2024-11-20 00:10

Walmart gains after raising annual sales, profit forecast Super Micro surges after auditor appointment Indexes: Dow down 0.3%, S&P 500 up 0.4%, Nasdaq up 1.04% NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq rose more than 1% and S&P 500 also ended higher on Tuesday, led by a jump in technology shares as investors eagerly awaited results this week from Nvidia, while Walmart shares climbed after the retailer raised its annual forecasts. The Dow finished lower. All three major indexes started the day lower, with the benchmark index dropping as much as about 0.6% after Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks earlier in the day, and Moscow said Ukraine had struck deep inside Russia with U.S.-made long-range missiles. Stocks pared losses as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow will do everything possible to prevent a nuclear war. Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, which is due to report quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, climbed 4.9% to $147.01 and was the biggest boost for all three major indexes. Technology (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab climbed 1.2% and led gains among S&P 500 sectors. Strategists said expectations are high for Nvidia, which has driven the artificial intelligence-related rally in stocks. Other megacap stocks also rose, including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) , opens new tab. "The biggest takeaway today is caution around what's going on in Ukraine. Largely investors are hiding out in some of the megacap names, which is a little bit surprising ahead of Nvidia earnings, but they are highly liquid," said Timothy Chubb, chief investment officer at Girard, a Univest Wealth Division. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 120.66 points, or 0.28%, to 43,268.94. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 23.36 points, or 0.40%, at 5,916.98 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab rose 195.66 points, or 1.04%, to 18,987.47. Walmart (WMT.N) , opens new tab shares rose 3% to $86.60 and hit a record closing high after the retailer raised its annual sales and profit forecasts for the third consecutive time. "Walmart came in and delivered optimistic guidance," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. "One of the components that was important for the market was that it said more of their customers are going in and purchasing items in the higher margin categories, which is something that has been watched." Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O) , opens new tab jumped 31.2% after the artificial intelligence server maker named BDO USA as its auditor and said it has submitted a plan to the Nasdaq to avoid delisting. Shares of Netflix (NFLX.O) , opens new tab rose 2.9% to $871.32, hitting a record high for a second straight day, after the streaming media company said 108 million people watched a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Adding to optimism, Goldman Sachs strategists forecast the S&P 500 would reach 6,500 by the end of 2025. Investors are digesting picks for President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Trump said on Tuesday he had chosen celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to serve as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He also said he will nominate Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick to serve as commerce secretary. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 172 new highs and 97 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,459 stocks rose and 1,841 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.34-to-1 ratio. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 13.94 billion shares, compared with the 14.24 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/wall-street-futures-slide-russia-ukraine-tensions-rise-2024-11-19/

2024-11-20 00:08

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Australia will partner with India to boost investment in renewable energy, including solar manufacturing, battery and mineral processing, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a meeting with his Indian counterpart on the G20 sidelines. Australia and India will also look to enhance defence and maritime security cooperation, Albanese said in a meeting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. The two countries, along with the United States and Japan, are members of the Quad, which has sought to balance China's rising military and economic clout in the Indo Pacific region. Australia was the largest producer per capita of rooftop solar in the world, and projects with India will include training a rooftop solar workforce as India seeks to boost household use of renewables, Albanese said. "Our new partnership will boost two-way investment in renewable energy projects like solar PV manufacturing, battery and mineral processing, green hydrogen and green iron," he said, according to an official transcript. "Australia's relationship with India is also vital to regional security and stability," he added. Modi said they were exploring new cooperation on defence industry, critical minerals, renewable energy, ship building, space, according to the transcript. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute in a report on Wednesday said the Quad plus countries such as South Korea needed to cooperate more on critical minerals processing, including harmonising industrial policies and building stockpiles, to overcome "China's manipulation of the global critical minerals market". Australia has rich deposits of copper, vanadium, cobalt and lithium used in electric vehicle batteries. China is a major investor in Australia's critical minerals sector and the Albanese government faced a challenge in diversifying investment to avoid a greater concentration of the supply chain, it said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/australia-india-boost-cooperation-renewables-defence-says-albanese-2024-11-20/

