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NYSE wins Uber, Pinterest listings: sources

FILE PHOTO: A Pinterest banner hangs on the facade of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: A Pinterest banner hangs on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

March 22, 2019

By Liana B. Baker and Joshua Franklin

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc and Pinterest, two of the highest profile internet companies planning to go public this year, have picked the New York Stock Exchange as the venue for their stock listings, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The companies and the NYSE declined to comment.

NYSE has become the exchange of choice over NASDAQ for big technology companies in the past few years after NASDAQ famously bumbled the Facebook IPO with massive technology errors. The exchanges compete fiercely for listing fees, and much like investment banks, often begin courting large companies long before they are ready to list.

NASDAQ did score the IPO of ride hailing firm Lyft Inc, which could reach or exceed a $23 billion valuation when it prices its shares March 28. Lyft will be the first internet player to kick off a string of hotly anticipated public debuts that will energize the IPO market after a quiet start to the year.

In a sign that investors crave newly issued stock, shares of Levi Strauss & Co surged 31 percent in their debut on Thursday, giving the jeans maker a market value of $8.7 billion.

Bloomberg first reported the Uber news on Thursday while the Wall Street Journal first reported the Pinterest news.

Uber, a global logistics and transportation company most recently valued at $76 billion in the private market, is seeking a valuation as high as $120 billion, although some analysts have pegged its value closer to $100 billion based on selected financial figures it has disclosed.

Pinterest, which owns the image search website known for food and fashion photos, was valued at $12 billion in its last fundraising round in 2017. The San Francisco-based company has grown rapidly since its founding in 2008, boasting 250 million monthly active users last September.

Pinterest monetizes its website through advertisements, which it places among the “pins” that users put on the site.

Reuters previously reported Pinterest could raise around $1.5 billion in the IPO, which is likely to come in the first six months of 2019. The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that the company could reveal its IPO filing as early as Friday and list its shares by mid-April.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York and Joshua Franklin in New York; additional reporting by Carl O’Donnell; editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Europe’s share listings plumb 10-year low as companies seek alternatives

The German share price index, DAX board, is seen at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index, DAX board, is seen at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, November 20, 2017. Picture taken with a fish-eye lens. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

March 27, 2019

By Clara Denina

LONDON (Reuters) – European initial public offerings slumped to their lowest since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis in the first quarter of 2019, as uncertainty over Brexit and the U.S.- China trade dispute leaves companies not wanting to take their chances.

Proceeds from European listings dipped to $292 million in the first three months of 2019, compared to $13.9 billion made in the same period a year ago, Refinitiv data shows.

Those without the appetite to go public with their shares are instead looking to private stake sales and cash injections, previously favored among tech start-ups.

In London, Europe’s biggest stock market, just two companies have listed on the LSE’s main market so far this year – law firm DWF Group, which raised 75 million pounds ($100 million) and software company Dev Clever , raising just 678,000 pounds. In total, 11 companies went public in Europe.

Meanwhile, private equity Carlyle Group is in talks to buy a 30 percent stake in Spain’s Cepsa for up to $3.4 billion, just months after its Abu Dhabi owner Mubadala shelved a listing of the energy company, sources have told Reuters.

The lack of companies joining the stock market to raise capital is in stark contrast to just a few months earlier, when, with much fanfare carmaker Aston Martin made its debut.

“Given the Brexit-related uncertainty in the market is still ongoing, we have a couple of IPOs for which we have done most of the work that have now been pushed to the end of the year,” one banking source said, expecting a pick-up later in 2019.

Bankers say some companies are put off because they cannot achieve top valuations that were available up to a year ago.

Firms such as Aston Martin and financial technology firm Funding Circle, which also listed in London late last year, have performed poorly and are still trading down sharply from their debut prices.

The collapse in listings bodes ill for the prospects of the financial institutions that profit from them.

Just $3.64 million has been collected by banks in fees from European IPOs so far this year, down from $114.31 million in the same period of 2018, according to Refinitiv data.

The drought has pushed ECM bankers to find alternative ways to bring in fees.

