Lithium Americas Gains 20% After Reorganization

Shares of Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC) are adding more than 20 percent on Wednesday morning trade as it debuted on NYSE after reorganization. On Tuesday, the company together with Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. (LAAC) announced the completion of the reorganization of Lithium Americas into two independent publicly traded companies.

Currently, LAC is trading at $11.71, up 20.31 percent from the previous close of $9.67 on a volume of 1,123,170.

LAAC is at $6.10, down 0.94 percent.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Slips 6% On Quarterly Results

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (CALM) slipped over 6% on Wednesday morning after the company reported its first-quarter results, with earnings missing Street estimates.

CALM is currently trading at $44.38, down $3.12 or 6.57%, on the Nasdaq. The stock opened its trading at $42.39 after closing Tuesday’s trading at $47.50. The stock has traded between $42.25 and $65.32 in the past 52-week period.

The company’s profit dropped to $0.9 million or $0.02 per share from $125.3 million or $2.57 per share last year. Analysts expected earnings of $0.33 per share for the quarter.

The company’s revenue for the quarter fell to $459.3 million from $658.3 million last year.

European Economic News Preview: Germany Flash Inflation Data Due

Flash inflation from Germany and economic sentiment survey results from the euro area are the top economic news due on Thursday.

At 2.00 am ET, Statistics Norway publishes retail sales and household consumption data.

At 3.00 am ET, Spain’s statistical office INE is slated to release flash consumer prices and retail sales data. Economists forecast inflation to rise to 3.5 percent in September from 2.6 percent in August.

At 4.00 am ET, the European Central Bank publishes monthly bulletin. In the meantime, business and consumer sentiment survey results and producer prices are due from Italy.

At 5.00 am ET, the European Commission is set to issue economic sentiment survey results. The economic confidence index is expected to drop to 92.5 in September from 93.3 in August.

At 8.00 am ET, flash inflation figures are due from Germany. Consumer price inflation is forecast to ease sharply to 4.6 percent in September from 6.1 percent in August.

VS MEDIA Up 7% On Partnership With MLink Limited

Shares of VS MEDIA Holdings Limited (VSME) are up 7% on Wednesday, following the announcement of its expansion into the Macau market via a strategic partnership with MLink Limited, a Macau-based company specializing in hospitality services for visitors.

VSME is trading on the Nasdaq at $4.22, up 7.62% or $0.29 per share. It has traded between $3.50 and $7.77 in the past 52-week period.

The partnership will enable VS Media to create a dedicated team to work closely with MLink to better serve local clients in Macau, including the Macau Government, local hotel groups, and operators.

The collaboration between VS Media and MLink is expected to leverage its strengths and resources to provide all-encompassing solutions in digital marketing, content creation, and event management, thereby magnifying the reach of Macau’s tourism and hospitality industry globally.

New Zealand Holds Key Rate; Policy To Remain Restrictive

New Zealand’s central bank decided to hold its benchmark rate unchanged and suggested that they will remain restrictive to ensure that inflation returns to the target.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, led by Governor Adrian Orr, maintained the Official Cash Rate at 5.50 percent, in line with expectations.

The RBNZ MPC decided to keep the interest rate at a restrictive level to ensure that inflation returns to the 1 to 3 percent target range and to support maximum sustainable employment.

The Reserve Bank has started the current tightening cycle in October 2021, when the OCR was 0.25 percent.

Policymakers noted that interest rates are constraining economic activity and lowering inflationary pressures as needed.

The bank expects inflation to fall to the target band by the second half of next year. Regarding labor market, policymakers said employment is above its maximum sustainable level.

Policymakers observed that there is a near-term risk of activity and inflation not slowing as much as needed. Further, a greater slowdown in global economic demand, particularly in China could damp commodity prices and in turn export revenue.

Although the central bank is likely to retain its tightening bias, the official cash rate is at its cyclical peak, Capital Economics’ economist Abhijit Surya said.

TikTok Halts E-commerce Service In Indonesia

TikTok has announced that it will halt transactions on its e-commerce marketplace in Indonesia after the country banned the short videos app’s e-commerce trade on social media.

The Indonesian Ministry of Trade last week set a one-week deadline for TikTok to become a standalone app, without any e-commerce feature.

“Our priority is to remain compliant with local laws and regulations. As such, we will no longer facilitate e-commerce transactions in TikTok Shop Indonesia by 17:00 GMT+7, October 4, and will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities on the path forward,” TikTok said in a statement.

The government’s decision comes after President Joko Widodo recently called for regulation on social media apps in order to protect offline merchants and marketplaces.

Netflix To Hike Streaming Prices: WSJ

Netflix is reportedly planning to increase the prices of its ad-free subscription plans after the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors strike is resolved.

According to WSJ, citing “people familiar with the matter”, Netflix will probably introduce the price hike in the US and Canada. The report didn’t suggest how much increase will be seen.

Netflix’s last price increase was in January 2022, when its ad-free standard plan went from $14 to $15.49 per month, and its 4K plan went from $18 to $20 per month.

Early this year, Netflix also eliminated the Basic tier without ads which was priced at $9.99/month in the U.S. and other markets, in order to lure customers to opt for $6.99/month ad-supported plan or higher-priced tiers.

Meanwhile, Discovery+ has announced that it is increasing prices for its ad-free tier from $6.99 to $8.99 per month, effective immediately.

Disney is also raising prices for the standalone premium tiers of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ in the U.S.