Tag Archives: stocks

Wall Street flat as investors assess earnings, Trump comments

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York, New York, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors assessed the first rush of bank earnings and President Donald Trump’s remarks on the dollar’s strength and interest rates.

Shares of JPMorgan <.JPM.N> and Citigroup <C.N> rose about 1 percent after the two banks reported better-than-expected quarterly profits.

However, Wells Fargo <WFC.N> slipped 2.5 percent after reporting a big drop in mortgage banking revenue.

The earnings reports come in the wake of a frenetic rally in bank shares that started after Trump’s election as U.S. president on hopes that he would rein in banking regulations and introduce other business friendly policies.

At 10:01 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 0.58 points, flat, at 20,591.28, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 0.68 points, or 0.028999 percent, at 2,345.61 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was up 10.40 points, or 0.18 percent, at 5,846.56.

“Investors will (be) faced with another day of market uncertainties as bank earnings, geopolitical worries and Trump’s comments on the greenback are being reflected in the volatility index that is flashing trouble ahead,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial, wrote in a note.

Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the dollar “was getting too strong” and that he would like to see interest rates stay low.

The S&P 500 financial index <.SPSY> was up 0.2 percent, while five other S&P sectors were down.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, led by a 0.4 percent decline in financials. Bank of America <BAC.N> and Goldman Sachs <GS.N> are due to report results next week.

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics <AAOI.O> jumped nearly 23 percent to $50.15 after the company said it expected first-quarter earnings to exceed its forecast.

Trading volumes could be lower than usual on Thursday ahead of the Good Friday holiday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,403 to 1,186. On the Nasdaq, 1,201 issues fell and 1,163 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed two 52-week highs and no lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 10 highs and 27 lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

United won’t use police to remove overbooked passengers

Community member protests the treatment of Dr. David Dao, who was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight on Sunday by the Chicago Aviation Police, at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois,

By Alana Wise and David Shepardson

NEW YORK (Reuters) – United Airlines will no longer use law enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked flights after global outrage erupted over a video showing a passenger dragged from one of its planes in Chicago.

“We’re not going to put a law enforcement official… to remove a booked, paid, seated passenger,” United Continental Holdings Inc Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz told ABC News on Wednesday morning. “We can’t do that.”

Munoz said the incident on Sunday resulted from a “system failure” that prevented employees from using “common sense” in the situation and that Dr. David Dao, whom security officers pulled by his hands from the cabin before takeoff, was not at fault.

An online petition calling for Munoz to step down as CEO had more than 45,000 signatures on Wednesday morning, but he told ABC that he had no plans to resign over the incident.

Shares of United Continental were about flat in morning trading. They had fallen as much as 4.4 percent on Tuesday.

The backlash from the incident resonated around the world, with social media users in the United States, China and Vietnam calling to boycott the No. 3 U.S. carrier by passenger traffic.[L8N1HK0L9]

On China’s Sina Weibo, #UnitedAirlinesforcespassengeroffplane was still pinned as one of the most talked-about topics on the microblogging site’s front page.

As of Tuesday, Dao was still in a Chicago hospital from injuries he sustained when airport security snatched him from his seat aboard United Flight 3411 to Louisville, Kentucky, his lawyer said.

“Currently, (Dao and his family) are focused only on Dr. Dao’s medical care and treatment,” Chicago-based lawyer Stephen Golan said in a statement on Tuesday.

Video recorded by fellow passengers showed Dao on his back as security officers dragged him from the cabin of the parked plane. Other footage shows him, bloodied and disheveled, returning to the cabin and repeating: “Just kill me. Kill me,” and “I have to go home.”

Much of the social media uproar stemmed from Dao’s status as a paying passenger who was being removed to make room for additional crew members on the overbooked flight.

In the ABC interview, Munoz apologized profusely to Dao, his family, passengers and United customers.

“This can never, will never happen again,” he said.

(Reporting by Alana Wise in New York; Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Stocks skid, safe-haven assets jump as U.S. missiles strike Syria

A woman monitors stock market prices inside a brokerage in New Taipei city, Taiwan

By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Safe-haven bonds and the yen jumped in Asia on Friday, while stocks fell after the United States launched cruise missiles against an air base in Syria, raising the risk of confrontation with Syrian backers Russia and Iran.

