WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday, less than a week ahead of critical US midterm elections centered on the cost of living, as central bank policymakers wait to see if inflation moderates or stays strong enough to warrant more hi
By Michael S. Derby Oct 28 (Reuters) – One issue dividing Federal Reserve officials over whether more interest rate hikes are needed as soon as this week is just how much weight to put on the loose financial conditions that many outside the US central bank see as a key driver of inflation in an acce
By Anton Bridge and Miho Uranaka TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) – A battle between private equity firms EQT and Bain to acquire a $5 billion Japanese internet company illustrates how takeovers in Japan are becoming increasingly contested, with the participation of strategic buyers helping push up prices. E
By Shashwat Chauhan and Utkarsh Hathi Oct 28 (Reuters) – Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose on Wednesday, buoyed by memory-chip stocks after SK Hynix’s bumper results, with investors now looking to a slate of key earnings as the next test of AI trade, alongside the Federal Reserve’s rate dec
By Mike Stone WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Donald Trump Jr.-backed defense startup Firehawk Defense was valued at more than $1.4 billion in a new financing round, it said on Wednesday, as private capital seeks to profit from shortages in tactical munitions. By the end of 2027, the Dallas-based sta
Oct 28 (Reuters) – Unilever nudged up its annual volume growth forecast on Wednesday after third-quarter underlying sales beat expectations, driven by strong demand in emerging markets and price increases that helped offset higher commodity costs. The consumer goods group, which has been simplifying
By Rachel More BERLIN, Oct 28 (Reuters) – From a single-model company rising from the ashes of World War Two, to a sprawling automotive empire with global reach, Volkswagen has undergone repeated reinventions on its way to becoming the world’s second-largest automaker. Here is a look at the company’
By Mateusz Rabiega Oct 28 (Reuters) – BNP Paribas posted a forecast-beating rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong performance in its investment banking division, as the lender announced a €1.3 billion ($1.45 billion) share buyback and played down the impact of soaring governmen
By Ariane Luthi ZURICH, Oct 28 (Reuters) – UBS reported on Wednesday a third-quarter net profit roughly in line with expectations and accelerated its share buyback program even as the bank remained concerned about new Swiss capital requirements. Net profit at Switzerland’s biggest bank came in at $2
By Vibhuti Sharma and Aditya Kalra MUMBAI, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Shares of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Platforms soared 21% in their Mumbai debut on Wednesday, making it India’s second-largest company by market capitalisation, valued at about $131.5 billion. The listing, the first for the
By Melanie Burton and Clara Denina MELBOURNE/LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Rio Tinto’s board has proposed increasing its CEO Simon Trott’s target remuneration package by 56% to £9.8 million ($13.06 million), according to four people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Reuters. Surging pa
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Malaysian customs said on Wednesday that it had seized about 49.5 million ringgit ($12.11 million) worth of advanced artificial intelligence chips this month, as authorities close in on a syndicate suspected of smuggling high-performance semiconductors through the co
By Selena Li and Lawrence White HONG KONG/LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Standard Chartered (StanChart) on Wednesday hiked its full-year growth and profitability targets after third-quarter income handily beat estimates, sending its shares 8% higher. Like many of its European peers, StanChart was able t
By Karen Brettell Oct 28 (Reuters) – Investors have long treated the US dollar as a refuge when markets fall, but foreign money chasing returns from the AI boom could weaken that safe-haven role if the trade unwinds. Foreign capital has poured in to US mega-cap equities, hyperscaler corporate bonds
SINGAPORE, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Global adoption of tokenised money is moving faster than expected among businesses looking to improve liquidity management and access new markets, a top executive from Singapore bank DBS said. The remarks by Lim Soon Chong, the group head of global transaction services,
By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose by more than $2 on Wednesday after an attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, renewed concerns about supply risks because of conflicts in the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose $2.02, or 1.8%, to $115.90 a
By Rae Wee SINGAPORE, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Asia stocks rallied on Wednesday as renewed AI enthusiasm buoyed sentiment ahead of earnings from industry bellwethers later in the US day, while the New Zealand dollar tumbled after the country’s central bank unexpectedly held rates steady. South Korea’s Kos
By Gregor Stuart Hunter SINGAPORE, Oct 28 (Reuters) – The US dollar held at a two-week high on Wednesday ahead of policy decisions from central banks, with the Federal Reserve widely expected to leave its policy interest rate unchanged while signalling the probability of any December move. Most of t
By Kylie Madry and Natalia Siniawski MEXICO CITY, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Walmart’s Mexico unit missed third-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday as rising costs and investments ate into margins, overshadowing double-digit e-commerce growth. Net profit fell 6% to 11.03 billion pesos ($610 million), below
By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Florida, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Investors continue to ride the wave of AI optimism that has emerged from last week’s gloom, with another tech-led rally lifting US stocks on Tuesday. Lower oil prices and a steady bond market helped too, as attention now switches to the Federal
Intel Poised To Buy Israel’s Classiq for Record $2.3 Billion Quantum Exit By The Media Line Staff Intel is poised to acquire Israeli quantum computing startup Classiq for $2.3 billion in a cash-and-stock deal that could become the largest exit in the quantum computing industry, Calcalist reported. I
By Alexander Marrow and Anuja Bharat Mistry LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The world’s top consumer goods and food companies, from Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble to Nestle and Reckitt, have warned of further price hikes next year to cover rising costs even as shoppers remain reluctant to splurge on groc
By Doyinsola Oladipo NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) – JetBlue Airways is not in talks with creditors and is not planning to restructure its debt, Chief Executive Joanna Geraghty told Reuters on Tuesday, after a sharp selloff in the airline’s bonds raised concerns about its finances. Geraghty’s comments
By Laura Matthews NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange is preparing to start trading a new type of options contract that lets investors make all-or-nothing bets on whether a stock or exchange-traded fund will close above or below a set price. The launch comes as trading in option
Oct 27 (Reuters) – ASM International forecast on Tuesday fourth-quarter revenue above expectations and said it would reach its 2030 sales target three years early, driven by AI-related capacity investments. The Dutch chip equipment maker expects fourth-quarter revenue of 1.23 billion euros ($1.37 bi
By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) – US energy companies expect 2026 to mark a second consecutive year of record natural gas production, as global demand for liquefied natural gas exports and fuel to power massive data centers grows. Three of the biggest US gas producers — Expand Energy, E
By Kalea Hall and David Shepardson DETROIT, Oct 27 (Reuters) – General Motors plans to introduce hybrid versions of its popular three-row SUVs, people familiar with the matter said, in a strategic shift after heavily investing in electric vehicles. The US automaker plans to build hybrid models of th
By David Shepardson and Kalea Hall DETROIT, Oct 27 (Reuters) – A pending increase in US tariffs on steel and auto imports from Canada starting January 1 would be “catastrophic” for the industry, Honda Motor’s head of public affairs said on Tuesday. Automakers are closely watching talks between the U
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Sales of new US single-family homes fell in September, partially reversing the prior month’s jump, as higher mortgage rates because of the Middle East conflict depressed demand. New home sales slipped 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 676,000 units last
By John Revill and Oliver Hirt ZURICH, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Syngenta’s advisers are targeting a valuation of at least $66 billion in the Swiss-Chinese agrochemicals group’s planned Hong Kong listing, which is likely to take place early next year, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. UBS a
