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)

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) – Kia will recall 71,000 2008-2009 model year Sportage vehicles in the United States previously recalled in 2016 for fire risks and is advising owners to park outside until repairs are completed.

Kia said the recall fix is currently under development that will address the risk of a fire originating from around the Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit (HECU) that could occur while parked or driving. Kia has identified eight vehicle fires and 15 localized melting/damage incidents since 2017 in the Sportage sport utility vehicles that had previously had the 2016 recall repairs completed.

Owners should park outside and away from structures or other vehicles until the recall is completed, according to a Kia filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Kia and NHTSA discussed the issue during monthly meetings in September and October.

Kia said the cause of the “post-recall fire incidents is unknown and still under investigation.” The automaker said there are no fatalities, injuries or crashes associated with the incidents. Kia expects to notify owners by mail of the recall in late December.

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Louise Heavens)

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is working on supplying its own uranium for existing and advanced nuclear reactors that could become commercial in the future to reduce dependency on Russia for the fuel, Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. energy secretary told reporters on Wednesday.

The United States relies on Russia and its allies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for roughly half of the uranium powering its nuclear power plants. The administration of President Joe Biden has banned imports of Russian petroleum over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but has not banned its uranium.

Biden in August signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which contained $700 million for producing a supply of high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) that many advanced reactors being developed plan to use. In addition, the administration in March invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to support production and processing of critical minerals.

“The United States wants to be able to source its own fuel from ourselves and that’s why we are developing a uranium strategy,” Granholm told reporters at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference in Washington.

“We’ll be working on … enhancing that and making sure that we can fuel our own reactors as well as the partners to those who also have those ambitions,” she added.

In September, the White House asked Congress for another $1.5 billion in a temporary government funding bill to boost domestic supply of low enriched uranium and HALEU. The measure was not attached to the annual defense spending bill as some lawmakers had concerns about costs.

But Granholm said the administration is “seeking an additional large amount by the year end for a more fulsome strategy.”

The Department of Energy has supplies of heavily enriched uranium, from which it can downblend fuel for reactors. Some nuclear power proponents also want to boost U.S. mining and processing of uranium, practices many environmentalists want to limit.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

(Reuters) – The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled nearly $1 billion in awards to U.S. school districts to replace aging, gas-fueled school buses with cleaner, mainly electric models.

The funding is the first tranche of $5 billion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hand out over five years through a clean school bus program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021.

The awards will support the purchase of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric, the White House said. The nearly 400 rebates will go to school districts in all 50 states.

The EPA’s clean school bus program is part of a broader push by the administration to upgrade public school infrastructure and reduce pollution from old buses. It also helps deliver on U.S. President Joe Biden’s pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and funnel federal investments to underserved communities.

Transitioning to an electric school bus fleet nationwide would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3 million tons per year, according to a study by the non-profit Public Interest Research Group. That’s about the same as taking one and a half coal plants offline for a year, according to an EPA calculator.

Last month, EPA said it would nearly double its planned $500 million in clean bus awards for this year due to overwhelming demand from school districts. It plans to disburse another $1 billion under the program next year.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

(Corrects paragraph six to say support of all provinces needed to cut ties with the monarchy, not seven provinces)

By Ismail Shakil

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada’s Quebec separatist party on Tuesday called on the federal government to sever ties with the British monarchy, saying the recent transfer of the crown to King Charles was an opportunity to do so.

Outlining a parliamentary motion, which is unlikely to be adopted, Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said allegiance to a foreign sovereign was not only outdated, but also expensive.

A vote on the proposal is scheduled for Wednesday.

“The recent changing of the guard in England is an opportunity for Quebecers and Canadians to free themselves from a dilapidated monarchical link,” Blanchet said in a statement.

Charles, 73, automatically became king of the United Kingdom and the head of state of 14 other realms, including Canada, when his mother, Queen Elizabeth, died on Sept. 8 at age 96.

Cutting ties with the monarchy would require amending the constitution with the support of all 10 provincial legislatures, as well as both houses of the parliament.

A growing number of Canadians do not want a foreign monarch to represent them despite deep historical ties to Britain and affection for the queen, but there is little political will for constitutional reform.

Quebec has never formally approved the constitution and its residents feel little attachment with Britain, polls show.