The U.S. dollar dropped three-quarters of a yen in currency markets, while sovereign bonds, gold and oil prices rallied hard.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.7 percent in short order, and S&amp;P 500 futures lost 0.5 percent in an unusually sharp move for Asian hours. Japan’s Nikkei was stripped of its early gains to slip 0.1 percent.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the strikes against a Syrian air base controlled by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in response to a deadly chemical attack in a rebel-held area, a U.S. official said.

Facing his biggest foreign policy crisis since taking office in January, Trump took the toughest direct U.S. action yet in Syria’s six-year-old civil war.

Investors had already been on edge as Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping for talks over flashpoints such as North Korea and China’s huge trade surplus with the United States.

“While President Trump had flagged a response to this week’s chemical attack in Syria, the swiftness of the response and the willingness to take action halfway through the Trump-Xi meeting caught markets a little off-guard,” said Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac in Sydney.

“There should be limited market follow-through, however, with no indication at this stage that this is the start of a broad-based, sustained U.S. military campaign.”

It was not yet clear if this strike would be the only one, though Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did say the attack was  “proportionate”.

The yen, a favored haven in times of stress due to Japan’s position as the world’s largest creditor nation, climbed across the board. The dollar fell to 110.30 from 110.95 just before news of the attacks hit dealing screens.

The dollar was otherwise unscathed, however, as it benefited from flows into safe-haven U.S. Treasuries. Against a basket of currencies it was barely lower, while the euro held steady at $1.0649.

Yields on 10-year Treasury debt fell five basis points to 2.29 percent, breaking a significant chart barrier at 2.30 percent for the first time this year.

Spot gold prices jumped 1.2 percent to $1,266.01 an ounce and touched their highest since Nov. 10.

“Clearly this raises the stakes, and we expect to see gold prices continuing to push higher in the short term, at least until there is some clarity around whether this is a one-off or develops into something more,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said.

Oil also caught a bid on concerns the military intervention could affect supplies from the Middle East.

U.S. crude jumped 93 cents to $52.63 a barrel, the highest in a month, while Brent added 90 cents to $55.79.

(Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Additional reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Will Waterman)

Florida man charged with plotting to bomb Target stores

(Reuters) – A Florida man has been charged with plotting to plant bombs in at least 10 Target Corp stores and then profit when the blasts caused the company’s stock price to fall, federal prosecutors have said.

Charles Barnett, 48, of Ocala, had asked a law enforcement informant to put the homemade bombs on the shelves of Target stores from Florida to New York state, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement on Thursday.

“Barnett theorized that the company’s stock value would plunge after the explosions, allowing him to cheaply acquire shares of Target stock before an eventual rebound in prices,” the statement said.

A criminal complaint said the bombs were disguised in packages for pasta, stuffing mix and breakfast bars and delivered to the informant on Feb. 9. Barnett also gave the informant gloves, a mask and a license plate cover to conceal his identity from police.

The informant, a convicted burglar on probation, turned the bombs in to authorities on Monday, the complaint said. A search of Barnett’s house by federal agents turned up bomb parts.

The complaint said that Barnett was a registered sex offender and was on probation for felonies that included kidnapping, sexual battery and grand theft. He wears a Global Positioning System monitor as part of his probation.

Barnett is charged with possession of a firearm, or destructive device, affecting commerce by a felon. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Stocks gain on Trump policy bets; S&P breaks $20 trillion

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S.,

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A gauge of global equity stocks and markets advanced on Monday and bond yields rose as investors flocked to assets likely to benefit from reflationary policies that are expected to be implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Financials and banks in particular led equities on Wall Street higher as investors bet Trump’s tax reform plans and softer regulatory environment will boost economic growth and corporate profits.

Comments from Trump on Thursday that he plans to announce what he said would be the most ambitious tax reform plan since the Reagan era in the next few weeks rekindled hopes for big tax cuts while the announced resignation of the Fed’s top bank regulator on Friday heightened expectations for a loosening of rules on banks.

“Investors are willing to say the prospects for growth are higher now than they were, and they’re not just saying it, they’re committing capital,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner of Harris Financial Group in Richmond Virginia.

