2024-08-28 21:48

Aug 29 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Hold on to your hats, or prepare for lift off? In the end, the much-anticipated release of Nvidia's second quarter results on Wednesday is unlikely to push investors to either extreme, but Asian markets on Thursday may still open on the defensive. The AI golden goose and world's second-most valuable company reported second-quarter revenue of $30.04 billion, beating estimates of $28.70 billion, and forecast third-quarter revenue of $32.5 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $31.77 billion. But that doesn't appear to have sufficiently impressed investors who have gotten used to Nvidia's profits, revenue and forecasts smashing forecasts, not just beating them. Nvidia shares fell as much as 3.5% in volatile U.S. after-hours trading, which should weigh on tech stocks and equities more broadly at the open in Asia. Or perhaps when the dust settles a little, investors in Asia will look more favorably on what appears to be a pretty solid set of results? The backdrop to the trading day in Asia on Thursday was already challenging - Wall Street had closed lower before Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq losing more than 1% and chip stocks down 1.8%, while the U.S. dollar and bond yields climbed higher. The dollar posted its biggest rise since early June, gaining more than 0.5% against a basket of major currencies and declining against emerging market currencies for a second day. The Asia/Pacific calendar on Thursday is extremely light, with only Japanese consumer confidence and capex data from New Zealand likely to pique investors' interest at all. Investor sentiment towards China remains bleak and Shanghai stocks closed lower on Wednesday for a third day, sliding to their lowest level in six and a half months. Swiss investment bank UBS on Wednesday cut its 2024 GDP growth forecast for China to 4.6% from 4.9%, citing a heavier-than-expected drag on overall economic activity from the property sector slump. More alarmingly, perhaps, it also cut its 2025 GDP growth forecast to 4% from 4.6% and next year's average inflation rate to 1.0% from 1.4%, indicating China's economic malaise is likely to deepen rather than lift in the coming year. Top Chinese and U.S. officials, meanwhile, discussed holding fresh talks between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in the near future, the two countries said on Wednesday during high-level meetings in Beijing. The discussion occurred during lengthy talks between China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan held against the backdrop of sharp disagreements between the superpowers, including trade and tit-for-tat tariffs. Progress, or another false dawn? Here are key developments that could provide more direction to Asian markets on Thursday: - Japan consumer confidence - New Zealand capex (Q2) - Germany inflation (August) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-pix-2024-08-28/

2024-08-28 21:35

Aug 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that a pot-smoking gun owner in Texas cannot be prosecuted for violating a federal ban on users of illegal drugs owning firearms, saying it is unconstitutional to disarm her based on her past drug habits. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said , opens new tab the prosecution had violated Paola Connelly's right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment citing a landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights. "Marijuana user or not, Paola is a member of our political community and thus has a presumptive right to bear arms," U.S. Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, wrote for a three-judge panel. Engelhardt said that while the government may be allowed to bar someone currently under the influence of drugs from having weapons, "there is no historical justification for disarming a sober citizen not presently under an impairing influence." The ruling partly upheld a judge's decision to toss on Second Amendment grounds all of the charges Connelly faced. The panel revived a separate charge that she violated a ban on transferring firearms to someone using illegal drugs. The U.S. Department of Justice and Connelly's attorney did not respond to requests for comment. She was indicted after El Paso police officers responded in December 2021 to a report of shots fired at her home after a conflict arose between her husband and their neighbor. Upon arrival, officers found Connelly's husband standing at the neighbor's door firing a shotgun. Following his arrest, officers spoke with Connelly, who indicated she sometimes smoked marijuana. A search of the Connellys' home found drug paraphernalia and several guns, including some she owned. In upholding the dismissal of the gun possession charge against Connelly, Engelhardt cited a 2022 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority that established a new test for assessing whether modern firearm restrictions comply with the Second Amendment. The court's ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen requires gun regulations to be "consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." Many laws have been declared invalid following that decision. Engelhardt said until the 19th Century, little regulation of drugs existed. While some laws dating to the country's founding barred carrying weapons while under the influence of alcohol, "none barred gun possession by regular drinkers," he wrote. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/marijuana-user-cannot-be-banned-gun-ownership-us-court-rules-2024-08-28/

2024-08-28 21:33

NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Sweat-drenched competitors battled through suffocating conditions as sweltering heat gripped the second-round action at the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Temperatures topped 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35°C) by the early evening as the sun beat down on the tens of thousands of fans who arrived at the sprawling Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Madison Keys was relieved to get past Australian qualifier Maya Joint 6-4 6-0 in just 62 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I just wanted to get on and get off," the 2017 runner-up said, after she set up a meeting in the next round with Belgian Elise Mertens. A straight-sets win was welcome for German Alexander Zverev, as he cruised past French wildcard Alexandre Muller at Louis Armstrong Stadium to set up a match with Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry. "I was at some point very, very wet. The whole court was flooded from me," Zverev said. "But I felt good physically." While high temperatures and a beating sun are nothing new at the year's final major, the conditions on Wednesday tested fans and players alike, and some athletes were not lucky enough to get a quick escape from the heat. Etcheverry vomited amid the stifling conditions in his five-set win over compatriot Francisco Cerundolo, while Russian Andrey Rublev had to battle back from two sets down to get past Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech. Rublev and Rinderknech wrapped themselves in ice towels during the changeovers and Rinderknech fell to the court with exhaustion after a 37-shot rally. The match was briefly halted in the second set when a spectator required medical attention. Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen placed an ice towel around her head during her 6-7(3) 6-1 6-2 second-round win over unseeded Erika Andreeva under the blazing sun at the Grandstand, where officials had to call a 10-minute heat break. "Today the weather is too hot. Yeah, but all the crowd is here suffering with me from the heat," said the Chinese seventh seed, who will next play German Jule Niemeier. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sports/tennis/scorching-heat-grips-us-open-second-round-2024-08-28/

