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Stocks rise after better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data, Target lost hundreds of millions due to “organized retail crime,” Nissan recalls 700,000 SUVs, investors pull over $6B from Binance, GM to lay off 500 employees
Stocks rose on Wednesday, buoyed by Chinese manufacturing data, Yahoo Finance reported. S&P 500 futures notched up 6.5 points or +0.16%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 54 points or +0.17%, and NASDAQ futures rose by 28 points or +0.23%.
US treasuries were up slightly, with the benchmark 10-Year Treasury rising +0.03 to yield 3.944%, while the 2-Year Treasury advanced +0.04 to yield 4.839% as of 8:42 AM EST.
Oil futures were down, with WTI crude slipping -0.9% and trading at $76.35 a barrel, while Brent crude slid -0.60%, trading at $82.95 a barrel as of 8:43 AM ET.
China’s factory activity has grown further than expected, reaching its highest reading in nearly 11 years, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. China’s official manufacturing PMI hit 52.6 in February, which is above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction, CNBC reported. It is the highest reading since April 2012, when it reached 53.5.
Target’s CFO said the company lost hundreds of millions in lost profits in 2022 due to “organized retail crime.”
“[inventory shrinkage] was certainly a headwind [last year], Target CFO Michael Fiddelke told Yahoo Finance. “We know we’re not alone in seeing elevated levels of shrink and organized retail crime driving some of that theft.”
Fiddelke said the profit impact amounted to “hundreds of millions of dollars of headwind.”
Walgreens has faced similar issues. Roughly 32.8% of retailers surveyed cited organized retail crime as becoming “much more” of a concern in the last five years.
Nissan is recalling more than 700,000 Rogue and Rogue Sport compact SUVs due to an issue with its key that can accidentally turn off the vehicle if it is bumped or touched, CNN reported. According to documents Nissan filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the automaker still has not worked out a solution to the problem of the jackknife-style keys – the type in which the metal blade of the key flips out from within a plastic key fob. Over time an internal joint in the key can weaken, allowing it to accidentally fold while in use.
GM is the latest major company to downsize its staff to preserve cash and boost profits, as a source told CNBC on Tuesday that an internal announcement revealed a plan by the automaker to eliminate roughly 500 salaried positions across various functions of the company.
The Binance-branded digital token has seen investors pull out more than $6 billion in the past month, a sign that the recent US regulatory crackdown on digital assets is putting pressure on the world’s largest crypto exchange, Financial Times reported. It follows after New York’s financial regulator halted new issuance of the stablecoin, known as BUSD, last month after citing “several unresolved issues” that were in relation to Binance’s relationship with Paxos, the company responsible for minting the dollar-pegged token. After that regulatory move, the stablecoin holders rushed to withdraw their cash, causing the amount of BUSD in circulation to fall by more than thirty-three percent.
