<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="U.S. stock futures tumbled by more than 4% Wednesday evening, indicating that Wall Street was poised to extend its grim sell-off, after President Donald Trump announced new plans intended to contain the human toll and economic impact of the worsening coronavirus outbreak that has whipsawed global markets.” data-reactid=”16″>U.S. stock futures tumbled by more than 4% Wednesday evening, indicating that Wall Street was poised to extend its grim sell-off, after President Donald Trump announced new plans intended to contain the human toll and economic impact of the worsening coronavirus outbreak that has whipsawed global markets.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="In a televised address, Trump said he was planning to suspend travel from certain areas of Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days. He also announced plans for $50 billion of low interest loans to affected businesses and suggested a delay in the April 15 tax filing deadline.” data-reactid=”17″>In a televised address, Trump said he was planning to suspend travel from certain areas of Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days. He also announced plans for $50 billion of low interest loans to affected businesses and suggested a delay in the April 15 tax filing deadline.
Following the address, contracts on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow sank to their limit-down levels to trigger so-called circuit breakers to prevent further losses.
“President Trump’s address to the nation was symptomatic of the lack of policy coordination in the face of a global coronavirus pandemic,” Oxford Economics’ Gregory Daco said. “Markets reacted negatively to what was perceived as a solemn but confused speech that placed blame on other nations, omitted to focus on immediate actions to relieve the most affected individuals, and lacked in concrete fiscal and health measures to address the economic and financial impact of the virus.”
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="U.S. equity futures tumbled and sent the S&P 500 (ES=F), Dow (YM=F) and Nasdaq (NQ=F) deeper into the red. As of 2:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, Dow futures were down around 1,000 points or 4.3% — suggesting major benchmarks were in for yet another day of bloodletting at Thursday’s opening bell.” data-reactid=”20″>U.S. equity futures tumbled and sent the S&P 500 (ES=F), Dow (YM=F) and Nasdaq (NQ=F) deeper into the red. As of 2:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, Dow futures were down around 1,000 points or 4.3% — suggesting major benchmarks were in for yet another day of bloodletting at Thursday’s opening bell.
The selloff suggests investors were hoping for much more.
“2 hours [before the speech], with Australia launching financial crisis level plans, I had brief visions of country by country launching what looked like coordinated fiscal stimulus,” Academy Securities’ Peter Tchir said. “I’m disappointed with what we got…”
Some analysts were a bit more alarmed.
“The U.S. limiting entry to foreign nationals from Europe has the potential to cause another world depression again even if it is for reasons that seek to stop the spread of the coronavirus,” MUFG economist Chris Rupkey said. “Business activity is going to hit the brakes around the world and stock markets around the world are in freefall as the spread of this deadly pandemic virus has the potential to slow the global economy to a crawl.”
Trader Michael Gallucci works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Other proposals under consideration by the Trump administration included a payroll tax cut and expanded worker protections, to help counteract any economic fall-out from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
While some of these ideas have been met with resistance in the House, Eurasia Group’s Todd Marino wrote late Wednesday that “the snowballing impact of the coronavirus in coming weeks, combined with a White House push, will likely result in bipartisan alignment—rare in an election year—on [a] big-bang stimulus.”
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="The World Health Organization officially designated the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday, as the virus spread across more than 100 countries and infected well over 100,000 individuals. The Dow extended its losses during the U.S. trading session on Tuesday following the announcement.” data-reactid=”38″>The World Health Organization officially designated the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday, as the virus spread across more than 100 countries and infected well over 100,000 individuals. The Dow extended its losses during the U.S. trading session on Tuesday following the announcement.
9:09 a.m. ET: Apache slashes dividend, capital spending as oil prices slide
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Apache Corp. (APA) said Thursday it will cut its dividend and capital spending plans for the year in the wake of a precipitous decline in crude oil prices.” data-reactid=”42″>Apache Corp. (APA) said Thursday it will cut its dividend and capital spending plans for the year in the wake of a precipitous decline in crude oil prices.
Shares of Apache, which had been down 60% from Friday’s through Wednesday’s close, tumbled another 15% in early trading following the announcement.
Apache’s dividend reduction brought the payout down by 90% to 2.5 cents per share each quarter, from 25 cents previously. The energy company also said it would reduce its 2020 capital investment plan to a range of $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion, down from a previous range of between $1.6 billion and $1.9 billion. Apache’s number of drill rigs operated in the Permian Basin will be cut to zero.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="The move mirrors that of other U.S. shale producers earlier this week, which have been frantically updating their investment and dividend payout plans this week to cope with the stunning plunge in oil prices earlier this week. Peer energy giant Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) on Tuesday had slashed its own dividend by nearly 90%, and cut its capital spending plans by as much as 35% for the year.” data-reactid=”49″>The move mirrors that of other U.S. shale producers earlier this week, which have been frantically updating their investment and dividend payout plans this week to cope with the stunning plunge in oil prices earlier this week. Peer energy giant Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) on Tuesday had slashed its own dividend by nearly 90%, and cut its capital spending plans by as much as 35% for the year.
“We are significantly reducing our planned rig count and well completions for the remainder of the year, and our capital spending plan will remain flexible based on market conditions,” Apache CEO John Christmann said in a statement. “We are also further reducing operating and overhead costs as we continue to implement our corporate redesign program, which began in the fall of 2019. These decisive actions will benefit Apache as we navigate these challenging market conditions.”
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9:03 a.m. ET: Carnival halts Princess Cruises for 60 days amid coronavirus
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Princess Cruises, owned by parent company Carnival (CCL), will temporarily pause global operations of its 18 cruise ships for 60 days, or from March 12 to May 10, the company said in a statement Thursday.” data-reactid=”53″>Princess Cruises, owned by parent company Carnival (CCL), will temporarily pause global operations of its 18 cruise ships for 60 days, or from March 12 to May 10, the company said in a statement Thursday.
Shares of Carnival were halted in early trading ahead of the announcement. The stock tumbled 23% after shares reopened for trading, putting it on pace for its lowest price since 2009.
“Princess Cruises is a global vacation company that serves more than 50,000 guests daily from 70 countries as part of our diverse business, and it is widely known that we have been managing the implications of COVID-19 on two continents,” Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, said in a statement.
“By taking this bold action of voluntarily pausing the operations of our ships, it is our intention to reassure our loyal guests, team members and global stakeholders of our commitment to the health, safety and well-being of all who sail with us, as well as those who do business with us, and the countries and communities we visit around the world,” he added.
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7:37 a.m. ET: Stock futures trigger circuit-breakers as investors brace for another volatile session
Futures for the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq each traded more than 4% lower Thursday morning, after briefly hitting their limit-down levels late Wednesday for a second time in this week.
At the lows of the overnight session, contracts for each of the three major indices dropped some 5%, plunging enough to trigger circuit breakers to prevent further losses. The limit-down level is established each day by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The indices’ futures can still trade at or above the limit-down level.
Here were the main moves in markets as of 7:37 a.m. ET:
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 2,606.25, down 134 points or -4.89%
Dow futures (YM=F): 22,344.00, down 1,231.00 points or -5.22%
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 7,608.5, down 395 points or -4.94%
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
