2025-12-05 01:32
TOKYO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday that communications with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda have been positive in many ways since she took the post in October. "Since taking on this role in October, I believe communications between Governor Ueda and myself have been very good in many respects," Katayama said in a regular press conference, when asked about the central bank's monetary policy. Sign up here. "As for the specifics of monetary policy operations, those are entrusted to the Bank of Japan," she added. The BOJ is likely to raise interest rates this month with the government expected to tolerate such a decision, Reuters reported on Thursday. Following a recent sell-off in long-dated government bonds, Katayama said the government will continue to closely monitor market developments, ensure the sustainability of Japan's state finances and maintain market confidence through close dialogue with market participants. The benchmark 10-year yield rose to 1.94% on Friday, its highest level since July 2007, reflecting market concerns about Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's massive economic stimulus to be funded largely by new borrowing. Katayama stressed that the supplementary budget to fund stimulus was compiled with fiscal sustainability in mind, and the government "is naturally considering sustainability in the formulation of the initial budget for fiscal 2026 as well." https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-finance-minister-says-dialogue-with-boj-governor-has-been-positive-2025-12-05/
2025-12-04 23:42
Hormel Foods rises after annual profit forecast above estimates Salesforce climbs as FY26 outlook gets boost Kroger falls, Dollar General climbs after outlooks Indexes: Dow off 0.07%, S&P up 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.22% Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed near the unchanged mark on Thursday, as investors weighed a report on the labor market and other economic data, while equities drew support from elevated hopes for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week. A 1.4% drop in Amazon.com shares weighed on the S&P 500, limiting its advance. Sign up here. With the November payrolls report scheduled for after the Fed's December meeting due to the extended government shutdown, market participants have looked to secondary indicators that have given a mixed view of the labor market as the backlog of government data slowly gets unwound. A Labor Department report showed initial jobless claims dropped to their lowest level in more than three years, although analysts suggested the drop could have been in part due to the Thanksgiving holiday. A separate report from the Chicago Fed estimated the unemployment rate held near 4.4% in November. Markets are pricing in an 87% chance the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points this month, up from a 68.6% chance priced in a month ago, according to CME's FedWatch Tool , opens new tab. "Everybody's waiting around to see what the Fed thinks with any of this data that they've seen come in because the last comments from (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell were a little bit on the hawkish side, but cuts are fully expected," said Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. "The short of it is the gold standard is payrolls, and we just don't have an updated figure there, so that's going to really move the needle one way or the other on any future rate policy paths." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 31.96 points, or 0.07%, to 47,850.94, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 7.40 points, or 0.11%, to 6,857.12 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 51.04 points, or 0.22%, to 23,505.14. A delayed report from the Commerce Department showed factory orders rose 0.2%, short of the 0.5% estimate, after a downwardly revised 1.3% increase in August as tariffs hemmed in manufacturers. Dow component Salesforce (CRM.N) , opens new tab climbed 3.7% after the company raised its fiscal 2026 revenue and adjusted profit forecasts, anticipating growth in its artificial intelligence agent platform due to strong enterprise demand. Also on the plus side, Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab rose 3.4% as one of the biggest boosts to the S&P after a Bloomberg report said the Facebook parent planned cuts of up to 30% of its Metaverse budget. Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN.O) , opens new tab dipped as one of the biggest drags to the benchmark S&P index after the e-commerce company said it was in discussions with the U.S. Postal Service about their future relationship and is considering its options before its contract expires next year. The consumer staples index (.SPLRCS) , opens new tab was one of the worst-performing of the 11 major S&P sectors, pressured by a 4.6% drop in Kroger (KR.N) , opens new tab after the supermarket chain narrowed its annual sales forecast and missed quarterly sales estimates. In contrast, Dollar General (DG.N) , opens new tab surged 14% after the discount retailer raised its annual profit forecast. Snowflake (SNOW.N) , opens new tab tumbled 11.4% after the cloud data analytics company's fourth-quarter product revenue forecast was below lofty investor expectations for stronger growth. Hormel Foods (HRL.N) , opens new tab advanced 3.8% after the Skippy peanut butter maker forecast annual profit above estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.06-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.39-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and five new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 114 new highs and 52 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 15.13 billion shares, compared with the 17.98 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-stock-futures-flat-investors-await-key-economic-data-2025-12-04/
2025-12-04 23:26
WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. trade with China needs to be balanced and probably needs to be smaller, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Thursday, adding that he viewed a 25% drop in goods trade with China as heading in the "right direction." "The landing zone with China is our trade with them needs to be more balanced. It needs to probably be smaller so we're not so dependent on each other, and it needs to be in areas of non-sensitive goods," he told the American Growth Summit, a policy conference in Washington. Sign up here. Greer said U.S. President Donald Trump's policies were helping to achieve more balanced trade with China and the situation was better overall than at the start of Trump's second term in January. "I don't think anyone wants to have a full-on economic conflict with China, and we're not having that," he said. He said the United States had many levers in its relationship with China, ranging from software to semiconductors, and that many allies were interested in taking coordinated action. "But the decision right now is we want to have stability in this relationship," he said, adding that the United States also needed to boost its industrial production of strategic goods, including critical minerals. Ties with China were now stable, but Washington was monitoring the situation on a daily basis, he said. Greer's comments came a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China was poised to complete its commitments under a U.S.-China trade agreement, including the purchase of 12 million metric tons of soybeans, something he said would be completed by the end of February 2026. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-trade-with-china-probably-needs-be-smaller-ustrs-greer-says-2025-12-04/
