2025-02-13 11:39

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Deere's (DE.N) , opens new tab quarterly revenue slumped 35% and missed analysts' expectations as more farmers switched to renting equipment due to weak incomes and high borrowing costs, sending its shares down nearly 4.5% in premarket trading on Thursday. The results from the world's largest farm-equipment maker come as U.S. manufacturers brace for the impact of President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcements. Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China. The levies on Canada and Mexico have been paused for a month, but not on China. Trump, during a campaign speech in September, warned Deere of additional tariffs if the company moved some of its production to Mexico as planned. The tariffs have increased uncertainty regarding the impact on U.S. farmers as soybeans, corn, wheat, and meat are particularly vulnerable to retaliatory measures from China, Canada, and Mexico. Meanwhile, prices of industrial metals, crucial for manufacturing equipment, are rising, driven by Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum amid insufficient domestic production. Deere reiterated its 2025 profit forecast, which many analysts had labeled conservative and were anticipating potential upward revisions as the year progressed. It had projected annual profit in the range of $5 billion to $5.5 billion. Deere now expects sales in its largest production and precision agriculture segment, which includes larger tractors and combines, to fall between 15% and 20%, compared to its previous forecast of a 15% decline. The company said its outlook did not account for any impact from potential import tariffs by the U.S. and any retaliatory actions taken by other countries. First-quarter net sales decreased 35% to $6.81 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $7.7 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. It reported a profit of $3.19 per share, compared with Wall Street expectations of $3.11, helped by a drop in production costs. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/deere-reports-lower-profit-muted-farm-equipment-demand-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 11:29

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Investors are choosing hedge funds rather than re-upping their private equity investments after closed deals, as deal making in recent years has dried up, said BNP Paribas. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Large institutions have become wary of a souring in public markets as they seek to put their money into the hands of people that trade in a way that is either contrary to broader markets, or less exposed to their swings. KEY QUOTES "Markets have gone from this pre-inflation world where everything was rising. Rates were low, stocks soared and investors dropped active management for passive," said Marlin Naidoo, global head of capital introduction at BNP Paribas in London. This was a sign that investors were shifting back towards active management, Naidoo said. CONTEXT In 2022 and 2023, investors yanked $52 billion from top performing hedge funds. While it is not unusual to ditch low performing hedge funds, this exodus was driven by pension funds and universities sacrificing their strongest investments to hold on to private equity and venture capital portfolios which at that time were beginning to cost more than they yield. The kind of deal making private equity relies on to see bets pay off, has not returned. Global private equity and venture capital transactions totaled $35.28 billion in January, down $70 million from January 2024, according to a S&P Global Market Intelligence report last week. BY THE NUMBERS Investors surveyed by BNP Paribas said they added a net $22.2 billion of assets to their portfolios. Almost a fifth flowed that into hedge funds last year was from private equity investors. Investors also ditched long only equity and long only bond investments for hedge funds. WHAT’S NEXT Roughly two thirds of the 290 investors surveyed said they would increase their hedge fund allocations. GRAPHIC Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/investors-switch-private-equity-hedge-funds-says-bnp-paribas-report-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 11:15

FRANKFURT, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp aims to "finalise" a planned spin-off of a minority stake in its warship division in the course of 2025, the group's Chief Executive Miguel Lopez told analysts on Thursday following the presentation of first-quarter results. His comments are the most specific indication of when the spin-off of Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, which makes frigates and submarines, will go ahead. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/thyssenkrupp-targets-warship-division-spin-off-2025-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 11:06

TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Lightsource BP, a unit of British oil giant BP (BP.L) , opens new tab, announced on Thursday its entry into the Japanese renewable market with the acquisition of a 15 megawatt peak(MWp) solar project in northern island of Hokkaido. The move marks an important expansion of the company's operations in the Asia-Pacific region, leveraging its global expertise to help support Japan's energy transition, Lightsource BP said in a statement. With its entry into Japan, Lightsource BP now operates in 20 global markets, up from 19. The company has a global solar development  pipeline exceeding 58 gigawatt(GW), including nearly 8 GW of projects in the Asia-Pacific region, the company added. Last year, BP took full ownership of Lightsource BP. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/lightsource-bp-enters-japan-renewable-market-with-15-mw-solar-project-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 11:04

