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☆ GQG adds more Nvidia as chipmaker has a 'new leg', says CIO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based GQG, which manages almost $100 billion in assets, added 8.2 million shares in Nvidia in the first quarter, worth $2.3 billion then, according to a regulatory filing. Since then, GQG has "meaningfully increased" its position in Nvidia, Chief Investment Officer Rajiv Jain said in an interview. The chipmaker is likely to give a boost to funds which have invested in it, as Nvidia's shares have more than doubled year to date amid an artificial intelligence boom. Two years ago, concerned about the company's high valuation, GQG had dumped all its Nvidia's shares, just to invest again in the first quarter. "Now Nvidia has gotten a new leg because of the ChatGPT-lead, AI narrative, which is very strong," said Jain, explaining his decision to reinvest.

Persons: Nvidia Corp's, GQG, Rajiv Jain, Jain, Adani, “ There's, Carolina Mandl, Susan Fenton Organizations: YORK, Nvidia, GQG Partners, Adani, Energy, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Australia, Fort Lauderdale , Florida, India, Adani, U.S

The Labor Department reported that U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in April, pointing to persistent strength in a labor market that suggests pressure on both wages and inflation. Futures traders raised to 70% the probability of a 25 basis points hike at the Fed's June 13-14 policy meeting. FEDWATCHFed Governor and vice chair nominee Philip Jefferson said skipping a rate hike in two weeks would provide policymakers time to see more data before making a decision. The Labor Department's closely watched May unemployment report, due on Friday, could decide whether a rate hike occurs. Intel was the biggest gainer on the S&P 500 as the chipmaker said it was on track to hit the upper end of its second-quarter revenue forecast.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Joe Biden, it's, Brad Conger, Callaghan, Conger, FEDWATCH, Philip Jefferson, Patrick Harker, Tim Ghriskey, we've, Nvidia Corp's, Herbert Lash, Shreyashi Sanyal, Shashwat Chauhan, Shounak Dasgupta, Maju Samuel, Richard Chang Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Senate, Co, Labor Department, Philadelphia Fed, Inverness, Labor, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Technology, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Parts Inc, Genuine, O'Reily, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, Nvidia, Intel, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Conshohocken , Pennsylvania, New York, Bengaluru

[1/2] Fearless Girl is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 30, 2023. The S&P 500 was set to end the month flat, while the Dow shed 3.8%. The S&P 500 financial sector index (.SPSY) fell 1.7%, while banks (.SPXBK) dropped 2.7%. Advance Auto Parts Inc (AAP.N) plunged 33.9%, falling the most on the S&P 500, after the auto parts retailer cut its full-year forecasts. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.21-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Joe Saluzzi, Phil Blancato, Nvidia Corp's, advancers, Shreyashi Sanyal, Shashwat Chauhan, Shounak Dasgupta, Maju Samuel Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Senate, Themis, Labor, Survey, Traders, Asset Management, Dow Jones, Technology, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Advance, Parts Inc, Genuine, O'Reily, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, Nvidia, NYSE, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Chevron shareholders reject proposals on climate at annual general meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HOUSTON, May 31 (Reuters) - Oil major Chevron Corp's (CVX.N) shareholders overwhelmingly voted against proposals on climate, including emissions. About 90.4% of preliminary votes cast were against a proposal to set a medium-term scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. Shareholder voted in favor of reelecting all directors to the board at the annual general meeting. Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston and Sourasis Bose in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Arathy Somasekhar, Sourasis Bose Organizations: HOUSTON, Chevron, Thomson Locations: Houston, Bengaluru

☆ Xiaomi partners with Dixon Technologies to make mobile phones in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, May 31 (Reuters) - Contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd (DIXO.NS) on Wednesday said it is partnering with Xiaomi Corp's (1810.HK) Indian arm to make and export phones for the Chinese firm. The news, which boosted Dixon's shares by 4%, comes after Xiaomi India revealed plans to start making wireless audio products in the country by partnering with electronics manufacturer Optiemus. India has been encouraging global companies to invest more in local manufacturing as a part of its efforts to become a powerhouse in the global electronics supply chain. Earlier in March, Xiaomi India President Muralikrishnan B. told Reuters that the company will open more stores beyond its current network of 20,000 retail partners and boost local procurement of mobile phone parts, in an effort to reduce costs. Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Sonia CheemaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Xiaomi Corp's, Muralikrishnan, Navamya Ganesh, Savio D'Souza, Sonia Cheema Organizations: Dixon Technologies, Optiemus, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, India, HK, Bengaluru

