PRE-OPEN
Canadian futures are flat ahead of the Bank of Canada rate decision scheduled on Wednesday. U.S. stock index futures edged higher, while the U.S. dollar dipped as investors awaited crucial March inflation reading due tomorrow. European shares fell in anticipation of the ECB’s monetary policy decision this week. Gains in chip-related stocks pushed Japan’s Nikkei higher as a weaker yen boosted sentiment. Oil prices rose on supply concerns from the Middle East and Mexico. Gold continued its rally for the eight consecutive session

 

Euro STOXX 50 futures were down 9 points at 4,991, FTSE futures lost 0.5 point to 7,958.5, and German DAX futures dropped 30 points at 18,532, by 0430 GMT.

Industrial metals prices extended their gains with expectations of a worldwide manufacturing rebound, while Asian shares crept up a little more cautiously ahead of this week’s U.S. inflation data and a crucial European Central Bank meeting.

Oil prices rose after hopes diminished that negotiations between Israel and Hamas would lead to a ceasefire in Gaza and ease tension in the Middle East.

S&P 500 Index Mini Futures: 5,256; up 0.05%; 2.75 points
DJIA Mini Futures: 39,214; down 0.01%; 5 points
Nikkei: 39,684.76; up 0.86%; 337.72 points
MSCI Asia, Ex-JP: 541.98; up 0.68%; 3.68 points
EUR/USD: $1.0858; down 0.01%; 0.0002 point
GBP/USD: $1.2657; up 0.01%; 0.0001 point
USD/JPY: 151.89 yen; up 0.05%; 0.08 point
Spot Gold: $2,344.50; up 0.24%; $5.61
U.S. Crude: $86.57; up 0.16%; $0.14
Brent Crude: $90.59; up 0.23%; $0.21
10-Yr U.S. Treasury Yield: 4.4098%; down 0.014 point
10-Yr Bund Yield: 2.4340%; down 0.006 point

 

 

Markets were little changed yesterday as treasuries rose ahead of a key inflation report this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell just 0.03% and the S&P 500 ticked down 0.04%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.03%. The rate on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose about 4 basis points to 4.42%. Investors are waiting for March’s consumer price index report on Wednesday as the latest gauge on inflation. CPI is expected to show an increase of 0.3% last month, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

Applied Materials Inc: The largest maker of semiconductor equipment in the U.S. may postpone or abandon its plans to build a $4 billion research and development facility in Silicon Valley due to a lack of government funding, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday citing sources familiar with the matter. The Biden administration said last month it would scrap plans to fund the program from the $52.7 billion Chips and Science Act due to “overwhelming demand” for funding awards to subsidize chip production. Applied Materials did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Blackstone Inc: The company is closing in on a deal to take Hong Kong-listed skincare company L’Occitane International SA private, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The $5.55-billion French cosmetics company halted trading in its Hong Kong shares earlier in the day ahead of a likely announcement spelling out details on any takeover plans. The U.S. private equity giant may join hands with L’Occitane’s billionaire owner Reinold Geiger, according to the report. Blackstone has been exploring a deal with L’Occitane, but the structure of the deal is not immediately clear, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, requesting anonymity as the information was private. Blackstone declined to comment, while L’Occitane could not be immediately reached.

Bloom Energy Corp: The fuel-cell manufacturer will receive up to $75 million in federal tax credits for its manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, the company said on Monday as it looks to expand capacity. The funding is part of the $4 billion tax credits recently unveiled by the Biden Administration to speed up domestic clean energy manufacturing and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at industrial facilities. “These funds will enable us to invest in the operational efficiency of our Fremont facility and accelerate the expansion of our stack capacity,” said CEO KR Sridhar. Bloom’s Fremont plant, which opened in 2022, can produce more than 1 gigawatt annual output, equivalent to the capacity of adding a nuclear power plant every year, according to the company.

Boeing Co: The global airline industry is facing a summer squeeze, with travel demand expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels while aircraft deliveries drop sharply due to production problems at Boeing and Airbus. Air carriers are spending billions on repairs to keep flying older, less fuel-efficient jets, and paying a premium to secure aircraft from lessors. But some carriers are still being forced to trim their schedules to cope with the lack of available planes. At the same time, the number of travelers globally is set to hit historic levels, with 4.7 billion people expected to travel in 2024 compared with 4.5 billion in 2019. Passenger carriers will receive 19% fewer aircraft this year than they expected because of production issues at Boeing and Airbus, said Martha Neubauer, senior associate at AeroDynamic Advisory. U.S. carriers will receive 32% fewer aircraft than planned a year ago because several airlines depend on Boeing’s 737 MAX planes, Neubauer said. Boeing’s production has been curbed after a January mid-air panel blowout.  Airlines are spending 30% more on aircraft leases than before the pandemic, said John Heimlich, chief economist at Airlines for America (A4A) that represents major U.S. carriers.

Chevron Corp: The U.S. energy company has quit the Yadana natural gas field in Myanmar, a spokesperson said on Monday, more than two years after it condemned violence and human rights abuses there and announced it would leave.  Rather than being sold, Chevron’s 41.1% stake in the gas field was redistributed to the remaining shareholders, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production and state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). PTTEP, operator of the gas field, said on Friday its stake in Yadana had increased to 62.96%. “The withdrawal gives effect to our intention to exit Myanmar in a controlled and orderly manner, following the February 2021 coup, and ongoing humanitarian crisis,” a Chevron spokesperson said. 

