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Asian shares gain as investors shift focus to Federal Reserve, tariffs

Asian shares gain as investors shift focus to Federal Reserve, tariffs

Washington Post5 hours ago

BANGKOK — Asian shares have logged modest gains after U.S. stocks climbed to near their all-time high as investors considered comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to Congress.
Oil prices gained more than 1% early Wednesday after falling about 6% on Tuesday on hopes that Israel's war with Iran will not hinder the global flow of crude. Lower oil prices could give the Federal Reserve leeway to cut interest rates to help the economy, and Powell said it is waiting for the right time to do so.

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Nykaa Allots Over 5 Lakh Equity Shares to Employees Under ESOP
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Based on the company's share price of INR 197.3 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the total value of this allotment is estimated at around INR 10.33 crore. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Beauty and personal care retailer Nykaa has allotted 5.23 lakh equity shares to its employees as part of its Employee Stock Option Scheme (ESOP). The move was disclosed in a stock exchange filing on Monday. The newly issued shares will hold the same rights and status as the existing ones. Based on the company's share price of INR 197.3 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the total value of this allotment is estimated at around INR 10.33 crore. Nykaa, owned by FSN E-Commerce Ventures, has made several similar allotments this year, continuing its strategy of offering stock options to employees. In February, it allotted 90,500 shares valued at approximately INR 1.49 crore. Another allotment followed in April, with 17,010 shares worth about INR 32.2 lakh. The company has also made notable allotments in the past. In November 2024, it allotted 1.80 lakh equity shares, while in October 2024, it granted 3.08 lakh shares. Combined, these contributed to a total of around 4.8 lakh shares in the December 2024 quarter. Stock options like these are commonly used by modern companies to attract, retain, and motivate employees by offering them a share in the company's future growth. Nykaa continues to strengthen its talent base through such initiatives.

Consumers are feeling the pressure of a stagnant labor market
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time33 minutes ago

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Consumers are feeling the pressure of a stagnant labor market

Consumers are feeling worse about the labor market outlook. In June's Consumer Confidence Survey, 29.2% of respondents said jobs were "plentiful," down from 31.1% in May. Meanwhile, 18.1% of consumers said jobs were "hard to get," down slightly from 18.4% in month prior. These may seem like mere details, but this pushed the difference between the two — a closely watched sentiment reading called the labor market differential — to just 11.1 percentage points in June. That marked the lowest gap since March 2021, when the job market was recovering from the onset of the pandemic. Coupled with the surprise of the reading, expected to be strong, and it's something of note. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy The current situation is different than the so-called vibecession of 2022, where consumers felt worse about the state of the economy than actual data had shown. This time, consumers aren't getting it twisted: There are clear signs of slowing in the labor market all over the place right now. Weekly filings for unemployment are hovering at an eight-month high. In a sign workers are taking longer to find jobs, continuing unemployment claims are near their highest level since November 2021. The hiring rate is near its lowest level in more than a decade. And the outlook for certain cohorts of the labor market, like tech workers and new college graduates, is worse than before the pandemic. "The lost momentum in the labor market is not lost on consumers," Wells Fargo senior economist Tim Quinlan wrote in a note to clients. The weakening labor market outlook helped contribute to the broad Consumer Confidence Index unexpectedly declining in June after a large May bounce back. But perhaps even more importantly, it's also one reason why some are clamoring for the Federal Reserve to consider cutting interest rates soon. In a speech on June 23, Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman noted that while the labor market is showing signs of strength, it "appears to be less dynamic." "With inflation on a sustained trajectory toward 2%, softness in aggregate demand, and signs of fragility in the labor market, I think that we should put more weight on downside risks to our employment mandate going forward," Bowman said. But with seven officials forecasting no interest rate cuts this year and eight penciling in two cuts, there's clear debate about whether rising inflation or a weakening labor market will drive the Fed's policy decisions over the next few months. While testifying in front of House lawmakers on Tuesday, Fed Chair Powell stressed the central bank is "well-positioned to wait" before moving interest rates. Powell cited wider-ranging metrics like the national unemployment rate at 4.2% and an average of 124,000 nonfarm payroll gains through the first five months of the year to describe labor market conditions as "solid." And it's hard to argue that. But the argument for the Fed to cut sooner rather than later isn't about the broad-ranging metrics flashing warning signs. If that were the case it wouldn't be an argument. Just look back to the Fed's jumbo half percentage point interest rate cut last September that came after a string of weak labor data. Instead, the key concern some economists have about the economic outlook is being expressed by slowing on the margin and the fear those data points could be pointing to something worse. As Renaissance Macro head of economics Neil Dutta wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday, "I follow what consumers tell me about the jobs market since they tend to lead the actual data." A compelling argument. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Fed kicks off effort to ease bank leverage rules
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Fed kicks off effort to ease bank leverage rules

By Pete Schroeder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Reserve meets on Wednesday to advance a proposal that would ease leverage rules for banks, which would grant the industry a long-sought win they say will help big firms facilitate Treasury market trading. The central bank's Washington board will consider a plan to revamp the so-called supplementary leverage ratio (SLR), which directs banks to hold capital against assets regardless of their risk level. Originally designed as a backstop to ensure banks hold some capital on even relatively risk-free assets like U.S. Treasury debt, the industry complains it has become a constraint that actually impedes their ability to facilitate trading in U.S. Treasury markets during times of stress. The Fed had previously flagged that the SLR may need some tweaks after it exempted some requirements amid market strains during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now Fed officials plan to advance a more lasting solution. "It would be better if we had a leverage ratio that was a backstop rather than a binding thing, and that's what this proposal is going to do," said Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at a congressional hearing Tuesday. Powell told lawmakers the Fed is expected to advance a proposal that would tweak the formula calculating the "enhanced" SLR (eSLR), which requires the nation's largest banks to hold an extra layer of capital. Specifically, the Fed is expected to mirror an effort regulators pitched in 2018 that failed to advance, which would tie leverage requirements to the overall risk each bank is deemed to pose on the financial system. However, he added the Fed would seek feedback on alternative methods of relief, such as broadly exempting Treasury securities from the requirement altogether. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment ahead of the board meeting. "We believe regulators want to provide banks with more space before riskless assets could make the eSLR a binding constraint," Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with TD Cowen, wrote in a note. The leverage changes are the first of what is expected to be a broad deregulatory agenda from the Fed's new top regulatory official, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman. President Donald Trump, who nominated Bowman for the post, has made trimming regulations a top priority in a bid to boost economic growth. On Monday, she said the leverage rewrite is a first step in overhauling "distorted" capital requirements on banks, which were drastically ratcheted up after the 2008 financial crisis. Other future changes could include weakening an additional surcharge imposed on large global banks and tweaking thresholds under which banks face increasingly strict rules as they grow in size. However, the new plan has its critics, who argue stepping back rules intended to keep banks stable injects unnecessary risk into the system at the behest of the industry. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a letter to regulators on Tuesday she had "grave concerns" about the plan. "If the banking agencies gut this requirement, the big banks will load up on more debt, pay out more money to shareholders and executives, and put the entire economy at risk of another financial crash," she wrote. "There is no valid rationale for your agencies to impose these risks on the American public." Sign in to access your portfolio

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