World Market Daily updates

PRE-OPEN

Futures tick higher, while European shares were subdued as investors awaited key inflation data and minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting for clues on whether U.S. interest rates are near their peak.

Carlyle Group Inc: Veritas Capital ended talks with Carlyle to buy a 50% stake in private healthcare technology firm Cotiviti Inc on valuation grounds, a source familiar with the matter said. Carlyle wasn't ready to stick to the valuation that had previously been discussed in the current market conditions and submitted a revised bid in recent days, which Veritas rejected, the source said.

Emerson Electric Co & National Instruments Corp: Industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric is in advanced talks to acquire National Instruments in a deal that could value the measurement equipment maker at about $8 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Emerson prevailed over other companies that participated in the sale process, including Fortive and Keysight, with an offer of about $60 per share for National Instruments, the sources said. The deal could be announced as soon as this week, the sources said, cautioning that the talks could fall apart at the eleventh hour. The sources requested anonymity as these discussions are confidential.

First Republic Bank: Banks that contributed the bulk of $30 billion in deposits to First Republic Bank plan to set aside about $100 million each in first-quarter earnings in case of potential losses, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America deposited $5 billion apiece in uninsured deposits into First Republic in March to shore up confidence in the industry. 

Fox Corp: A shareholder sued Chairman Rupert Murdoch and four other board members on Tuesday, saying they failed to stop Fox News from reporting falsehoods about the 2020 U.S. presidential election that damaged its credibility and prompted lawsuits. Shareholder Robert Schwarz alleged in the lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court that the directors breached their duties to ensure that Fox followed its own ethical standards and avoided reputational risk, and instead sought to keep supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump tuned in. Separately, a judge said Fox News had a "credibility problem" just days before a $1.6 billion defamation trial after the company disclosed for the first time in nearly two years of litigation that Rupert Murdoch was an officer of the company.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc: The company said it is launching its transaction banking business for corporate clients in Japan, as the U.S. investment bank expands in the world's third-largest economy. Goldman, which received its Japanese banking license in 2021, will provide clients with treasury services including deposits, cash management and cross-border payments into over 160 countries in more than 120 currencies, it said.

HP Inc: A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit alleging the company defrauded shareholders by secretly using unprofitable tactics to boost sales of its printing supplies in 2015 and 2016. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a judge's ruling dismissing the lawsuit as filed too late. Investors say they did not discover the alleged fraud until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined HP $6 million over its sales practice disclosures in September 2020. Darren Robbins, an attorney for the pension fund leading the case, said the opinion will help investors.

Johnson & Johnson: A J&J company on Tuesday defended its second attempt to resolve talc lawsuits in bankruptcy, telling a U.S. judge it can quickly build consensus around its $8.9 billion settlement offer despite doubts about its assertion that 60,000 plaintiffs would support the deal. The proposed settlement has divided lawyers representing cancer victims, many of whom claimed ahead of Tuesday's court hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey that J&J had created the illusion of widespread support for a deal that would deny plaintiffs just compensation. Linda Richenderfer, an attorney for the U.S. Trustee - the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog - said in court that J&J subsidiary LTL Management had not adequately explained its assertion that two-thirds of talc claimants would support the deal, especially given opposition from lawyers representing plaintiffs who were active in LTV's first bankruptcy.

Newmont Corp: The company's A$29.4 billion offer for Australia's Newcrest Mining faces hurdles including winning approvals from shareholders and regulators, and the full backing of the target's board, analysts said. U.S.-based Newmont sweetened on Tuesday an earlier offer, dangling 0.400 of its shares for each Newcrest share held, in what it called its "best and final" offer. It also offered a franked special dividend of up to $1.10 per share and said it needs unanimous board support for the offer to proceed.

