2025-11-11 21:22
Paramount Skydance gains on cost-cut, investment plans Japan's SoftBank offloads Nvidia shares CoreWeave drops after trimming annual revenue forecast S&P 500 +0.21%, Nasdaq -0.25%, Dow +1.18% Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a record high close on Tuesday, lifted by progress toward ending the longest U.S. government shutdown, while Nvidia and other artificial intelligence-related companies fell on renewed concerns about elevated valuations. Fueling gains in the Dow and S&P 500 index, members of the U.S. House of Representatives headed back to Washington after a 53-day break for a vote that could end the shutdown, with the Polymarket betting platform fully pricing in a resolution this week. Sign up here. "Expectations are that the shutdown is over. ... People will get back to work, economic data will be released once again and uncertainty will be behind us," said CFRA Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall. Adding to jitters about AI-related stocks that have fueled the market's rally in recent years, Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group (9984.T) , opens new tab disclosed its sale of Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab shares for $5.8 billion, and the chipmaker lost almost 3% in Tuesday's trading. Nvidia-backed CoreWeave's (CRWV.O) , opens new tab shares slumped over 16% after the cloud computing firm trimmed its annual revenue forecast due to data center hiccups. Sentiment was dampened by a weekly update of ADP's preliminary payroll figures showing that private employers shed an average of 11,250 jobs a week for the four weeks ended October 25. U.S. President Donald Trump warned of an economic and national security disaster if the Supreme Court ruled against his use of an emergency powers law to impose sweeping tariffs. The S&P 500 climbed 0.21% to end at 6,846.61 points. The Nasdaq declined 0.25% to 23,468.30 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18% to 47,927.96 points. The Dow has gained almost 13% in 2025, lagging the S&P 500's 16% rise and the Nasdaq's nearly 22% increase. Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by health care (.SPXHC) , opens new tab, up 2.33% and lifted by gains of more than 2% each in Eli Lilly (LLY.N) , opens new tab, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) , opens new tab and AbbVie (ABBV.N) , opens new tab. Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) , opens new tab edged up 0.1% after the shale producer beat third-quarter profit expectations. Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O) , opens new tab surged almost 10% after the newly merged media firm announced more cost cuts and plans to invest $1.5 billion in its streaming and studio divisions. Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) , opens new tab by a 2.2-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 30 new highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 104 new highs and 128 new lows. U.S. bond markets were closed for the Veterans Day holiday. Volume on U.S. exchanges was light, with 15.3 billion shares traded, compared with an average of 20.8 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-futures-retreat-tech-concerns-resurface-federal-reopening-awaited-2025-11-11/
2025-11-11 21:16
Nov 11 (Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it expects flat production growth in 2026 and spending to fall below current-year levels, as crude prices slide. U.S. shale producers are weathering a global oil slump, with prices hovering in the low $60-per-barrel range, pressured by OPEC+ output hikes and slowing global demand. Benchmark Brent crude has fallen about 12.7% so far this year. Sign up here. Occidental expects 2026 production to be flat to up 2%, driven primarily by unconventional Permian operations, Chief Financial Officer Sunil Mathew said on a conference call, a day after the company beat third-quarter profit expectations on higher output. Unconventional resources are hydrocarbons tightly trapped inside layers of rock and can only be accessed using advanced techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The company forecasts 2026 capital expenditure between $6.3 billion and $6.7 billion, compared with its 2025 projection of $7.1 billion to $7.3 billion. Occidental plans to invest up to $400 million in U.S. onshore operations in 2026, primarily located in the Permian Basin and the Rockies region. Allocating more capital to such projects is likely to provide it greater flexibility if macro conditions worsen, Mathew said. The company also intends to increase investment in the "Gulf of America", referring to the Gulf of Mexico, and Oman by $250 million, while reducing allocation to its low-carbon portfolio. Additionally, Mathew said Occidental remains focused on cutting its debt load, built up after big-ticket acquisitions of Anadarko Petroleum and CrownRock, while boosting shareholder returns. "We will be opportunistic with the share repurchase program ... we plan to resume the redemption of the preferred (shares) in August 2029," Mathew said. Shares of the company closed up marginally at $41.85. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/occidental-petroleum-forecasts-flat-production-lower-spending-2026-2025-11-11/
2025-11-11 21:11