2024-11-20 00:04

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Britain's official labour market statistics may be failing to count almost 1 million people who are in work, complicating the Bank of England's task of deciding how quickly to cut interest rates, a think tank said on Wednesday. The Resolution Foundation said the official methodology - which is being overhauled - might also be overestimating the number of workers who have dropped out of the jobs market. The BoE has cut rates by half a percentage point since August, less than the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve, largely because of its worries about inflation pressures in the job market. "Official statistics have misrepresented what has happened in the UK labour market since the pandemic, and left policymakers in the dark by painting an overly pessimistic picture of our labour market," Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said. The Office for National Statistics, like agencies in other countries, has struggled to get responses to its surveys since the COVID pandemic. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey has lamented the state of the official data, saying last week it was "a substantial problem". The Resolution Foundation said the ONS appeared to be underestimating growth in the number of people in work since 2019 by 930,000. The think tank used data from the tax office, self-employment figures and new population data to make its estimate which closely tracked official employment numbers until 2020. Since then it has diverged sharply. Corlett said the employment rate, using the foundation's approach, probably rose to its pre-pandemic peak in 2023 before edging down in 2024 to broadly the same level as in 2019. The official data suggests the employment rate is lower than it was in 2019, which is at odds with high vacancy rates and strong wage growth, he said. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is aiming to get the employment rate up to 80%, up from the official estimate of 74.8% now. "The government faces a significant challenge in aiming to raise employment, even if the rate is higher than previously thought," Corlett said. "But crafting good policy is made harder still if the UK does not have reliable employment statistics." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/nearly-1-million-uk-workers-are-uncounted-think-tank-says-2024-11-20/

2024-11-19 22:51

Lula proposes countries reach climate neutrality by 2040 or 2045 G20 aims to boost chances of deal at U.N. climate talks Biden wants more funds for developing countries climate policy RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday urged leaders of the Group of 20 major economies to accelerate their national climate targets, calling on them to reach net zero climate emissions five to 10 years ahead of schedule. Opening the last session of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Lula suggested countries bring forward their targets to reach climate neutrality by 2040 or 2045, instead of 2050 as Brazil and many others have pledged. "We have to do more and better," Lula said, noting that this is likely the world's warmest year on record as climate disasters such as flooding and droughts become more frequent and intense. "There is no time to lose," he added. World leaders are trying to shore up a global response to climate change before Donald Trump retakes the U.S. presidency in January, when he plans to roll back U.S. policy on global warming and reportedly exit the landmark Paris Agreement. Argentine President Javier Milei served as a reminder in Rio of those changing winds, fresh off of visiting Trump at his Florida resort. Milei told G20 leaders he objected to a joint communique promoting gender equality, taxation of billionaires and sustainable development, according to people in the meeting. Lula rushed through approval of the G20 leaders' joint statement on Monday, securing a consensus on climate change but irking some European countries that wanted stronger language on the escalating war between Ukraine and Russia. The joint statement called for "rapidly and substantially increasing climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources" to confront global warming. G20 nations are seen as vital to shaping the response to global warming, as they account for 85% of the world economy and more than three-quarters of climate-warming emissions. The joint statement also urged negotiators at the U.N. climate summit COP29 underway in Azerbaijan to reach a deal on a new financial goal for how much money rich nations must provide to poorer developing nations in climate finance, the main sticking point in the climate talks. At the G20 summit on Tuesday, when leaders turned their discussion to the environment, Lula urged developing countries to broaden their climate targets to address all emissions that cause global warming, not just from certain sectors or gases. U.S. President Joe Biden told the gathering that developing countries need to have "enough firepower and access to capital" to slow climate change and protect their countries from its effects. That money needed to flow into their economies and give breathing room to debt-laden countries. "History is watching us," Biden said. "I urge us to keep the faith and keep going. This is the single greatest existential threat to humanity." COP29 TALKS At the leaders meeting on Tuesday, Lula proposed the creation of a new council at the United Nations to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. He also criticized developed countries for falling short of a promise to deliver $100 billion of climate financing annually to developing countries by 2020. Lula noted negotiations at COP29 on the new financial goal, which could reach more than a trillion dollars. Those talks, set to conclude on Friday, have bogged down as developed countries call for more countries to contribute toward the goal, while the developing world argues that the rich nations most responsible for climate change need to pay up. The G20 leaders' statement on Monday said nations must break the impasse on finance, but they did not give clear guidance on a solution. "G20 leaders have sent a clear message to their negotiators at COP29: do not leave Baku without a successful new finance goal. This is in every country's clear interests," U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said in a statement responding to the G20 communique. Climate negotiators aim to produce a full draft of a deal for the financial goal by Wednesday evening, said the summit's lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev of Azerbaijan. "We have stepped up the pace," Rafiyev said. "The outcome will only be as good as parties' commitment to help us build solutions." The G20 also committed to agreeing on a legally binding treaty to limit plastic pollution by the end of 2024, with talks resuming next week to hammer out a deal two years in the making. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/g20-leaders-turn-focus-climate-change-rio-summits-last-day-2024-11-19/

