2025-02-18 21:25

Shares rise 6%, on track to record best day in 3-months Q3 adjusted net income beats VA consensus estimates Building market still appears to be tough - Analyst Feb 19 (Reuters) - Australia-listed shares of James Hardie Industries (JHX.AX) , opens new tab rose 6% on Wednesday, after the fiber cement maker reported third-quarter profit above estimates. The Dublin-based firm posted adjusted net income of $153.6 million for the three months ended December 31, beating a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $148 million. The stock was on track to record its biggest one-day jump since November 13, while the benchmark index (.AXJO) , opens new tab was down 0.7% at 0001 GMT. However, James Hardie reported 15% drop in net income from a year ago due to headwinds in raw materials from its key North American operations. Rising mortgage rates, volatile interest rate expectations and high home prices have led customers to reduce new home purchases and renovation activities, adversely impacting the North American segment, its biggest revenue-generating division. Net sales from the North America segment fell to $719.3 million, driven by a weak homebuilding market, compared to $727 million reported an year ago. "The (building) market still appears tough, with limited new evidence of green shoots and volumes still declining," Samuel Seow, vice president at Citi, said in a note. The company said it was planning for growth and margin expansion across regions for fiscal year 2026, without offering details. James Hardie also projected its fiscal year 2025 capital expenditure to be $420 million, down from the previous forecast range of $420 million to $440 million. "While it is still too early to quantify our expected results for fiscal year 2026, we are planning for sales growth and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margin (EBITDA) expansion across each of our segments, and for the company as a whole," said CEO Aaron Erter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/fibre-cement-maker-james-hardies-quarterly-profit-falls-15-2025-02-18/

2025-02-18 21:17

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Brazil's national energy council has decided to keep the local mandatory biodiesel blend into diesel at 14% from March instead of raising it to 15% as previously expected, Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira told reporters. Most of Brazil's biodiesel comes from soybeans after it is processed into soyoil. StoneX, an agribusiness consultancy, halved its forecast for the annual increase in Brazilian biodiesel sales after the announcement. Had the mix been increased to 15%, biodiesel sales would have grown by 1.2 million cubic meters (mcm), totaling demand of 10.2 mcm in 2025. After extending the 14% blend throughout 2025, the annual growth in sales is now seen at 600,000 cubic meters, with demand expected at 9.6 mcm, StoneX said. The minister told reporters after a meeting of the council that the mix of the biofuel into diesel would remain at 14% "until further deliberation, which can be taken at any time." Silveira cited concerns relative to the price of food as justification for the move. The government has been worried about high food prices, which affected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's approval ratings. "President Lula's government has a big priority: feeding people fairly and minding food prices," Silveira said. Abiove, a national oilseed lobby representing global soybean processors, said the decision to maintain the 14% was based on the prices of soybean oil to the final consumer. However, it said the prices of packaged soybean oil, as well as biodiesel, are already falling, reflecting the favorable scenario arising from this year's record soybean harvest. Abiove said it expects the government to review its decision "as quickly as possible." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brazil-keep-mandatory-biodiesel-blend-14-minister-says-2025-02-18/

2025-02-18 21:02

Constellation Brands jumps after Berkshire discloses stake Intel up after report Broadcom, TSMC eye deals to split it Meta Platforms snaps 20-session winning streak Fed's January meeting minutes due on Wednesday Indexes up: Dow 0.02%, S&P 500 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.07% NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 squeaked past its previous record closing high on Tuesday at the top of a holiday-shortened week, with earnings season winding down, U.S. Federal Reserve minutes on tap, and geopolitical uncertainties churning in the background. The three major stock indexes wobbled between red and green for much of the session, but all three managed to flip green in the closing minutes. "There's a little bit of a three-day weekend hangover today," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha. "There's just truly not a lot going on, which kind of a nice change as we simply consolidate right beneath potential new all-time highs." "At the same time we have the Fed minutes, coming out tomorrow and big retail earnings also coming out later this week," Detrick added. "But when you put it all together, you have a day like today where it's just kind of 'wait-and-see.'" On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to release the minutes of its January policy meeting, at which the voting members elected to let interest rates stand amid signs of an inflation rebound and the unknown extent and effects of President Trump's threatened tariffs. Remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers largely adhered to the same script, with Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller saying they believe economic strength and elevated inflation warrant holding the policy rate steady for the time being. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly reiterated that a pause in rate cuts is appropriate until more visible progress is made toward bringing inflation down to the Fed's 2% goal. The minutes will be scrutinized for clues regarding the central bank's path forward, particularly in light of recent data, which shows price growth gaining momentum, falling consumer sentiment and weaker-than-expected retail sales. "The Fed is being reasonably transparent here," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "There's been evidence that the economy is slowing down a little bit and I'm sure they're watching that. But I don't think they feel significant pressure, at least at this point, to drop rates anytime soon." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 10.26 points, or 0.02%, to 44,556.34, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 14.95 points, or 0.24%, to 6,129.58 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 14.49 points, or 0.07%, to 20,041.26. Fourth-quarter earnings season has come around the final bend, with 383 companies in the S&P 500 having reported as of Friday. Of those, 74% have posted better-than-expected results, according to LSEG data. Analysts currently see fourth-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth of 15.3% year-on-year, up from the 9.6% estimate as it stood on Jan. 1. Intel (INTC.O) , opens new tab jumped 16.1% after a report over the weekend said rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330.TW) , opens new tab and Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab were considering potential deals that could split the chipmaker in two. The move gave a boost to the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index (.SOX) , opens new tab, which gained 1.7%. Constellation Brands (STZ.N) , opens new tab jumped 4.0% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) , opens new tab disclosed a new investment in the company on Friday. Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab slid 2.8%, snapping its 20-session winning streak. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.53-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 298 new highs and 85 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,289 stocks rose and 2,087 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.1-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 126 new highs and 113 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.36 billion shares, compared with the 15.57 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-inch-up-holiday-thinned-week-focus-feds-rate-cut-plans-2025-02-18/