BRASILIA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed on Tuesday a decree seeking to lower intermediation costs in the country's multi-billion-real meal voucher market, which will cap card processor fees and shorten settlement periods. Meal and food vouchers move about 170 billion reais ($31.46 billion) annually in Brazil under the Worker Food Program (PAT), created in 1976 to grant tax benefits to companies providing meals to formal employees, covering more than 22 million workers. Sign up here. Four companies - Ticket-owner Edenred (EDEN.PA) , opens new tab, Sodexo operator Pluxee (PLX.PA) , opens new tab, and privately-owned Alelo and VR - currently control about 85% of the market in Latin America's largest economy. The government so far has refrained from enforcing previous legislation that would effectively open the sector to greater competition. Starting in 90 days, a cap of 3.6% will apply to the merchant discount rate (MDR), the fee charged to merchants per transaction, according to Lula's decree. Government estimates seen by Reuters show that restaurants currently pay about 8% more on meal voucher transactions than on credit card sales. The Lula administration also set a maximum settlement period of 15 days for these transactions, compared with contracts that typically required payment after 30 days. Both measures had been under discussion for months. The move follows a 2022 law intended to liberalize the sector, which remains largely unregulated. That law introduced "interoperability," allowing vouchers from different brands to be accepted on the same card machines. The government said that under Lula's decree, this rule will take effect within a year. Another provision of that law, "portability," which would let workers transfer meal credits to providers of their choice, remains stalled. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-caps-fees-shortens-payment-terms-billion-dollar-meal-voucher-market-2025-11-11/
2025-11-11 19:53
Palestinians struggle without power Some use solar charging points Gaza needed 600 megawatts before the war, now receives none GAZA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Palestinian mother Hanan al-Joujou, 31, has to feed her three children in the dark with a flashlight as there is no electricity in Gaza even after last month's Israel-Hamas ceasefire. When they cannot afford to charge the flashlight, they go without food. Sign up here. "We stay in the darkness - once the sun sets and the Maghrib prayer is called," al-Joujou said, referring to the Muslim sunset devotion. "If the light of the flashlight is available, we light it. If not, we go to sleep without dinner or light." Her family has been without electricity since war broke out more than two years ago, relying on candles when first displaced to the city of Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave. Eventually they gave up even that, fearing a fire hazard in their tent. "We tried a simple LED light, but it broke. We do not have the money to fix it. We tried to get a battery, but it's expensive and unavailable," al-Joujou said. Before the war, Gaza mainly depended on imported electricity from Israel though supplies were shaky. It received 120 megawatts from Israel while the enclave's lone power plant supplied another 60 MW, according to Gaza officials. Shortly after October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants triggered the war by attacking south Israel, killing 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies, Israel put Gaza under "total siege". Electricity went out in Gaza after its power station ran out of fuel within days. In response to questions for this article, the Israeli military said civilian infrastructure, including electrify facilities, were not military targets “in and of themselves” and that it took measure to minimize harm to “civilians and civilian structures”, while also asserting that Hamas operated from within civilian areas. Now in a displacement camp in central Gaza's Nuseirat neighbourhood, most family activities end when the sun goes down. Al-Joujou's children also use a flashlight for homework when possible to charge it. "We barely have enough money to get by in our daily lives," added Hanan's husband Ahmed, 35. Some residents run charging points, supplied by solar power or private generators given how the war has destroyed Gaza's electrical grid and cables. Mohammed al-Hor's family have run one such charging business using solar power. They set it up at their own home which was hit by an Israeli strike. "The charging point was also bombed, and my brother was martyred inside," the 32-year-old said. PUNISHMENT In March of this year, Israeli minister Eli Cohen said he instructed the Electric Corporation to not sell electricity to Gaza as a punitive measure against Hamas. But even after the ceasefire, restoring power to Gaza — which has been reduced to ruins by Israeli bombardment — would require a massive infrastructure rebuild. The war has already destroyed more than 80% of the enclave's electricity distribution networks, with initial estimated losses to infrastructure and machinery amounting to $728 million, the media director of Gaza's electricity company told Reuters. "For the past two years, no electricity has reached the Gaza Strip. The amount of electricity reaching Gaza is zero," Mohammed Thabet told Reuters, saying pre-war needs were 600 megawatts. COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into the Gaza Strip, said Israel is fully committed to its obligation to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid trucks, which include fuel supplies for electricity, in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement. COGAT added that the Kela power line from Israel was connected to support two desalination facilities. In July 2024, Israel also connected a power line to a U.N.-managed desalination plant in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis to provide additional drinking water to Palestinian residents. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-families-still-without-electricity-despite-ceasefire-2025-11-11/
2025-11-11 19:32