2024-11-19 22:26

Tehran has enough material at up to 60% purity for four bombs Offers not to increase its stock beyond current amount Offer conditional on no resolution against Iran, diplomats say Europeans, US pressing ahead with text regardless, they add VIENNA, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Iran has tried in vain to prevent a Western push for a resolution against it at the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board meeting by offering to cap its stock of uranium just shy of weapons grade, the watchdog and diplomats said on Tuesday. One of two confidential International Atomic Energy Agency reports to member states, both seen by Reuters, said Iran had offered not to expand its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, near the roughly 90% of weapons grade, and had made preparations to do that. The offer is conditional, however, on Western powers abandoning their push for a resolution against Iran at this week's quarterly meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors over its lack of cooperation with the IAEA, diplomats said, adding that the push was continuing regardless. During IAEA chief Rafael Grossi's trip to Iran last week, "the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 was discussed," read one of the two quarterly IAEA reports. It added that the IAEA had verified that Iran had "begun implementation of preparatory measures". A senior diplomat added that the pace of enrichment to that level had slowed, a step that is necessary before stopping. Western diplomats dismissed Iran's overture as yet another last-minute attempt to avoid censure at a board meeting, much like a vague pledge of deeper cooperation with the IAEA in March of last year that was never fully implemented. "Stopping enriching to 60%, great, they shouldn't be doing that in the first place as we all know there's no credible civilian use for the 60%," one Western diplomat said, adding: "It's something they could switch back on again easily". Iran's offer was to cap the stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% at around 185 kg, or the amount it had two days ago, a senior diplomat said. That is enough in principle, if enriched further, for four nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. The report said Iran's stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% had grown by 17.6 kg in the past quarter to 182.3 kg as of Oct. 26, also enough for four weapons by that measure. INSPECTORS The second report said Iran had also agreed to consider allowing four more "experienced inspectors" to work in Iran after it barred most of the IAEA's inspectors who are experts in enrichment last year in what the IAEA called a "very serious blow" to its ability to do its job properly in Iran. Diplomats said they could not be the same inspectors that were barred. The reports were delayed by Grossi's trip, during which he hoped to persuade Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian to end a standoff with the IAEA over long-running issues like unexplained uranium traces at undeclared sites and extending IAEA oversight to more areas. The draft resolution backed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States condemning Iran for its poor cooperation with the IAEA would also task the IAEA with issuing a "comprehensive report" on Iran's nuclear activities, diplomats said. There is little doubt the board will pass the resolution, due to be formally submitted on Tuesday evening for a vote later this week. The last resolution against Iran was in June. Only Russia and China opposed it. The aim is to pressure Iran to return to the negotiating table to agree fresh restrictions on its nuclear activities since a 2015 deal with far-ranging curbs fell apart. Although most of its terms have been broken, the deal's "termination day" formally lifting them is in October of next year. It is the last quarterly board meeting before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal in 2018, which prompted its unravelling. It is far from clear if he would back talks with Iran, having pledged instead to again take a more confrontational approach and align Washington even more closely with Iran's arch-foe Israel, which opposed the deal. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-offers-cap-sensitive-uranium-stock-avoid-iaea-resolution-2024-11-19/

2024-11-19 21:47

Nov 20 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Geopolitical jitters rippled through world markets on Tuesday but subsided as the U.S. trading session progressed, allowing for a more positive tone in Asia on Wednesday as investors gear up for Nvidia's earnings announcement later in the day. The local calendar on Wednesday sees the release of South Korean producer price inflation and trade figures from Japan and Taiwan. The latter is sometimes seen as a proxy for global demand as export orders include shipments from TSMC (2330.TW) , opens new tab, the world's leading contract chipmaker, and sales to China. Monetary policy decisions from China and Indonesia are the main regional events. Both central banks are expected to leave rates on hold as policymakers seek to protect their exchange rates and keep their powder dry ahead of possible protectionist trade policies from the new U.S. administration next year. The global backdrop to Wednesday's Asian session looks relatively constructive, if tense. Investors will be on their guard after the rapid escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine. After two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday that the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks. This pushed global stocks into the red and sparked a spike in volatility on Tuesday - the S&P 500 VIX 'fear index' of implied U.S. equity volatility briefly popped up to its highest level since the Nov. 5 presidential election. But the angst subsided. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended in the green, volatility and Treasury yields eased, and the U.S. dollar was little changed, making for a much more favorable backdrop for Asia on Wednesday. Attention now turns to Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, and analysts are hopeful the world's largest company will deliver again. The firm is expected by Wall Street to report a 82.8% increase in revenue to $33.125 billion in the August-October period, from $18.12 billion a year ago, according LSEG data. Back in Asia, the People's Bank of China is expected to leave benchmark lending rates unchanged on Wednesday, as last month's rate cut squeezes banks' profits and the yuan comes under fresh pressure with Donald Trump's return to the White House next year. All 28 market watchers in a Reuters poll think the PBOC's one-year and five-year loan prime rates will be left on hold at 3.10% and 3.60%, respectively. Bank Indonesia will also leave its seven-day reverse repo rate unchanged, at 6.00%, according to 25 of 34 survey respondents. Some of them revised their previous calls for a rate cut, and money markets now only expect a one-in-five chance of a cut next month. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Wednesday: - China interest rate decision - Indonesia interest rate decision - Japan trade (October) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-2024-11-19/