Savills Sees 2021 Underlying Profit Before Tax Significantly Ahead Of Upper End Of Guidance Range

Savills plc (SVS.L) said, since the trading update on 9th November 2021, it has experienced an extraordinarily strong final trading period. All Savills businesses have exceeded their forecasts during the period.

The Group expects underlying profit before tax for 2021 to be very significantly ahead of the upper end of its previous range of expectations. For fiscal year 2022, the Group’s previous expectations remain unchanged at this early stage.

Savills plans to report full year 2021 results on 10 March 2022.

Ten-Year Note Auction Attracts Slightly Above Average Demand

Continuing this week’s series of announcement of the results of its long-term securities auctions, the Treasury Department on Wednesday revealed this month’s auction of $36 billion worth of ten-year notes attracted slightly above average demand.

The ten-year note auction drew a high yield of 1.723 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.51.

The Treasury also sold $36 billion worth of ten-year notes last month, drawing a high yield of 1.518 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.43.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

The ten previous ten-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.48.

On Tuesday, the Treasury revealed this month’s auction of $52 billion worth of three-year notes also attracted slightly above average demand.

The Treasury is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $22 billion worth of thirty-year bonds on Thursday.

Covid Casualties In U.S. Spike 40% In A Fortnight

Covid deaths in the United States increased by 40 percent in a fortnight, as per the latest data compiled by the New York Times.

With 2,643 additional casualties recorded on Tuesday, the total number of people that have died from the coronavirus in the U.S. has risen to 842,322, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

With 752,387 new cases reported on the same day, the national total reached 62,313,271

The skyrocketing number of infections does not turn severe or lead to deaths as the New Omicron variant is not as dangerous as the Delta variant, in spite of its fast-spreading nature.

California reported the most number of cases – 136,000 – on Tuesday, while Ohio led in casualties, 363.

Hospitalizations increased by 84 percent in two weeks to 140,641.

42,641,852 people in the country have recovered from the disease so far.

As per the latest data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 207,954,605 Americans, or 62.6 percent of the eligible population, have been administered both doses of Covid vaccine so far. This includes 87.8 percent of people above 65.

More than 76 million people, or 36.7 percent of the eligible population, have already received a booster dose that is recommended to provide additional protection.

Infosys Q3 Net Profit Up 21%; Boost FY22 Revenue Growth Guidance – Quick Facts

Indian software services provider Infosys Ltd. (INFY) reported Wednesday that its net profit for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 increased to $776 million or $0.18 per share from $707 million or $0.17 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenues for the quarter grew 20.9 percent to $4.25 billion from $3.52 billion in the same quarter last year. Revenues grew 21.5 percent on a constant currency basis.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2022, Infosys expects revenues to grow in a range of 19.5 to 20.0 percent, up from the prior guidance for a 16.5 to 17.5 percent growth.

PHOTOS: King Soopers workers on strike

Thousands of grocery workers started walking the picket lines at King Soopers stores from Boulder to Parker early Wednesday morning, a day after the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 rejected the company’s latest contract offer.

The strike is being called on claims of unfair labor practices and is expected to last three weeks. The union Tuesday rejected what King Soopers called its “last, best” offer that included $170 million for wage increases and health care benefits as well as bonuses ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 for ratification of the contract.

Click to read the full story and see a map of locations where union members are on strike.

Opendoor Technologies Stock Gains 5%

Shares of Opendoor Technologies Inc. (OPEN) are gaining over 5% on Wednesday morning despite no stock-related news to drive the shares.

OPEN is currently trading at $12.50, up $0.61 or 5.13%, on the Nasdaq. The stock has traded between $10.56 and $39.24 in the past 52-week period.

Opendoor Technologies operates a digital platform for residential real estate in the United States. Its platform enables consumers to buy and sell a home online. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in Tempe, Arizona.

DoorDash Shares Up 3% As CEO Named To Meta Platforms Board

Shares of online food delivery company DoorDash Inc. (DASH) are up 3 percent on Wednesday’s trading following the news that Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) named DoorDash Chief Executive Tony Xu to its Board, with immediate effect.

Commenting on the appointment, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “I’ve always thought it’s important to have great tech leaders on our board, and Tony has direct experience both running a tech company and solving complex challenges in commerce.” Xu’s addition brings Meta’s Board to 10 members.

Currently trading at $146.40, the stock has traded between $110.13 and $257.25 during the past 52 weeks.

China Inflation Eases More Than Expected In December

China inflation eased more than expected at the end of 2021 largely due to the fall in food prices and factory gate inflation moderated further, official data revealed on Wednesday.

Consumer price inflation slowed to 1.5 percent in December from 2.3 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The rate was expected to slow to 1.8 percent.

Food prices fell 1.2 percent from a year earlier and non-food prices advanced 2.1 percent.

Core inflation that excludes volatile food and energy prices, held steady at 1.2 percent in December.

On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices decreased 0.3 percent, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent.

Headline inflation will remain below 2 percent throughout most of this year, Sheana Yue and Julian Evans-Pritchard, economists at Capital Economics, said.

In a separate communiqué, the NBS reported that factory gate inflation dropped to 10.3 percent in December from 12.9 percent a month ago. Inflation was seen at 11.1 percent.

Factory gate inflation will probably trend down further over the coming months, economists at Capital Economics, said.

Admittedly, there is a risk that worsening virus outbreaks could result in renewed disruptions to supply chains, they noted. But base effects will start to weigh heavily on the headline PPI rate this quarter.