2024-12-02 23:11

Key monthly jobs report due Friday ISM manufacturing activity at 48.7 in Nov, beating estimates Indexes: Dow down 0.3%, S&P 500 up 0.2%, Nasdaq up 1% NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq and S&P 500 scored record closing highs on Monday, boosted by tech-related shares following the market's strong November gains, as investors awaited this week's economic data including the key monthly jobs report on Friday. The Dow finished lower on the day. Both the Dow and S&P 500 recorded on Friday their biggest monthly percentage gains in a year. The technology (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab, communication services (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab and consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab sectors rose about 1% each on Monday, while the rest of the S&P 500 sectors were lower. Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab shares advanced 3.5%, with Stifel raising its price target on the stock. "We're seeing a market that's in a seasonably strong period just creep higher," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey. "It's a tough time for people to bail out, but by the same token, I don't see an explosive finish to the year. There's just too much uncertainty to where we're headed. ... No one is quite sure what the plan is economically with the new administration." Former U.S. President Donald Trump recaptured the White House in last month's election and his Republican Party swept both houses of Congress, boosting stocks in November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 128.65 points, or 0.29%, to 44,782.00. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab rose 14.77 points, or 0.24%, to 6,047.15 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab climbed 185.78 points, or 0.97%, to 19,403.95. Strategists have cited Trump's potential plans for tax cuts and deregulation as a positive for stocks, but tariffs would be negative. Investors also digested comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller that he was inclined to cut the benchmark interest rate at the Dec. 17-18 meeting as monetary policy remained restrictive. Investors have been expecting a quarter-point rate cut in December, but recent inflation data has raised worries that progress may have stalled. The Fed began reducing rates in September by a half a point, following that with a quarter-point cut in November. Earlier on Monday, the Institute for Supply Management reported improved U.S. manufacturing activity in November. Aside from Friday's hotly anticipated employment report, investors this week also will see private sector job growth data, the ISM's services report and the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims. Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O) , opens new tab surged 28.7% after the artificial intelligence server maker began searching for a new finance chief based on recommendations by a special committee formed to review its accounting practices. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 406 new highs and 64 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,332 stocks rose and 2,060 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.13-to-1 ratio. Volume on U.S. exchanges totaled 13.64 billion shares, compared with the 14.74 billion full-session average over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-slip-start-data-packed-week-2024-12-02/

2024-12-02 22:50

CHICAGO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Tyson Foods (TSN.N) , opens new tab will permanently close a beef and pork plant in Emporia, Kansas, that employs more than 800 people, the meat processor said on Monday. The job cuts are the latest blows to America's heartland from the biggest U.S. meat company by sales. Tyson has also closed six U.S. chicken plants since the start of 2023 and an Iowa pork plant, laying off thousands of workers. Tyson faces financial pressure as the nation's cattle herd has dwindled to its smallest size in decades, raising costs for the animals the company processes into beef. The meatpacker's chicken business previously suffered after executives misjudged consumer demand, though it has recovered. In Emporia, a city of about 24,000 residents, Tyson will shut its plant around Feb. 14, terminating 804 employees, according to a letter it sent to the Kansas Department of Commerce. Another five employees at a lab will lose their jobs on Jan. 31, Tyson's letter said, adding that the closures are part of a strategy to operate more efficiently. Tyson, in a separate statement, encouraged employees to apply for other jobs at the company and said it is working with state and local officials to provide them with resources. "We understand the impact of this decision on our team members and the local community," the statement said. The plant has produced products such as seasoned and marinated meats and ground beef, according to Tyson's website. Workers stopped slaughtering cattle there in 2008 due to a previous period of tight supplies. Tyson's beef business, its largest unit, reported an adjusted loss of $291 million in its 2024 fiscal year that ended September, compared with income of $233 million for fiscal year 2023. The company projects the business will also suffer an operating loss in fiscal year 2025. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/tyson-foods-close-kansas-meat-plant-cutting-more-than-800-jobs-2024-12-02/