Some said they are spending more time working on private placements of shares or scouting out companies in distressed situations that need fresh capital.

Online wealth manager Nutmeg raised $58.2 million from investors in January, including Goldman Sachs Group while mobile-only bank Monzo raised 20 million pounds from its existing customers in December after an 85 million pounds funding.

“Having the public investor community willing to offer good valuations and enable companies to raise primary capital without the burden of going public is becoming more common,” said Daniel Simons, ECM partner at law firm Hogan Lovells.

DELAYED DECISIONS

Firms still intent on going public are watching and waiting.

Volkswagen on March 13 halted preparations for the IPO of its trucks unit Traton until market conditions improve.

Activity is expected to slowly improve throughout the year and is likely to be led by the buoyant payments sector.

Italy’s Nexi is expected to list next month in one of the biggest flotations of the year, while Dubai-based payment firm Network International is set to be the first international company to list in London this year.

Elsewhere, South Africa’s media and internet giant Naspers is planning a bumper listing in Amsterdam with the spin-off of its international e-commerce ventures including its one third stake in China’s Tencent.

(Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: OANN

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ECB contenders jointly lobby for crisis-proofed euro zone

FILE PHOTO: ECB policymaker Villeroy de Galhau, who is also governor of the French central bank, attends the Paris Europlace International Financial Forum in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau, who is also governor of the French central bank, attends the Paris Europlace International Financial Forum in Tokyo, Japan, November 19, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

April 3, 2019

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The top two contenders vying to replace ECB President Mario Draghi this year joined forces on Wednesday, calling on European leaders to finally enact long-delayed reforms to make the euro zone more resilient to crises.

French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau and Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann asked EU leaders to pass the necessary laws to complete the capital market union, which would better channel savings to where investment was needed and help absorb shocks.

“It is now high time to move forward and complete the capital markets union,” Weidmann and Villeroy said in a rare editorial in Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and France’s Les Echos. “Integrated capital markets can cushion shocks that hit parts of a currency area.”

Such a union would also allow equity investors to share more of the economic risk, lessening the burden on the ECB, the two central bankers argued – a key consideration as many argue that the ECB has already exhausted most of its firepower after years of stimulus.

Calls for structural reforms and the completion of the banking and capital market unions has long been the ECB’s mantra but little action has taken place in recent years, leaving the bloc vulnerable to a fresh crisis

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: OANN

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Christian adoption agency sues New York after state tries to shut it down

A Christian adoption agency in Syracuse, New York is suing the state after it threatened to shut them down for a "discriminatory and impermissible" policy of placing each child with a married mother and father and referring unmarried or same-sex couples to other adoption agencies because of its religious beliefs.

New Hope Family Services is a non-profit that serves as an adoptive provider and pregnancy center since 1965. The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) initially praised the organization after a site visit but took issue with the group's child placement policy after reviewing its manual. OCFS told New Hope to revise its policy of placing children with a married mother and father or end the adoption program. New Hope filed a lawsuit against the state in December for targeting their religious beliefs.

TEXAS COUPLE: GOD 'PURPOSEFULLY CONNECTED' US TO KIDS FOUND CHAINED IN HORRIFIC ABUSE CASE

“There’s no reason for the state to single out and punish those whose faith teaches them that the best home for a child includes a married father and mother,” Roger Brooks, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) senior counsel who argued the case for New Hope Tuesday, told Fox News. “Adoption providers exist to assist children, not to affirm the desires of adults. Children in Syracuse, throughout New York, and across the country will suffer if this discrimination and hostility toward faith-based adoption providers becomes the status quo.”

But Adrienne Kerwin, an attorney representing OCFS, argued that discrimination of any kind is illegal during the two hours of oral arguments in front of U.S. Magistrate Mae D'Agostino.

TODDLER'S 'MIRACLE' HEALING SPARKED WORSHIP ANTHEM: 'WE BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAISE

"This doesn't force them to do anything other than obey the law," Kerwin said. "There can be no exceptions when it comes to following the law. To grant an exemption is not equal protection."

New Hope has placed more than 1,000 children in homes across New York and has never received a formal complaint due to the policy, according to the lawsuit.

