MARKETS - Page 22

Macquarie Group’s half-year profit fell to a three-year low as costs rose, and it booked fewer asset sales, especially in green energy. The Sydney-based financial conglomerate trimmed its earnings forecast twice in the past six months and said performance would lift in the second half. The company also announced an A$2 billion ($1.29 billion) share buyback, indicating management views the stock as undervalued. Macquarie’s first-half net income fell 39% to A$1.42 billion from six months to September, missing the mean

US job growth probably slowed in October partly due to strikes by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union against Detroit’s “Big Three” car makers, which depressed manufacturing payrolls. The UAW’s walkout lasted for two weeks as the union pushed for pay raises and demanded changes to how the automakers operate their factories. The UAW aimed to eliminate the tier wage system and restore cost-of-living adjustments to its members’ pay, end tiered hiring for new hires, bring back defined-benefit pensions, and

The companies say a combined company will be “a leading amusement park operator in the highly competitive leisure space with an expanded and diversified footprint, a stronger operating model, and a strong revenue and cash flow generation profile,” according to a news release. The combined company will have a pro forma enterprise value of about $8 billion based on both companies’ debt and equity values as of Oct. 31. It will operate 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and nine

The Bank of Japan intervened in the government bond market on Wednesday to rein in a jump in yields to fresh decade highs, underlining the challenge for the central bank a day after loosening its grip on long-term interest rates. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield rose two basis points (bps) to 0.970%, a level last seen in May 2013, before retreating to 0.960% immediately after the BOJ announced an emergency bond-purchase operation. The intervention comes as the BOJ continues

Vietnam is holding talks with chip companies to boost investment in the country and possibly build its first chipmaking plant, or fab, two business executives said. The Southeast Asian electronics manufacturing hub already hosts U.S. giant Intel’s (INTC.O) largest semiconductor packaging and testing plant worldwide and is home to several chip-designing software firms. It is developing a strategy to attract additional semiconductor funding, especially from foundries specializing in chip production. During a meeting with the president of the American Semiconductor

China is set to import record volumes of wheat this year, trading sources say, with rain damage to its crop and worries over dry weather in exporting nations fuelling Beijing’s appetite to buy while prices are low. The world’s biggest producer and consumer has bought around two million metric tons of new-crop Australian wheat since October for shipments starting in December, traders said. It has also booked about 2.5 million metric tons of French wheat since September for December-March shipment,

The German government could give billions in state guarantees to troubled energy technology group Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) as it looks to help it deal with problems at its wind turbine division that have caused huge losses. The company said on Thursday that it had begun preliminary talks with various stakeholders, including partner banks and the German economy ministry. A spokesman for the ministry said it was “in close and trusting discussions” with Siemens Energy without providing further details. The company’s

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Friday as investors digested a hectic week of mixed earnings and economic data that supported the “higher for longer” interest rate scenario. Investors were also focused on geopolitics, with the escalation of Israel’s conflict with Hamas and growing fears about a U.S. government shutdown weighing on sentiment. Tech and tech-adjacent momentum stocks led the Nasdaq, with Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Apple (AAPL.O) providing much of the heavy lifting. Both stocks rose after posting robust quarterly

The recent surge in oil prices has boosted the global economy. This has allowed several consumers to enjoy higher incomes and increased spending, with the benefits expected to trickle down over time. But, a broader conflict in the Middle East would hurt growth prospects and likely lower oil prices. A war in the region would create more uncertainty about the future international oil supply and demand direction. The war in Gaza has pushed oil prices back above $80 a barrel,

TikTok and YouTube are considering joining Meta in applying for e-commerce licenses in Indonesia after Southeast Asia’s largest economy banned online shopping on social media platforms, people familiar with the discussions said. The ban blew the short video app TikTok, which has 125 million active monthly users nationwide and has been looking to translate its massive user base into a significant e-commerce revenue source through its locally developed platform, TikTok Shop. The company said it was “deeply concerned” about the