2025-03-07 07:11

U.S. stocks end higher but post losses for the week U.S. economy adds 151,000 jobs in February Euro has best week since 2009 NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) - Stock indexes rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy continues to be in a good place and it remains to be seen if the Trump administration's tariff plans will prove to be inflationary, while U.S. 10-year Treasury yields also turned higher. Stocks and Treasury yields were lower earlier in the day after data showed the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected last month, adding to recent worries about economic growth. The jobs report pushed up market expectations for the amount of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs in February, according to the closely watched employment report, with unemployment edging up. The report, the first under President Donald Trump's watch, came at the end of a week marked by confusion over U.S. trade policy and a global rise in borrowing costs. Powell spoke after a week in which Trump imposed and then delayed 25% tariffs on major trading partners Mexico and Canada, with the levies still slated to go into effect in early April and other tariffs on imports also possibly on their way. The economy is holding up, "even with all the headlines and the noise that continue to hit the tape," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments in New York, adding that after recent sharp selling in stocks, "an oversold bounce is way overdue." The S&P 500 on Friday registered its biggest weekly percentage decline since September, while on Thursday, the Nasdaq (.IXIC) , opens new tab confirmed a correction, defined as a fall of at least 10%, since peaking in December, as tariffs announced by Trump have fueled investor uncertainty. Following the jobs data, traders added to expectations the central bank will lower borrowing costs in June, according to data compiled by LSEG. "The market is back to pricing in three rate cuts in 2025," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note rose 3.8 basis points (bps) to 4.32%. For the week, the 10-year yield is up about 9 bps, on track to snap a five-week streak of declines. A sharp sell-off in euro zone government bonds abated on Friday, after the biggest two-day fall in Bunds since the 1970s on the back of Germany's plans to completely rewrite its fiscal rules. Germany's 10-year bond yield , the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, was down 5.5 bps at 2.83%. The euro had its biggest weekly percentage gain against the U.S. dollar since 2009. It was last up 0.51% on the day at $1.0838. The dollar index was last down 0.32% at 103.86. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 222.64 points, or 0.52%, to 42,801.72, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 31.68 points, or 0.55%, to 5,770.20 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab rose 126.97 points, or 0.70%, to 18,196.22. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab rose 1.72 points, or 0.20%, to 852.10. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index ended down 0.5%. The STOXX 600 was down 0.7% for the week, snapping a 10-session winning streak, its longest since early 2024. Bitcoin fell 3.31% to $86,514.78. Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies by using tokens already owned by the government, disappointing some in the market who had hoped for a firm plan to buy new tokens. U.S. crude rose 68 cents to settle at $67.04 a barrel and Brent climbed 90 cents to settle at $70.36. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-03-07/

2025-03-07 07:08

February new loans seen at 1.275 trln yuan vs 5.13 trln yuan in January February M2 growth seen at 7.0% y/y vs 7.0% y/y in January Loans, money supply data due March 10-15 BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - China's new yuan loans are expected to have sharply decreased in February from an all-time high in January, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, due to muted credit demand after the boost from front-loading loans at the start of the year. Chinese banks are estimated to have issued 1.275 trillion yuan ($176.03 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, down from 5.13 trillion yuan in January, according to the median estimate of 18 economists. January's record high was due to Chinese lenders' usual front-loading of loans at the beginning of the year to secure higher-quality customers and market share. The expected new loans in February could be smaller compared with a year earlier as subdued credit demand among companies prevailed. "Underlying credit demand – especially for corporates, could be yet to recover with bill rates dropping again last month," analysts at Citi said in a note. "Household loans could enjoy some support from the property sector, and property prepayment should have largely eased by now." China's economy continues to face challenges, including a prolonged property crisis, deflationary pressures, cautious spending by households and businesses, and local government debt issues. Economic growth in the world's second largest economy has been unbalanced as exports and manufacturing outpace domestic consumption. Last month, China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in three months as new orders and higher purchase volumes led to a solid rise in production. At the annual parliament session that began on Wednesday, China's Premier Li Qiang signalled further fiscal stimulus and pledged increased efforts to support consumption, reiterating the country's determination to maintain a growth target of around 5% this year. Central bank Governor Pan Gongsheng reaffirmed on Thursday a pledge to cut interest rates and inject liquidity int o the financial system through cuts to the amount banks are required to hold as reserves "at an appropriate time." But policymakers will have to also juggle efforts to soften the blow of an escalating trade war with the United States. An additional 10% of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports took effect this week, adding on to U.S. President Donald Trump's February 4 tariffs. China retaliated swiftly with hikes to import levies covering $21 billion worth of American agricultural and food products, moving the world's top two economies a step closer towards an all-out trade war. Broad M2 money supply growth last month was seen at 7.0%, the same as in January. Outstanding yuan loans likely rose 7.4% in February from a year earlier, the poll showed, down from the 7.5% pace in January. Citi estimated that government bond issuance hit 1.5 trillion yuan in February, providing support for total social financing (TSF), a broad measure of credit and liquidity. Outstanding TSF grew 8% in January, unchanged from December. TSF in February likely stood at 2.5 trillion yuan, down from 7.06 trillion yuan in January, the poll showed. ($1 = 7.2430 Chinese yuan) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/chinas-february-bank-loans-likely-dip-record-high-2025-03-07/

