2024-08-09 23:02
All three major indexes gain for the day Expedia rises after Q2 profit beat Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P 500 up 0.5%, Nasdaq up 0.5% NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended higher on Friday and was little changed for the week after regaining almost all of its losses since Monday's steep dive that was prompted by fears of a recession and unwinding of a global yen-funded carry trade. The technology sector (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab gave the index its biggest boost on Friday, and the Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX) , opens new tab, Wall Street's "fear gauge," fell after surging at the start of the week. Monday's big decline followed a sharp sell-off last week as a weaker-than-expected July jobs report sparked recession fears, and investors unwound currency carry trade positions involving the Japanese yen. "Investors are trying to find evidence of a bottom," said Robert Phipps, a director at Per Stirling Capital Management in Austin, Texas. On Thursday, Federal Reserve policymakers expressed confidence that inflation was cooling enough to allow rate cuts ahead, and said they will take their cues on the size and timing of those cuts from the economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 51.05 points, or 0.13%, to 39,497.54, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 24.85 points, or 0.47%, to 5,344.16 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab added 85.28 points, or 0.51%, to 16,745.30. For the week, the S&P 500 was down 0.05%, the Dow was down 0.6% and the Nasdaq was down 0.2%. "There is going to continue to be a significant amount of uncertainty and anxiety hanging over the market for the course of the next month until we get to the next Fed meeting," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. The Fed is expected to cut rates at its next policy meeting on Sept. 17-18, but traders are weighing whether a 25 or 50 basis point reduction is more likely. Traders are currently pricing in a 51% probability of a 50 basis point cut, and 49% odds of a 25 basis point reduction, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool. Investors also await next week's readings on U.S. consumer prices and retail sales for July, which could provide fresh evidence on the chances of a soft landing for the American economy. Even after recent selling, all three major indexes remain solidly higher for the year, with big gains early in 2024 driven by strong earnings in tech-related megacaps and optimism over artificial intelligence. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are now each up about 12% since Dec. 31, and the selloff has made tech stocks less expensive based on price-to-earnings ratios. Among individual gainers Friday, videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO.O) , opens new tab climbed 4.4% as it expects net bookings to grow in fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Expedia (EXPE.O) , opens new tab also advanced 10.2% after the online travel agency beat analysts' expectations for second-quarter profit. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.13 billion shares, compared with the 12.59 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.39-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.14-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 52 new highs and 159 new lows. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-rise-dovish-fed-comments-after-jobs-data-2024-08-09/
2024-08-09 20:59
Aug 9 (Reuters) - China-based autonomous driving startup WeRide said on Friday it was seeking a valuation of as much as $5.02 billion in its initial public offering in the United States. The IPO announcement comes at a time when the Biden administration is expected to propose barring Chinese software in autonomous vehicles in the United States in the coming weeks. Self-driving technology remains experimental with robotaxi companies facing technical and regulatory hurdles. China, however, has moved aggressively to green-light trials compared to the United States. WeRide, known for autonomous taxis, vans, buses and street sweepers, is aiming to raise as much as $119.4 million in the IPO by offering 6.45 million American depositary shares at a price range of $15.50 and $18.50 per share. Certain investors have also agreed to purchase shares worth $320.5 million in WeRide in a concurrent private placement, subject to the IPO's completion. Such investors include Alliance Ventures BV — the venture capital fund of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance — and JSC International Investment Fund SPC, among others. German automotive supplier Robert Bosch GmbH has indicated an interest in purchasing WeRide shares worth up to $100 million sold in the IPO. WeRide, founded in 2017, develops autonomous driving technologies and is testing and conducting commercial pilots in 30 cities across seven countries. It would be the second major China-based company to seek U.S. listing this year. In May, electric-vehicle maker Zeekr (ZK.N) , opens new tab debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and is trading 35.6% below its offer price. Chinese IPOs in the U.S. had dried up in the past couple of years after ride-hailing giant Didi Global was forced to delist in 2022 following backlash from Chinese regulators. WeRide reported a net loss of 881.7 million Chinese yuan ($123.04 million) for the six months ended June 30, compared with 723.1 million yuan a year earlier. Revenue was 150.3 million yuan for the period, compared with 182.9 million yuan a year earlier. WeRide would list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "WRD". Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and China International Capital Corp are lead underwriters for the IPO. ($1 = 7.1660 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/chinese-robotaxi-firm-weride-seeks-raise-up-1194-mln-us-ipo-2024-08-09/