Britain colonized Canada beginning in the late 1500s, and the country remained part of the British empire until 1982. Now it is a member of the Commonwealth of former empire countries that have the British monarch as head of state.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

By Tyler Clifford and Brendan O’Brien

(Reuters) – Three men accused of aiding a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer were found guilty on Wednesday of taking part in a conspiracy that prosecutors ascribed to hostility over restrictions she imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A jury found Joseph Morrison, 28, his father-in-law Pete Musico, 44, and Paul Bellar, 23, guilty of gang membership, firearm violations and providing material support for terrorism.

They could each face up to 20 years in prison when sentenced on December 15.

The three were among more than a dozen men arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes related to the conspiracy. The group planned to break into Whitmer’s vacation home, kidnap her and take her at gunpoint to stand “trial” on treason charges, prosecutors said.

Seven of the accused, including Morrison, Musico and Bellar, have now been convicted by a jury or pleaded guilty to playing roles in the conspiracy.

After the verdicts, Whitmer, a Democrat who is up for re-election in November, said she was not disheartened by the evidence presented in the case, which highlighted the growth of U.S. political militancy in recent years.

“No threat, no plot, no rhetoric will break my belief in the goodness and decency of our people,” she said in a tweet. “And these verdicts are further proof that violence and threats have no place in our politics.”

The verdict, after two weeks of testimony in Jackson County Circuit Court, was a victory for state prosecutors who argued that the men on trial assisted two others who in August were found guilty in federal court of orchestrating the kidnapping conspiracy.

Defense attorneys argued their client did not know of a plan to kidnap the governor and that their actions were protected by the First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

After the verdict, the defense attorneys – all of them public defenders – said they were disappointed and had advised their clients to appeal.

Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdicts.

In the earlier trial, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were found guilty of plotting to abduct Whitmer from her vacation home. Their convictions followed a first trial earlier this year that ended in a hung jury, while two other defendants were acquitted during those proceedings.

The conspirators hoped that an abduction would lead to a violent uprising and instigate a civil war, prosecutors said.

Morrison and Musico were accused of hosting tactical training sessions on their property in a remote part of Michigan. Bellar was accused of providing plans for tactical maneuvers, coded language for covert communication and ammunition.

All three were members of a militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen, prosecutors said.

In September, a federal judge reduced the sentence of another accused conspirator, Ty Garbin, who pleaded guilty to participating in the plot after his testimony helped convict Fox and Croft.

Kaleb Franks, who also pleaded guilty to playing a role in the scheme, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this month after serving as a key witness in the case against Fox and Croft.

(Reporting by Tyler Clifford in New York and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Alistair Bell, Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller)

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said its fellowship program for minorities serves the public interest, as the drugmaker defends against a lawsuit by a group of medical professionals that claims the program illegally excludes whites and Asian-Americans.

In a Tuesday night filing, Pfizer urged a Manhattan federal judge to reject Do No Harm’s request for an injunction against filling the 2023 class for its Breakthrough Fellowship Program, which enrolls Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans.

Pfizer said the two-year-old program helps address historical discrimination in the workplace, and difficulties in recruiting, retaining and promoting minorities.

It aims to enroll 100 fellows by 2025, as part of a nine-year commitment to boost minority representation.

“There exists a strong public policy in favor of voluntary affirmative action plans,” Pfizer said. “At a minimum, the public interest favors preserving the status quo.”

Lawyers for Do No Harm did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In its Sept. 15 complaint, Do No Harm said Pfizer’s program was “discriminatory on its face,” running afoul of several civil rights laws and violating a federal ban on racial discrimination by companies that accept government healthcare reimbursements.

Fellows receive two years of full-time jobs, fully-funded master’s degrees, and employment at New York-based Pfizer after completing the program.

Pfizer said Do No Harm lacked standing to sue and could not show irreparable harm, and that its claims would likely fail.

The fellowship program “does what Congress has encouraged and controlling law allows,” Pfizer said.

On Oct. 31, the Supreme Court will consider the future of affirmative action in higher education, as it hears arguments on race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

Among the precedents at risk is a 2003 Supreme Court decision where Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said race could be used as one factor among many to achieve diversity.

Pfizer quoted approvingly from O’Connor, who said “major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today’s increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints.”

The case is Do No Harm v. Pfizer Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-07908.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Alison Frankel; Editing by Diane Craft)