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Memorial services held across Asia on 15th tsunami anniversary

12/26/2019

China says strongly opposes U.S. 2020 defense draft against Chinese firms

BEIJING (Reuters) – China strongly opposes the 2020 U.S. defense draft against Chinese firms and urges Washington to go past its political bias to create favorable conditions for Chinese companies, China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday.

China will closely monitor the situation and defend the interests of Chinese firms, Gao Feng, spokesman at the ministry, said at a regular media briefing.

Canadian cannabis company Hexo shares slide 13% premarket after news of $25 million stock offering

U.S.-listed shares of Canadian cannabis company Hexo Corp. HEXO, +2.62%HEXO, +2.39% slid 13% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company announced a $25 million registered direct share offering. The company has agreed to sell 14.9 million shares priced at $1.67 each, a discount over its closing price Tuesday of $1.96. It has further agreed to issue warrants to purchase 7.5 million common shares with an exercise price of $2.45 a share. Proceeds of the deal will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including financing research and development. Shares have fallen 43% in 2019, while the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ, +1.18% has fallen 31% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.02% has gained 29%.

Fed accepts $18 bln at 14-day repo operation

Dec 26 (Reuters) – The New York Federal Reserve on Thursday accepted all $18 billion in bids from primary dealers at a 14-day repurchase agreement (repo) operation. For more details, see: here (Reporting By Karen Brettell)

Fed accepts $28.80 bln at overnight repo operation

Dec 26 (Reuters) – The New York Federal Reserve on Thursday accepted all $28.80 billion in bids from primary dealers at an overnight repurchase agreement (repo) operation. For more details, see: here (Reporting By Karen Brettell Editing by Gareth Jones)

US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-S&P 500, Nasdaq hit new record highs on trade deal hopes

Dec 26 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new record highs on Thursday, with the benchmark index on course for its best year since 2013, on optimism over an imminent U.S.-China trade deal.

The S&P 500 opened higher by 3.82 points, or 0.12%, at 3,227.20, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 17.33 points, or 0.19%, to 8,970.21 at the opening bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24.01 points, or 0.08%, at the open to 28,539.46. (Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Brazil indigenous seek to capitalise on agribusiness

In Brazil 13 percent of the Amazon Rainforest is indigenous reserves – off limits to farmers who contribute to deforestation.

President Jair Bolsonaro is controversially set on unlocking more land for economic gain.

Now, some of the country’s indigenous groups say they want a lucrative slice of agribusiness, too.

Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reports from Novo Campo in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Kroger Says Facebook Posts Claiming Free Groceries Are Fake

Supermarket chain Kroger Co. denied that it is giving away free groceries for a year, and said Facebook posts claiming so were fake.

The fake Kroger page on Facebook claimed that to celebrate Christmas this year, the company was giving a special gift of an entire year of free groceries to four “lucky” families.

However, Kroger tweeted on Christmas Eve that these Facebook posts were fake and urged customers not to share or interact with the posts.

“This is a fake Kroger Facebook page. We are aware of this fraudulent page and are working to address this matter,” Kroger said on Twitter.

The fake Facebook post was shared more than 2,600 times and had 1,500 comments. The page was created on December 22, 2019 and has more than 800 followers.

The real Kroger Facebook page, verified by Facebook, was created in 2009.

Cincinnati-based Kroger had other issues too to deal with on Christmas Eve. Shoppers at some Kroger stores reported technical issues at the supermarket chain that did not allow them to use credit or debit cards.

Customers took to social media to complain that they were forced to use cash to pay for their purchases at Kroger stores following a systemwide computer outage.

Stocks edge higher at open as Nasdaq aims for 10th straight record

U.S. stocks traded higher at the opening bell on Thursday as investors remained optimistic that a phase one trade deal, announced earlier this month, will soon be signed. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.29% was up 0.1% to trade at 3,227. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.19% gained 24 points, or 0.1%, to 28,539. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.39% rose 0.2% to 8,972. If the Nasdaq finishes higher on Thursday, it would record its 10th consecutive all-time closing high, and and 11th straight gain. On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said officials from Beijing and Washington were in "close communication about detailed arrangements for the deal’s signing and other follow-up work." On the U.S. side, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would hold a signing ceremony together. In company news, shares of Tesla Inc. TSLA, +1.82% ticked higher after a Wedbush analyst raised the price target for the stock.