2025-09-22 23:52

SAO PAULO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - MBRF, the newly formed food giant from the merger of pork and poultry processor BRF and beef producer Marfrig, has appointed Miguel Gularte as its global chief executive officer, the company disclosed on Monday. The combined entity is one of the biggest food producers in the world with around 160 billion reais ($30 billion) in revenue. Sign up here. Gularte will report to MBRF Chairman Marcos Molina, founder of Marfrig, who had entrusted the executive to conduct BRF's turnaround when he took majority control of the pork and poultry processor in 2022. Gularte had been CEO of Marfrig before being appointed to lead BRF. In an interview to comment on the new organizational structure, Gularte said the company will generate "synergies" of 1 billion reais per year, up from 800 million reais calculated when the merger was announced in May. Both Molina and Gularte confirmed plans to eventually list MBRF shares on the New York Stock Exchange, as rival JBS did this year, without giving a timeline. "This (the listing) is a natural step following the merger, which we will be ready to undertake. But it will depend on whether it will bring benefits to shareholders, for example, a higher multiple," Molina said. Gularte said the company is focused on delivering the promised synergies before it can advance the listing plan. MBRF's shares will start trading on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Under the new structure, the company cut to eight from 12 the number of vice-presidencies. Jose Rey will be CFO and investor relations officer, for example. Fabio Mariano will take over as vice president for the Halal market, having been BRF's CFO previously. He will be based in the Middle East. The combined company exports products to 120 countries, is the world's largest hamburger producer and has plants in Brazil, the United States and China. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/brazils-mbrf-appoints-gularte-global-ceo-merged-company-2025-09-22/

2025-09-22 23:40

NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said on Monday that a U.S.-mediated peace deal signed with Rwanda in June has not calmed fighting in eastern Congo, though he thanked President Donald Trump for attempting to end the conflict. On June 27, U.S. mediators brokered the peace deal between Congo and Rwanda aimed at ending the support that Washington and U.N. experts say Kigali provides M23 rebels. Sign up here. The Trump administration has said it is eager to end fighting that has killed thousands this year and attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, and lithium. The deadline to implement part of the U.S. deal is this month. Despite his support for U.S. mediation, it "does not mean that we will auction our mineral resources," Tshisekedi told reporters in New York. "We will, as part of this partnership, be working in the development of the mining sectors, developing the value chain, developing infrastructure with a particular emphasis on energy," he said. Congolese officials say the success of the deal hinges on Rwanda ceasing its support for M23, which Kinshasa accuses of atrocities in the east. M23 has disputed allegations of attacks on civilians and Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces act in self-defense. "(Rwanda) pretended to withdraw their troops, but actually, they are increasing their support to M23," Tshisekedi said. In March, Qatar brokered a surprise sit-down between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's Paul Kagame during which the two leaders called for a ceasefire. That led to direct talks between Congo and M23, though the two sides missed an August 18 deadline to reach a peace agreement. M23 says it wants prisoners freed before talks can advance. But a Congolese government official directly involved in the talks told Reuters that prisoners could only be released after an agreement is signed. Tshisekedi said there has been some positive development on a possible prisoner exchange. "As a matter of fact, we are waiting for the Red Cross to give us a go ahead to proceed with the exchange of prisoners," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/congo-will-not-auction-mineral-resources-us-president-says-2025-09-22/

2025-09-22 22:09

SANTIAGO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Chilean economic development agency Corfo said on Monday it has submitted to the comptroller's office the terms of a modified lease agreement with lithium producer SQM through 2030, and of a new 2031-2060 lease for a joint venture between SQM and state copper producer Codelco. SQM and Codelco are expected to finalize a partnership this year in the Atacama salt flat in northern Chile that will mark the state's first major foray into lithium production. Sign up here. Corfo, which leases mining rights in the Atacama salt flat, said in a statement that its board last week approved the final version of the contracts. They include lease payments tied to lithium prices and contributions. The contributions will be distributed to local governments and Indigenous communities to promote investment and fund development, and the contracts also outline stronger environmental requirements for clean energy and water use. Corfo will also maintain its preferential pricing program for companies that seek to produce lithium-related products in Chile, it said. Corfo added that it will lead a "monitoring table" for representatives of Indigenous communities to track the commitments made by SQM and Codelco. Codelco, in a separate statement, said the new Corfo contracts will ensure operational continuity, environmental standards and respect for communities. The partnership still requires the approval of Chinese antitrust regulators after other countries signed off, the last condition to finalize the deal. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-corfo-agency-preps-lithium-contracts-ahead-sqm-codelco-deal-2025-09-22/