Investors were also encouraged by a U.S.-Japan summit over the weekend apparently having ended smoothly without Trump talking tough on trade, currency or security issues.

In addition, Trump said on Monday the United States will be “tweaking” its trade relationship with Canada, stopping short of calling for a major realignment in a development likely to please visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 142.79 points, or 0.7 percent, to end at 20,412.16, the S&P 500 gained 12.15 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,328.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 29.83 points, or 0.52 percent, to 5,763.96.

The advance put the S&P 500’s market capitalization above the $20 trillion mark for the first time. Apple the largest component of the S&P 500 and a core holding on Wall Street, climbed 0.9 percent to a record $133.29, breaking its prior closing high of $133.00 set on Feb. 23, 2015 and giving it a market value of about $699.3 billion.

MSCI’s all-country world index advanced 0.49 percent to notch its fourth straight advance. Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.76 percent to close at its highest since December 2015.

U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors looked to testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday and Wednesday when she gives her semiannual Humphrey Hawkins testimony before lawmakers in Washington.

Benchmark 10-year notes declined 7/32 in price to yield 2.43 percent, up from 2.41 percent late on Friday.

The dollar was up 0.18 percent against a basket of major currencies, after touching its highest in almost three weeks, on expectations reflationary policies would stoke economic growth and the possibility the Fed could be more aggressive in hiking interest rates.

In commodities, copper hit its highest since May 2015 after shipments from Chile and Indonesia, the world’s two biggest copper mines, were disrupted.

The metal last traded at $6,105.85 per tonne, up 0.26 percent on the day after climbing as high as $6,204. On Friday it jumped more than 4 percent, its biggest one-day rise in almost four years.

Oil prices pulled back from strong gains registered on Friday as the greenback strengthened and signs of rising U.S. crude output pressured prices.

International benchmark Brent crude futures settled down 2 percent at $55.59 per barrel and U.S. crude settled 1.7 percent lower at $52.93.

(Additional reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish)

Wall Street opens at record highs as ‘Trump trade’ resumes

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – The main U.S. stock indexes hit record intraday highs on Monday, led by financials and industrials, as the so-called “Trump trade” sparked back to life on renewed optimism about the economy.

The three main indexes closed at record highs on Thursday and Friday rose after President Donald Trump vowed to make a major tax announcement in the next few weeks.

The S&P 500 has surged 8.3 percent since Trump’s Nov. 8 election through Friday’s close, fueled by expectations he will lower corporate taxes, reduce regulations and increase infrastructure spending.

While the rally had stalled amid concerns over Trump’s protectionist stance and lack of clarity on policy reforms, the S&P 500 has not dropped more than 1 percent in 84 trading days, indicating investors were giving Trump the benefit of doubt.

Investors were also comforted by the two-day U.S.-Japan summit held over the weekend apparently having ended smoothly without Trump talking tough on trade, currency and security issues.

The Japanese yen, the demand for which rises when risk appetite falls, was the biggest underperformer among major currencies. World stocks rose, with Asian shares rallying to a 1-1/2-year high.

Global markets are following the leader (U.S. stocks) after the resurgence of the “Trump trade”, Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial wrote in a note.

At 9:38 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 91.51 points, or 0.45 percent, at 20,360.88.

The S&P 500 was up 7.44 points, or 0.32 percent, at 2,323.54 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 23.61 points, or 0.41 percent, at 5,757.73.

Six of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with financials and industrials gaining the most. The two sectors are seen benefiting the most from Trump’s policies.

Telecom stocks were down the most, 1.4 percent, due to a 1.3 percent drop in Verizon after the network carrier said it would reintroduce its unlimited data plan.

Fears of a price war hit other carriers. ATT was down 1.4 percent, T-Mobile dropped 3 percent, Sprint fell 0.4 percent.

Apple was the top stock on the S&P and the Nasdaq, rising 1 percent and closing on its record high after Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the stock.

Zeltiq Aesthetics surged 12.5 percent to $55.60 after Allergan said it would buy the medical device maker for about $2.48 billion. Allergan’s stock was slightly higher.

Chemours rose 14 percent after the company and DuPont said they had agreed to pay about $671 million in cash to settle several lawsuits related to the leak of a toxic chemical. DuPont’s stock was up 0.5 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,987 to 691. On the Nasdaq, 1,784 issues rose and 623 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 44 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 94 new highs and six new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

Wall St. set to end 2016 with a whimper

A trader wears glasses that say "2017" ahead of the new year on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 30, 2016.

