WORLDWIDE : HEADLINES
Tesla secures tax breaks for cybertruck factory in Texas
A central Texas county that includes Austin on Tuesday approved a plan to provide millions in tax subsidies to Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) if it builds a $1.1 billion vehicle factory in the area.
The decision marks a step forward for Texas as it vies with Oklahoma to attract a new factory to build Tesla’s Y sport utility vehicles and cybertrucks.
A majority of commissioners in Travis County voted in favor of providing the electric carmaker with a tax rebate worth at least $14.7 million.
That brings the total amount of tax rebates to nearly $65 million after the Del Valle school district, which includes the proposed factory site, approved a $50 million incentive on Thursday.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Global stocks rebound on cyclical surge, gold edges higher
NEW YORK – Global equity markets rebounded on Tuesday, buoyed by a surge in cyclical stocks on Wall Street as investors bet the economic recovery would overcome a rollback of California’s reopening, while safe-haven gold prices solidified gains above $1,800 an ounce.
The euro rose versus the dollar on optimism about the possibility of a European Union stimulus package, but market participants remained cautious, leading U.S. and euro-zone government debt yields to fall.
A decline in U.S. consumer prices that showed core inflation remained well under the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% sent Treasury yields lower, as did concerns about the rollback of business reopenings in California announced Monday.
Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.79% and initially weighed on MSCI’s world equity index after a decline overnight in Asian equities. The global benchmark index, which tracks shares in 49 nations, rose 0.53% to 543.54, driven by a rebounding Wall Street.
Full coverage: REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : BUSINESS / FINANCE / ECONOMY
Wall Street surges, led by energy and materials
Wall Street surged on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending more than 2% higher as investors bought energy and materials stocks and looked beyond a recent rise in coronavirus cases.
In extended trade, Moderna Inc surged 18% after the biotech company’s experimental vaccine for COVID-19 showed it was safe and provoked immune responses in an ongoing early-stage study.
Extended trade in S&P 500 emini futures suggested investors expect Wall Street to rise on Wednesday, with the futures climbing 0.8%. Shares of airlines, cruise ship lines, hotel operators and concert promoters also jumped after the report by U.S. researchers on the Moderna vaccine study.
In regular trade on Tuesday, the S&P 500 energy, materials and industrial indexes jumped more than 2%, while health, technology and consumer staples each rose more than 1%.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Oil climbs after sharp drop in U.S. crude stocks; OPEC committee meeting in focus
SEOUL – Oil prices rose on Wednesday following a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories, with the market waiting for next steps from a meeting later in the day on the future level of output cuts by OPEC and its allies.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 19 cents, or 0.4%, at $43.09 a barrel as of 0343 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 17 cents, or 0.4%, to $40.46 a barrel.
Reflecting a recovery in fuel demand despite the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. crude inventories fell by 8.3 million barrels in the week to July 10, beating analysts’ expectations for a decline of 2.1 million barrels, according to data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Asian markets, risk assets ride up on vaccine hopes
SYDNEY – Asian shares jumped on Wednesday as optimism about a coronavirus vaccine bolstered risk appetite while the euro rose to a four-month top on the prospect of stimulus ahead of a crucial EU summit.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 1.2%, edging closer to a recent five-month peak.
Japan’s Nikkei .N225 added 1.5% to the highest since June 10 while Australia’s benchmark index was up 1%. Chinese shares gained modestly with the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 ticking up 0.3%.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 rose 0.8%.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Dollar falls on rising inflation expectations, higher euro
NEW YORK – The dollar fell in North American trade on Tuesday as expectations for inflation picked up slightly and the euro rose on optimism about the possibility of a European Union stimulus package.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the safe-haven greenback against a basket of six rival currencies, was down 0.29% at 96.271.
U.S. consumer prices rebounded by the most in nearly eight years in June, according to a Labor Department report released Tuesday. The increase, which ended three straight months of declines, was driven by a 12.3% jump in gasoline prices after dropping in the first five months of the year.
However, analysts argued that evidence of inflation was better seen in indicators other than the consumer price index.
Full coverage: REUTERS