Microsoft Corp: The tech giant will invest about $2.9 billion over the next two years to boost its artificial intelligence (AI) business in Japan, the Nikkei newspaper reported citing the company president. The U.S. tech firm will announce the plans soon when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits the United States, the Nikkei said in its interview with Microsoft President Brad Smith. Under the plan, Microsoft will install advanced AI semiconductors at two existing facilities in eastern and western Japan, the report said. The company also plans to announce an AI-related reskilling program in Japan to train 3 million workers over three years, and to set up a new lab in Tokyo for research and development on robotics and AI, the report said.

Pfizer Inc: The drugmaker said its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Abrysvo was well tolerated and generated an immune response in higher risk adults under the age of 60 similar to that in older adults, for whom the shot is already approved. Pfizer said it plans to submit its findings from the trial to seek expanded approval of the vaccine in adults ages 18 to 59, but did not give a time frame for when it expects the data to be considered by regulators. Pfizer did not say whether it expects to be able to expand Abrysvo’s label in time for the 2024-25 respiratory virus season.

Southwest Gas Holdings Inc: The company’s Centuri Holdings unit said on Monday it is seeking a valuation of up to $1.8 billion in its initial public offering in the United States. Centuri, which builds and maintains energy networks that power millions of homes and businesses across the U.S. and Canada, said it plans to raise about $260.4 million by offering 12.4 million shares priced between $18 and $21 apiece, according to a regulatory filing. Icahn Partners LP and Icahn Partners Master Fund LP, the investment entities affiliated with billionaire Carl Icahn, have agreed to buy nearly 2.6 million shares of Centuri in a private placement at a price per share equal to its IPO price, Centuri said. Centuri, which has more than 12,500 employees and operates across 43 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CTRI”.

Tesla Inc: The electric vehicle manufacturer has settled a lawsuit over a 2018 car crash that killed an Apple engineer after his Model X, operating on Autopilot, swerved off a highway near San Francisco, court documents showed on Monday. The settlement was made on the eve of the trial over the high-profile accident involving Tesla’s driver-assistant technology. The settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed, came as Chief Executive Elon Musk is making major promotions of self-driving technology, which he has touted as key to the financial future of the world’s most valuable automaker. Separately, a Tesla founder and former chief executive said it was a “shame” to hear that the automaker was scrapping its low-cost car plans amid fierce competition in China.

 

 

Futures traders have reduced bets on how much the Federal Reserve will cut rates this year to the lowest level since October, LSEG data showed, amid evidence of continued strength in the U.S. economy.

An early Easter boosted food spending in Britain last month, lifting retail sales by the most since August, but the broader picture remained subdued as wet weather dampened demand for other goods, the British Retail Consortium said.

The European Court of Human Rights decides on Tuesday whether insufficient government action on climate change can amount to a human rights violation, in three rulings that could give legal leverage to climate activists across the continent.​

UBS is in talks to acquire full ownership of its China platform by swapping its holding in Credit Suisse‘s onshore securities venture with a Beijing government investment fund, Bloomberg News reported. 

Shell is looking at “all options” including switching its listing to New York from London, according to comments made by the company’s CEO in a piece published by Bloomberg Opinion.

Spanish holding vehicle Criteria, the main shareholder in Caixabank, announced it had raised its stake in Telefonica to 5.007% from a previously reported 2.69%. 

 

American International Group Inc & Corebridge Financial Inc: British insurer Aviva said it had completed the 453 million pound acquisition of AIG’s UK life insurance business, sealing the largest takeover under CEO Amanda Blanc to date. Aviva announced the deal in September. The company is buying the unit – known as AIG Life UK – from Corebridge Financial Inc, a New York-listed company majority-owned by AIG. Blanc said last month that Aviva would continue to look for “selective” acquisitions, after announcing a full-year profit that beat analyst forecasts. Aviva in March agreed an acquisition to re-enter the historic Lloyd’s insurance market with a 242 million pound deal to buy insurance platform Probitas.

 

BP Plc: The company said it expects first-quarter upstream production of both oil and gas as well as low-carbon energy to be higher than the previous three months. The oil major also expects strong results in oil and gas trading, along with a $100 million-$200 million boost from improved oil refining margins. Lower realised prices, however, will mean a hit of $200 million to $400 million to its gas and low-carbon energy segment, BP said in its first trading outlook for 2024. For oil, lower realised prices will mean an adverse impact of between $300 million and $600 million, it said, due in part to price lags on its production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the UAE. BP is scheduled to report its results on May 7.

 

HSBC Holdings Plc: HSBC is selling its business in Argentina and booking a $1 billion loss on the deal, the bank said on Tuesday, as it continues to shrink its once globe-spanning empire to focus on Asia.  HSBC is selling the business, which covers banking, asset management and insurance, to Argentina’s fifth largest bank Grupo Financiero Galicia for $550 million, the British bank said. HSBC CEO Noel Quinn has sought to simplify the sprawling lender to improve performance by exiting several markets in which it has under-performed, including France and Canada. The sale also fits with the bank’s Asia pivot strategy as it shifts capital, especially to India and China. Separately, the lender plans to accelerate the expansion of its wealth business in China despite economic headwinds and is on track to nearly double its headcount by next year, its global wealth head said, as the lender pushes ahead with its Asia pivot strategy.

 

Pegatron is in advanced talks to hand over control of its only iPhone manufacturing facility in India to the Tata Group, said two sources with direct knowledge, marking the Taiwanese firm’s latest scale back of its Apple partnership.

 

Bain Capital plans to sell stake worth $429 million in Indian private lender Axis Bank on Tuesday, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

 

Automaker Tata Motors said on Monday its Jaguar Land Rover’s fourth-quarter sales rose 11% from a year earlier to 114,038 units, driven by increased production and sustained global demand.