2024-12-02 22:38

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork processor, said on Monday it will sell 150,000 female pigs to Murphy Family Ventures. The deal will further reduce the number of hogs owned by Smithfield as it prepares for a U.S. listing. Murphy will become one of the largest independent pork producers in the U.S., with the capacity to produce approximately 3.2 million hogs annually for Smithfield's fresh pork operation, Smithfield said in a statement. Murphy will assume ownership of 150,000 sows — and the market hogs they produce — that are currently owned by Smithfield, while Smithfield will provide production, feed and transportation services, the statement said. "Smithfield has evolved over the last 10 years into a more streamlined consumer packaged goods company," President and Chief Executive Officer Shane Smith said. "With this agreement, we continue this transformation while ensuring a supply of hogs from a family farming operation." The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, Smithfield said. Smithfield's owner, Hong Kong-based WH Group (0288.HK) , opens new tab, is seeking shareholder approval for the proposed spin-off of Smithfield and plans to list the business in the U.S. Last year, Smithfield said it would end contracts with 26 farms in Utah, permanently close 35 farm sites in Missouri and close a plant in North Carolina. Pork producers lost money last year as pig prices and consumer demand struggled at a time of high costs for labor and other expenses, leading them to cut down supply. This also led to Smithfield reducing hog production and reducing farm operations in Missouri, Utah, Arizona, California and the East Coast. The Virginia-based firm also announced the separation of its European operations. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/smithfield-foods-reduces-hog-footprint-deal-with-murphy-family-ventures-2024-12-02/

2024-12-02 21:47

Dec 3 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Investors in Asia go into Tuesday's session with a spring in their step following the upswing in global stocks and risk appetite on Monday, but wary that the buoyant U.S. dollar can extinguish that optimism in a flash. Also keeping regional sentiment in check will be unease around China's economic predicament, even though purchasing managers index data over the last 72 hours showed that factory activity in November expanded at the fastest pace in months. Much of that - the pickup in Chinese manufacturing activity, deepening disquiet about the outlook, and the dollar's renewed vigor - is tied to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's hardline stance on trade and threats of heavy tariffs when he takes office next month. His social media broadside on Saturday to countries contemplating backing away from the "mighty" U.S. dollar appears to have had an initial effect. Excluding Nov. 6, the day after the U.S. election, the dollar's 0.6% appreciation on Monday was its biggest rise in six months. Europe's economic and political travails, especially in France, are certainly at play, while the yen is drawing support from bets that the Bank of Japan could raise interest rates later this month. But the dollar's independent strength cannot be ignored, and bullish sentiment toward emerging markets is rarely sustained for long when the dollar is on the march. Nor can China's weakness be ignored. Some analysts say the positive PMI surprises are due to a ramp up in production before tariffs from Washington are levied, and China's underlying economic health remains fragile. China's bond market would appear to back up that assertion. The 10-year yield on Monday fell below 2% for the first time, while the 30-year yield is now below its Japanese equivalent for the first time in at least 20 years. Still, investors will draw comfort from the S&P 500 and Nasdaq's rise to fresh peaks on Monday, and U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller saying he is leaning toward a rate cut later this month. Remarkably, after Monday's spike the S&P 500 has registered more than 50 record highs this year. But will that be enough to lift Asian markets on Tuesday? Asia's calendar on Tuesday is light, with South Korean inflation the only major economic indicator on tap. It is one of several CPI releases this week following Indonesia's on Monday and ahead of the latest snapshots from the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand later in the week. Economists polled by Reuters expect South Korea's annual rate of headline inflation in November to accelerate to 1.7% from a three and a half year low of 1.30% in October. That would mark the biggest jump since August last year. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - South Korea consumer inflation (November) - Bank of Thailand governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput speaks - Thailand's finance minister Pichai Chunhavajira speaks Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-2024-12-02/

