Yahoo Finance's Morning Rundown, August 29
The morning's top headlines, August 27
The morning's top headlines, August 27
Andrei Belousov, the surprise choice of President Vladimir Putin to become Russia's new defence minister, said on Monday that soldiers needed better access to housing, hospitals and welfare benefits. Belousov, an economist who previously served as deputy prime minister, underlined the need to take better care of Russia's soldiers in comments to a parliamentary committee, his first since Putin named him on Sunday to replace Sergei Shoigu.
The case has been closely watched as a test of prosecutors' ambitious market manipulation theory, and because it is expected to shed light on the inner workings of Wall Street's dealings with profitable but risky clients. Testimony in the trial, which could last up to eight weeks, will center on the implosion of Hwang's lightly regulated family investment office Archegos, which prosecutors allege caused more than $100 billion in shareholder losses at companies in its portfolio. Prosecutors accuse Hwang of using financial contracts known as total return swaps to secretly amass outsize stakes in multiple companies without actually holding their stock.
A crucial reading of inflation faces investors in the week ahead after a string of disappointing reports to start the year dampened investors' interest rate cut hopes.
Workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama began voting Monday on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, a significant test of whether the labor group can maintain momentum in the historically anti-union American South. A union victory at the plant, weeks after a resounding win at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee, would be a watershed moment for the UAW as it seeks to organize more than a dozen automakers across the nation and add to its dwindling ranks. The campaign at Mercedes has been much more contentious.
A rush by U.S. fuel makers to recalibrate their plants to produce renewable diesel has created a supply glut for low-emissions biofuels, hammering profit margins for refiners and threatening to impede a young industry. Turmoil in the biomass-based diesel sector, an umbrella term for renewable diesel and biodiesel, could become a roadblock to future investments in biofuels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said this year. Some producers of these biofuels have already shuttered plants this year, and industry participants say more are set to go out of business before the year's end.
On Friday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite registered their third week of gains in a row for the first time since January, while the Dow posted its biggest weekly gain since mid-December. The indexes were also trading near their peaks, boosted by stronger-than-expected earnings reports and signs of a cooling U.S. labor market that fueled bets of one or two rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve this year. The keenly awaited inflation data on Wednesday is expected to show that core consumer prices rose 0.3% on a month-over-month basis in April, for an annual rise of 3.6%, according to economists forecasts in a Reuters poll.
Argentina's government is set to ramp up pressure on Venezuela to grant safe passage to six opposition aides who had sought refuge in its embassy in Caracas, official sources said, adding they were at physical risk if they didn't leave the country. Two senior Argentine officials told Reuters last week that the administration of President Nicolas Maduro, who has looked to head off political rivals ahead of July presidential elections, had reneged on promises to allow the six to safely leave the country. In March, aides to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado requested asylum at the Argentine embassy in Caracas, after a local prosecutor issued arrest warrants against them for conspiracy.
Walmart's earnings amid signs of weaker discretionary spending could add fuel to a rally that has propelled its shares to record highs, or potentially spook investors looking to justify the heavyweight retailer's pricey valuation. As Walmart gears up to report its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, Americans continue to spend heavily online, driven by demand for cheaper products. Known for its bargain-priced merchandise, Walmart is facing especially stiff price competition online from Amazon and newcomers like PDD Group's Temu in key categories such as personal care products, clothing and electronics.
Jury selection is expected to begin on Monday in the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, a case that could affect the Democrat's reelection prospects and help determine which party controls the Senate next year. The senator's wife, Nadine Menendez, has also been charged but will be tried separately. Menendez, New Jersey's senior senator, is up for re-election in November and if exonerated hopes to run for a fourth full term as an independent.
Israel’s leaders commemorated Memorial Day on Monday, a usually somber holiday that this year was almost entirely absorbed by the ongoing war in Gaza. At 11:00 A.M., sirens announced two minutes of silence, and a formation of four fighter planes then flew over Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. At a ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed once again to defeat Hamas, a promise he has made repeatedly during Israel’s brutal seven month war with the militant group.
As Big Tech races to build off of neurotech advancements in the medical world, experts have cautioned that it could put our most valuable data — the privacy of our thoughts — at risk.
The European Union on Monday added Dutch online travel giant Booking.com to its list of digital companies that are big enough to fall under tougher competition rules.In the same statement on Monday, the commission also said it opted not to include advertising services provided by X and TikTok on its list. raz/ec/lth
Rescue teams in South Africa forged ahead Monday with efforts to find any survivors still trapped under rubble a week after an apartment building that was under construction collapsed. Authorities said 24 construction workers who were on the site when the unfinished five-story building came down have been confirmed dead, while another 28 are missing, raising the possibility that the death toll could ultimately be above 50. More than 600 emergency services and other personnel have been involved in the search for survivors in the wreckage of the building in the city of George on South Africa's south coast, which collapsed last Monday.
Survivors of flash floods in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province were still searching for the missing on Monday, days after torrents of water ripped through villages, killing hundreds. Heavy rains sparked flash flooding in multiple Afghan provinces on Friday, killing more than 300 people in Baghlan alone, UN agencies and Taliban officials said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a grant of 24 billion rupees ($86.25 million) on Monday for Pakistan-ruled Kashmir where there have been several days of violent protests over inflation. A police official was killed and over 90 people injured when thousands of people clashed with police in the region over the weekend, said Shah Nawaz, a local government official. Most businesses and transport remained shut for the fifth consecutive day on Monday, he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has replaced his defense minister and close ally Sergei Shoigu with a civilian economist, a major reshuffle of military leadership more than two-years after Moscow’s grinding war against Ukraine has sent defense spending soaring.
The death toll from flash floods and cold lava flow from a volcano in western Indonesia over the weekend has risen to 43 with 15 more missing, officials said Monday."The death toll from cold lava flow flooding in West Sumatra province reached 43 people," spokesman of the national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) Abdul Muhari said in a statement on Monday.
Turkey will rein in public spending and boost efficiency under a savings plan announced on Monday, launching only essential state investment projects in a fresh move to build confidence in an economic tightening programme. The steps, unveiled by Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, come as Turkey returns to more orthodox policies, seeking to boost fiscal discipline and price stability after years of turmoil that fuelled soaring inflation. Annual inflation climbed to 69.8% in April and is expected to peak at 75-76% in May before falling to 38% at year-end, according to the central bank forecast in its quarterly inflation report last week.
N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadian opposition leader Succes Masra has lodged a legal appeal with the country's constitutional council to challenge the preliminary result of the Central African nation's May 6 presidential election. The state-run national election management body on Thursday declared interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby winner of the election with 61.3% of the vote, according to provisional results, while Masra was placed a distant second with 18.53%. However, prior to the official announcement, Masra, who serves as the prime minister of a transitional government, had claimed victory, alleging that an electoral fraud was being planned.
Israel battled Hamas in Gaza on Monday, including in far-southern Rafah, despite US warnings against a full-scale invasion of the crowded city and of the threat of post-war "anarchy" across the Palestinian territory.Israel last week defied international warnings, including from its top ally Washington, and sent tanks and soldiers into the east of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border where some 1.4 million Palestinians had sought shelter.