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on the last trading day of 2016, eating into gains for the year, as Apple led a decline in technology stocks.

The S&amp;P 500 technology sector’s 0.72 percent drop put the broader index on track for its third straight day of declines, its longest losing streak since Nov. 4.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was set for its weekly decline since the U.S. election. The rally had pushed the index to within 13 points of 20,000 last week, but after three straight days of losses, the index is now about 200 points shy.

“The market is ending 2016 with a whimper. We entered the rally like a lion, but are leaving like a lamb,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director of Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

“It is disappointing on many levels as investors believed that we are going to see the Dow at 20,000. The euphoria that was in motion in the Trump rally has fizzled.”

Until Thursday, the three main Wall Street indexes were set to end the year with double-digit percentage gains. The S&P is now on track to post a gain of 9.7 percent for the year, the Nasdaq 7.8 percent and the Dow 13.7 percent.

At 12:35 p.m. ET (1735 GMT) the Dow was down 20.2 points, or 0.1 percent, at 19,799.58, the S&P 500 was down 5.87 points, or 0.26 percent, at 2,243.39 and the Nasdaq Composite  was down 38.38 points, or 0.71 percent, at 5,393.71.

Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with technology and consumer discretionary stocks taking the biggest hit.

Apple was the biggest drag on all three indexes, falling 0.6 percent to $115.98 after the Nikkei financial daily reported that the company would cut production of the iPhone by about 10 percent.

Apple suppliers also dropped on the news. Qualcomm, Skyworks Solutions, Cirrus Logic and Qorvo were down between 1 percent and 2 percent.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,444 to 1,402. On the Nasdaq, 1,795 issues fell and 1,004 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week high and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 35 new highs and 36 new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Savio D’Souza)

Dow nears 20,000, Nasdaq hits record as tech stocks rise

A trader works on the trading floor at the opening of the day's trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.,

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – Wall Street was higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average resuming its climb toward 20,000 and the Nasdaq hitting a record as technology and health stocks rose.

The blue-chip index has been riding on a post-election rally, feeding on optimism that President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for deregulation and infrastructure spending would bolster the economy.

The index, which came within 13 points of breaching the elusive 20,000 level last week, marked its seventh straight week of gains on Friday and is on track for its best quarter since 2013.

Nine of the 11 major S&amp;P 500 sectors were higher, with technology and healthcare stocks giving the broader index its biggest boost.

The defensive utilities and telecom services were the only losers.

“It is a bit of a catch-up rally today, with leadership today coming from areas such as healthcare and technology – those that have not participated fairly in the rally,” said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank.

At 11:11 a.m. ET the Dow &lt;.DJI&gt; was up 34.08 points, or 0.17 percent, at 19,967.89, after rising to as much as 19,980.24. The S&P 500 . was up 7.9 points, or 0.34 percent, at 2,271.69. The Nasdaq Composite was up 38.74 points, or 0.71 percent, at 5,501.43, easing from its record intraday high of 5,512.36.

Apple was up 0.62 percent at $117.24 and was the top stock on the three main Wall Street indexes.

Amazon.com rose 1.7 percent to $773.33 after the online retailer said it shipped over one billion items to Prime members during the holiday season.

Biogen shares rose 2 percent to $293.28 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved the company’s drug to treat spinal muscular atrophy, the leading genetic cause of death in infants.

Ionis Pharma, which discovered the drug licensed to Biogen, was up 5.5 percent at $56.36.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,959 to 865. On the Nasdaq, 1,853 issues rose and 834 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 20 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 124 new highs and 12 new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Dow closing in on 20,000; Nasdaq hits record high

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S.,

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) – The Dow and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Tuesday, with the blue-chip index just 13 points shy of the 20,000 mark, a level it has never scaled.

Goldman Sachs, which was up about 1 percent, gave the biggest boost to the Dow.

U.S. stocks have been on a tear since the Nov. 8 presidential election, with the Dow up 9 percent and S&P more than 6 percent on bets that President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for deregulation and infrastructure spending will boost the economy.