2025-12-04 23:05
Dec 4 (Reuters) - England manager Thomas Tuchel said he might keep his substitutes in the dressing room during matches at the 2026 World Cup next summer in an attempt to mitigate the impact of extreme heat. "If this helps the players later in the match, we have to consider it," Tuchel told BBC Sport on Thursday. Sign up here. "Nobody likes it because I want the players to be out there, feeling the energy and bringing it from the bench on to the pitch. But I saw players doing this at the Club World Cup. Hopefully we can avoid it," the manager added. Scorching heat was a major concern at the Club World Cup in the U.S. last June, when medical experts and players' unions expressed concerns about heat stress, dehydration and slower recovery times. Tuchel admitted that this would be problematic for high-level football, saying it would reduce the intensity of matches in the global event co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. "You can't play the same football in 45°C as in 21°C. We need to adapt and prepare the players as well as possible," he added. Despite the challenges, Tuchel expressed growing optimism about England’s prospects. "I'm more confident than ever that this team can win the tournament, as we've grown closer and stronger. We are arriving with the biggest goal," he said. England won all eight of their qualifiers, scoring 22 goals and conceding none. They are in pot one for Friday's draw, meaning that, as they are among the top four seeds, they will not have to face France, Spain or Argentina before the semi-finals as long as all four win their respective groups. "We need to wait until the draw but we have a clear idea against whom we want to play. We're getting closer. I think we're getting stronger. The target is to arrive in June with a strong squad and the emphasis is on the squad and the team spirit," he said. https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/soccer-englands-tuchel-might-keep-substitutes-inside-if-world-cup-heat-gets-too-2025-12-04/
2025-12-04 22:21
SAO PAULO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's soybean exports jumped 64% in November from a year ago to 4.2 million metric tons, the government said on Thursday, with good local supply allowing elevated shipments before the world's largest importer China shifts to United States' beans. Brazil soy exports normally fall towards the end of the year as the country approaches the new harvest late on January or early February, but a record crop in 2025 means there are still enough supplies to keep foreign sales going, grain exports lobby Anec said on Thursday. Sign up here. Anec projects December shipments to also increase sharply, around 90%, to 2.8 million tons. The industry group sees total Brazilian soy exports at 110 million tons in 2025 from 97.3 million tons in 2024. China bought several vessels of soybeans from the U.S. recently, with loadings expected already in December. The Chinese buying is part of its trade deal with the U.S. CORN EXPORTS Brazilian corn exports, however, are expected to fall short of expectations, Anec said. The group reduced its corn shipment projection by 1 million tons for 2025, to 41 million tons, citing increasingly higher domestic demand. Brazil's booming corn ethanol and meat industries are boosting internal demand for the cereal, according to Anec. On Wednesday, an association representing pork and chicken processors, which uses corn as feed, projected a rise in output and exports for both meat types, indicating strong demand for the cereal. Despite the downward revision, Brazilian corn exports could still close 2025 with growth, considering that the country exported 37.8 million tons in 2024, according to Anec data. In December, Brazilian corn shipments are expected to reach 4.99 million tons, a nearly 38% increase compared to the same month last year. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/brazil-soy-exports-jump-64-november-ahead-chinese-shift-us-2025-12-04/
2025-12-04 22:14
NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Younger shoppers are helping to drive growth in some consumer products like Honest Co diapers and Kate Spade handbags despite higher prices from tariffs and other economic pressures, while artificial intelligence boosts efficiencies and margins, several CEOs said on Thursday. Speaking at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York, Warby Parker (WRBY.N) , opens new tab Co-CEO Neil Blumenthal said he expected the eyewear company to end 2025 more profitable than expected, while Tapestry (TPR.N) , opens new tab CEO Joanne Crevoiserat said the Coach handbag maker was seeing growth across all income segments and in China's middle class. Sign up here. “Young consumers may be putting off life moments like getting married or buying a home, which they see as unachievable, but they are still participating,” Crevoiserat said, adding that one of the company’s Kate Spade bags is gaining traction with younger consumers. The Honest Company (HNST.O) , opens new tab CEO Carla Vernón said in light of the Trump administration's tariff policies, it has a "tariff tacklers" team in place aimed at delivering growth without an extreme pricing strategy to help mitigate cost issues. Shoppers buying Honest’s premium-priced diapers, wipes and hair products have been swapping out to smaller sizes but not buying fewer units, Vernon said. “It's been a little bit of a moderated growth rate,” Vernon said. Consumer products companies have seen demand weaken as shoppers, particularly in the U.S., fear a downward turn in the economy. Blumenthal said Warby Parker has been aggressively hiring for its U.S. stores, particularly eye doctors. The company’s investment in artificial intelligence is allowing the doctors to spend more time with patients, rather than on administrative tasks, he said. Tapestry is also preparing to hire employees native in artificial intelligence – what is known as Generation Alpha – as they enter the workforce, Crevoiserat said. View the live broadcast of the World Stage here and read full coverage here. (This story has been refiled to identify the company as Tapestry, not Coach, in paragraph 9) https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/ceos-see-younger-consumers-driving-growth-amid-tariffs-ai-changes-2025-12-04/
