2024-10-28 23:24

LAS VEGAS/WASHINGTON Oct 28 (Reuters) - Gary Gensler, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said on Monday that he would continue his work to protect investors after threats of firing and calls for his dismissal from prominent Republicans and Democrats as the Nov. 5 presidential election approaches. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Gensler's remarks so close to the presidential election show he is confronting the new political power of the cryptocurrency industry, which has spent heavily to influence the outcome of November's vote and garnered support among key demographics. KEY QUOTE "Democracies have consequences, but we're going to continue to do that which we do well at the SEC until, as I say, the ref calls the whistle," Gensler told a Las Vegas financial technology convention. "Traditionally, presidents decide who chairs the SEC. That's a good part of democracy." CONTEXT Republican former President Donald Trump has pledged to fire Gensler should he take office while crypto industry supporters of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris have also called for Gensler's ouster in a new administration, according to Bloomberg. Gensler was appointed to head the SEC by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2021. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/wall-street-regulator-pledges-press-amid-trump-threats-political-pressure-2024-10-28/

2024-10-28 23:23

Boeing falls 2.8% on stock offering Small-cap Russell 2000 rises 1.63% 169 S&P 500 companies to report this week Indexes up: Dow, 0.65%, S&P 0.27%, Nasdaq 0.26% Oct 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed higher on Monday ahead of a packed week of earnings from megacap companies and the final stretch before the Nov. 5 presidential election, while sentiment improved after energy supplies were not disrupted by weekend developments in the Middle East. Israel's response over the weekend to an Iranian missile attack this month focused, so far, on missile factories and other sites near Tehran, rather than on refineries or nuclear targets. Wall Street was focused on the week ahead, notably corporate results, with around 169 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report through the week. That includes the bulk of the "Magnificent Seven" group of megacap technology stocks that have driven Wall Street to all-time highs. Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab, Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab rose ahead of results this week. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 15.4 points, or 0.27%, to 5,823.52, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 48.58 points, or 0.26%, to 18,567.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 273.17 points, or 0.65%, to 42,387.57 Last week, Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company. Investors will look out for AI spending guidance in tech earnings this week. "The earnings will be important for the guidance that the companies give as to what sort of capital expenditure programs they may implement in the coming year," said Paul Christopher, head of Global Investment Strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) , opens new tab also report earnings this week. The small-cap Russell 2000 (.RUT) , opens new tab jumped 1.63% today, outperforming major indexes. "This could be the market looking ahead to a soft landing and expecting small caps to be first out of the gate as they typically are," Christopher said. "It could also be some element related to the Trump trade but it's very difficult to disentangle those two." The energy sector (.SPNY) , opens new tab fell 0.65% as crude prices plunged 5% on easing supply worries, while financial company shares <.SPSY> led sectoral gains. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.88-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 147 new highs and 41 new lows on the NYSE. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 101 new highs and 67 new lows. Economic data due this week will be crucial for assessment of Federal Reserve policy, most notably Thursday's Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Focus will also be on the U.S. presidential election, with markets more broadly pricing in a second Donald Trump administration, though the election is expected to be close. Boeing's (BA.N) , opens new tab shares dipped 2.8% after the planemaker launched a stock offering that could raise up to $22 billion in a bid to shore up its finances amid an ongoing worker strike. Industrial conglomerate 3M (MMM.N) , opens new tab jumped 4.4%, giving a boost to the Dow, after JP Morgan hiked its price target on the company's shares. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-march-higher-markets-await-megacap-earnings-us-election-2024-10-28/

2024-10-28 23:10

SEOUL, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A voting board member at South Korea's central bank said she is not concerned about dollar liquidity conditions in the dollar-won market, Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday. "It isn't appropriate to assess the level but as for forex liquidity conditions, I'm not so worried," Lee Soo-hyung told reporters in Washington DC on Oct. 24, according to Yonhap. The won has weakened nearly 8% against the dollar this year. It last touched the psychological threshold of 1,400 in mid-April. Lee said she was also "surprised" by South Korea's weaker-than-expected third quarter economic growth, but explained there could be temporary factors behind the figures. South Korea's economy barely grew in the third quarter as consumer spending showed signs of recovery but exports declined, raising the chances for more stimulus to support growth. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/bank-korea-board-member-says-dollar-liquidity-not-worrying-media-reports-2024-10-28/