WORSHIP LEADER BEGAN FOSTERING BECAUSE 'THE LORD STARTED TO SPEAK TO US'

New York law was changed in 2010 to allow unmarried and same-sex partners, no longer just "an adult husband and his adult wife" to adopt, but the legislation did not make it mandatory. ADF argues that New York bureaucrats targeted New Hope for their religious convictions.

OFCS told New Hope "the agency's policy pertaining to not placing 'children with those who are living together without the benefit of marriage' or 'same sex couples'" violates New State law and gave them the ultimatum to revise the policy or "submit a close-out plan for the adoption program."

CALIFORNIA JUDGE ORDERS STATE TO PAY $399G TO PRO-LIFE PREGNANCY CENTERS

ADF attorneys are asking the court to protect New Hope from being singled out, punished, or disfavored because of its religious beliefs. New Hope refers unmarried and same-sex couples to nearby adoption providers.

Jeana Hallock, ADF legal counsel, said everyone loses if the government forces New Hope to shut down.

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“For over 50 years, New Hope has served children and families throughout the state of New York by offering a comprehensive, ‘arm-around-the-shoulder’ ministry and walking with both birth parents and adoptive parents to place children in forever homes," Hallock said. "Protecting this religious nonprofit does nothing to interfere with other adoption providers. Banishing New Hope as a faith-based adoption provider, however, means fewer kids will find permanent homes, fewer adoptive parents will ever welcome their new child, and fewer birth parents will enjoy the exceptional support that New Hope has offered for decades."

ARKANSAS COUPLE ADOPTS SEVEN SIBLINGS AT ONCE, GIVING THEM A 'FOREVER FAMILY' 

The nonprofit has never accepted state funding and, besides the fees paid by adoptive parents, funds its ministry through support from churches, individual donors, and private grants, it argues.

In the past several years, faith-based adoption and foster care providers in Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington D.C. and California have ceased operations after it refused to place children with same-sex couples.

Source: Fox News National

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NRCC Makes Largest January Fundraising Haul to Date

The National Republican Congressional Committee has made its largest January fundraising haul to date, pulling in $5.58 million as it faces several key races coming up in 2020.

Republican Sens. Cory Gardner, Colorado; Joni Ernst, Iowa; Susan Collins, Maine; Thom Tillis, North Carolina; and David Perdue, Georgia are all coming up for re-election, reports Politico, while quoting a committee aide about the record fundraising haul.

Overall in 2018, the NRCC raised approximately $151.6 million, according to Open Secrets.org, reporting data from the Center for Responsive Politics and based on Federal Election Commission data.

The organization spent $151.2 million, leaving $7.5 million cash on hand.  

The NRCC is the chief fundraising committee whose goal is electing Republican candidates to the Senate. The totals reported by the Center for Responsive Politics show expenditures and fundraising from both the main committee and others affiliated to it, noted Open Secrets.

In 2016, the year President Donald Trump was elected to office, the NRCC and affiliated committees raised approximately $138.4 million, spending approximately $134 million.

Figures were not immediately available Tuesday concerning fundraising totals for January for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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North Carolina mom purposely crashes into vehicle carrying her 2 kids amid custody dispute, cops say

A North Carolina woman was charged after she intentionally crashed into another vehicle carrying her two children amid a bitter custody dispute with the toddlers’ father, police said.

Kendra Kerry Boyd, 22, was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of child abuse following the March 8 crash in Old Fort, McDowell County Sheriff’s Office said.

DOUBLE-AMPUTEE RESCUED FROM ISLAND IN MIDDLE OF RIO GRANDE RIVER WHILE TRYING TO CROSS INTO US

She was also charged with careless and reckless driving.

Boyd was allegedly driving recklessly and intentionally crashed her car into another vehicle driven by Philip Clapp, 21, and carrying their 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, police said.

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Boyd and Clapp were in a custody dispute over their children, police said.

Source: Fox News National

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Venezuela hit by another power outage, Maduro blames sabotage

For the second time this month, Venezuela has been hit by a massive power outage, forcing students and workers to stay home Tuesday.