ECONOMIC DATA (EST)

0830 Core CPI mm SA for Mar: Expected 0.4%; Prior 0.5%

0830 Core CPI yy NSA for Mar: Expected 5.6%; Prior 5.5%

0830 Core CPI Index SA for Mar: Prior 304.07

0830 CPI Index NSA for Mar: Expected 302.254; Prior 300.840

0830 CPI Index SA for Mar: Prior 301.650

0830 CPI mm SA for Mar: Expected 0.2%; Prior 0.4%

0830 CPI yy NSA for Mar: Expected 5.2%; Prior 6.0%

0830 CPI mm NSA for Mar: Prior 0.560%

0830 Real weekly earnings mm for Mar: Prior -0.4%

0830 CPI Wage Earner for Mar: Prior 295.057

1100 Cleveland federal CPI for Mar: Prior 0.6%

1200 Refinitiv IPSOS PCSI for Apr: Prior 51.35

1400 Federal budget for Mar: Expected -$302.00 bln; Prior -$262.00 bln

EUROPE, ASIA, INDIA

The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that lurking financial system vulnerabilities could erupt into a new crisis and slam global growth this year, but urged member countries to keep tightening monetary policy to fight persistently high inflation.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on Tuesday said the Fed's interest-rate hikesand a possible pullback in lending after two bank failures last month could trigger a recession, but allowing inflation to stay high would be even worse for the labor market.

French officials were in damage control mode on Tuesday as they tried to contain anger, division and confusion sparked by President Emmanuel Macron's comments on Europe's dependence on the United States and its relations with China and Taiwan.

Switzerland's parliament on Tuesday failed to approve the 109 billion Swiss francs of financial guarantees used to rescue Credit Suisse last month, in a first-round vote that was largely symbolic given the state had committed the funds.

Glencore on Tuesday modified its $22.5 billion all-share takeover bid for Teck Resources Ltd's to include up to $8.2 billion in cash, but Teck's board called it "largely unchanged" and analysts said it will need to rise further still.

Credit Suisse Group AG: Swiss lawmakers resumed their debate over the rescue of Credit Suisse, after parliament's two chambers failed to reach an agreement a day earlier. The vote to approve the 109 billion Swiss francs the government included as part of a rescue package for the Swiss bank is, however, largely symbolic. The government had already committed the financial guarantees, using emergency law to largely bypass the legislative body in a move that has angered politicians. While Switzerland's upper house earlier on Tuesday approved the rescue, its lower, and larger chamber, later rejected it.

Deutsche Bank AG: The company is looking for ways to minimise business disruption as it reduces risks from its Russian technology operations in line with the law, Germany's biggest lender said. The comments by a bank spokesperson followed a report in the Financial Times that the bank was winding down its remaining software technology operations in Moscow and St Petersburg as it looks to end its decades-long reliance on Russian IT expertise. "We continue to de-risk our operations in the Russia technology centre," the spokesperson told Reuters in an email.

Shell Plc: Russia's government has approved the sale of Shell's former 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 energy project to Russian energy firm Novatek for 94.8 billion roubles, a government order showed. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his consent for the transfer of the required funds to Shell, Russian daily Kommersant reported last week.

India's fuel consumption jumped to a record high in March, data showed on Monday, fuelled by robust economic activity in the world's third biggest oil consumer.

A group of Indian startups has asked a court to suspend Google's new in-app billing fee system until the country's antitrust body investigates the U.S. firm for alleged non-compliance with its directives, a legal filing showed.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is putting in place a framework for the acceptance of green deposits to foster and develop an environment-friendly finance ecosystem in the country, which will come into effect from June 1, the central bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

The National Stock Exchange of India's (NSE) share listing plan will not be approved by the market watchdog until pending legal and regulatory cases involving the nation's biggest bourse are resolved, two sources familiar with the matter said. 

DEBT AUCTIONS

Germany- Reopening of 29-year government debt auction

Italy- Reopening of 4-month and 1-year government debt auctions

Sweden- Reopening of 2-year government debt auction

Switzerland- Reopening of 4-year and 10-year government debt auctions

United Kingdom- Reopening of 16-year government debt auction

Source (but not limited too) Reuters, CNBC, Financial Post, Financial Times, Globe & Mail, InvestorIntel, Kitco, Refinitiv