2025-02-18 21:01

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell in December as the two largest foreign holders of the government debt, Japan and China, both cut their portfolios, data from the Treasury Department showed on Tuesday. Holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell to $8.513 trillion in December from $8.633 trillion in November. Holdings had reached $8.679 trillion in September. Japan's Treasuries holdings fell to $1.060 trillion from $1.087 trillion the previous month. Japan remains the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities. China, which is No. 2, cut its holdings to $759 billion from $768.6 billion in November. Treasury yields surged in December on expectations of higher growth and a possible inflation resurgence as traders gauged the likely impact of tariffs and immigration reforms by the Donald Trump administration, following Trump’s victory in the November presidential election. Federal Reserve policymakers also said that they see fewer interest rate cuts in 2025 at the U.S. central bank’s December meeting, citing inflation concerns. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/foreign-holdings-us-treasuries-fall-december-2025-02-18/

2025-02-18 20:50

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras expects to boost diesel output by some 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year as it expands low-sulfur diesel production in some of its refineries, according to the firm's head of industrial processes. The expansion of so-called S-10 production, a type of low-sulfur diesel, would take place at the company's Abreu e Lima, Replan and Revap refineries this year, industrial processes chief William Franca told Reuters in an interview on Monday. Franca noted that Petrobras (PETR4.SA) , opens new tab currently produces between 600,000 bpd and 700,000 bpd of diesel, a motor fuel favored by heavy industry including in the country's massive agriculture sector. He added that higher domestic output would allow the firm to reduce diesel imports. Petrobras plans to keep increasing its diesel production in the next few years through additional capacity expansions at its refineries, potentially adding another 100,000 bpd, said Franca. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brazils-petrobras-raise-diesel-output-by-120000-bpd-this-year-says-director-2025-02-18/

2025-02-18 20:00

Mario Mesquita advocates limiting spending growth to inflation Calls for fiscal adjustment grow louder among economists Movement comes despite recovery in Brazilian assets BRASILIA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The chief economist at Brazilian bank Itau, the nation's largest private lender, urged whoever wins next year's presidential elections to reinstate a spending cap to bring back "civilized" interest rates. Mario Mesquita, at an Itau event, joined a chorus of prominent economists calling for fiscal discipline in more dire tones, even as Brazilian assets have rebounded from a late-2024 sell-off triggered by disappointment with public spending cuts. "The only regime that allowed the central bank to pursue the inflation target with lower nominal and real interest rates, more in line with other countries, was the spending cap," said Mesquita, referring to a constitutional rule that limited spending growth to the inflation rate from 2017 to 2022. "To think we can have civilized nominal and real interest rates aligned with global standards, with Brazil's current fiscal policy, is self-deception," the former central bank director added. Last week, former central bank governor Arminio Fraga said Brazil was showing "severe symptoms of a patient in the ICU," with interest rate futures "through the moon," and insisted that fiscal discipline was crucial to fight inflation. Brazil's currency has gained more than 8% so far this year, after dropping more than 20% in 2024, while interest rate futures have begun to ease after sharp gains in December. Still, many economists remain concerned about President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's resistance to stronger fiscal tightening. Brazil's rising public debt has gotten much more costly as the central bank hikes interest rates aggressively to tame inflation driven by a heated economy and a weakened exchange rate. The constitutional spending limit, approved nearly a decade ago, was initially seen as a key fiscal anchor, along with other major reforms that helped bring five-year interest rates down to around 6%, compared to roughly 14% today . However, Lula's predecessor introduced a series of pandemic-era exceptions to the spending cap, eroding investor confidence and raising doubts about its sustainability. In 2023, Lula replaced the constitutional spending cap with a more flexible framework allowing real expenditure growth of up to 2.5%, combined with primary budget targets. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/itau-chief-economist-calls-brazil-reinstate-spending-cap-2025-02-18/