The outage struck as Venezuelans were still reeling from the last one, which left many of them without access to uncontaminated running water or other basic necessities. The latest blackout affected 21 of the country's 23 states.

As he did with the first outage, President Nicolas Maduro attributed the outage to sabotage by his opponents, including the U.S. government.

"A macabre, perverse plan constructed in Washington and executed with factions of the extreme Venezuelan right," Vice President Delcy Rodriguez declared on state television, describing it as an "electromagnetic" assault.

A man stands outside his home during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. A new power outage spread across much of Venezuela on Monday, knocking communications offline and stirring fears of a repeat of the chaos almost two weeks ago during the nation's largest-ever blackout.

A man stands outside his home during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. A new power outage spread across much of Venezuela on Monday, knocking communications offline and stirring fears of a repeat of the chaos almost two weeks ago during the nation's largest-ever blackout. (AP)

Officials said the "attack" had been controlled, but their assurances, similar to ones the last time around, did little to calm the anger of residents in Caracas who filled traffic-clogged streets as they walked home after subway service in the capital was suspended. Their patience grew increasingly thin when a second outage struck late into the night, leaving neighborhoods pitch black.

CUBAN DOCTORS ON MISSION IN VENEZUELA SAY THEY WERE FORCED TO TIE MEDICAL TREATMENTS TO VOTES FOR MADURO

On social media, Venezuelans reported outages in Caracas and much of western Venezuela. Some said residents were banging pots and pans in the darkness in a sign of the nation's mounting tensions. The latest outages come as President Nicolas Maduro tries to keep his grip on power amid a revived opposition movement and punishing economic sanctions from the United States.

Twenty-seven-year-old restaurant manager Lilian Hernandez said she was bracing for the worst.

"We Venezuelans suffer all kinds of problems," said Hernandez, who had just recently managed to restock food that spoiled during the previous outage.

People wait inside a darkened office building during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. The subway suspended service because of the power cuts Monday, as local media reported outages in at least six states.

People wait inside a darkened office building during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 25, 2019. The subway suspended service because of the power cuts Monday, as local media reported outages in at least six states. (AP)

The Trump administration, which has made no secret of its desire to remove Maduro, has denied any role in the outages. Electricity experts and opposition leader Juan Guaido fault years of government graft and incompetence.

"This outage is evidence that the dictator is incapable of resolving the crisis," Guaido wrote on Twitter Monday.

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“In the middle of the angst of darkness, when our people need to be assured during another blackout, how can they pretend to keep repeating the same excuses of ‘electrical war and sabotage?” Guaido wrote on his Twitter account. “They’re corrupt liars.”

Meanwhile, as Venezuela's economic and political crisis deepens, many seem resigned to continuous disruptions in their daily routines.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo looking north shows shipping containers at the Port of Seattle and the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle
FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo looking north shows shipping containers at the Port of Seattle and the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, U.S. March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. economic growth is running at a 1.1% pace in the second quarter as the gains in exports and inventories recorded in the first quarter are expected to reverse, Morgan Stanley economists said on Friday.

“Our preliminary expectations for growth in the second quarter sees large drags from net exports and inventories after their contributions in 1Q,” they wrote in a research note.

Gross domestic product increased at a 3.2% annualized rate in the first three months of the year, driven by a smaller trade deficit and the largest accumulation of unsold merchandise since 2015, the Commerce Department said earlier Friday.

(Reporting by Richard Leong)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank headquarters are pictured in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank headquarters are pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Sims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Within hours of the collapse of merger talks with Commerzbank, Christian Sewing scrambled to convince investors and employees that Deutsche Bank can stand on its own two feet.

The Deutsche Bank chief executive told staff, many of whom opposed a merger because of significant job losses, that while he had not been “skeptical” about the Commerzbank talks, he was cautious about the chances of success from the start.

And another top Deutsche Bank executive said on Friday that it had been Commerzbank that initiated the talks, suggesting there was no desperation on their part for a deal.

Commerzbank denied that version of events, ending the apparent truce between the normally highly competitive cross-town Frankfurt rivals over the past six weeks.