2025-03-07 06:58

March 7 (Reuters) - Rainbow Chicken (RBOJ.J) , opens new tab on Friday said half-year profit surged more than 14 times as the firm recovered from South Africa's worst outbreak of bird flu, though it flagged the possibility of another flare-up due to a sluggish a vaccination campaign. South Africa lost a third of its national chicken flock in 2023 to an outbreak of high-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a bird flu with a high death rate that spreads rapidly. In recent years, the viral disease has ravaged poultry flocks worldwide, including in France and the U.S., killing millions of chickens and ducks and driving up egg prices. South Africa's poultry sector recovered in 2024. Still, participants are guarding against a repeat as a government-approved vaccination programme struggles for momentum due to what they say are costly monitoring and testing requirements. The South African Poultry Association wants the government to subsidise vaccinations and compensate farmers for losses incurred during the last bird flu outbreak. "The threat of Avian Influenza during the winter months is real," Rainbow said in its financial results statement. "South Africa is yet to find an optimal response to this threat with specific reference to compensation and vaccination strategy," the poultry products producer said. Rainbow posted 317.6 million rand ($17.51 million) in headline earnings for the six months through December 2024, compared to 21.9 million rand during the same period in 2023. It skipped paying a dividend in favour of investing available free cash flow in expanding its infrastructure as it works to become a market-leading, low-cost producer. The company, which produces poultry products under the Rainbow, Simply Chicken and Farmer Brown brands, was split off from RCL Foods (RCLJ.J) , opens new tab and listed separately in June. ($1 = 18.1368 rand) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/safricas-rainbow-chicken-profit-surges-after-recovery-bird-flu-2025-03-07/

2025-03-07 06:52

FRANKFURT, March 7 (Reuters) - Bayer (BAYGn.DE) , opens new tab has warned U.S. lawmakers it could stop selling the popular Roundup weedkiller if they cannot provide better legal protection against product liability litigation, according to a financial analyst and a person familiar with the matter. Bayer has already paid about $10 billion to settle disputed claims that Roundup, based on the glyphosate herbicide, causes cancer. There is a backlog of about 67,000 pending cases for which the group has set aside a further $5.9 billion in legal provisions. "Without regulatory clarity (Bayer) will need to exit the business. Bayer have been clear with legislators and farmer groups on this," analysts at brokerage Jefferies said in a note on Thursday, citing guidance Bayer's leadership provided in a meeting. Disclosing glyphosate sales numbers for the first time, Bayer on Wednesday said the product, one of the most widely used weedkillers in U.S. field farming, generated 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in revenue last year. "Bayer could reach a point in the future where the company is forced to discontinue the sale of the product in the United States," a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bayer, which acquired the product under the $63 billion takeover of Monsanto in 2018, said: "We are exploring every possibility to end this litigation" and declined to comment further. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/bayer-eyes-exit-popular-roundup-amid-us-legal-risks-2025-03-07/

2025-03-07 06:45

Unexploded bomb dates back to World War Two Severe disruption at Europe's busiest train station Bomb discovered in the middle of train tracks PARIS, March 7 (Reuters) - The discovery of an unexploded bomb dating back to World War Two severely disrupted traffic to and from Paris' bustling Gare du Nord, the world's third-busiest train station, on Friday. The disruption is affecting commuter rails and national and international trains, including Eurostar services. Eurostar planned to cancel all trains to and from Gare du Nord, a company spokesperson told Reuters. Its website advised travellers to reschedule their trips. The bomb was found 2.5 km (1.55 miles) from Gare du Nord, in the middle of the tracks, one of the network's train lines, the H Line, said in a post on messaging platform X. It said train traffic would remain disrupted until the de-mining operation was completed. Paris police said the bomb had been discovered at 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) in Saint-Denis, a northern Parisian suburb, during construction work. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot expected the disruption to continue for at least the rest of the day. About 220 million passengers pass through the Gare du Nord, Europe's busiest train station, each year, travelling to and from destinations in northern France, and London, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, according to the Paris tourist office. Clemence Fandard, an interface designer in Paris, said her 6:20 a.m. train to Amsterdam was initially delayed for 45 minutes before being cancelled. "I had heard reports of these things happening from time to time," Fandard said, adding: "We were unlucky!" Another traveller, Kasman Ibrahimi, said he had planned to catch a train to Cologne in Germany from Gare du Nord but would now look for an alternative route. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/discovery-world-war-2-bomb-disrupts-trains-paris-gare-du-nord-2025-03-07/

2025-03-07 06:42

March 7 (Reuters) - Britain's Treasury department is weighing cutting funding plans for state-backed power company GB Energy in a spending review slated for June, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Last year, the British government set up GB Energy, backed by 8.3 billion pounds ($10.73 billion), and envisaged it to be its primary tool to drive investment in renewable energy. The company was expected to partner with the Crown Estate - which oversees the British monarch's public holdings - to bring 20-30 gigawatts of new offshore wind developments to the seabed lease stage by 2030. The UK Treasury and Britain's energy department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. GB Energy couldn't be immediately reached out for a comment. One of the options that the Treasury is weighing is cutting the 3.3 billion pounds previously earmarked to fund low-interest loans via local authorities for projects such as solar panels on roofs and shared-ownership wind projects, the newspaper said. The reduction in funding comes at a time when Britain targets to largely decarbonise its power sector by 2030 by reducing its reliance on gas-fired power plants and rapidly increasing its renewable power capacity. Britain's deputy finance minister Darren Jones said in January that the government would conduct the first zero-based review of spending in 17 years. Financial support will only be given to departments that have met the requirements set out in the zero-based government spending review. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-treasury-weighs-cutting-funding-gb-energy-ft-reports-2025-03-07/