By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES – An Argentine truckers strike ended on Thursday, after some unions upset with diesel shortages reached a deal to lift the one-week protest around the major port of Rosario, which is expected to help the flow of grains for export going forward.

The truck driver protest over high fuel prices has paralyzed corn and other grains exports just as the bulk of the harvest was headed to ports for shipment to foreign markets.

Some protests, however, could continue since some smaller truckers groups were not involved in the deal.

Argentina is the world’s second biggest corn exporter, the top exporter of processed soyoil and meal, as well as a major wheat and beef supplier.

“Despite not agreeing (with a recent negotiation of truck cargo rates) and taking into account the crisis that our country is going through, we decide to lift the strike,” one of the unions, Autoconvocados Unidos, said in a statement.

The union described its decision as an act of good will.

The volume of trucks entering ports had already picked up on Thursday, up some 70% versus a day earlier to reach over 1,500 vehicles, according to data from the Rosario grains exchange.

Rosario’s ports are the point of departure for 80% of Argentina’s agricultural exports, most of which arrives in trucks.

“It’s getting back to normal,” said Guillermo Wade, manager of the country’s maritime port chamber, referring to the ability of trucks to access the port.

Also on Wednesday, the transport ministry agreed with some farm and transport groups that were not involved in the strike to hike grain freight rates by 25%.

But most protesting unions, including the UNTRA truckers union, called the rate increase insufficient even as they mostly opted to remove highway blockades.

“We have many more expenses than that,” said UNTRA leader Carlos Geneiro.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Additional reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Nick Zieminski and Aurora Ellis)

TOKYO -Core consumer prices in Japan’s capital Tokyo rose 2.1% in June from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, marking the fastest pace of increase in seven years in a sign of broadening inflationary pressure from higher commodity and fuel costs.

The rise in Tokyo’s core consumer price index (CPI), which matched a median market forecast, followed a 1.9% gain in the previous month. The pace of increase was the fastest since March 2015.

The data heightens the chance nationwide consumer prices will continue to rise in coming months. Japan’s nationwide core CPI rose 2.1% in May from a year earlier, mainly due to the impact from higher fuel and raw material costs.

It stayed above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for a second straight month, following a 2.1% rise in April, which was also the fastest pace of increase in seven years.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara)

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK -The prominent U.S. hedge fund DE Shaw and four senior executives must pay $52.1 million to a former top money manager who accused the firm of defamation, an arbitration panel ruled.

Dan Michalow, 39, was terminated by DE Shaw in 2018, which at the time said his departure resulted from “gross violations of our standards and values.”

But in a ruling issued on Wednesday, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel found DE Shaw and the executives liable to Michalow for defamation, and found specifically that Michalow “did not commit sexual misconduct.”

The executives are Eddie Fishman, Julius Gaudio, Max Stone and Eric Wepsic, and sit on DE Shaw’s six-person executive committee.

“We were disappointed by the outcome of the arbitration, and we stand by the decision we made in 2018 to terminate Mr. Michalow’s employment,” DE Shaw said on behalf of all defendants.

Michalow has denied wrongdoing. His departure came not long after the start of the #MeToo movement, where hundreds of rich and powerful men have been accused of sexual misdeeds.

“I am excited to get on with my life and career,” Michalow said in an interview, adding that hedge funds “have a fiduciary duty to tell the truth to their investors.”

Michalow joined DE Shaw in 2004 after graduating from Harvard University, and became a partner in 2011.

He was helping run the firm’s discretionary macro strategy, overseeing about $6 billion of capital, when he departed.

The original arbitration claim sought $600 million for defamation.

DE Shaw is among Wall Street’s biggest hedge funds, and also known for quantitative investing.

FINRA arbitration awards generally cannot be appealed. There are limited exceptions for awards tainted by fraud, misconduct or arbitrator bias, or awards that are completely irrational.

Michalow’s lawyer, Tom Clare, in a statement said the outcome “sends a strong message that DE Shaw’s conduct, which misused and weaponized an important cultural movement and put profits ahead of the truth, was both morally and legally wrong.”

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; editing by Richard Pullin and David Gregorio)

By Chavi Mehta and Jane Lanhee Lee

(Reuters) -A significantly weaker than expected business outlook by memory-chip firm Micron Technology Inc on Thursday raised concern that following nearly two years of strong demand the industry was turning toward a down cycle.

Micron forecast adjusted revenue for the current quarter at $7.2 billion, plus or minus $400 million, while Wall Street’s outlook was an average of $9.05 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

“We believe that demand has weakened considerably and we’ve seen that even in the areas that have been significantly constrained,” Nikolay Todorov, analyst at Longbow Research, said. “Micron will essentially start or signal that the semiconductor cycle is turning.”

Shares of the Boise, Idaho-based company initially fell 6.3% in extended trading but later pared some losses. Summit Insights Group analyst Kinngai Chan said the stock was holding up as some investors see this as the bottom of the cycle. “We, however, believe there’s more downside risk to earnings as our industry checks suggest possible further industry pricing pressure through 1H23,” he said.

While Micron executives were confident about demand for their chips in the long term, they were hunkering down for a tough road ahead by cutting the amount of chips they make to ensure chip prices. While Micron did not provide any numbers, it said it will reduce spending on manufacturing of chips in fiscal year 2023 which starts in September.

