Trump says 'very wealthy' group ready to buy TikTok
US President says buyers have been found for platform, with ByteDance under pressure to sell amid US fears over ties to China
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Zawya
21 minutes ago
- Zawya
Hikma Pharmaceuticals issues mandate for USD Reg S 5-year bond
Hikma Pharmaceuticals, rated BBB (stable) by S&P and BBB (stable) by Fitch, has mandated banks for a USD-denominated Reg S only senior unsecured 5-year bond transaction, which will be issued by Hikma Finance USA and guaranteed by the parent company. Citi and HSBC have been appointed as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, and Emirates NBD Capital, Mashreq and Mizuho as joint bookrunners, which will undertake a series of fixed income investor meetings commencing Monday. The notes are expected to be assigned a rating of BBB by S&P and BBB by Fitch. Founded in Jordan in 1978, Hikma is the second largest pharmaceutical company in MENA by sales and is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Dubai. Over the weekend, Hikma unveiled a $1 billion investment strategy to bolster its manufacturing and research capabilities across the US by the year 2030. The company's expansion will enhance facilities in Ohio and New Jersey. (Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
Oil prices steady on easing Middle East risks
Oil prices held steady on Monday as Middle East risks eased while a possible OPEC+ output increase in August and uncertainty over the global demand outlook weighed on the market. Brent crude futures edged down by 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $67.55 a barrel at 1119 GMT, ahead of the August contract's expiry later on Monday. The more active September contract was down 14 cents at $66.61. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 32 cents, or 0.5%, at $65.20 a barrel. The Brent and WTI benchmarks posted their biggest weekly declines since March 2023 last week but are set for a second consecutive monthly gain of more than 5%. A 12-day war that started with Israel targeting Iran's nuclear facilities on June 13 sent prices above $80 a barrel before sliding back to $67. The market is back to a range-trading environment that is likely to continue until new economic growth concerns emerge or supply disruptions materialise, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Four OPEC+ sources told Reuters last week that the group was set to boost production by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August after similar increases for May, June and July. If OPEC opted for another output increase in August, global and OECD oil inventories would start swelling, potentially preventing any further upside in prices, PVM Associates analyst Tamas Varga said in a note. The oil producer group is set to meet on July 6. However, some market tightness remains despite rising output, with lower than expected production increases while exports from OPEC+ countries have remained stable, Staunovo added. A Reuters survey found that OPEC oil output rose in May but gains were limited by cuts by countries that had previously exceeded their quotas while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates made smaller increases than allowed. Bearish pressure is likely to persist on concerns over slower global oil demand, particularly from leading crude importer China, some analysts say. Uncertainty around global growth continues to cap prices, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
US-Canada trade talks lift Wall St futures to record highs
Wall Street futures reached record highs on Monday as optimism over U.S. trade negotiations with key partners helped boost sentiment in markets. World stocks hovered just below recent record highs and European shares trimmed early falls. Canada said on Sunday it had rescinded its digital services tax in a bid to advance trade negotiations, bowing to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. The talks are aimed at getting a deal done by July 21, extending Trump's original July 9 deadline for his "reciprocal" tariffs. Officials have suggested most deals could now be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday. Investors were also keeping a wary eye on the progress of a huge U.S. tax-cutting and spending bill slowly making its way through the Senate, with signs it may not make it by Trump's preferred July 4 deadline. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $3.3 trillion to the nation's debt over a decade, testing foreign appetite for U.S. Treasuries. There was no doubting the demand for the U.S. tech sector and megacap growth stocks including Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon. Nasdaq futures rose another 0.5% , while S&P 500 futures added 0.4%, having touched record highs. "We have been surprised at just how resilient markets have been in the face of a tremendous amount of uncertainty," Kevin Gardiner, global investment strategist at Rothschild & Co, said. "Markets continue to look resilient, though we note that we haven't seen equity valuations look more expensive since 2000," he added. European stocks trimmed early falls, but were set to log gains for the quarter, while investors monitored signs of any delay on the July 9 tariff deadline, looming large. They were down just 0.1%, though European defence stocks led sectoral gains with a rise of just over 1%. The sector has remained buoyant since last week's NATO pledge to spend 3.5% of GDP on core defence and 1.5% on broader defence-related measures, a jump worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Attention also turned to a European Central Bank conference in Sintra, Portugal, as well as key euro zone inflation reports due this week and the closely watched U.S. non-farm payrolls report on Thursday. Asian markets closed on a mixed note with Chinese blue chips up 0.4%, after surveys showed manufacturing improved slightly in June while service activity picked up. Hong Kong stocks closed down 0.9% while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8%. DOLLAR DOLDRUMS A holiday on Friday means U.S. jobs data will come a day early, with analysts forecasting a rise of 110,000 in June and a rising jobless rate reaching almost a year high at 4.3%. The resilience of the labour market is a major reason the majority of Federal Reserve members say they can afford to wait on cutting rates until they can gauge the true impact of tariffs on inflation, so a weak report would stoke speculation of a rate cut in July rather than September. The prospect of policy easing has helped Treasuries weather worries on the ballooning U.S. budget deficit. Ten-year Treasury yields fell 3 basis points to 4.25% , having fallen 7 bps last week. The dollar struggled in part over concern that tariffs and policy whipsaws from the White House will drag on economic growth. The euro steadied, having climbed more than 1% last week to its highest levels since 2021 against a broadly weak dollar. Sterling tipped 0.1% lower to just below a similar peak hit last week, trading near $1.37. The dollar was down 0.3% to 144.19 yen and the dollar index eased 0.2% to 97.237, a whisker above three-year lows. The dollar has fallen by more at this stage in the year than in any previous year since the U.S. moved to a free-floating exchange rate in 1973. "At this point, further weakness could become self-reinforcing as underhedged European/Asian portfolios chase the move," James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, said. In commodity markets, the general revival in risk sentiment weighed on gold, which rose 0.4% to $3,285 an ounce but held below April's record top of $3,500. Oil prices continued to struggle on concerns about plans for increased output from OPEC+, which contributed to a 12% slide last week. Brent declined 17 cents to $67.60 a barrel, while U.S. crude fell 26 cents to $65.26 per barrel. (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie and Wayne Cole Editing by Lincoln Feast, Andrew Heavens and Susan Fenton)