2024-10-28 22:33

SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Oil giant Petrobras' oil output in Brazil was down 8.2% year-on-year in the third quarter, to 2.13 million barrels per day (bpd), the state-controlled company said on Monday. Petrobras also posted a 6.5% decrease in total production in the period, to 2.69 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). Output from the firm's pre-salt fields, an oil-rich offshore region off the country's southeastern Atlantic coast, fell 2.7%, adding up to a decrease in production on Petrobras' other fields. According to Oil giant, total sales in the period were down 3.2% year-on-year, to 2.97 million bpd, while exports fell 2.3%, to 804,000 bpd. Meanwhile, 41% of the company's oil exports went to China, marginally up from 40% a year earlier, but down from 50% in the second quarter of 2024. Europe accounted for 32% of Petrobras' exports in the third quarter, stable from a year earlier. Latin America decreased its share from 13% to 7% in the period. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/brazils-petrobras-posts-65-fall-q3-total-production-2024-10-28/

2024-10-28 21:46

Oct 29 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Investors in Asia could be forgiven for going into Tuesday's session with a high degree of trepidation, as markets get pulled by a plethora of local and global forces in all sorts of directions. Rare political instability continues to weigh on Japan's markets after Sunday's inconclusive general election, while Chinese markets digest yet another push from the People's Bank of China to inject liquidity into the financial system. The global backdrop is looking unnerving too. Optimism around the U.S. megacap tech earnings this week and oil's 6% slide on Monday are boosting risk appetite, but the relentless rise in U.S. bond yields and looming U.S. election warrant caution. Something may have to give: Do the Treasury market bears and equity bulls retreat, or not? And if they do, what will the catalyst be? It's not clear. What is clear is that the rise in U.S. bond yields shows no sign of slowing, much less reversing. Not yet, anyway. Yields hit new multi-month highs on Monday, with the $139 billion sale of two- and five-year debt also putting downward pressure on prices. The 10-year yield touched 4.30% and is now up 64 basis points since the Fed cut rates on Sept. 18. According to Jim Bianco at Bianco Research, that is the biggest rise following the first cut in a Fed easing cycle since 1989. Despite that, Wall Street rose on Monday, providing bulls in Asia with some encouragement. Tuesday's Asian calendar includes unemployment data from Japan and Singapore, and minutes of the Bank of Korea's policy meeting this month, when it cut rates for the first time in over four years. Thailand's finance minister and central bank governor will discuss next year's inflation target. In Japan, swaps market pricing shows 'no change' from the Bank of Japan on Thursday is a near certainty. Six basis points of rate hikes are priced in for December's meeting, and only 35 bps in total by the end of next year. That would be a very gradual tightening cycle. Set against a more hawkish Fed in a U.S. 'soft' or 'no landing' scenario, the yen's upside may be limited. U.S. rates traders continue to pare back Fed expectations - only 120 bps of easing now priced in by the end of next year, down 15 bps in the last few days. Little wonder the dollar is on course for its best month since April 2022. Officials in China, meanwhile, will be hoping investors warm to the PBOC's new lending tool, which could inject liquidity into the market ahead of the expiration of nearly 3 trillion yuan, or $406 billion, in loans at the end of the year. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - Japan unemployment (September) - South Korea central bank minutes - Thai finance minister and central bank chief speak Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-2024-10-28/

2024-10-28 21:27

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Utility firm NextEra Energy (NEE.N) , opens new tab said on Monday it intends to raise $1.5 billion through the sale of equity units to fund new projects. Utility firms across the United States are ramping up investments in power projects to meet an expected spike in demand, fueled by artificial intelligence data centers. The fund raise would be the second such initiative by the company this year, primarily to invest in its energy and power projects. NextEra, which owns the world's largest renewables business and one of the biggest U.S. regulated electric utilities, reported a backlog of 24 gigawatts (GW) in the third quarter for its renewable arm. The company said on Monday that each equity unit, issued in a stated amount of $50, will consist of a contract to buy NextEra's common stock in three years in cash and based on a range from zero to 25% premium, compared to the closing price of Oct. 28. NextEra shares closed up 1.8% at $82.87 on Monday but dropped 2.4% after the bell. The unit offering would also include 5% undivided beneficial ownership interest in a NextEra Energy Capital Holdings debt, due on Nov. 1, 2029, to be issued in the principal amount of $1,000, the company added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nextera-plans-raise-15-billion-fund-energy-projects-2024-10-28/