“It’s just the momentum since the election,” said Jeff Zipper, managing director for investments at Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank in Palm Beach, Florida.

“The market is focused on the Trump agenda, which is tax cuts, infrastructure spending and deregulation. There’s not a lot of selling going on.”

However, trading volumes were muted as the last full trading week before the holiday season gets underway where movements may be pronounced.

There are also concerns that the post-election rally may have gone too far too soon.

“I think we’re a little bit concerned that market trends may be extended a little bit and market prices need to convert to fair value, and it’s not unusual to see a pullback after such a move,” said Zipper.

The S&P 500 is trading at 17.9 times forward 12-month earnings, above the 10-year median of 14.7 times, according to StarMine data.

At 11:08 a.m. ET (1608 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 83.92 points, or 0.42 percent, at 19,966.98.

The S&P 500 was up 8.69 points, or 0.38 percent, at 2,271.22. The index came within 5 points of its record high.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 25.67 points, or 0.47 percent, at 5,483.11.

Eight of the 11 major S&amp;P sectors were higher, with the telecommunications index’s 0.99 percent rise leading the gainers.

The financial index was also up 0.93 percent. The index has risen 18.5 percent since the election, buoyed by Trump’s deregulation plans and the prospect of higher interest rates.

Brent oil prices rose by $1 to a one-week high on forecasts of a steep draw in U.S. crude stocks that could indicate global oversupply is starting to shrink.

The dollar climbed to a 14-year high after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s comments about the labor market reinforced the notion of a faster pace of U.S. interest rate hikes next year than had been expected.

General Mills  fell 3.3 percent to $61.00 after the Cheerios cereal-maker’s quarterly results missed expectations.

Nvidia &lt;NVDA.O&gt; was up 3.9 percent at $105.59 after brokerages Goldman Sachs and Mizuho raised their price targets on the chipmaker’s stock. The stock was among the big Nasdaq boosters.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,914 to 901. On the Nasdaq, 1,819 issues rose and 858 fell.

The S&amp;P 500 index showed 29 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 164 new highs and 20 new lows.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Dollar steadies as pre-Fed nerves dominate

Bank notes of Euro, Hong Kong dollar, U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, GB pound and Chinese yuan are seen in this picture

y Patrick Graham

LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar steadied against the yen and euro on Tuesday after its weakest day in a week, with markets still uneasy that a Federal Reserve meeting ending on Wednesday may provoke more investors to cash in the greenback’s recent gains.

Barclays was the latest major bank to cast some doubt on a dollar rally extending into a first quarter set to be dominated by the first policy initiatives from the Trump administration.

While investors have bet on the new president taking steps to bolster growth that will push inflation higher, there are also concerns that he may spark protectionism globally, driving cash into traditional safe havens like the yen.

A rise in Fed interest rates on Wednesday, a big reason for the dollar index’s 7 percent rise since September, looks fully priced in and there are also doubts over whether the U.S. central bank will want to send a strong signal that more tightening is to follow.

“We think the meeting may be a catalyst for people to take some profit on long dollar positions,” Barclays analyst Hamish Pepper said.

“The dollar tends not to perform particularly well in December. If you put that together with a well priced Fed meeting plus already long positioning, it is the right set-up for a pullback.”

The yen strengthened to less than 115 yen per dollar in Asian trade before settling at 115.34, down 0.2 percent on the day but almost a full yen stronger than 24 hours previously.

It has borne the brunt of the dollar’s rally in the past month, down 13 percent since early October. But some traders and analysts have begun to wonder if the Japanese currency might benefit next year if global political risks grow.

Barclays forecasts the dollar weakening to 100 yen in a year’s time.

The euro was little changed at $1.0629 having gained 0.7 percent on Monday as German bund yields rose amid signs Italy will bail out Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena if need be.

Sterling inched higher helped by higher than expected inflation for November and comments from finance minister Philip Hammond backing a transition period to smooth the process of leaving the European Union.

“Rates markets are discounting close to five 25 basis point Fed rate hikes by the end of 2018,” analysts from BNP Paribas said in a note to clients.

“With the Fed likely to be cautious in its forward-looking language on Wednesday, those positioned long dollars heading into the meeting may be concluding that risk-reward is not attractive for staying in positions into the event risk.”

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)