(Reuters) -Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc said on Wednesday that interim Chief Executive Sue Gove will keep the role permanently.

Gove, previously the head of the strategy committee and an independent director in the company, was named the interim CEO in June after it replaced Mark Tritton in a management shake-up to reverse a slump in its business.

The company said the appointment was unanimous and Gove will remain on its board.

Once considered a so-called “category killer” in home and bath goods, the big box retailer’s fortunes have dragged after attempts to sell more store-branded products flopped and led to the reshuffle of its management team.

Gove told Reuters one of her biggest long-term goals as CEO will be “regaining market share.”

The changes in the top management came just months after activist investor and billionaire Ryan Cohen had criticized the company for an “overly ambitious” strategy, overpaying top executives and failing to reverse market share losses.

Cohen was the company’s biggest investor until August when he sold out his 9.8% stake.

Late August, Bed Bath & Beyond inked deals for more than $500 million in new financing and said that it would close 150 stores, cut jobs and overhaul its merchandising strategy to turn around its money-losing business.

Gove said that “less than a handful” have been closed since August and that a number of stores will close “closer to the end of this calendar year.”

Last month, the company reported a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss, but added that there were early signs that efforts to clear excess inventory were working and it expected its cash flow to break even in the fourth quarter.

In September, the company had named accounting head Laura Crossen as interim chief financial officer following the death of finance chief Gustavo Arnal.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Sriraj Kalluvila and Josie Kao)

By Jonathan Landay

FRONT LINES NORTH OF KHERSON, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian troops at the front line said on Wednesday they were expecting a bitter fight for the southern Kherson region, which Russia now appeared to be reinforcing after days in which it seemed possible that Moscow might withdraw.

In Russia, the military staged a high-profile rehearsal for nuclear war, with state television broadcasts dominated by footage of submarines, strategic bombers and missile forces practicing launches in retaliation for an atomic attack.

Moscow has conducted a diplomatic campaign this week to promote an accusation that Kyiv is preparing to release nuclear material with a so-called “dirty bomb”, an allegation the West calls baseless and a potential pretext for Russian escalation.

The looming battle for Kherson at the mouth of the Dnipro River is expected to be one of the most consequential of the war, determining whether Kyiv can loosen Moscow’s grip on southern Ukraine.

While much of the front line remains off limits to journalists, at one section of the front north of the Russian-occupied pocket on the west bank of the Dnipro, Ukrainian soldiers said Russian shelling was stepping up again after having tailed off in recent weeks.

Radio intercepts indicated freshly mobilised recruits had been sent to the front and Russian forces were firmly dug in.

“They have good defensive lines with deep trenches, and they are sitting deep underground,” said Vitalii, a Ukrainian soldier squatting in a weed-choked irrigation canal, concealed from any prowling enemy drones by overhanging trees.

Both Russia and NATO are holding long-standing annual drills of their nuclear forces this week. But Russia has given the exercises a much higher profile than usual, timing it to coincide with its dirty bomb accusations against Ukraine.

Kyiv says Moscow has been brandishing the prospect of nuclear war to intimidate Western countries into withdrawing their support for Ukraine. Moscow said President Vladimir Putin had personally overseen the nuclear drills remotely.

The Pentagon said a day earlier that Russia had notified it of its intention to carry out the exercises, which reduced the risk of miscalculation at a time of “reckless” Russian nuclear rhetoric.

‘THEY ARE FIGHTING WELL’

Ukrainian forces advanced along the Dnipro River in a dramatic push in the south at the start of this month, but progress appears to have slowed. Russia has been evacuating civilians from the pocket of territory it holds on the west bank this week but says it has no plans to pull out its troops.

Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defence minister, said wet weather and rough terrain were making Kyiv’s counter-offensive in Kherson harder than it was in the northeast, where it pushed Russia back in September.

At the front, intermittent artillery fire echoed from both sides, with towers of smoke rising in the distance.

A Ukrainian helicopter gunship swept low over the fields, loosed rockets at the Russian positions and wheeled around spitting flares to distract any heat-seeking anti-aircraft rockets fired at it.

“In the press they say the Russians are afraid and will withdraw their troops, but that is not true,” said a unit commander at the front, who asked to be quoted by his nickname, Nikifor. “They are fighting well and hitting our troops.

“In this area, they are very active. They shell every day and are digging trenches and preparing for defence,” said Nikifor, whose location in Mykolaiv province could not be identified under Ukrainian military regulations.

