision, weighs Powell's comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Nimesh Vora | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is likely to open little changed to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, with traders weighing comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and awaiting the Reserve Bank of India's policy decision. The non-deliverable forwards indicate an opening of 82.68-82.74 for the rupee , compared with 82.70 in the previous session. We doubt RBI will have a major impact on the rupee, a trader at a Mumbai based bank said. Some market participants had expected Powell to adopt a more hawkish stance after the jobs report blew past expectations. Powell was "not materially more hawkish" than he was after the recent Fed decision, ING Bank said in a note.

☆ Microsoft Outlook back up for most users after outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Outlook was back up for most users, the company said on Tuesday, after an hours-long outage disrupted the email service application for users primarily in North America. The company said it had identified a recent change that might have caused issues within Outlook.com, without giving further details. The outage comes shortly after Microsoft's cloud platform, Azure, faced disruptions, taking down services such as Teams and Microsoft 365 used by millions around the globe. Many users took to Twitter to share updates and memes about the service disruption, with #Microsoft365 trending as a hashtag on the social media site. Reporting by Sneha Bhowmik and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Maria Ponnezhath; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft investigates Outlook outage as users face issues
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) said it was investigating issues with email service Outlook as users in North America faced problems with accessing, sending or searching emails on the platform. There were more than 2,000 incidents of people reporting issues with Outlook late Tuesday at about 23:10 ET, according to Downdetector.com, which tracks outages by collating status reports from sources, including user-submitted errors on its platform. "Users primarily hosted in the North American region attempting to access Outlook.com may be unable to send, receive, or search email. Additional functionality such as Calendar consumed by other services such as Microsoft Teams would also be affected," Microsoft said in an update on its status page. A "recent change" led to the issue and the company was working to restart portions of the affected infrastructure in order to restore service, Microsoft said in a tweet.

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