Nvidia now trades at around 45 times Wall Street's average earnings estimates for the next 12 months - a popular measure known as the forward price/earnings (P/E) ratio. While investors rushed to buy Nvidia's stock in recent sessions, its P/E multiple has fallen simply because Wall Street's earnings expectations for the company rose even faster than its share price. During Tuesday's session, Nvidia became the first chipmaker to boast a $1 trillion valuation. AI was mentioned 86 times on Nvidia's conference call, beating out 52 mentions on Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) call and 35 mentions on Microsoft's (MSFT.O) call. Reporting By Sinéad Carew, Noel Randewich and markets team reporters; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nvidia Corp's, Jensen Huang, Bernstein, Stacy Rasgon, Susannah Streeter, Hargreaves Lansdown, Streeter, Sinéad Carew, Noel Randewich, David Gregorio Our Organizations: FRANCISCO, Nvidia, Hargreaves, Devices, Meta, Thomson Locations: Refinitiv, Alphabet's, Microsoft's

☆ Investors who showed Q1 bets on Nvidia may have got boost as it joined $1 trillion club
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

They may not reflect current holdings, as fund managers may have added or sold shares since then. Many investors have piled in to the chipmaker that has quickly become one of the biggest winners of the AI boom. In the previous quarter, Nvidia was not part of GQG's portfolio. Among prominent investors who sold Nvidia's shares before its recent jump is ARK Invest. California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) sold roughly 1 million shares in Nvidia, but remained with about $1.2 billion in shares in the first quarter.

Persons: Cathie Wood, Carolina Mandl, Megan Davies, Matthew Lewis Organizations: YORK, Nvidia, GQG Partners, Fort, GQG Partners Inc, Nvidia Corp, Tiger Global Management, Wellington Management Group, Moore, ARK, California Public Employees, Carolina, Thomson Locations: U.S, Australia, Fort Lauderdale , Florida, India's, California, New York

☆ Toyota's April global sales rise on stronger demand in Japan, China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Toyota Motor Corp FollowTOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) global sales rose by nearly 5% in April from a year earlier, boosted by stronger demand for hybrids and gasoline-powered cars in Japan and China. The Japanese automaker also reported better overseas sales of battery electric vehicles (EVs), bringing the total number of battery-powered units it sold in the first four months of the year above last year's level. In China, Toyota saw sales jump 46.3% to 162,554 units in April compared to the same month a year earlier, rebounding from the previous year's pandemic-related hit. In April, the automaker sold 8,584 battery EVs worldwide, including its Lexus brand, accounting for more than 1% of its global sales in a single month for the first time. That brought the total number of battery-powered vehicles it sold in January-April to 26,057 units, higher than the 24,466 battery EVs the company sold in 2022.

☆ Air Canada pilots end 10-year contract framework, eye bargaining
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Allison Lampert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Air Canada pilots have previously said they are pressing for "historic" gains to narrow the earnings gap with higher-paid aviators at U.S. carriers. "We were willing to meet with the company if they wanted to provide us with a substantial proposal that would further our membership’s goals," said the letter, adding Air Canada did not seek to open discussions. The Air Canada pilots group, which joined the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) this month, said in a separate document it expects a notice to bargain to be provided in early June. "Our pilots may elect to use the option that was available to them to initiate bargaining for a new collective agreement," Montreal-based Air Canada said in an emailed statement. U.S. pilots made gains in a recent tentative agreement with American Airlines (AAL.O) and a separate deal with Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) which delivers a 34% pay increase over four years.

☆ Xiaomi to make wireless audio products in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU, May 29 (Reuters) - Xiaomi Corp's (1810.HK) Indian arm will start making wireless audio products in the country through a partnership with electronics manufacturer Optiemus in a push to further localise its operations, the company said on Monday. The push comes as the manufacturer of the Redmi brand of smartphones recently lost out to South Korean rival Samsung (005930.KS) as India's top smartphones company. Xiaomi, which locally manufactures most of the smartphones and TVs it sells in India, did not say when it will start making the audio products. It sells speakers, ear-buds, wired and wireless headphones in India. Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi, writing by Hritam Mukherjee in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden, McCarthy debt deal would speed up Mountain Valley gas pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden hosts debt limit talks with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. energy company Equitrans Midstream Corp's (ETRN.N) long-delayed $6.6 billion Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline could win federal approval as part of Washington's debt limit deal. The pipeline is backed by Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, whose vote is often needed since the Democrats hold a thin majority in that body. The pipeline, which would unlock gas supplies from Appalachia, the country's biggest shale gas basin, still needs review and permitting including in West Virginia. Mountain Valley is owned by units of Equitrans, NextEra Energy Inc (NEE.N), Consolidated Edison Inc (ED.N), AltaGas Ltd (ALA.TO) and RGC Resources Inc (RGCO.O).