2024-12-02 21:43

Slower demand, rising output beyond the group swells supply Global oil prices rangebound between $70 and $80/barrel OPEC+ to decide on planned UAE production increase from January LONDON/MOSCOW, Dec 2 (Reuters) - OPEC+ is likely at its meeting on Thursday to extend its latest round of oil output cuts until the end of the first quarter, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters, to provide additional support for the oil market. OPEC+, which pumps about half the world's oil, has been aiming to unwind output cuts through 2025. However, a slowdown in global demand and rising output outside the group pose hurdles to that plan and have weighed on prices. "It is likely that this reduction will be extended for the first quarter," one of the sources told Reuters. All of the sources declined to be identified by name. Another source said the prospect of a longer, six-month extension was unlikely. OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, meets on Thursday to decide its output strategy. Despite the group's supply cuts, global oil benchmark Brent crude has mostly stayed in a $70 to $80 per barrel range this year and on Tuesday was trading above $72 a barrel, having hit a 2024 low below $69 in September. "The likelihood of another OPEC roll of cuts into the first quarter is all but priced in," said John Evans of oil broker PVM. OPEC+ members are holding back 5.86 million barrels per day of output, or about 5.7% of global demand, in a series of steps agreed since 2022 to support the market. An output hike of 180,000 bpd - a fraction of the total - was planned for January from the eight members involved in OPEC+'s most recent cuts of 2.2 million bpd. The hike has been delayed from October due to falling prices. High-level talks within OPEC+ ahead of the meeting, which was earlier scheduled for Dec. 1, have focused on the length of a delay to the production hike, sources said. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman flew to the United Arab Emirates, the Saudi state news agency said on Sunday, the first such visit in three years. An issue that needs to be addressed is a 300,000 bpd output hike for the United Arab Emirates agreed in June that is scheduled to start in January 2025 and be phased in gradually. The UAE is keen for that to go ahead, the sources said. Last week, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, de facto head of OPEC, had a phone call with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev while in Kazakhstan on an official visit. Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia also held talks in Baghdad last week. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/opec-likely-prolong-oil-cuts-q1-sources-say-2024-12-02/

2024-12-02 20:50

High school senior opposed cow's milk in school lunches Student said USDA, Los Angeles schools censored her speech Judge found no specific threat of harm Dec 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture won the dismissal of a lawsuit by a student who said her First Amendment rights were violated because she could not freely criticize the consumption of cow's milk, including through the National School Lunch Program, at her high school. In a decision on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin in Los Angeles said Marielle Williamson lacked standing to sue the USDA over alleged censorship at Eagle Rock High School, and that her claims were moot because she had graduated. The case began after school administrators told Williamson, then a 17-year-old senior, she could not hand out literature extolling non-dairy milk and criticizing dairy milk and the dairy industry, unless she also handed out materials about the virtues of dairy milk. Williamson, who is vegan, and the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sued the USDA and the Los Angeles Unified School District in May 2023. While the district settled in November 2023, Williamson said a USDA prohibition against restricting the sale or marketing of dairy milk by schools was unconstitutional, because enforcing it violated her free speech rights. But the judge found no allegations that the USDA itself threatened to silence Williamson, or that the law authorizing the lunch program created a mechanism to punish students. "Mere allegations of a subjective chill are not an adequate substitute for a claim of specific present objective harm or a threat of specific future harm," the judge wrote. Williamson is now a Duke University sophomore studying in China. Deborah Press, associate general counsel at the Physicians Committee, said the nonprofit will assess how to pursue further lawsuits in light of the decision. "The problem remains that there are thousands of students who rely on school meals and need an alternative to cow's milk," she said in an interview on Monday. "Marielle's lawsuit raised the conversation to the national level." Spokespeople for the USDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In the November 2023 settlement , opens new tab, Los Angeles' school district acknowledged students' right to criticize dairy, and said it would support giving free soy milk to students. The case is Williamson et al v US Department of Agriculture et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 23-03307. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/usda-defeats-students-challenge-milk-marketing-2024-12-02/