2024-08-28 21:04

TSX ends down 0.6% at 23,126.98 Materials group falls 2.1% Technology ends 1.6% lower RBC notches record high after profit beat Aug 28 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index extended its pullback from a record high on Wednesday, as profit-taking in most sectors of the market offset gains for financials after stronger-than-expected earnings for two of Canada's major banks. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended down 132.98 points, or 0.6%, at 23,126.98, its second straight day of declines after notching an all-time high on Monday. Wall Street also lost ground, ahead of Nvidia's (NVDA.O) , opens new tab quarterly report after the closing bell. "We had a great run so today's market declines on the TSX, but also south of the border, can largely be attributed to profit taking," said Elvis Picardo, a portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth. The technology sector lost 1.6%, with shares of software firm Kinaxis (KXS.TO) , opens new tab tumbling 14.5% after the company said its CEO will retire from his role. The materials group, which includes metal miners and fertilizer companies, was down 2.1% as gold and copper prices fell. The price of oil also dropped, settling 1.3% lower at $74.52 a barrel, which weighed on energy. "Here in Canada ... we've got our own little side show in terms of bank earnings," Picardo said. "Investors have become more discerning in terms of how they reward or punish companies depending on whether they beat or miss earnings expectations." Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) , opens new tab shares rose 2.2% to notch a record high after the bank surpassed quarterly profit estimates. Smaller peer National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) , opens new tab also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Its shares jumped 5.9%. In contrast, Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) , opens new tab reported lower-than-expected profit on Tuesday and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) , opens new tab last week reported its first loss in over two decades. TD Bank's efforts to resolve gaps in its anti-money laundering controls by the end of the year will likely clear the path for a new CEO, possibly an external candidate, according to a straw poll of shareholders and analysts. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-slips-commodity-linked-stocks-drag-nvidia-results-tap-2024-08-28/

2024-08-28 21:02

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKa.N) , opens new tab market value closed above $1 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, reflecting investor confidence in the conglomerate that Warren Buffett built over nearly six decades into what many consider a proxy for the American economy. Buffett's company joined six other U.S. companies, all in or tied to the technology sector, valued at more than $1 trillion: Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab, Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab, Amazon.com (AMZN.O) , opens new tab and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab. Berkshire's Class A shares closed up 0.7% at $696,502.02. The more widely held Class B shares rose 0.9% to $464.59. Buffett, who turns 94 on Friday, has run Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire since 1965. He transformed it from a failing textile company into a colossus with dozens of old-economy businesses such as Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Brooks running shoes, Dairy Queen ice cream, Ginsu knives and the World Book encyclopedia. The operating businesses generated $22.8 billion of profit in the year's first half, up 26% from 2023. Berkshire also has a huge stock portfolio even after selling tens of billions of dollars of Apple and Bank of America, its largest and until recently its second-largest stock holdings, in 2024. The sales are a major reason Berkshire's cash hoard, mainly in U.S. Treasury bills, soared to $276.9 billion as of June 30. Berkshire has also slowed repurchases of its own stock. "Buffett built Berkshire in a systematic, relatively low risk manner," said Steve Check, president of Check Capital Management in Costa Mesa, California, which invests one-third of its $2 billion of assets in Berkshire stock and options. "As a huge conglomerate it will always have parts doing well." The $1 trillion valuation is based on Berkshire's 553,234 Class A and 1,325,192,508 Class B shares outstanding as of July 23. Since the year Buffett took charge, Berkshire shares have gained more than 5,600,000%. That's about 20% annually, nearly double the annualized gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab including dividends. No single catalyst appeared to fuel Wednesday's gain. Berkshire's Class A shares are up 28% this year, while the S&P 500 excluding dividends is up 17%. Buffett still owns more than 14% of Berkshire despite having donated more than half his shares to charity since 2006. His $146 billion fortune makes him the world's sixth-richest person, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday. Check said he became a grandfather on Aug. 16, and bought 100 Berkshire Class B shares for his grandson Zealand that day. "Investors should certainly not jump in because the market cap hit $1 trillion, and the stock is perhaps as fully priced as it has been since before the 2008 financial crisis," he said. "It is a good investment for someone with a 10-year horizon." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/warren-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-tops-1-trillion-market-value-2024-08-28/

2024-08-28 21:00

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Social media platform Reddit (RDDT.N) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it has resolved an issue related to an update that led to an outage affecting thousands of users. "Earlier today we shipped an update that unintentionally impacted platform stability. We deployed a fix and are back up and running," the company said in a statement to Reuters. Reddit is known for its forums, or "subreddits", where communities discuss various topics. It primarily relies on advertising for its revenue. Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources including users, showed over 152,982 reports of outages in the U.S. as of 04:09 PM ET. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/reddit-down-thousands-users-downdetector-shows-2024-08-28/