The unit holds a network of well fortified trenches dug into tree lines opposite the Russian fortifications, and recent rains have turned the dirt tracks that access them to mud, especially where tank treads have churned them up.

Since Russia began losing ground in a counter-offensive in September, Putin has taken a series of steps to escalate the conflict, calling up hundreds of thousands of Russian reservists, proclaiming the annexation of occupied land and repeatedly threatening to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia.

This month, Russia launched a new campaign of strikes using missiles and Iranian-made drones against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, also hitting parks and homes across the country.

The remains of a U.S. citizen killed in Ukraine were turned over to Ukrainian authorities as part of a prisoner swap.

Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s president’s office, identified the U.S. citizen as Joshua Jones, a U.S. Army veteran. The U.S. State Department, which did not identify the person, said the remains would soon be returned to the person’s family.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden and Israeli President Isaac Herzog held talks on Wednesday focused heavily on Iran, with the two leaders discussing Tehran’s nuclear program and what Washington says is the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia.

Speaking to reporters as they sat down in the Oval Office, Herzog said he and Biden would attend the COP27 U.N. climate change summit being held in Egypt next month.

“One item that you and I will be participating in, Mr. President, with leaders from all over the world is COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt a few weeks down the road,” he said.

Biden is expected to attend the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, next month. A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the president’s travel plans.

Biden had sought to negotiate the return of Iran to the Iran nuclear deal after then-President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018. Last week the White House said it had set aside diplomacy for now and said Tehran had supplied drones to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.

Herzog noted that Wednesday marked 40 days since the death in custody of Iranian citizen Mahsa Amini. She had been detained by morality police for wearing an “improper” hijab, and her death has set off protests.

“This is an example of Iran crushing their own citizens while moving forward towards nuclear weapons and supplying lethal weapons that are killing innocent citizens in Ukraine. The Iranian challenge will be a major challenge to be discussed,” Herzog said.

Biden noted that Israel and Lebanon on Thursday will sign a maritime accord to establish a permanent boundary. The United States helped negotiate the deal.

“I think it’s a historic breakthrough. It took a lot of courage for you to step up and step into it, and it took some real guts, and I think it took principle and persistent diplomacy to get it done,” Biden said.

A White House statement on the meeting said Biden emphasized the importance of taking steps to de-escalate the security situation in the West Bank and that a negotiate two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians remains the best way for a lasting peace.

“They discussed the importance of promoting co-existence and weakening extremists who promote hatred and violence,” the statement said.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jarrett Renshaw and Steve Holland; Editing by Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)

(Reuters) – Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths on Thursday reported a 34.7% jump in first-quarter revenue, helped by a surge in demand for specialised metals used in electric vehicle components.

Global demand for minerals used to power electric-vehicle motors has continued to surge amid a global push to reduce carbon emissions from fossil-fuel powered vehicles, benefiting miners such as Lynas.

Rare earths minerals are also used in a wide variety of goods such as iPhones and military equipment.

The world’s largest producer of rare earths outside China said revenue rose to A$163.8 million ($106.34 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, compared with A$121.6 million a year ago and a Barrenjoey estimate of A$146 million.

However, the miner’s quarterly revenue fell about 44% sequentially due to operational challenges including a water supply disruption at its plant in Malaysia, which it flagged in July.

Production of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), used in magnets that power electric-vehicle motors, came in at 1,045 tonnes in the September quarter, compared with 1,255 tonnes a year earlier and a Barrenjoey estimate of 903 tonnes.

“Our NdPr, Nd and Pr customers (mostly outside China) continue to forecast very strong demand,” Lynas said, adding that “FY23 full year production (at Malaysia plant) is anticipated to remain consistent with that achieved in FY22.”

Lynas raked in an average selling price of A$49.3 per kilogram (kg) for its product range in the reported quarter, compared with A$44.6 per kg last year.

($1 = 1.5404 Australian dollars)

(This story has been corrected to say “revenue”, not “production”, in paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Prosecutors charging onetime Donald Trump fundraiser Tom Barrack with being an illegal foreign agent can ask him about his comments on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and efforts to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East, the judge overseeing Barrack’s trial said on Wednesday.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan came on the third day of Barrack’s testimony in his own defense in Brooklyn federal court. He faces charges of pushing the United Arab Emirates’ interests to the former president’s administration without notifying the U.S. Attorney General, as required by law. Cross-examination is expected to begin on Thursday.

