2025-02-26 11:41
Feb 26 (Reuters) - Lowe's Cos (LOW.N) , opens new tab joined rival Home Depot (HD.N) , opens new tab in forecasting lackluster annual sales and profit on Wednesday, signaling that a downturn in the home improvement sector would linger amid higher interest rates. Shares of the Mooresville, North Carolina-based retailer were up 3.5% in premarket trading as it reported a surprise rise in fourth-quarter same-store sales, helped by demand for water cans, generators and cleaning supplies after Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year. The home improvement sector has witnessed a sharp slowdown over the last two years as high mortgage rates, rising home prices as well as refinancing costs stifled demand. Lowe's forecast follows conservative projections from Walmart(WMT.N) , opens new tab and Home Depot in recent days, which analysts said is a signal to keep expectations intact, given how early in the year it is. U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated at its sharpest pace in three-and-a-half years in February, data on Tuesday showed, with Americans becoming more worried about the potential economic impact of President Donald Trump's policies. Since taking office in January, Trump has promised tax cuts as well as broad tariffs on imports and is cracking down on illegal immigration, which could worsen the shortage of skilled labor in the U.S. The retailer cited near-term pressure in do-it-yourself projects such as flooring as well as kitchen and bath remodeling, which make up about 70% of its annual revenue. Despite diversifying their supply chains, home improvement retailers are exposed to tariffs on lumber and metal product imports from Canada. Imports of hardware, tools and other durable products such as appliances and home-related goods from China also affect them. Lowe's has said it sources 40% of its goods, including its own private brands, internationally. Home Depot, which sources about half its goods from outside North America, said a day earlier it was well placed to manage any impact from tariffs. Lowe's expects full-year 2025 comparable sales to be flat to up 1% compared to analysts' estimate of a 1.13% rise, according to data compiled by LSEG. It forecast earnings per share in the range of $12.15 to $12.40, compared to analysts' estimate of $12.49 per share. The company reported a 0.2% rise in same-store sales for the quarter ended January 31, compared to analysts' average estimate of a 1.9% decline. It earned $1.93 per share on an adjusted basis, above an estimate of $1.84 in profit. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/lowes-forecasts-annual-comparable-sales-largely-below-estimates-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 11:26
SANTIAGO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Chile's power grid and major copper mines slowly came back online on Wednesday morning after a major outage hit the world's top producer of the red metal, with power firms working to restore the system to full operation, authorities said. The power outage, caused by a transmission line failure in northern Chile, struck mid-afternoon on Tuesday, plunging most of the South American country into darkness and knocking out electricity to major mines, buffeting global metal markets. In an early morning report on Wednesday, Chile's National Electricity Coordinator (CEN) said that more than 90% of residential consumption had been restored, though there were reports of intermittent power in some cities. "Both the incident and its impact are a cause for worry," Interior Minister Carolina Toha told a press conference, noting that a number of safety nets failed and other power stations failed repeatedly when trying to come back online. The failure was attributed to energy distributor ISA Interchile, a subsidiary of Colombia's ISA (ISA.CN) , opens new tab, which is owned by state oil company Ecopetrol (ECO.CN) , opens new tab. A statement from ISA Interchile said it was still investigating the cause of the outage but added that electronic and software protection systems malfunctioned, disconnecting a high-voltage line and causing most of the grid to shut down. "Interchile's team is in constant coordination with the technical authority and will keep working tirelessly to proceed with the necessary investigations," general manager Luis Llano said in the statement. Toha said that an official state of emergency and curfew in place since 10 p.m. on Tuesday had been lifted. She said that about 220,000 users remained without power, mostly in the north, down from 8 million homes affected by the outage at its peak. Major copper mines also started to come back online on Wednesday. Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, expects to return to regular operations in the next few hours, a source close to the matter told Reuters. Escondida is controlled by miner BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab. Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab meanwhile said its Los Bronces and El Soldado mines, as well as its Chagres smelter in central Chile were restoring operations on Wednesday morning. Chile's Codelco (COBRE.UL), the world's largest copper producer, said that operations at all its divisions were gradually coming back online while Antofagasta (ANTO.L) , opens new tab said its operations had also resumed. "All our divisions were affected by the power outage so contingency and backup plans were immediately activated," Codelco said. "The impact on our production plan is still under evaluation and its recovery will undoubtedly be a priority focus of the operating teams." Santiago's subway service announced that it would resume services on most of its lines and stations. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chile-power-partially-restored-after-huge-outage-copper-mines-come-back-online-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 11:24
BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday proposed making available 100 billion euros ($104.94 billion) to support EU-made clean manufacturing as part its landmark Clean Industrial Deal. The deal is a key pillar of its competitiveness plan, designed to support energy-intensive industries facing high costs and heavy bureaucracy as they challenge for market share with global rivals. As part of the deal previously reported by Reuters, the Commission plans to launch together with the European Investment Bank guarantee schemes to ease costs for long-term renewable power contracts as well as to support grid manufacturers. The Commission also proposed creating an EU Critical Raw Material Centre to jointly purchase key metals and minerals required in the energy transition. The deal is part of a wider plan that includes simplifying red tape and carbon duties and subject to approval in the European Parliament and amongst a reinforced majority of EU member states. ($1 = 0.9529 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/european-commission-proposes-mobilising-100-bln-euros-eu-made-clean-tech-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 11:21
Intuit gains after forecasting Q3 revenue above estimates Trump says will soon announce tariffs on imports from EU Indexes: Dow down 0.43%; S&P 500 up 0.01%; Nasdaq up 0.26% NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended little changed on Wednesday ahead of quarterly results from Nvidia, whose positive outlook could set the tone for the artificial intelligence sector. Stocks lost ground in afternoon trading, with investors digesting the latest comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs. Trump said on Wednesday his administration will soon announce a 25% tariff on imports from the European Union. He also raised hopes for another pause on steep new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada by saying they would take effect on April 2, about a month later than a deadline next week. After the closing bell, Nvidia's shares (NVDA.O) , opens new tab were up about 2% in choppy trading. The AI tech leader forecast first-quarter revenue above market estimates. Nvidia's stock ended the regular session up 3.7%, while an index of semiconductors (.SOX) , opens new tab was up 2.1% on the day. The launch and popularity of low-cost AI models from China's DeepSeek had rattled the industry in January and raised questions around U.S. companies' heavy investments in the technology. Any upbeat comments by Nvidia on demand will elevate stocks of companies investing heavily in AI, said Daniel Morgan, portfolio manager at Synovus Trust in Atlanta. "It's become the biggest tech report." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 188.04 points, or 0.43%, to 43,433.12, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 0.81 points, or 0.01%, at 5,956.06 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab rose 48.88 points, or 0.26%, to 19,075.26. Gains in technology shares (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab were offset by losses in healthcare (.SPXHC) , opens new tab, consumer staples (.SPLRCS) , opens new tab and other sectors. Nvidia's results came near the end of a stronger-than-expected earnings period for S&P 500 companies. "It's been a pretty constructive earnings season," said Tom Hainlin, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank. A Reuters poll showed strategists still expect the S&P 500 to finish 2025 about 9% above current levels, although market volatility will persist. Since last week, a series of data releases, including Tuesday's weak consumer sentiment report, have hinted that the world's largest economy might be stalling despite inflation remaining high, keeping investors on the edge. Intuit (INTU.O) , opens new tab shares rose 12.6% after the TurboTax maker forecast third-quarter revenue above Street estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.13-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 91 new highs and 115 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,502 stocks rose and 1,917 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.31-to-1 ratio. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 14.58 billion shares, compared with the 15.4 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-up-after-wall-st-selloff-trumps-tax-cut-plans-focus-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 11:20