2025-09-22 21:21

ORLANDO, Florida, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose to new highs on Monday, lifting global stocks to fresh peaks in the process as investors cheered the latest multi-billion-dollar agreement - one of the biggest - in the booming U.S. tech and artificial intelligence space. More on that below. In my column today I look at how, by some measures, U.S. pension funds and households hold record amounts of equities. This is good news right now as stocks continue to outperform bonds. But can it last? Sign up here. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Today's Key Market Moves Today's Talking Points: * U.S. immigration The Trump administration's immigration crackdown is not just on the lower-skilled, lower-income end of the foreign worker spectrum at the country's southern border - the new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas targets highly-skilled workers in specialty fields, mainly from India and China. Tech could be hit hardest. Setting aside the politics, the macroeconomic impact of tighter immigration controls is negative. If GDP growth is the increase in labor supply plus the productivity growth of those extra workers, then less immigration equals less growth. And it looks like workers at both ends of the skills spectrum are in the administration's sights. * AI spend frenzy The recent flurry of agreements and tie-ups between U.S. tech firms exploded on Monday with chipmaker Nvidia committing to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI. It's the latest example of companies pouring billions of dollars into securing and expanding capacity for powerful cloud computing required to develop and power complex AI technology. Nvidia shares, the semiconductor and tech sectors, and Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices leaped to new highs. These are huge investments that raise the bar on future returns, potentially a headwind for markets in the months or years ahead. But not today. * Politics and Palestine It may not be a global market-mover, but it's a moment in global political history. As global leaders converge on New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly, Britain, France and many other countries have recognized or are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state. Israel and the U.S. have rejected the notion out of hand, and U.S. President Donald Trump will address the U.N. on Tuesday. For investors, the most significant aspect of this may be how it affects U.S. relations with other major countries over the longer term. U.S. savers go all in on 'cult of equity' U.S. pension funds and households have never held more equities as a share of their overall assets, by some measures, raising questions about whether the long-term shift towards stocks has run its course or whether investors have truly undergone a paradigm shift. There are compelling arguments on both sides of that debate, but what's not in dispute are the numbers. The share of stocks in U.S. private sector defined contribution (DC) pension plans is now approaching 70%, while equities as a share of U.S. households' financial assets is a record 45.4%. John Higgins, chief markets economist at Capital Economics, notes that DC pension plans' equity exposure is the highest in at least 75 years. This largely reflects the decades-long shift away from defined benefit (DB) schemes, where the risk of retirement savings lies with the employer, and toward DC plans, where employees assume more of the burden. Broadly speaking, DB plans tend to invest more in bonds, especially long-dated ones, to match the funds' longer-dated liabilities, while DC plans are equity-heavy, as individuals don't have liabilities to match and so will be more likely to lean towards stocks offering higher returns – and higher risk. In the 1950s, more than 90% of all U.S. pensions were DB plans, and less than 20 years ago the split was roughly 50-50. But now, almost 80% are DC plans. In that sense, investors are in a brave new world – and it could be an increasingly risky one, given that DC plans are so highly exposed to Wall Street at a time when U.S. stock market valuations are looking stretched. FLAGGING RISKS From a returns perspective, overloading on stocks makes sense for long-term investors because equities usually outperform bonds, especially over the long run. By some measures, that performance gap is widening, according to figures from Truist Advisory Services' chief markets strategist Keith Lerner and his team. As of August, the S&P 500's trailing one-year annualized return was nearly 16%, compared with the Bloomberg aggregate bond index's returns of just over 3%. The 12.7 percentage point gap is in the 68th percentile going back seven decades. Moreover, the S&P 500's returns advantage when measured on a rolling three- and five-year basis is in the 93rd and 95th percentiles, respectively. How long can equities sustain that level of outperformance over bonds? NOT SO 'RISK-FREE' The answer may be "a while". The near 40-year bull market in bonds appears to be over. Worries about inflation remain, the U.S. federal deficit and public debt are rising, and pension funds' appetite for long-dated bonds may no longer be as voracious as it once was. In short, bonds don't appear quite so 'risk-free' any more. If stocks do continue to outperform over the long term, that's obviously great news for future retirees with portfolios heavily weighted in that direction. The danger, of course, is the stock market can fall sharply and very quickly, wiping out large swathes of savings for people just about to retire. It's also true that many people reduce their exposure to equities in favor of bonds as they near retirement, although that may become less prevalent in the context of a wider paradigm shift in how bonds are viewed. There's no indication that any dramatic equity market correction is on the horizon, though investors are conscious of how expensive stocks are getting. Still, they keep buying. Although valuations are "unambiguously high by historical standards", Deutsche Bank analysts just raised their year-end S&P 500 target to 7,000 from 6,550 and next year's earnings per share forecast. "High allocations to equities don't necessarily mean another major correction in the stock market is imminent. Indeed, our forecast is that the S&P 500 will make further gains this year and next, as enthusiasm for AI continues to grow," says Capital Economics' Higgins. "But high allocations to equities may be flagging trouble ahead." That's true. But as long as equities keep providing the returns and outperforming bonds, prospective retirees will keep ploughing their pension savings into them. What could move markets tomorrow? Want to receive Trading Day in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for my newsletter here. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/business/global-markets-trading-day-graphic-2025-09-22/

2025-09-22 21:13

SAO PAULO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's government will need to tighten spending curbs in order to comply with its fiscal framework this year, it said in a bimonthly revenue and expenditure report published on Monday. The report, released by the Planning and Finance ministries, showed the spending block will now amount to 12.1 billion reais ($2.27 billion), up from 10.7 billion reais in the previous report published in July. Sign up here. Latin America's largest economy targets a zero primary deficit this year, but with a tolerance band of 0.25% of gross domestic product in either direction, meaning that a 31 billion real deficit would still allow it to meet the target. The government estimated Brazil's primary deficit to reach 30.2 billion reais this year, wider than a previously estimated 25.6 billion reais but still within target. Brazil's 2025 primary spending forecast remained virtually unchanged at 2.42 trillion reais, while its net revenue projection was revised slightly down to 2.34 trillion reais, from 2.35 trillion reais. ($1 = 5.3360 reais) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-tightens-spending-curbs-meet-fiscal-targets-2025-09-22/

2025-09-22 21:10

Sept 22 (Reuters) - Hurricane Gabrielle has intensified into a Category 4 hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday. Hurricane Gabrielle is located about 180 miles (290 km)east-southeast of Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kmph), the Miami-based forecaster added. Sign up here. NHC said little significant change in strength is forecast tonight, and Gabrielle is expected to gradually weaken on Tuesday and Wednesday. In its latest advisory, the forecaster noted that swells generated by Gabrielle will continue to affect Bermuda and the east coast of the United States from North Carolina northward, as well as Atlantic Canada, during the next couple of days. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/gabrielle-strengthens-into-category-4-hurricane-nhc-says-2025-09-22/