2025-08-15 20:47
NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday granted Argentina's request to put on temporary hold a judge's order that it turn over its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF (YPFDm.BA) , opens new tab to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion judgment won by two investors. In a brief order, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan stayed U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska's June 30 turnover order while Argentina appeals. Sign up here. Friday's order provides a reprieve for Argentine President Javier Milei's government, which warned of irreparable harm and economic instability if it gave up its stake in YPF, the country's largest energy company. Argentina is separately appealing the $16.1 billion judgment, which Preska awarded in September 2023 to Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management. The investors are represented by litigation funder Burford Capital (BURF.L) , opens new tab, which would share in their damages. Lawyers for Petersen and Eton Park did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Friday's order did not provide reasons for the stay, which should last at least a few months. Argentina's next legal filing related to YPF is due on September 25, court records show. The dispute stemmed from Argentina's 2012 decision to seize the YPF stake from Spain's Repsol (REP.MC) , opens new tab without making a tender offer to minority shareholders. Argentina had argued that the YPF shares were immune from turnover under the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The U.S. government sided with Argentina, saying a resolution of the dispute should not be rushed and potentially interfere with relations between the countries. Lawyers for the investors countered that a commercial activity exception to immunity, together with Argentina's "many years" of evasion, justified a turnover. In her June 30 order, Preska said Argentina's control over the YPF shares triggered the exception, and the country could not simply invoke its own laws to prevent a turnover. A spokesperson for the Argentine government said the country welcomed Friday's order, and confident the $16.1 billion damages award would also be overturned. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-appeals-court-sides-with-argentina-keeps-ypf-share-turnover-hold-2025-08-15/
2025-08-15 20:47
Indexes: Dow up 0.08%, S&P 500 down 0.29%, Nasdaq off 0.4% UnitedHealth surges after Berkshire Hathaway investment Bank of America shares down on Berkshire share sale Applied Materials drops on weak China demand forecast Investors monitor Trump-Putin summit at Alaska NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The blue-chip Dow Jones ended higher after hitting an intraday record high on Friday, as UnitedHealth's shares jumped after Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake, but other Wall Street indexes slipped as mixed data clouded the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move. A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was also on the radar, with markets hoping it could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices. The two leaders began a meeting in Alaska on Friday afternoon. Sign up here. UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) , opens new tab rose almost 12%, its biggest single-day percentage rise since March 2020, after Warren Buffett's company (BRKa.N) , opens new tab revealed a new investment in the health insurer, while Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management also turned more bullish on the company. Rising costs in the broader healthcare sector and about a 40% slump in UnitedHealth's shares this year have left the Dow (.DJI) , opens new tab lagging its Wall Street peers on the road to record highs. The price-weighted index last scaled an all-time high on December 4. The healthcare sector (.SPXHC) , opens new tab gained 1.65% on Friday, tracking its best weekly performance since October 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 34.86 points, or 0.08%, to 44,946.12, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 18.74 points, or 0.29%, to 6,449.80 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab lost 87.69 points, or 0.40%, to 21,622.98. More broadly, Wall Street's main stock indexes recorded their second week of gains, buoyed by expectations that the Fed could restart its monetary policy easing cycle with a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in September. The central bank last lowered borrowing costs in December and said U.S. tariffs could add to price pressures. However, recent labor market weakness and signs that tariff-induced inflation was yet to reflect in headline consumer prices have made investors confident of a potential dovish move next month. "The question is, has the tariff gotten into the price of goods yet? And it appears that there hasn't," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading. Saluzzi also said while markets have largely priced in a September rate cut, investors might be overlooking risks, with low volatility and rich valuations pointing to a sense of complacency. In a mixed day for economic data, a report showed retail sales in July rose as expected, but consumer confidence and factory production numbers indicated tariffs were taking a toll on other pockets of the economy. "Today is a normal pullback given the recent strong gains," said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management. "We will have to wait for the personal consumption expenditures data which the Fed prefers and has been running a bit hotter than CPI of late to see how much inflation is finding its way into the system." Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee was also cautionary in his remarks. Trump has said he will unveil tariffs on steel and semiconductors next week. Among other stocks that were on the move, Applied Materials (AMAT.O) , opens new tab tumbled 14% after the chip equipment maker issued weak fourth-quarter forecasts. Shares of Bank of America (BAC.N) , opens new tab dropped 1.6% after Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in the second-biggest U.S. lender by 4.2% to 605.3 million shares. It still owns about an 8% stake in BofA. Intel (INTC.O) , opens new tab rose 2.9% after a report said the Trump administration was in talks for the U.S. government to potentially take a stake in the chipmaker. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 244 new highs and 45 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.36-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 79 new highs and 81 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 16.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 18.2 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.94%, the Nasdaq rose 0.81%, and the Dow climbed 1.74%. The Russell 2000 Small Cap Index (.RUT) , opens new tab rose 3.13%. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dow-ends-higher-after-unitedhealth-gains-other-indexes-slip-rate-cut-uncertainty-2025-08-15/
2025-08-15 20:43
Aug 15 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed flat on Friday as investors keenly watched a high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on a potential path to ending the war in Ukraine. Trump and Putin met face-to-face in Alaska on Friday afternoon. Markets are hoping the meeting could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices. Sign up here. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab was down 10.50 points, or 0.04%, at 27,905.49. The index gained 0.5% in the week. South of the border, blue-chip Dow Jones ended higher after hitting an intraday record high, but other Wall Street indexes slipped as mixed data clouded the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move. Among TSX sub-indexes, healthcare (.GSPTTHC) , opens new tab rose 4%, boosted by an 11% jump in Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) , opens new tab. Materials (.GSPTTMT) , opens new tab rose 0.8%, while energy stocks (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab fell 0.2%. "Short-term investors are hoping at least the meeting brings some kind of ceasefire or at least has continuous talks as we're moving towards the end of the summer," said Michael Constantino, CEO at Webull Canada. Meanwhile, Air Canada's (AC.TO) , opens new tab unionized flight attendants threatened to go on strike just before 1:00 a.m. ET on Saturday with the country's largest air carrier warning it would cancel 500 flights by the end of the day. Its shares were up about 0.6%. Data on Friday showed Canadian factory sales grew 0.3% in June from May, led by petroleum, coal and food products, while wholesale trade rose 0.7% on gains in food, beverage and tobacco. South of the border, retail sales rose by an expected 0.5% in July, but a spike in import prices raised concerns that U.S. tariffs could fuel inflation in the months ahead. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/toronto-stocks-subdued-friday-closes-green-week-2025-08-15/
2025-08-15 20:40
Aug 15 (Reuters) - Via Transportation's revenue rose 27% in the first half of 2025, the transit-tech firm disclosed on Friday in its U.S. initial public offering paperwork, as it advances plans for a long-sought New York listing. The company posted a net loss of $37.5 million on revenue of $205.8 million for the six months ended June 30, narrowing from a net loss of $50.4 million on $162.6 million in revenue a year earlier. Sign up here. Founded in 2012, New York-based Via develops technology that powers public transit systems in hundreds of cities across more than 30 countries. Via first confidentially filed for an IPO in late 2021. The company was valued at $3.5 billion in a 2023 funding round led by venture firm 83North. Other major shareholders include Exor, the investment firm of Italy's Agnelli family. U.S. initial public offerings have rebounded strongly following a slowdown in April caused by tariff-driven volatility. "During the next few weeks, IPO activity is expected to be seasonally subdued. Afterwards, we expect U.S. IPO activity to continue to come in at a brisk pace, driven by strong sentiment for stocks as a whole," IPOX CEO Josef Schuster said. Via derives more than 90% of its revenue from government contracts, with the rest coming from corporations and universities — a potential over-reliance Schuster said is a "clear risk factor." The bulk of its revenue comes from North America, with the remainder from Europe. Its clients include municipalities, transit agencies, transport operators, school districts, universities, and corporations. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Allen & Company, and Wells Fargo are acting as lead underwriters. The company plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "VIA." Proceeds from the offering will be used for general purposes, including expansion into new markets. https://www.reuters.com/business/transit-tech-firm-via-reveals-revenue-gains-us-ipo-filing-2025-08-15/