May 29 (Reuters) - Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (TEM.UL) said on Monday it had cut compensation for the team and senior management that recommended its investment in the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange. "Although there was no misconduct by the investment team in reaching their investment recommendation, the investment team and senior management, who are ultimately responsible for investment decisions made, took collective accountability and had their compensation reduced," Temasek Chairman Lim Boon Heng said in a statement posted on Temasek's website on Monday. The move comes around six months after Temasek initiated an internal review of its investment in FTX, which resulted in a writedown of $275 million. Temasek also said last year it had conducted "extensive due diligence" on FTX, with its audited financial statement then "showed it to be profitable". "With FTX, as alleged by prosecutors and as admitted by key executives at FTX and its affiliates, there was fraudulent conduct intentionally hidden from investors, including Temasek," Lim said in the statement on Monday.

☆ WestJet, pilots in tentative deal for 24% hourly raise over 4 years, document shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Allison Lampert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MONTREAL, May 26 (Reuters) - WestJet Airlines pilots will get a 24% hourly raise over four years, plus other pay and benefits as part of a tentative agreement reached in May, according to a copy seen by Reuters on Friday. The tentative agreement was reached by Onex Corp's (ONEX.TO) WestJet and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) less than 24 hours before the start of an expected strike at Canada's second-largest carrier. The deal, pending approval by WestJet pilots, is expected to put pressure on Air Canada (AC.TO) as the larger rival faces a call from its pilots to narrow the earnings gap with higher-paid aviators in the United States. Air Canada, which is not currently in negotiations, has said it abides by the 10-year contract. After 11 years, a top-paid Air Canada B787 pilot earns C$313.81 ($234.68) an hour, according to an internal table seen by Reuters.

☆ Natural gas needs permit reform to strengthen the industry, says EQT Corp's Toby Rice
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNatural gas needs permit reform to strengthen the industry, says EQT Corp's Toby RiceToby Rice, EQT Corp CEO, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss strong Q2 performance, factors contributing to weakness in natural gas pricing, and M&A projections for the natural gas sector.

☆ Bill Gates says top AI agent will replace search, shopping sites
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAN FRANCISCO, May 22 (Reuters) - Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) co-founder, on Monday said the technology race to win is the development of the top artificially intelligent agent, poised to disrupt search-engine, productivity and online shopping sites. "You’ll never go to a search site again," he said. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gates said Inflection AI, co-founded by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, impressed him. "Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s a big thing," Gates said.

☆ Samsung not planning to replace Google with Bing in phones - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft shares were down about 1%. Samsung has suspended an internal review that explored replacing Google with Bing on its web-browsing app, which comes pre-installed on the company's smartphones, according to the report. Google, Samsung and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Google earns an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue from the Samsung contract, according to an April 16 report by the New York Times. Samsung considering a potential shift to Bing was first reported last month and had weighed on Alphabet's shares at the time.

☆ Bank of America's Merrill names new leaders to head divisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 19 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) investment and wealth management arm Merrill named insider Greg McGauley as the head of private wealth management, international and institutional, Merrill said on Friday. Merrill offers investment management services to its clients including, wealth planning, insurance, retirement and savings planning. McGauley joined Merrill in 1994 and has held several senior roles at the company, including leading private wealth services. Lydia DiClemente was also named as the head of Merrill Banking Enablement and Merrill Financial Solution Advisors. DiClemente, who has more than 20 years of experience in the wealth management industry, will also work in partnership with April Schneider, the head of wealth management banking and lending.

☆ Not enough resources for EVs to be only cleaner car option, Toyota says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Some investors and environmental groups have long criticised Toyota (7203.T) for being slow to embrace BEVs, saying it has lagged Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and others amid growing global demand. Gill Pratt, chief executive of the Toyota Research Institute, told reporters that BEVs could make a positive difference in reducing climate change in countries such as Norway, which has a lot of renewable infrastructure. But in other parts of the world, where coal is still used to produce power, hybrids were better for CO2 emissions, he added. "But it's going to take decades for battery material mines, renewable power generation, transmission lines and seasonal energy-storage facilities to scale up." BEVs are "one very important option" for achieving carbon neutrality and hydrogen is as well, Toyoda, who currently is chairman of Toyota, told reporters earlier on Thursday.

