2025-06-24 20:33
ABUJA, June 24 (Reuters) - Nigeria and Brazil signed a $1 billion agreement on Tuesday to boost agriculture, food security, energy and defence in the West African nation, Nigeria's vice president Kasim Shettima said. Both countries aim to "deploy over $1 billion to deliver mechanised farming equipment, training, and service centres across Nigeria," Shettima said in a statement posted on X. Sign up here. Much farming in Nigeria is subsistence and land is owned by families or individuals which makes large-scale acquisition problematic. Nigeria also imports food for its 200 million plus population. "We are moving from subsistence to scale in agriculture, and in energy, we are taking long-overdue steps to attract serious investment into gas production, refining, and renewables," Shettima added. The agreements were signed in Abuja during a visit by Brazil's vice president Geraldo Alckmin to Africa's most populous nation. Shettima told his Brazilian counterpart that reforms embarked upon by President Bola Tinubu have helped reshaped Nigeria's economy. Nigeria is targeting a $1 trillion economy by 2030, with reforms to agriculture, energy, education, and public finance. The country has also asked banks to recapitalise to attract foreign investments. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nigeria-brazil-sign-1-billion-agreement-boost-agriculture-2025-06-24/
2025-06-24 20:27
Indexes up: Dow 1.19%, S&P 500 1.11%, Nasdaq 1.43% Nasdaq 100 reaches record closing high Fed Chair Powell reiterates "wait and see" approach to rate cuts, tariffs Broadcom hits record peak after brokerage upgrades Fedex drops in extended trading after reporting results NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied more than 1% on Tuesday as investors welcomed a fragile truce with Israel and Iran while parsing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony for clues regarding the U.S. central bank's path forward. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed with their second straight session of solid gains following U.S. missile strikes on Iran's uranium enrichment assets. Sign up here. The Nasdaq 100 (.NDX) , opens new tab, a subset of the Nasdaq Composite, nabbed an all-time closing high, while the benchmark S&P 500 closed within striking distance of its all-time closing high reached on February 19. Late Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a cease-fire agreement, which Israel appeared to have violated. Still, investors viewed the cease-fire rhetoric as a sign of de-escalating tensions. "The bulls are out of their bucking shoots," said Greg Bassuk, chief executive officer at AXS Investments in New York. "The cease-fire really is adding fire to the stock market rally. We believe investors are wagering that calm in the Middle East is really a boon for stocks even as it weighs down bonds and oil prices." Crude prices slid on waning supply concerns related to the conflict, dragging energy shares (.SPNY) , opens new tab lower. Powell, speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, reiterated his view that rate cuts can wait until the economic effects of tariff increases are better known, adding "we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance." Financial markets have been pricing in a more than 20% likelihood that the Fed will lower its key interest rate at the conclusion of its July policy meeting, and a near 70% probability that its first rate cut will land in September. On the economic front, consumer confidence deteriorated this month, with pessimism toward the jobs market falling to its lowest level since March 2021. "Consumer confidence was down," Bassuk added. "And as we see these economic data points casting a shadow over the strength of the U.S. economy, it’s another factor pointing toward greater likelihood of Fed rate cuts this year." The Commerce Department is expected to release its final take on first-quarter GDP on Thursday, and on Friday its closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report will shed light on inflation, consumer spending and income growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 507.24 points, or 1.19%, to 43,089.02, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 67.01 points, or 1.11%, to 6,092.18 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 281.56 points, or 1.43%, to 19,912.53. Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, tech shares (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab led the gainers, while energy stocks (.SPNY) , opens new tab fared the worst, dropping 1.5%. Among the "magnificent 7" group of megacap stocks, Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab underperformed, dropping 2.4%. Airline stocks gained altitude amid cooling Middle East tensions. The S&P 1500 Airlines index (.SPCOMAIR) , opens new tab advanced 2.4%. But defense stocks lost ground. Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) , opens new tab dipped 2.6% and RTX Corp (RTX.N) , opens new tab fell 2.7%. Shares of crypto companies rose after bitcoin hit a one-week high. Coinbase Global (COIN.O) , opens new tab and Microstrategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab advanced 12.1% and 2.7% respectively. Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab touched a record high, after HSBC raised the semiconductor manufacturer to "buy" from "hold". The stock rose 3.9%. Package deliverer FedEx(FDX.N) , opens new tab dropped more than 4% in extended trading after reporting quarterly results. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.27-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 239 new highs and 56 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 3,423 stocks rose and 1,046 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.27-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows. The Nasdaq Composite recorded 115 new highs and 59 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.94 billion shares, compared with the 18.12 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-stock-futures-rise-after-trump-announces-israel-iran-ceasefire-2025-06-24/