Barrack, 75, has pleaded not guilty. He has said his interactions with Middle Eastern officials were part of his role running private equity firm Colony Capital, now known as DigitalBridge Group Inc, and that even when his interests aligned with the UAE’s he was acting on his own.

Cogan did not state in open court what Barrack said about Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic who was murdered and dismembered inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in an operation U.S. intelligence says was approved by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler.

In 2019, Barrack said at a conference in Abu Dhabi that “atrocities in America are equal or worse” than the killing of Khashoggi, news outlets reported at the time. Barrack later apologized for the comments, calling the killing “atrocious.”

The prince has denied ordering the killing but acknowledged it took place “under my watch”.

While Barrack is not charged with acting as a Saudi agent, the country and the UAE are close allies.

Cogan also said he would let prosecutors ask Barrack about a plan he pushed in the early days of the Trump administration to construct 40 nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. A Democratic-led Congressional report in 2019 found that Barrack sought to profit from the deal even as he pushed to be named to a diplomatic post.

Barrack is not charged with any crimes over the civil nuclear plan, which fell through. But Cogan said the defense opened the door for prosecutors to ask about it by displaying communications involving Barrack and the co-founder of IP3, the consortium of firms pushing plan.

ENERGY SPEECH

Earlier on Wednesday, Barrack testified that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort asked him to solicit input from Middle Eastern officials on a speech the candidate was to deliver on energy policy in 2016. One of prosecutors’ major charges is that Emirati officials provided input to Barrack on what Trump should say in the speech.

Barrack’s assertion that it was not his idea to seek out Emirati input on the speech could bolster his defense that while he long sought to improve ties between the United States and several Middle Eastern countries, he never acted at Abu Dhabi’s direction or under its control – which prosecutors must prove to show he was an agent.

A lawyer for Manafort, who is not accused of wrongdoing in the case, declined to comment.

Barrack – who was not on the campaign, though he later chaired Trump’s inauguration – said he sent a draft of the speech to an energy executive in the Emirates as well as Rashid Al-Malik, a businessman who prosecutors have charged with acting as an intermediary between Barrack and UAE officials. Al-Malik is at large.

But he said he ultimately did not include the feedback that Al-Malik sent him from a UAE official in the draft.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)

By Paul Lienert and Joseph White

DETROIT (Reuters) -Ford Motor Co on Wednesday reported a third-quarter net loss driven by its decision to shift spending from the Argo AI self-driving business.

Ford’s move, a sharp contrast with rival General Motors Co’s decision to double down on investments in its Cruise robotaxi unit, highlights the pressure on automakers to make hard choices as the financial demands of shifting to electric vehicles continue to rise.

Both U.S. automakers continue to post heavy losses on automated-vehicle development.

Ford posted a net loss in the quarter of $827 million, after taking a $2.7 billion noncash pretax impairment on its investment in Argo AI.

Ford shares were down 1.6% in after-hours trading.

The automaker said Argo will be “wound down” and that “talented engineers” will be offered positions with Ford.

The other key investor in Pittsburgh-based Argo, Volkswagen AG, said it, too, expects to hire some personnel from Argo.

In a statement on Wednesday, Argo said it “will not continue on its mission as a company,” a decision that was made “in coordination with our shareholders.” It said some Argo employees will be let go.

Ford and VW each hold around 39% of Argo, with Lyft Inc owning about 2% and the rest held by Argo’s founders and employees.

Chief Executive Jim Farley on Wednesday said Ford will shift its development focus away from fully self-driving systems developed by Argo to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) created internally at Ford. Such systems are partially automated but still require humans to stay engaged when a vehicle is moving.

“Profitable, fully autonomous vehicles at scale are a long way off and we won’t necessarily have to create that technology ourselves,” Farley said in a statement.

The U.S. automaker said third-quarter revenue jumped to $39.4 billion, up 10% from a year ago. Adjusted operating profit fell to $1.8 billion from $3.0 billion last year, but beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.7 billion.

Adjusted operating earnings per share of 30 cents beat analysts’ estimate of 27 cents.

Ford warned in mid-September that inflation-related supplier costs were running about $1 billion higher than expected.