2024-08-09 20:35
WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday that it settled fraud charges against Ideanomics Inc., its CEO and two former executives for misleading financial reporting and disclosure practices between 2017 and 2019. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/sec-says-its-settled-fraud-charges-against-ideanomics-current-former-executives-2024-08-09/
2024-08-09 20:21
NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Leveraged funds' position on the Japanese yen shrank to the smallest net short stance since February 2023 in the latest week, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and LSEG data released on Friday showed. The net position for leveraged funds - typically hedge funds and various types of money managers, including commodity trading advisors (CTAs) - was short by 24,158 contracts, compared with a net short position of about 70,000 contracts in the previous week, data as of Aug. 6 showed. That's the largest change in weekly net positioning in the yen by leveraged funds since March 2011, LSEG data showed. "This week marked the culmination of the largest yen short squeeze in 17 years, with leveraged funds and other speculators unwinding bets against the currency at the fastest monthly pace since August 2007," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at payments company Corpay. "To paraphrase Mike Tyson, everyone has a plan until the yen punches them in the mouth," he said, referring to the American boxer. Global stock and bond markets, in particular Japan's, were rocked this week by an unwinding of the hugely popular yen carry trade. That trade, which involves borrowing yen at a low cost to invest in other currencies and assets offering higher yields, is being wrecked by Japan's rate increases, a volatile yen and imminent rate cuts in the United States and other economies. The U.S. dollar has fallen 9% against the yen over the past month. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/leveraged-funds-slash-yen-short-positions-cftc-lseg-data-say-2024-08-09/
2024-08-09 20:10
Aug 9 (Reuters) - Speculators raised their net short bets on five-year Treasuries to the largest on record in the latest week, while bearish bets on 10-year Treasury futures were the largest since February, according to data by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday. Net short bets on five-year note futures grew to 1,688,076 contracts in the week ending August 6, up from 1,656,038 the previous week . Short bets on 10-year note futures rose to 776,208 contracts, from 728,470, the data showed. Bearish positions on interest rate sensitive two-year Treasury futures also rose to 1,105,211 contracts, from 1,103,672 the prior week . The data is for the week ending Tuesday, a day after Treasury yields fell to more than one-year lows. This came on U.S. economic concerns sparked by a weaker employment report for July and due to a stock market rout caused in part by the unwind of popular dollar/yen carry trades. Yields have since rebounded as fears of the U.S. economy entering an imminent recession were seen as overdone, while much of the unwind from the dollar/yen trades is seen as being completed. Other data showed that net short bets on U.S. bonds increased to 57,855 contracts from 45,919. and U.S. Long T-bonds short bets fell to 376,662 contracts from 417,046 . Below is a table of the speculative positions in Treasury futures on the Chicago Board of Trade in the latest week: U.S. 2-year T-notes (Contracts of $200,000) U.S. 5-year T-notes (Contracts of $100,000) U.S. 10-year T-notes (Contracts of $100,000) U.S. T-bonds (Contracts of $100,000) U.S. Long T-bonds (Contracts of $100,000) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/short-bets-five-year-treasury-futures-largest-record-cftc-says-2024-08-09/
2024-08-09 20:08
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 9 (Reuters) - An oilseed workers strike in Argentina is set to carry on into Saturday as wage negotiations with firms remained stalled, affecting shipments from one of the world's major grain exporters. At least 36 ships loaded with grains remained delayed on Friday near the key agricultural port of Rosario, according to an industry spokesperson and unions. Two industrial unions kicked off the strike early on Tuesday as workers demand that salaries stay ahead of high inflation. In a statement late Friday, the two unions said they had "decreed to extend the strike for another 24 hours due to the intransigence of the companies involved." "So far we have no news, we have no proposals of any kind," Daniel Succi, leader of the San Lorenzo Department Oilseed Workers and Employees Union (SOEA) told Reuters earlier. The strike mainly affects terminals located north of Rosario along the Parana River, where more than 80% of Argentina's agricultural and agro-industrial exports are shipped. President of the CIARA oilseed industry chamber, Gustavo Idigoras, told Reuters that the companies he represents were willing to negotiate on condition that the strike ends. "We are ready to sit down to negotiate, as soon as the measures are lifted," Idigoras said. Government representatives did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the industrial action. While the rate of rising consumer prices has slowed since President Javier Milei took office in December, accumulated inflation in the first half of this year still stood at 79%, official figures showed. Yearly inflation stands at 271.5%. "The situation remains unchanged and there are approximately 36 vessels delayed," said Guillermo Wade, head of the Ports and Maritime Activities Chamber. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-grains-workers-strike-could-continue-beyond-friday-2024-08-09/
