52 minutes ago
According to the Fed’s Harker, interest rates could remain at current levels
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker, a voting member of the central bank’s 2023 policymaking committee, said interest rates are at a level where further increases may not be necessary.
“This is a time where we just sit for a while. It may be for a long period of time, but perhaps not. But let’s see how things develop in the next few months,” Harker told The Wall Street Journal. He added that while recent data points to economic strength, contact with individual companies suggests that “things appear to be slowing down.”
—Fred Imbert
5 hours ago
Country Garden says it cannot meet its offshore debt obligations: Portal
Chinese real estate developer Country Garden Holdings has said it does not expect to be able to meet all of its offshore debt obligations, Portal reported.
This comes as the deadline for a $15 million bond coupon payment expired on Wednesday, meaning the company has likely defaulted on its offshore debt.
In a statement to Portal, the company said it hoped to find a holistic solution to resolve its existing difficulties.
Last week, the project developer warned that it expects it will not be able to make all of its offshore repayments, including those issued in US dollar banknotes.
8 hours ago
Asian chip stocks are mostly declining after the US imposed new restrictions on AI chip exports to China
Shares of Asian chipmakers and related companies were broadly lower on Wednesday after the U.S. announced new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China.
Shares of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp fell as much as 1.27%, while its counterpart Hon Hai Precision Industry – also known as Foxconn – fell 0.47%.
On the other hand, shares of domestic Chinese chip maker SMIC rose as much as 4.62% but later gave up gains to trade 2.43% higher. Rival Hua Hong Semiconductor lost 0.41%.
—Lim Hui Jie
8 hours ago
Retail sales in China rise in September, with urban unemployment near its lowest level in two years
China’s retail sales rose in September while urban unemployment fell to a near two-year low, according to Chinese government data.
Retail sales rose 5.5% last month, compared with an estimated rise of 4.9%, according to Portal economists.
Urban unemployment was 5% in September, the lowest level since November 2021, down from a previous reading of 5.2% in August.
Overall, China’s economic growth was stronger than expected in the third quarter, boosting hopes that the world’s second-largest economy will meet Beijing’s annual target this year.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
8 hours ago
China’s economy grew 4.9% in the third quarter, exceeding expectations
China’s economy grew 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, above the 4.4% growth expected by economists polled by Portal.
However, this figure was below the 6.3% year-on-year increase recorded in the second quarter.
Read the whole story here.
—Lim Hui Jie
11 hours ago
Alan Schwartz says: With strong balance sheets and PE pushed out, companies are ready to return to mergers and acquisitions
Large companies have strong balance sheets and are poised to return to the mergers and acquisitions market after private equity investors were pushed out by rising interest costs, Guggenheim Partners Chief Executive Alan Schwartz said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” .
“Now they see an opportunity to get back in because they have kept their balance sheets strong,” said the former Bear Stearns CEO. “At the same time, the macroeconomic environment, particularly the geopolitical and all these other things, you know, is raising concerns in boardrooms about whether now is the time to wait on some of these things.”
Guggenheim advises many C-level executives and “what we’re saying is that we saw a sharp decline in M&A activity when capital markets closed down on a lot of private deals, but now you’re seeing a lot of, let’s say, the discussions.” and activities are clearly beginning on the part of companies who see their opportunity to get involved. But you know, how many of them will make it?”
– Scott Schnipper
12 hours ago
Interactive Brokers and JB Hunt were among the stocks that moved the most after the market closed
These are some of the companies making the most significant moves in expanded trading:
- Interactive Brokers Group – Shares of the electronic broker fell more than 4% in after-hours trading. Interactive Brokers reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.55 per share on adjusted revenue of $1.14 billion.
- JB Hunt Transport Services – The transportation and logistics stock fell 3.6% after reporting third-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
- Omnicom Group – Shares of the marketing company fell 1.4% even as the company narrowly beat analysts’ expectations in its latest quarterly report.
The full list of relocating companies can be found here.
—Samantha Subin
12 hours ago
United Airlines relies on a soft forecast
Shares of United Airlines fell nearly 5% in extended trading after the company said warning that increased fuel costs and a halt to Tel Aviv flights due to the Israel-Hamas war would hurt current quarter profits.
The company said it expects adjusted earnings of between $1.50 and $1.80 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, expected $2.06 per share.
Despite the after-hours moves, United Airlines beat Wall Street’s expectations for its latest quarter. The airline reported adjusted earnings of $3.65 per share on revenue of $14.48 billion. This exceeded analysts’ expected earnings per share of $3.35 billion and $14.44 billion.
See grafic…
United Airlines falls behind due to weak forecasts
—Samantha Subin, Leslie Josephs
12 hours ago