GM on Tuesday reported a net profit of $3.3 billion on record third-quarter revenue of $41.9 billion. GM reaffirmed its guidance for full-year net income of $9.6 billion to $11.2 billion.

While GM executives were generally upbeat on the company’s earnings call, Ford was more cautious.

Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler, in a briefing Wednesday, said: “We see the probability that we could move into a mild (or) moderate recession in the U.S. next year. We could potentially have a more substantial decline in Europe.”

Ford said it expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to rise to about $11.5 billion, up around 15% from a year ago, but at the low end of its previous guidance of $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion.

(Reporting by Joseph White and Paul Lienert in DetroitAdditional reporting by David Shepardson in WashingtonEditing by Ben Klayman and Matthew Lewis)

By Mohammad Azakir

ARSAL, Lebanon (Reuters) -Hundreds of Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon on Wednesday, the first day of repatriations organised by Beirut, their mood more subdued than celebratory amid concerns over a scheme that rights groups say may involve elements of coercion.

Lugging suitcases, power generators, fridges and even chickens and mostly skirting around watching media, some 700 Syrians who had agreed to cross over gathered from early morning in a desolate northeastern border zone.

Lebanese authorities say the repatriations, under a revived programme coordinated by General Security, the agency responsible for safeguarding its borders, are voluntary.

But while frontlines in Syria’s 11-year war are now largely inactive, the United Nations says flare-ups in violence and the risk of detention mean large-scale returns remain unsafe.

Lebanon is home to more than 800,000 Syrians registered with the U.N. refugee agency, who fled the conflict unleashed in 2011 after protests against President Bashar Al-Assad.

In 2018, Lebanon launched a mechanism to bring down that number, which had peaked at 1.2 million, providing funding for General Security to repatriate refugees who registered a desire to return home, after checking they were not wanted by Syrian authorities.

Around 400,000 Syrians returned home through that system before it was paused when COVID-19 broke out. Outgoing Lebanese President Michel Aoun revived it this month and it resumed on Wednesday.

The scheme has been criticised by rights groups including Amnesty International, which said its research showed that some past returnees had been subject to rights violations.

Amnesty has also said refugees may not have accurate or complete information on the level of risk in their hometowns, meaning the repatriations may not be “free and informed”.

Much of Syria remains in ruins, with homes and public infrastructure, including power stations, schools and water services, devastated.

However, Lebanon is itself in the throes of a financial meltdown that has pushed hundreds of thousands of residents into poverty, leaving many Syrian expatriates facing an unenviable choice.

Omar al-Borraqi, one of very few returnees willing to speak to Reuters on Wednesday, said that, after nine years in Lebanon, emotional and financial factors had played a role in his decision.

“There were so many reasons that we didn’t go back (earlier),” he said as he sat in a lorry preparing to return to his hometown near Damascus.

“Now God has made it easier for us.”

(Reporting by Mohammad Azakir and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; editing by John Stonestreet)

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro’s government is considering raising the minimum wage and civil servants’ salaries above inflation, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Tuesday, but he denied intentions to end middle class tax benefits.

The remarks, made at a virtual event on cooperativism, took place ahead of an Oct. 30 presidential election runoff vote in which right-wing Bolsonaro trails former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in polls.

Folha de S. Paulo newspaper last week reported the government was studying whether to end a constitutional obligation to adjust the minimum wage annually by at least the previous year’s inflation, news that negatively hit Bolsonaro’s campaign.

On Tuesday, the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported on Tuesday that studies by the ministry proposed abolishing the ability to deduct medical and education expenses from income tax. Such a measure would mainly affect the middle class.

In both cases, Guedes acknowledged the existence of internal studies but attributed their preparation and leakage to Lula’s Workers Party (PT) members who work in the ministry.

“On the eve of elections, they leak studies that were discarded,” he said.

PT did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The minister stressed that Bolsonaro’s administration wants to approve a tax reform that reduces the burden on the poorest and taxes profits and dividends.

Later on Tuesday, the Economy ministry said in a statement that supposed studies, analyses, essays and opinions produced by the technical areas of the cabinet could not be “incorrectly taken as proposals from the ministry or the minister.”

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Mark Porter, Josie Kao and Richard Pullin)

By Divya Rajagopal and Tiyashi Datta

(Reuters) -Shaw Communications Inc’s shares rose as much as 10% on Wednesday after the government’s intervention raised hopes that Canada is likely to approve Rogers Communications’ C$20 billion ($14.7 billion) bid for Shaw.

