- Asian Traders Cautious as Wall Street Surge Stalls: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia were mixed after US equities pulled back from a rally that drove the S&P 500 Index to multiple records, spurring speculation the market has gone too far, too fast. Japanese equities swung between gains and losses, while shares in Australia declined. The S&P 500 fell for a second day Monday at the start of a week that will feature the Federal Reserve. - Microsoft Bing Chief Exiting Role After Suleyman Named AI Leader
(Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp.’s Mikhail Parakhin, head of the company’s Bing search engine and advertising businesses, will exit those roles and look for a new position, a week after the software giant named Mustafa Suleyman to oversee consumer artificial intelligence work and asked Parakhin to report to him. - Big Take: Musk’s Starlink Terminals Fall Into the Wrong Hands
(Bloomberg) — SpaceX’s Starlink touts its high-speed internet as “available almost anywhere on Earth.” In the real world, its reach extends to countries where Elon Musk’s satellite-enabled service has no agreement to operate, including territories ruled by repressive regimes. - Israel Cancels DC Trip After US Allows UN Cease-Fire Resolution
(Bloomberg) — The Israeli government called off a US trip by senior officials after the Biden administration decided not to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, a decision reflecting a shift of approach by Washington. - Bonuses Shrink at Global Banks in Japan Despite Booming Markets
(Bloomberg) — Booming markets in Japan have swelled the workload for international bankers in Tokyo but one thing hasn’t changed — stubbornly low pay. Compensation in many cases remains a fraction of pay in other financial hubs, according to more than a dozen senior bankers and recruiters from the city’s business districts of Marunouchi and Roppongi. - Offshore Yuan Rises After PBOC Ramps Up Fixing Support
(Bloomberg) — China’s offshore yuan rises after the PBOC ramps up support for the currency via its daily reference rate. USD/CNH falls 0.2% to 7.2405. The PBOC strengthened the fixing by 0.07% from Monday, the most since Jan. 24. AUD/USD gains 0.2% to 0.6553. - UK No Longer Has Controlling Stake in NatWest After Latest Sales
(Bloomberg) — The UK government is no longer considered a controlling shareholder in NatWest Group Plc as it continues to hasten its exit from the lender it rescued in the financial crisis. The government’s stake has dropped to 29.8% after it recently disposed of more shares, according to a filing on Monday. - OIL BAROMETERS: Brent Bullish Bets Highest in a Year; Volatility
(Bloomberg) — Hedge funds boosted their net-long positions in Brent futures to the highest in a year, and for WTI to the biggest in five months. Measures of second-month implied volatility for both WTI and Brent hit the lowest since December 2019 on Friday. - Goldman Sachs Said to Mull €3.5 Billion Sale of B&B Hotels Chain
(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s private equity arm is exploring a sale of B&B Hotels in a potential deal that could value the European budget hotel chain at about €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion), according to people familiar with the matter. - Adam Neumann submits bid to buy back bankrupt WeWork for more than $500.
Million and the company remains focused on its continuing restructuring effort to emerge from bankruptcy in the second quarter as a “financially strong and profitable company”. Details and further development of this matter remains unknown. - Manulife Financial Corp. struck a $4.3 billion reinsurance deal with RGA Life Reinsurance Co. of Canada. The deal will allow company to release C$800 million in capital, which it plans to return to shareholders via share buybacks.
This transaction is the “largest universal life reinsurance transaction in the Canadian insurance industry and represents another milestone in our journey to transform our portfolio to higher-ROE and lower-risk business,” Manulife CEO Roy Gori said in the statement. - Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc all fell after the European Union opened an investigation into how the companies are complying with new laws meant to rein in the power of Big Tech.
The European Commission said Monday that Apple and Google’s app store rules will be targeted in the first probes under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, how Google search results might unfairly preference its own services and how Apple may make it harder for users to choose alternatives to its Safari browser. New subscription fees for Meta’s Instagram and Facebook platforms will also be targeted by the probe, which could hit firms with fines of up to 10% of global revenue, or up to 20% in the case of repeated breaches. - Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares fell Monday after a report that China has adopted new guidance to limit the use of US-made microprocessors and servers in government computers.
The new rules mean that chips made by the companies will be gradually replaced with local alternatives, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing guidelines unveiled by the finance ministry and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Dec. 26. Software provided by US companies including Microsoft Corp. are also set to be replaced, the FT said. Still, for now there remains some flexibility for government agencies and state-owned enterprises to buy computers powered by foreign processors servers, the newspaper reported citing two unnamed procurement officials. - US aviation authorities are considering measures to curb growth at United Airlines Holdings Inc., including preventing the carrier from adding new routes, following a series of safety incidents.
The Federal Aviation Administration has discussed temporary actions it may take with the airline’s leadership in recent days, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In addition to route restrictions ahead of the all-important summer travel season, United may be barred from flying paying customers on newly delivered aircraft, said the people, who asked not to be identified describing the closed discussions. The FAA already is suspending United’s ability to approve and promote pilots to fly different aircraft models, two of the people said. - Super Micro Computer Inc. rose 7.2% after JPMorgan initiated with a recommendation of overweight. The broker says the compute cycle is at the “forefront of the AI revolution.”
Analyst Samik Chatterjee says the company is a leading player in the AI compute market and the recent “optimism led by burgeoning size of the AI Server market”. “Super Micro disrupting the traditional server market structure” and the growing AI server market “justifies premium valuation”.PT set to $1,150. - Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun is stepping down at the end of the year, part of a sweeping leadership overhaul as the plane maker struggles to get a handle on a spiralling safety crisis.
Chairman Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election, Boeing said in a statement Monday. Stan Deal, the embattled chief of Boeing’s commercial airplane division, is also departing immediately and will be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope. - UK No Longer Has Controlling Stake in NatWest After Latest Sales
(Bloomberg) — The UK government is no longer considered a controlling shareholder in NatWest Group Plc as it continues to hasten its exit from the lender it rescued in the financial crisis. The government’s stake has dropped to 29.8% after it recently disposed of more shares, according to a filing on Monday.
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