3 hours ago
Amid rising currency pressure due to strong dollar, PBOC surprises by setting intermediate rate for renminbi
The People's Bank of China set the intermediate fixed interest rate on the yuan at 7.0968 yuan to the dollar, 1,654 basis points higher than Reuters forecast.
This is the biggest discrepancy since Reuters began estimating it in 2018.
The offshore yuan was trading at 7.2530 yuan as of 1:10 p.m. Shanghai time, after China announced lower-than-expected inflation in March, the world's second-largest economy. The slump continued to be evident.
— Lim Huijie
6 hours ago
Foxconn considers replacing CEO to develop talent: Reuters
Apple supplier Foxconn is considering introducing a rotating CEO system to develop future talent, Reuters reports.
“The plan is in response to repeated calls from investors to strengthen corporate governance by separating the role of CEO from that of the chairman,” Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. I told him.
Mr. Young Liu has been serving as both Chairman and CEO of the 50-year-old Taiwanese company since 2019. Mr. Liu succeeds founder Terry Gou, who served in both roles until his retirement in 2019.
— Reuters
6 hours ago
China's inflation rate slows to 0.1% in March, lower than expected
China's consumer price index rose just 0.1% in March from a year earlier, slowing from February's 0.7% rise and falling short of the 0.4% forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
On a month-on-month basis, the country's CPI fell by 1%, well below the 0.5% decline expected by Reuters.
Separately, China's producer price index fell 2.8% year-on-year in March, in line with expectations.
— Lim Huijie
8 hours ago
Real estate and utilities were hurt Wednesday as U.S. Treasury yields soared.
Two interest rate-sensitive sectors across the market fell in unison on Wednesday as stocks sold off and the 10-year Treasury yield soared above 4.5%.
Real estate fell 4.1%, making it the biggest loser among the S&P 500's 11 sectors. All underlying stocks in the sector were negative, with SBA Communications, Extra Space Storage, and Boston Properties all down more than 6%.
Utilities also slumped, dropping 1.7%. AES Corp, Pinnacle West Capital and CenterPoint Energy pushed the sector lower. All three stocks fell more than 3%.
In a high interest rate environment, real estate and utilities could struggle. This is because rising interest rates will increase borrowing costs for both real estate investment trusts and utilities.
Higher interest rates also make these sectors less attractive to income-seeking investors, who may be drawn to safer yields on U.S. Treasuries rather than dividends from real estate or utility stocks.
–Darla Mercado
10 hours ago
Local banks collapse on Wednesday market reaction to March inflation
It wasn't immediately clear whether local banks would be as low as they were Wednesday after inflation accelerated in March and U.S. Treasury yields rose again later. After all, the S&P 500 Financial Index was down just 1.5%, while the S&P 500 was down 1%.
But the S&P 500 Financial includes all kinds of companies, from the nation's biggest banks like JPMorgan and Bank of America to credit card networks Visa and Mastercard.
Drilling down further into local banks, we look at the S&P 1500 Local Bank Index, which is comprised of all stocks in the S&P 500, S&P Midcap 400, and S&P Smallcap 600, and is down 4.5% on Wednesday. Examples of genocide are numerous. Long Island's New York Community Bancorp fell 8.1%, Boston's Brookline Bancorp fell 5.9% and Phoenix's Western Alliance Bancorp fell 5.8%. West Virginia's MVB Financial fell 5.1%, and New Jersey's BCB Bancorp fell 4.5%.
Analysts at Bank of America said on Monday that investors should scrutinize the bank's first-quarter earnings report and see “potential areas of vulnerability (commercial real estate, overall “We will look for the bottom of net interest income, while examining the bottom line of net interest income.” NII, on average about 80% of revenue).
— Scott Schnipper
10 hours ago
Vertex Pharmaceuticals acquires Alpine Immune Sciences
Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares fell 1% in after-hours trading after the biotech company announced it would acquire Alpine Immun Sciences for $4.9 billion in cash, or about $65 per share.
Alpine stock soared more than 36% after the bell. This biopharmaceutical company develops protein-based immunotherapies to treat certain autoimmune diseases.
— Samantha Subin
10 hours ago
Stock futures open lower Wednesday evening
U.S. stock futures fell Wednesday night.
Futures tracking the S&P 500 fell 0.2%, and Dow futures fell 79 points, or 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.16%.
–Darla Mercado