Shell beats expectations with $7.7 billion first-quarter profit
By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Shell on Thursday reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.7 billion, sharply beating expectations, on the back of strong oil trading and higher refining margins. The oil major also announced it will repurchas...
1h ago
Maersk posts Q1 profits above expectations, lifts lower end of FY guidance range
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Shipping group Maersk on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings above expectations and lifted the lower end of its full-year profit guidance range, supported by higher demand and the diverting of vesse...
1h ago
Indonesia's inflation rate eases slightly in April
By Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's annual inflation rate cooled slightly in April as pressure from some food prices eased as the harvest season began, the country's statistics bureau said on Thursday, staying wi...
1h ago
Japan household spending likely accelerated pace of declines in March: Reuters poll
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese household spending probably accelerated its pace of declines in March, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, underscoring the difficulties facing policymakers keen to engineer self-sustaining economic growth and normalise mo...
1h ago
Japan's Sumitomo Corp net profit down 32%, misses estimates
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp reported net profit for the fiscal year ended in March fell 31.7% from a year earlier to 386.4 billion yen ($2.5 billion), missing estimates. A LSEG poll of analysts had forecast Sumitomo's net...
1h ago
Russian court cancels seizure of part of JPMorgan bank's funds in dispute with Russia's VTB
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court cancelled the seizure of part of JPMorgan Chase's funds in Russia in a dispute with Russian state-owned bank VTB, according to a court document. JPMorgan said in a filing on Wednesday that its assets in Russia may...
1h ago
ArcelorMittal Q1 profit tops expectations
(Reuters) - ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, reported on Thursday first-quarter core earnings above expectations after improved results in North America, Brazil, Europe and India. The Luxembourg-based company said core profit (...
2h ago
Obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk's Q1 profit beats forecast
LONDON (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk posted on Thursday first-quarter operating profit above analyst forecasts, as the Danish drugmaker races to boost output of its hugely popular weight-loss drug Wegovy and fend off competition from Eli Lilly. (Report...
2h ago
Morning Bid: Intervene, rinse, repeat
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom Westbrook Sudden yen rallies and a 5.5 trillion yen ripple in Japan's money markets seem to put us in the midst of another round of intervention. The latest yen surge came in the thin morn...
3h ago
Analysis-Powell's soothing tone may not be enough for inflation-spooked markets
By David Randall and Davide Barbuscia NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's reassuring message following the central bank's monetary policy meeting may not calm frazzled U.S. stock and bond investors, as uncertainty over the...
3h ago
South Korea unveils guidelines for 'Corporate Value-up Programme'
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's financial regulator on Thursday proposed detailed guidelines for companies if they choose to participate in the government's reform programme aimed at enhancing shareholder value. The announcement is a follow-up to t...
3h ago
Standard Chartered Q1 profit rises 5.5%, beats estimates
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Standard Chartered PLC posted on Thursday a 5.5% rise in its first-quarter pretax profit, beating estimates, as higher interest rates bolstered earnings at the emerging markets-focused lender. StanChart, which earns most of it...
3h ago
HSBC keeps best lending rate in Hong Kong unchanged at 5.875%
HONG KONG (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings said on Thursday it had kept its best lending rate in Hong Kong at 5.875%, after the city's de facto central bank kept unchanged the base rate charged through its overnight discount window, tracking the U.S. Fede...
4h ago
Hong Kong central bank keeps key rate unchanged, tracks Fed move
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) kept its base rate charged through the overnight discount window unchanged at 5.75% on Thursday, tracking a move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to keep rates steady. The U.S. Federal Reserv...
4h ago
Japan's FX intervention signals 160 yen line in the sand, says ex-official
By Makiko Yamazaki and Takaya Yamaguchi TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese authorities likely intervened in the currency market to signal they see 160 yen to the dollar as their line in the sand, Columbia University academic and former finance ministry exe...
5h ago
Yen gives up ground vs dollar following surge on suspected intervention
By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) - The yen gave up ground in early trade on Thursday, reversing direction after a sudden surge against the dollar overnight that traders and analysts were quick to attribute to intervention by Japanese authorities. ...
6h ago
S.Korea factory activity shrinks in April, but optimism about outlook ticks up
By Jihoon Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's factory activity contracted again in April, but manufacturers' optimism climbed to the highest level in nearly two years as output and orders managed to post marginal growth, a private-sector survey sho...
7h ago
Oil prices pick up on prospect of US replenishing strategic reserve
By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday on the prospect the U.S. may start buying crude for its petroleum reserve, after prices sank to a seven-week low on hopes for an Israel-Gaza ceasefire, doubts about U.S. interest rate c...
7h ago
Asia stocks wobble on rate cut delays; yen leaps
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks got off to a shaky start on Thursday after the Federal Reserve flagged delays to interest rate cuts, while the dollar fell heavily on the yen in what traders reckoned was Japanese intervention. Oil fell sharply ov...
7h ago
Many in BOJ board saw need for yields to be set by markets, minutes show
By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Many Bank of Japan board members agreed the country's long-term interest rates should be set by markets, with some saying the central bank should at some point slow the pace of bond buying, minutes of their March policy...
7h ago
Bayer's Monsanto wins reversal of $185 million PCBs verdict in Washington court
By Clark Mindock (Reuters) - A Washington state appeals court on Wednesday overturned a $185 million verdict against Bayer's Monsanto unit over chemical contamination at a Seattle-area school, marking the second big legal win for the company in as ...
7h ago
South Korea April inflation at 2.9% y/y, lower than expected
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's consumer inflation eased in April for the first time in three months, official data showed on Thursday, coming in lower than market expectations. The consumer price index stood 2.9% higher than the same month the yea...
8h ago
Germany hit hard as foreign investment falls in Europe, EY survey shows
By Mark John LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Europe fell 4% last year, with Germany seeing a sharp 12% drop in projects amid concern over its economic slowdown and energy security, a survey by professional services group EY ...
8h ago
Morning Bid: Powell sparks stock volatility, yen soars
By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Asia gets back up toward full speed on Thursday after many markets were closed for the May Day holiday, with the U.S. Fed's guidance, a surging yen and manufacturing PMIs from ...
8h ago
Aussie lender NAB posts 13% drop in cash earnings, to buy back shares worth $979 million
By Sameer Manekar (Reuters) -National Australia Bank on Thursday posted a drop of about 13% in its first-half cash earnings as it grappled with high operating costs and cutthroat competition, but announced a share buyback program worth A$1.5 billion ($...
8h ago