2025-08-15 20:07
MOSCOW, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a decree that could allow foreign investors, including top U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab, to regain shares in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project. The signing of the decree comes on the day Russian president Vladimir Putin meets Donald Trump in Alaska for a summit where opportunities for investment and business collaboration will be on the agenda, alongside talks to find peace in Ukraine. Sign up here. Friday's decree was published as a follow-up to one Putin signed in October 2022, which ordered the seizure of the Sakhalin-1 project. Exxon previously held a 30% operator share in the lucrative project, and is the only non-Russian investor to have quit its stake. Exxon did not immediately reply to Reuters request for comment. The path to Western investment returning to Russia is unclear given the U.S. and European Union would need to lift far-reaching sanctions to facilitate investment. Companies who might wish to return, having spent significant amounts of money to exit the country three years ago, also face high barriers put up by the Russian government. Trump and his team have considered what sanctions they may be able to lift quickly in the case of progress in talks. Sakhalin-1 has to date not been directly designated under extensive U.S. sanctions on Russian energy. The decree stipulates that foreign shareholders must undertake actions to support the lifting of Western sanctions if they want to regain their share. They must also conclude contracts for supplies of necessary foreign-made equipment to the project, and transfer funds to Sakhalin-1 project accounts. Exxon took an impairment charge of $4.6 billion to exit its Russian business after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. In December 2024, Putin signed a decree extending the sale period for the unclaimed Exxon stake in Sakhalin-1 until 2026. The October 2022 decree established Rosneft subsidiary Sakhalinmorneftegaz-shelf as the new operator, allowing the Russian government to decide foreign investors' ownership rights in Sakhalin-1. Alongside Exxon, Russian company Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab, India's ONGC Videsh (ONVI.NS) , opens new tab and Japan's SODECO were partner investors. The Russian government allowed both ONGC Videsh and SODECO to keep their stakes. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-decree-opens-door-exxon-return-sakhalin-1-project-2025-08-15/
2025-08-15 20:01
Aug 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday unveiled stricter rules for how solar and wind projects can qualify for federal tax subsidies that President Donald Trump's new tax and spending law is phasing out over the next two years. The revisions change longstanding definitions for what it means for a project to be considered under construction by requiring developers of big solar arrays and wind farms to complete physical work rather than simply show that they have invested capital. Sign up here. The changes are in response to an executive order Trump issued last month directing the Treasury Department to restrict tax credit eligibility unless a substantial portion of a facility is built. Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly sought to stall development of wind and solar energy, calling them unreliable, expensive, and overly dependent on Chinese supply chains. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law last month, requires projects to begin construction by July of next year or enter service by the end of 2027 to qualify for a 30% tax credit and bonuses that can push the subsidy even higher. Under the new rules, which will affect projects that start construction as of September 2, utility-scale projects will be required to show substantial and continuous physical work to be eligible for the credits. They will still have four years to claim the subsidies. For the last decade, project developers had also been able to "safe harbor" projects for four years by incurring 5% of total costs before a credit expired or stepped down to a lesser value. According to an agency document, "substantial" work does not include permitting, design or holding components in inventory. Small projects of under 1.5 megawatts will still be able to use the 5% "safe harbor" provision, Treasury said, a positive for the residential solar industry. A solar industry trade group said the rules would harm businesses and undermine lawmakers' intentions with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. "This is yet another act of energy subtraction from the Trump administration that will further delay the buildout of affordable, reliable power," Solar Energy Industries Association CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement. "American families and businesses will pay more for electricity as a result of this action, and China will continue to outpace us in the race for electricity to power AI." https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/trump-administration-unveils-stricter-subsidy-rules-wind-solar-projects-2025-08-15/