☆ 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.

☆ FedEx pilots vote in favor of strike in push for pay rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Nathan Gomes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 17 (Reuters) - Pilots of FedEx Corp's (FDX.N) air delivery unit on Wednesday voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of a strike if needed, the Air Line Pilots Association said as it enters the final stages of a contract negotiation with the company. With aviators in short supply and air travel demand booming, pilots are enjoying enhanced bargaining power, encouraging them to push for better contracts with airlines and parcel firms. More than 97% of the union members took part in the vote and 99% of them authorized union leaders to call a strike, if needed, by the pilots of FedEx Express. "We are still in productive negotiations with our pilots under the supervision of a government-appointed mediator and will return to the bargaining table next week," FedEx said in a statement. Pilots' union at Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) too had recently backed a strike mandate ahead of the busy summer travel season.

☆ US regional bank shares jump on Western Alliance deposits growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 17 (Reuters) - Shares of U.S. regional lenders climbed premarket on Wednesday, looking to break out of range-bound trading as an update on Western Alliance Bancorp's (WAL.N) deposit levels soothed concerns that the U.S. banking crisis was getting worse. Western Alliance shares shot up 11% to $35.18, on course to erase losses recorded over the last two weeks if gains hold. Western Alliance and other regional lenders have seen their stock valuations battered by worries around a broader crisis and funding costs, with consumers moving money into bigger banks after three mid-sized U.S. lenders collapsed in the last two months. The bank's shares have seesawed in the last few sessions, rallying nearly 18% on Monday only to give back those gains a day later. Shares of Comerica Inc (CMA.N), Zions Bancorp (ZION.O) and KeyCorp (KEY.N) were also up between 1.3% and 3.5%.

This year, advertisers and ad agencies may well use the strike as a bargaining tool, said Erin Firneno, vice president of business intelligence for researcher Advertiser Perceptions. The writers’ strike, which has entered its third week, is also injecting a new element of uncertainty for ad buyers, at a time when television viewership is declining and the possibility of recession looms. While the TV networks have long contended with splintered viewership amid the rise of social media and streaming, the writers' strike puts content production at risk, said Rishad Tobaccowala, a former executive at advertising and public relations giant Publicis Groupe and advisor on business transformation. Last year, NBC’s upfront presentation emphasized star power as the network returned to a live event after a COVID-19-imposed hiatus. Ahead of the upfront presentations, media executives sought to reassure investors about the strike’s impact.

☆ Capital One shares up after billionaire investor Buffett's near $1 bln bet on bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 16 (Reuters) - Shares of Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) rose in premarket trading on Tuesday after billionaire investor Warren Buffett's holding company disclosed it had taken a stake in the credit cards-focused bank. The bank's stock, which was trading up 7% at $95.37, would open at its highest in more than two weeks, if gains hold. In its quarterly disclosure after the bell on Monday, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) said it had a 9.92 million share stake in the company. As of Monday, Capital One shares had lost around 8% so far this month, as financial stocks felt the effects of First Republic Bank's collapse. Besides credit cards, the McLean, Virginia-based Capital One also has a huge auto lending and commercial banking business.

Interior Department on Tuesday removed one of the last remaining obstacles to Lithium Americas Corp's (LAC.TO), Thacker Pass mine project in Nevada by finding nearly all of the site contains the metal used to make electric-vehicle batteries. The opinion from the department's solicitor comes amid an acrimonious debate about whether more U.S. mines should be built to produce lithium and other green energy transition metals. Of the dozens of mining claims at the Thacker Pass site held by the company, the government found fewer than 10 did not contain lithium mineralization, an Interior Department official told Reuters. "They're going to be able to start construction and production without these claims being in the plan of operation," the official said of Lithium Americas. "We're in favor of increasing domestic mineral production when it's being done in the right location and in the right way," the official said.

In his first appearance before a congressional panel, CEO Sam Altman is set to advocate licensing or registration requirements for AI with certain capabilities, his written testimony shows. That way, the U.S. can hold companies to safety standards, for instance testing systems before their release and publishing the results. "Regulation of AI is essential," Altman said in the prepared remarks which were seen by Reuters. An OpenAI staffer recently proposed the creation of a U.S. licensing agency for AI, which could be called the Office for AI Safety and Infrastructure Security, or OASIS, Reuters has reported. She is expected to urge Congress to focus regulation on areas with the potential to do the greatest societal harm.

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