“I think the extent of the shift has definitely been bigger than anyone was anticipating in the ecosystem,” Micron’s chief business officer, Sumit Sadana, told Reuters. “These changes are rippling through the ecosystem now.”

Sadana said during the earnings call that China’s lockdown is causing a 30% drop in Micron’s China revenue for the current quarter, and a drop of 10% in total revenue.

The outlook for memory chip makers has worsened in recent months as surging inflation, China’s cooling economy and the Russia-Ukraine war hit consumer spending on smartphones and personal computers, a crucial market for the industry. Sadana said the demand for that segment was worse than expected.

That has driven down chip prices and led to a buildup of inventories, with research firm TrendForce estimating a drop of 3% to 8% in prices of DRAM chips during the third quarter of 2022.

Sadana said Micron will hold a portion of chips it has already produced in the warehouse rather than releasing them to the market, and supplement any supply shortage that could occur as it cuts back chip production.

“We don’t mind holding this inventory and it’ll enable us to just drive better pricing discipline in the market,” Sadana told Reuters.

DRAM chips – widely used in data centers, personal computers and other devices – account for two-thirds of Micron’s revenue, and the company also makes NAND memory chips that serve the data storage market.

The company expects adjusted profit for the quarter of $1.63 per share, plus or minus 20 cents, compared with estimates of $2.57 per share.

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru and Jane Lanhee Lee in Oakland, Calif.Editing by Aditya Soni and Matthew Lewis)

(Updates prices, adds comment)

By Hannah Lang

WASHINGTON – The euro recovered on Thursday from a two-week low against the dollar, which sputtered after fresh inflation data showed U.S. consumer spending rose less than expected in May.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, gained 0.2% last month, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, falling short of the 0.4% economists had expected.

The dollar, which had been buoyed by safe-haven flows against the euro, last fell 0.305% to 104.720.

“The dollar rally remains largely intact, given rising worries about a global recession, but today, we saw the dollar gave back some ground after today’s data did nothing to allay concerns about the U.S. economy lurching towards a recession over the coming year,” said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst, at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.

The euro was last up 0.33% at $1.0473, reversing a decline sparked by increasing recession jitters in the euro zone and the energy crisis stoked by the war in Ukraine.

The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates in July for the first time in a decade to try to cool accelerating inflation, although economists are divided on the magnitude of any hike.

Markets will now look to euro zone inflation figures due on Friday to get a better sense of how aggressive the ECB might be in hiking rates.

“If you do get a firm (consumer price index) print in tomorrow, there is a chance that the market might price in increased odds of a 50-basis point hike in the July meeting, and that could be enough for the euro to bounce somewhat,” said Bipan Rai, North America head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.

Fresh euro zone data showed French inflation climbed to a record high of 6.5% in June, while Greece cut its growth forecast to 3.2% this year from 3.8%.

Euro zone unemployment fell to a new record low in May as the economy continued to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, even if inflation exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is expected to dampen growth.

The dollar also traded just below a fresh 24-year peak of 137 Japanese yen touched on Wednesday. The gap between a hawkish Federal Reserve and a dovish Bank of Japan continues to weigh heavily on the Japanese currency, which was last trading at 135.59 yen per dollar .

The yen is down 15% against the dollar for the first six months of 2022, the worst first-half of year performance for the currency since 2013.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin dipped back below the $20,000 milestone level on persistent market ructions. It was also hurt by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejecting a proposal to list a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund by digital asset manager Grayscale. Bitcoin last fell 6.28% to $18,922.55.

The cryptocurrency is down 58% in the first six months of 2022, its worst first-half of year showing ever.

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Currency bid prices at 3:15PM (1915 GMT)

Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid

Previous Change

Session

Dollar index 104.7300 105.0600 -0.31% 9.478% +105.5400 +104.6400

Euro/Dollar $1.0475 $1.0443 +0.31% -7.86% +$1.0490 +$1.0381

Dollar/Yen 135.5800 136.6000 -0.74% +17.78% +136.8000 +135.5600

Euro/Yen 142.02 142.61 -0.41% +8.98% +142.8600 +141.3800

Dollar/Swiss 0.9541 0.9548 -0.13% +4.54% +0.9605 +0.9531

Sterling/Dollar $1.2172 $1.2125 +0.48% -9.92% +$1.2188 +$1.2093

Dollar/Canadian 1.2882 1.2895 -0.10% +1.89% +1.2933 +1.2861

Aussie/Dollar $0.6896 $0.6880 +0.26% -5.10% +$0.6919 +$0.6854

Euro/Swiss 0.9994 0.9971 +0.23% -3.62% +1.0013 +0.9945

Euro/Sterling 0.8602 0.8614 -0.14% +2.40% +0.8620 +0.8551

NZ $0.6242 $0.6224 +0.30% -8.80% +$0.6254 +$0.6198

Dollar/Dollar

Dollar/Norway 9.8585 9.8900 -0.50% +11.70% +9.9625 +9.8320

Euro/Norway 10.3294 10.3216 +0.08% +3.16% +10.3736 +10.3091

Dollar/Sweden 10.2391 10.2261 +0.38% +13.54% +10.3452 +10.2001

Euro/Sweden 10.7256 10.6849 +0.38% +4.80% +10.7431 +10.6717

(Reporting by Hannah Lang; additional reporting by Joice Alves; Editing by Alison Williams, Mark Porter, Mark Heinrich and Richard Chang)