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan Talks to end the Ukraine war have partly cut across the hot U.S. inflation report for world markets, reining in both oil prices and capping aggravated U.S. borrowing rates - while also lifting the euro and European shares. Long-flagged by U.S. President Donald Trump as a priority, Wednesday's news that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on talks to end the war dragged crude oil lower. With Russia still the world's third-largest oil producer, the prospect of some future lifting of sanctions on its crude exports saw U.S. oil prices fall back to $70 per barrel and close to the year's lows - down some 4% from Tuesday's close. Helped by data showing a surprising build in crude stocks last week, that's left year-on-year oil prices down almost 10% - tracking the biggest annual decline in two and a half months. The Ukraine initiative emerged after January's biggest monthly gain in U.S. consumer prices in 17 months had catapulted U.S. Treasury yields higher and all but removed futures pricing for a second Federal Reserve interest rate cut this year. As it stands, barely one additional Fed cut is now priced for 2025 and not before October. Even though market-based U.S. inflation expectations over two years hit their highest since shortly after the Ukraine invasion in 2022, the oil retreat helped drag 10-year yields back down about 6 basis points from three week highs hit after the CPI report. They hovered about 4.6% on Thursday. And with producer price numbers out later today, Fed chair Jerome Powell emphasised on Wednesday that the bad news on CPI would not be taken in isolation and components from the PPI that feed into the Fed's favoured 'personal consumption expenditures' (PCE) inflation gauge would be watched closely. "You need to know the translation from CPI to PCE, and we get more data on that tomorrow with the Producer Price Index," Powell told Congress, adding "we'll know what the PCE reading is late tomorrow." Other Fed officials echoed Powell's broad thrust that the Fed was in no hurry to lower rates again with so many wider uncertainties. Atlanta Fed boss Raphael Bostic said he would not be comfortable resuming rate cuts until there was more clarity. The dollar's reaction to the whole piece has been different than usual, with its main index (.DXY) , opens new tab slipping despite the hawkish Fed view and elevated Treasury yields. That's mainly because the euro got a shot in the arm from the prospect of a Ukraine deal that could boost European sentiment and possibly lift the long-standing energy squeeze in Europe - even with uncertain implications for European security longer term. Euro zone stocks (.STOXXE) , opens new tab continued to set new record highs Thursday - gaining another 1% even as Wall Street (.SPX) , opens new tab ended in the red yesterday after the inflation jolt and S&P500 futures remained flat before today's bell. Remarkably, given the trends of recent years, the near 10% year-to-date gain in euro stocks in dollar terms is four times that of the S&P500 for 2025 so far. Earnings season updates have helped the broader European equity complex (.STOXX) , opens new tab. Nestle (NESN.S) , opens new tab jumped 6% on its annual sales growth beat, boosting the food and beverages index (.SX3P) , opens new tab by more than 2%. On the Ukraine front, the next big set piece is Friday's international security conference in Munich. And next week's German election is also now top of mind there. Elsewhere, the pound also got a lift from news that Britain's economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1% in the final quarter of last year - offering some respite from the downbeat economic picture facing finance minister Rachel Reeves. In Asia, Chinese stocks (.CSI300) , opens new tab, (.HSI) , opens new tab fell back on Thursday as trade war and domestic economic worries offset some of the recent optimism about the tech sector and artificial intelligence developments there. Chinese tech stocks reversed an early rally to multi-year highs and the Hang Seng Tech Index (.HSTECH) , opens new tab closed down 1%. Key developments that should provide more direction to U.S. markets later on Thursday: * US January producer price report, weekly jobless claims * New York Federal Reserve issues Q4 2024 Household Debt and Credit Report; European Central Bank board member Piero Cipollone speaks * US corporate earnings: Ameren, Airbnb, Global Payments, PG&E, PPL, Moody's, Duke Energy, Howmet, Molson Coors, American Electric, Applied Materials, GEHealthcare, Baxter, CBRE, DaVita, Dexcom, DTE, Digital Realty, Federal Realty, Motorola, Palo Alto Networks, Republic, Wynn, West Pharmaceuticals, Zoetis etc * U.S. Treasury sells $25 billion of 30-year bonds * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives in Munich ahead of international security conference Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 11:01

NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - India's top gas importer Petronet LNG (PLNG.NS) , opens new tab plans to trade liquefied natural gas (LNG) through its Singapore-based unit, CEO A K Singh said on Thursday. The company will not trade LNG cargoes procured under long-term deals, he said in a press conference at the India Energy Week. "Right now, we are managing (LNG purchases) from here. At an opportune time, we will start the (trading) operations," Singh said. He said India's gas demand is set to rise three-and-a-half times to meet the country's goal of having a 15% share of LNG in the energy mix from 6.2% currently. Separately, Petronet's head of finance, Vinod Kumar Mishra, said the firm has mandated SBI Caps to arrange 140 billion rupees ($1.61 billion) of debt for its new petrochemical project that costs 200 billion rupees. ($1 = 86.8600 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-petronet-plans-trade-lng-via-singapore-unit-2025-02-13/