Analysts said they expected the deal to close before year end as the terms put forward by Industry Minister Francois Champagne late on Tuesday brings Canada’s anti-trust authority and Rogers-Shaw a step closer to a settlement.

However, Canada’s anti-trust authority still has objections to the deal.

“We remain firm in our decision to challenge this proposed merger to protect the public interest,” a competition bureau spokesperson said in an email. The bureau declined to comment further and said the matter will be determined by courts.

Rogers’ launched its bid to buy Shaw in March 2021, but the competition bureau blocked it, saying it would lessen competition in a market that has among the highest wireless prices in the world.

“It is likely that we see a settlement coming through during the mediation process scheduled for later this week,” said Aaron Glick, an analyst with New York-based Cowen. Since the competition bureau sits under the minister, it is a signal to the bureau to settle, he said.

Rogers shares closed up 5.8%, while Shaw ended up 7.2%.

Matthew Dolgin, equity analyst with Morningstar, said the mediation between the parties seems more fruitful now than it appeared couple of days ago.

To allay the antitrust bureau’s concerns, Rogers offered to sell Shaw-owned Freedom Mobile to Quebecor.

On Tuesday, Champagne outlined conditions to approve that deal, saying Quebecor should hold on the new spectrum for at least 10 years and keep the price of its services at par with what they are in Quebec, which is 20% lower than rest of Canada.

Quebecor Chief Executive Pierre Karl Peladeau told Reuters on Tuesday that the company intends to accept the conditions stipulated by the minister.

Champagne’s announcement comes as the companies are set to begin a two-day mediation process on Thursday at the Competition Tribunal. The competition bureau has said the sale of Freedom Mobile to Quebecor is not sufficient to overcome its concerns about market concentration.

The bureau and the companies will try and find a remedy during the mediation process though the parties are not bound to come to a settlement. If the mediation fails there will be a hearing that is scheduled to start on Nov. 7..

“We believe this pragmatic view by the minister has the chance to provide a good middle ground to build on between the parties,” said Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi, who upgraded Shaw to “sector outperform” on increasing odds of the deal closing.

($1 = 1.3573 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru and Divya Rajagopal in Toronto; Editing by Maju Samuel, Marguerita Choy and Bill Berkrot)

By David Lawder and Nichola Groom

(Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday launched a series of meetings with clean power groups, utilities, labor unions and others to develop detailed rules for some $270 billion in newly enacted incentives to jump-start green energy investments.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with 16 industry groups representing more than 1,000 firms in the clean energy supply chain, more than 2,000 utilities and more than 1 million American workers, the department said.

The new guidance will tell companies how they can take advantage of clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. The incentives are crucial for companies seeking to invest in solar and wind power, electric vehicles, clean energy manufacturing and energy efficiency.

The act extends 30% tax credits for wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, and offers incentives for carbon capture and tax credits of up to $7,500 on zero-emission electric vehicles. It also includes new credits to incentivize production of components like solar panels or batteries in U.S. factories.

Enphase Energy Inc, a supplier of power inverters, batteries and other devices for solar installations, said on Tuesday it plans to begin manufacturing products in the United States next year, but gave few details, citing the need for specific tax credit guidance, especially on the domestic content required to realize their full value.

Among such requirements are paying prevailing wage rates and offering apprenticeships. Other benefits are available for locating facilities in “brownfield” areas – industrial sites that are no longer in use – or those with high unemployment rates. The Treasury guidance is expected to specify definitions for these provisions.

“There are still many fine details that need to be ironed out,” Enphase Chief Executive Badrinarayanan Kothandaraman said on a quarterly earnings call.

Yellen during the meeting “underscored Treasury’s commitment to work expeditiously to provide guidance so that investments can move forward and our climate and economy can realize the benefits of the law as quickly as possible,” the Treasury said in a statement.

SPEED, BALANCE SOUGHT

Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Lily Batchelder told Reuters the series of at least six roundtable discussions are aimed at addressing stakeholder concerns and quickly developing guidance.

“But we also need to make sure that guidance is correct and strikes the right balance,” Batchelder said, adding that Treasury staff were “working night and day to get out the guidance.”

Moving quickly is among the top priorities for companies, particularly for those considering investments in manufacturing, said Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, which will participate in Wednesday’s Treasury roundtable.