Bank of England softens stablecoin stance with new proposals Silicon Valley Bank, Circle Withdrawals guided latest proposals Holding limits for stablecoins will 'halve stress' on banks LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden on Tuesday warned that further diluting rules for stablecoins risked endangering financial stability and causing a credit crunch, and said that the UK needed a different approach to the United States. The Bank of England on Monday set out a raft of new rules for systemic stablecoins - digital tokens designed to keep a constant value - used for payments. It marked a softening of its earlier approach, but the crypto industry said it did not go far enough and could inhibit the growth of stablecoins in Britain. Sign up here. Those rules include limiting stablecoin holdings to 20,000 pounds ($26,840) per person - which no other major jurisdiction does - and requiring stablecoin issuers to hold 40% of the assets backing the coins with the BoE, where they would be unremunerated. NEW RULES GROUNDED IN PAST STRESS EVENTS In an interview with Reuters, Breeden said the 40% figure was "grounded" in past stress events when depositors and coinholders ran for the exit, such as the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and when the USDC stablecoin, issued by Circle (CRCL.N) , opens new tab, lost its dollar peg. "Look at what happened with SVB, with Circle – those numbers are broadly in line with that. That’s why we’re proposing 40% rather than a smaller number," she said. Breeden also defended the 20,000 pound limit for individuals and 10 million pounds for most companies, saying they would be temporary and "halve the stress" on banks and credit creation caused by customers withdrawing bank deposits to buy stablecoins. Whereas the U.S. has a much larger, more liquid market for non-bank finance, about 85% of mortgages and other consumer borrowing comes from bank finance in Britain, Breeden noted. DIFFERENT SET OF RISKS IN UK VERSUS US "We have a different set of risks to manage as we transition to bringing in this new form of money," Breeden said. The United States' embrace of cryptocurrencies under President Donald Trump is forcing other countries to assess if they remain competitive. Breeden declined to elaborate on when caps would be lifted, but said that if stablecoins gain traction, the BoE would expect banks to adapt and develop wholesale funding sources to replace lost deposits. The BoE’s latest proposals mark a shift from a 2023 plan that would have required issuers to hold 100% of backing assets as unremunerated deposits at the central bank, which the industry said would have made the stablecoin sector unviable. The industry has indicated it would push the BoE to go further on backing assets and holding limits. Breeden told Reuters the Bank was open to further feedback. The BoE said on Monday it would finalise the regime next year, in line with the United States. The BoE will regulate only systemic stablecoins that can be used for everyday payments, while the Financial Conduct Authority will oversee non-systemic ones used for crypto trading under a lighter regime. CONSUMERS NEED TO KNOW WHICH COINS ARE NOT SAFE The stablecoin market is dominated by two dollar-based issuers: Tether, which moved its headquarters to El Salvador in January, and Circle, based in the United States. As major financial centres move to set guardrails for the fast-growing technology, Breeden said there was "more work to do" on coins issued in jurisdictions such as El Salvador to ensure "people in the UK know which are safe and which are not." She did not identify Tether by name. ($1 = 0.7451 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/bank-englands-breeden-says-diluting-stablecoin-rules-further-could-damage-2025-11-11/
2025-11-11 19:19
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian engineering group Novonor is close to reaching an agreement to sell most of its controlling stake in petrochemical firm Braskem to IG4 Capital, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Sao Paulo-listed Braskem shares soared more than 17% on Tuesday following a Bloomberg News report on the potential deal, making it the biggest gainer on the benchmark stock index Bovespa (.BVSP) , opens new tab, which rose 1.5%. Sign up here. According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Braskem's two largest shareholders, conglomerate Novonor and state-run oil firm Petrobras (PETR3.SA) , opens new tab, are negotiating with asset manager IG4, and a deal could be finalized in the next few days. Under the potential deal, IG4 would fully acquire Novonor's debt while the conglomerate would retain a small stake in Braskem, according to two of the sources. In a call with journalists to discuss the firm's third-quarter results, Braskem executives declined to provide comment on the matter, and said they were not participating in any ongoing negotiations. Novonor currently holds 50.1% of Braskem's voting shares and 38.3% of its total shares, while Petrobras owns 47.0% of voting shares and 36.1% of total shares. Reuters reported in August that IG4's talks with key stakeholders had progressed since the firm signed exclusive rights to acquire billions of reais of Novonor's debt from Brazil's largest banks, including state development bank BNDES. A deal between the firms could also resolve the outstanding debt hanging over Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht, which ballooned during the Car Wash corruption scandal about a decade ago, when the group pledged its Braskem shares as collateral for 15 billion reais in bank loans. The debt has since grown to close to 20 billion reais. A new controlling shareholder - and a potential injection of fresh capital - could breathe new life into Braskem, which has struggled with tight margins in the petrochemical business and lingering liabilities from neighborhoods damaged by its salt-mining operations under the northeastern city of Maceio. Braskem reported on Tuesday a 26 million reais ($4.81 million) net loss for the July-September period, narrower than the 592 million reais net loss reported a year earlier. ($1 = 5.4039 reais) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/novonor-close-deal-sell-braskem-shares-ig4-say-sources-2025-11-11/