2025-06-24 20:08
June 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Steel said on Tuesday Kevin Lewis would replace CFO Jessica Graziano effective immediately, days after the steelmaker closed its sale to Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T) , opens new tab. Graziano, who has spent nearly three years at the company, would stay on as a special advisor until July 18 to aid with the transition, U.S. Steel said. Sign up here. Lewis who joined the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker 17 years ago, has held key positions across finance, strategy and investor relations. The company also appointed Scot Duncan as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, effective immediately. The move comes after Nippon Steel completed its $14.9-billion acquisition of U.S. Steel last week, marking the end to an 18-month regulatory battle. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-steel-names-kevin-lewis-cfo-2025-06-24/
2025-06-24 19:55
SAO PAULO, June 24 (Reuters) - Brazil Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that 17 countries have removed trade restrictions related to the bird flu outbreak in May. Japan, which in 2024 was the third largest importer of Brazilian chicken, was among the nations which lifted restrictions, according to the statement. Sign up here. Last week, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) considered a bird flu outbreak on a commercial farm in Brazil as "resolved". The country had declared itself free of bird flu in commercial flocks after observing a 28-day period without any new commercial farm outbreaks. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/brazil-says-japan-16-others-removed-bird-flu-related-trade-restrictions-2025-06-24/
2025-06-24 18:12
NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Six investment groups representing sectors including fund managers, venture capital and real estate in a letter to two Senate Republicans over the tax and spending bill now under debate asked that passive investments be exempt from a provision of the bill that targets foreign investors. The proposal would allow the imposition of new taxes on residents, businesses and other entities from countries that are found to impose "unfair foreign taxes." It targets, for instance, income from investments, rents and dividends. Sign up here. The investment groups said the levy, which includes the possibility of imposing a progressive tax burden of up to 20% on foreign investors' passive income, could spook investments in the U.S. The new tax "would significantly disrupt U.S. public and private debt and equity markets," the associations said in the letter, which was sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo on Monday evening. The groups said there would be the risk of investors selling portfolios in advance of the new levy. "This unnecessary sell-off will cause U.S. asset values to fall," they said in the letter. Although Senate Republicans proposed changes to the tax and spending bill that the House of Representatives passed last month, the Senate kept the provision of a tax targeting foreign investors. Under the Senate version, however, the tax would take effect in 2027, one year after the House version. The letter was jointly submitted by the Managed Funds Association, American Investment Council, Investment Company Institute, Loan Syndications and Trading Association, National Venture Capital Association and the Real Estate Roundtable. In notes to clients, many Wall Street analysts have cautioned that the levy could end up weighing on demand for U.S. assets. Multinational companies have said they could shut down operations in the U.S. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/investment-groups-call-exemption-passive-income-us-tax-bill-2025-06-24/
2025-06-24 16:30
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Britain's statistics office has hired a Bank of England official to lead its push to improve its economic data after a string of failures. The Office for National Statistics said James Benford would become its new director general for the Economic, Social and Environmental Statistics Group (ESEG) from August 4. Sign up here. "He will bolster the ONS's executive team at a crucial time as the organisation progresses work to renew confidence in its economic statistics," the agency said. Benford is currently the BoE's executive director for data and analytics transformation and its chief data officer. He previously worked at the finance ministry and was private secretary to former BoE governor Mark Carney and current governor Andrew Bailey. In a question-and-answer session with lawmakers on Tuesday, Bailey said the lack of reliable statistics from the ONS remained a problem for the BoE. In April, the ONS said it would cut back some operations in order to focus on core economic and population figures in the face of tight funding. In 2023, it detected problems with the response rates to its Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is used to calculate Britain's unemployment rate and other key measures of the jobs market. An improved version of that survey might be released in 2026 or possibly only in 2027. Inflation, trade and producer price data have also suffered from errors or methodology problems in recent months. "I am excited to work with the talented and dedicated teams at the ONS to strengthen the quality and relevance of statistics - and to rebuild public trust in the data that informs so many critical decisions," Benford said in a statement. An investigation into the ONS, commissioned in April by the Cabinet Office and the Statistics Authority regulator, is likely to be published in the coming weeks. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-embattled-statistics-office-hires-boe-official-improvement-drive-2025-06-24/