“I can’t imagine a single (firm) is going to spend a lot of capital until they have clarity around requirements to realize those credits,’ Hopper told Reuters in a Sept. 20 interview.

The roundtable follows Treasury’s issuance of six noticesrequesting public comments on topics such as tax credits for wind, solar and nuclear power, incentives for energy-efficient homes and clean vehicle credits.

On Thursday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo is scheduled to meet with leaders from labor unions, climate advocacy groups, climate advocacy and environmental organizations.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by David Gregorio and Josie Kao)

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index rallied on Wednesday to its highest closing level in more than three weeks, as a smaller-than-expected interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada fueled hopes the central bank is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 182.75 points, or nearly 1%, at 19,279.76, its highest closing level since Oct. 4.

“This bear market rally was about to run out of steam, but the Bank of Canada had other plans,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York, said in a note.

The BoC raised its benchmark rate by half a percentage point, coming up short on calls for another 75 basis points move, and said it was getting closer to the end of its historic tightening campaign.

“We think they will likely hike another 25 bps (basis points) in December to end the hiking cycle,” said Tiffany Wilding, North American economist at PIMCO.

The Toronto market’s energy group rose 1.8% as U.S. crude oil futures settled 3% higher at $87.91 a barrel.

The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 1.8%, while industrials ended 1.3% higher.

Shares of Rogers Communications Inc jumped 5.8%, while Shaw Communications Inc shares were up 7.2% as investors bet that Canada is likely to approve Rogers Communications’ bid for Shaw.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Additional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

By Chris Prentice and Dhara Ranasinghe

WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. shares were mixed and world equities eased off a five-week peak on Wednesday, as the dollar’s decline boosted commodities and pressured Treasury yields.

Investors weighed disappointing earnings from U.S. heavyweights against hopes the Federal Reserve will slow its aggressive pace of interest rate hikes.

The pound touched its highest level since Sept. 13, continuing its rally after Rishi Sunak became Britain’s prime minister. News that the British government’s plan to repair the country’s public finances will be delayed by more than two weeks to Nov. 17 pushed up bond yields.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed a hair higher, rising 0.01%. The S&P 500 lost 0.74% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.04%, dragged by disappointing earnings and warnings from Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc.

MSCI’s World Stock Index was lower after touching a five-week high. Europe’s Stoxx 600 finished up 0.7% at its strongest level since Sept. 20.

Some of Europe’s largest banks warned of growing risks as the economy fizzles after they posted stronger-than-expected profits, helped by a trading boom in volatile markets and higher interest rates. Deutsche Bank posted a better-than-expected jump in third-quarter profit, and Britain’s Barclays also beat profit forecasts.

Google owner Alphabet posted softer-than-expected ad sales after Tuesday’s close and Microsoft missed revenue forecasts, while a warning from Dutch semiconductor supplier ASM added to concerns about slowing economic growth.

U.S. new home sales decreased 10.9% and mortgage rates reached their highest level in 20 years last week, data showed.

Asian shares rallied, in a sign that some investors were taking comfort from a perception that a turn in the global rate-hike cycle may be near.

Although the Fed is widely expected to deliver another 75 basis-point hike in November, a sense that it could then start to slow its aggressive tightening cycle has lifted sentiment in share markets and taken the edge off a dollar rally.

“I wouldn’t want to take the optimism too far. We think it’s still too soon for the Fed to make a significant pivot and the stronger markets are, the more likely it is that the Fed wants to be more cautious about wanting to make a pivot,” said Andrew Sheets, chief cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley.

Sheets also noted “more downside risk” for earnings.

The Bank of Canada, meanwhile, announced a smaller-than-expected rate rise of 50 percentage points. That put its policy rate at 3.75%, a 14-year high but coming up short on calls for another 75 basis-point move to contain stubbornly high inflation.

“With Bank of Canada raising lesser than expected, you’re definitely seeing a good switching away from earnings,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied more than 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei hit its highest level since Sept. 20.

The euro pushed back above $1 for the first time in five weeks.

In Australia, inflation raced to a 32-year high last quarter as the cost of home building and gas surged. The surprise added pressure on the central bank to reverse a recent dovish turn, though markets doubt there will be a dramatic shift.

China’s yuan rebounded sharply to close the domestic session at the strongest level in two weeks, as traders and corporate clients raced to liquidate long dollar positions.