SYDNEY/SEOUL/LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's $5 million so-called 'gold card' visa program is unlikely to trigger a major inflow of wealthy global investors seeking U.S citizenship because of concerns over higher taxes, immigration and wealth advisers said. Trump said on Tuesday he planned to replace an existing EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, which requires a minimum $800,000 investment, with the gold card plan that would allow U.S. citizenship to foreigners promising to invest in U.S. businesses. Details of the new plan would be released in two weeks, he said. "I do not believe that the current POTUS offer will have a big impact, as getting a green card in the U.S. if you meet certain criteria, is not difficult," said Bassim Haidar, a former UK non-domiciled multimillionaire told Reuters. "Paying $5 million for a golden visa and getting taxed on your global income defeats the purpose." Trump's plan comes at a time when the European Union is putting pressure on member states to withdraw or tighten residency-by-investment programs, which can trigger house price bubbles and bring marginal benefits to GDP, as well as increase the risks of tax evasion and corruption. A 2021 study of EU golden visa programmes by London School of Economics and Political Science and Harvard University researchers found that the funds generated by these schemes represented only a "miniscule" proportion of foreign investment with "negligible" economic impact. The EB-5 visa was primarily used by Hong Kong and China residents who owned businesses in the U.S. or wanted their children to study in the U.S., said John Hu, founder of Hong Kong-based John Hu Migration Consulting. Raising the investment threshold to $5 million would be deterrent for many Chinese nationals currently accessing the scheme, he added. "The total number of applicants, if the golden visa is going to replace the EB5, will drop significantly," Hu told Reuters, adding global tax liabilities were always a concern for rich people. Trump said the gold card program would be open for wealthy people, such as Russian oligarchs, to apply. The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, was created by Congress in 1990 to "stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors," according to the USCIS website. "It could be a negotiation tactic to increase the amount of U.S.-bound investment but considering the amount I don't think demand from Korea will increase significantly," said Kim Ji Sun, president of Dae Yang Immigration Law Group in Seoul. "It also requires congressional approval so Trump alone cannot decide to eliminate the current EB-5 program. EB-5 is also about investing money so eliminating it wouldn't make sense." Grace Tang, CEO at Singapore-based Phillip Private Equity, which helps family offices apply for Singapore's global investor program, which gives local residency rights, said U.S. global taxation rules could be a deterrent. Tang, however, said that the U.S. had always been the "American Dream" or many potential immigrants from Asia, and many Chinese people who are familiar with the EB5 program would likely apply for the new scheme. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-5-million-gold-card-visa-unlikely-attract-wealthy-investors-advisers-say-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 11:18
Metro Bank rises on sale of unsecured loan book portfolio ConvaTec jumps after higher annual profit FTSE 100 up 0.6%, FTSE 250 gains 0.9% Feb 26 (Reuters) - UK's benchmark stock indexes rose on Wednesday, swept up in a global risk-off move, with gains in banks and mining stocks pushing the blue-chip FTSE 100 to an over one-week high. The blue-chip index (.FTSE) , opens new tab was up 0.6% by 10.53 GMT, touching its highest since February 19. British midcaps (.FTMC) , opens new tab also climbed 0.9%. Banks (.FTNMX301010) , opens new tab were the biggest boost on the FTSE 100, with mortgage lender Lloyds (LLOY.L) , opens new tab up 3.2%, after at least two brokerages raised their price target on the stock. Metro Bank (MTRO.L) , opens new tab gained 1.3% after the lender said it has signed an agreement to sell a portfolio of about 584 million pounds ($739 million) of unsecured personal loans. Industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) , opens new tab advanced 0.8%, as copper prices remained elevated though there was caution after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on copper imports. Medical equipment manufacturer ConvaTec Group (CTEC.L) , opens new tab emerged as the FTSE 100's top performer, surging 7.4%, after reporting higher year-on-year profit. On the flipside, Aston Martin (AML.L) , opens new tab plunged 13.3% after the luxury automaker announced a second delay in launching its first battery electric vehicle and said it plans to reduce its global workforce by 5%. Oil major BP (BP.L) , opens new tab said it would increase its annual oil and gas investments to $10 billion, returning the focus to fossil fuels. Its shares, however, dipped 1%. Meanwhile, the pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab climbed to a record high as sentiment remained upbeat after the U.S. and Ukraine reached an agreement on a draft minerals deal. Market participants await comments from Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee member Swati Dhingra later in the day. Traders currently see more than 56 basis-points worth of easing by the BoE this year, implying at least two 25-bps cuts by December, as per data complied by LSEG. ($1 = 0.7904 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/banks-miners-boost-uks-ftse-100-more-than-one-week-high-2025-02-26/