Market participants became cautious after major state-owned banks were spotted selling the dollar on Tuesday to stabilize the market, traders said.

Investors increased bets on the Bank of England raising its benchmark rate by a full percentage point on Nov. 3 after news of the delay of a tax and spending plan announcement, putting the chances of such a move at around 37%.

U.S. Treasury yields fell, helped by a weaker dollar and Fed hopes. [US/]

The weaker greenback also boosted commodities, making them less expensive to holders of other currencies. Spot prices touched a two-week high and were last up 0.65%. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.7% at $1,669.20.

Elsewhere in commodities, Brent crude futures settled up 2.3% at $95.69 a barrel, as U.S. crude finished 3% higher at $87.91. [O/R]

(Reporting by Chris Prentice in Washington and Dhara Ranasinghe in London; Additional reporting by Shruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Matthew Lewis)

(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp has made two new discoveries at the Sailfin-1 and Yarrow-1 wells in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, the oil major said on Wednesday, potentially adding more barrels to one of the most closely watched new oil discoveries.

Exxon did not disclose how much crude oil or gas it estimates the new discoveries to contain.

Guyana amounts for one third of the crude discovered in the world since Exxon first hit oil in the country in 2015, according to Rystad consultancy firm.

The about 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil discovered prior to Wednesday’s finds, should make the country a global oil power in the coming years, Rystad says.

Exxon and its partner Hess Corp said that the Liza Phase 1 and Phase 2, the first projects sanctioned offshore Guyana by the two companies, are producing above capacity and achieved an average of nearly 360,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in the third quarter.

The companies expect total production from Guyana to cross a million barrels per day by the end of this decade.

(This story has been corrected to remove reference to output increase in headline, add missing word in paragraph 1, and remove reference to output-hike forecast in paragraph 3)

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar and Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shailesh Kuber)

By Ebru Tuncay

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s competition authority has fined Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc 346.72 million lira ($18.63 million) for breaking competition law, it said on Wednesday.

The Turkish regulator said the company held a dominant position in personal social networking services and online video advertising and had obstructed competitors by merging data collected through its core services Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

In 2021, the competition authority launched an investigation into WhatsApp, and then Facebook Inc., after the messaging app updated its terms of service saying it was reserving the right of its owner Facebook Inc and its subsidiaries to collect user data such as phone numbers and locations, a change that was rolled out globally.

A spokesperson for Meta Platforms said the company disagrees with the probe’s findings and will consider all options.

“The 2021 update did not ask users to agree to let Facebook collect user data. It provided clearer, more detailed information to our users on how and why we use data,” the spokesperson said, adding that there were no changes to WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with that update.

Turkey’s competition authority said Meta must act to reinstate competition in these markets and prepare annual reports about the steps it will take for the next five years.

It said the fine was based on the company’s 2021 income and the company could object to the decision within 60 days.

Social media companies have been a focus of attention in Turkey, which adopted a law last week that would jail journalists and social media users for up to three years for spreading material deemed “disinformation”.

Analysts have said social media companies are unlikely toabide in full by the law, that requires them to remove such material and to share user data with authorities.

($1 = 18.6080 liras)

(Reporting by Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Barbara Lewis, David Holmes and Jane Merriman)

MONTREAL (Reuters) – WestJet Airlines’ planned purchase of leisure rival Sunwing would likely have “substantial anti-competitive effects” on sales of vacation packages, including higher prices and less choice, Canada’s Competition Bureau said on Wednesday.

Calgary-based WestJet, which is owned by private equity firm Onex Corp ONEX.TO, said in March it would buy Ontario-based Sunwing and the travel booking website Sunwing Vacations.

The deal would reduce competition from the “only two carriers and integrated tour operators offering vacation packages through direct service on 16 routes between Canada and Mexico or the Caribbean,” the Competition Bureau said in its report to the Ministry of Transport.

“It would also likely result in a significant reduction in travel by Canadians on a variety of routes where their existing travel networks overlap,” it added.

Transport Canada has until December 5 to complete its public interest assessment of the deal.

The report said the two airlines account for about 37% of non–stop capacity between Canada and sun destinations and 72% of non–stop capacity between Western Canada and sun destinations, or warm countries during the winter.

Sunwing said in a statement that the routes identified as a concern in the report are predominantly in Western Canada, seasonal and account for just over 10% of all seats.

The report is advisory and non-binding, WestJet said in a statement.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Mike Harrison)