German hopes of creating a national banking champion able to challenge global competitors were finally dashed on Thursday when Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ended their talks due to the risks of doing a deal, restructuring costs and capital demands.

For Sewing, the failure to clinch a deal has left the 49-year-old chief executive of Germany’s largest bank, who took over just over a year ago, with his back to the wall.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, which downgraded Deutsche Bank last year, said on Friday that Deutsche Bank “will remain under strain”, adding that it “seems to have acknowledged the need to adjust its strategy”.

Under Sewing, a new leadership has tried to revive Deutsche Bank’s fortunes, but it has faced money laundering allegations and failed stress tests, as well as ratings downgrades.

At the heart of the debate over its future is whether it should focus its business on Germany and draw a line under its costly global ambitions to take on Wall Street’s big guns.

“MARKET PLAY”

Without a deal, Deutsche Bank now finds itself back at the mercy of equity and debt markets, with UBS analysts warning that in a “stress scenario” it could again “be forced into a ‘debt-driven capital increase’ even with solid capital ratios”.

“Deutsche remains a levered market play vulnerable to external events,” the UBS analysts said in a note.

Sewing, along with many analysts, believes Deutsche Bank can go it alone in the short-term, but will be counting on a turnaround in market conditions to do so in the long-run given its dependence on volatile investment bank earnings.

“To reach our return objective, we also need to see a revenue recovery in our more market-sensitive business,” Sewing said on Friday after reporting results.

“These revenues are available to us in better market conditions given our leading positions in many of these businesses, but we need to capture them,” he added.

Revenue at Deutsche Bank’s bond trading division fell 19 percent in the first quarter, it said on Friday, underscoring weakness at its investment bank.

If those earnings do not improve, Berlin’s desire to keep its biggest bank out of foreign hands may start to wane.

“Germany’s globally active companies need competitive financial institutions that can support them around the world,” German finance minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.

(Writing by Alexander Smith; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli yells to the media while arriving to the Electoral Court in Panama City
Panama’s former president Ricardo Martinelli reacts to the media while arriving to the Electoral Court in Panama City, Panama April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Erick Marciscano

April 26, 2019

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s electoral tribunal has ruled that former President Ricardo Martinelli, who is awaiting trial on wiretapping charges, cannot take part in elections on May 5 in which he was running for mayor of Panama City and a seat in Congress, a spokesman for Martinelli said on Friday.

“The ruling of the electoral tribunal has disqualified him as candidate,” said the spokesman, Eduardo Camacho, calling the court’s ruling a “political decision.”

Officials at the tribunal did not immediately confirm the ruling, which also was reported in local media in Panama.

Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon who ran the Central American country from 2009 to 2014, was extradited to Panama last June from the United States and charged with spying on 150 people, including politicians, union leaders and journalists.

A judge had previously cleared Martinelli to run for mayor of the capital. His critics vowed to appeal that decision.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno and Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City
FILE PHOTO: Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Shares of Walmart, Target and other U.S. retailers fell on Friday as Amazon.com Inc unveiled a one-day delivery plan for its Prime members in a move to further disrupt the fiercely competitive retail landscape.

The e-commerce giant’s announcement on Thursday could cause other brands, manufacturers, retailers, and logistics companies to have to invest more aggressively to compete with Amazon and its delivery, analysts said.

Retailers in recent years have poured billions into ecommerce and faster shipping options and are trying to close the gap with Amazon.

“This is about making it more expensive to catch up and affirms our world view that only the largest and smartest will survive,” Bernstein analyst Brandon Fletcher said.

The move is expected to heighten consumer expectations on e-commerce delivery just like Amazon did with its two-day shipping option for members of its loyalty club Prime, noted analysts.

“The faster you ship, the more people buy,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said.

The challenge for non-Amazon players was that very few of the existing logistics and parcel delivery players now have the ability to do nationwide one-day delivery, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak said.

“And even fewer can do it at the vast scale and reasonable cost that AMZN would need for Prime delivery,” Nowak said in a note.

Walmart Inc’s shares fell about 3 percent, while Target Corp dropped about 5 percent in morning trade.

Shares of Kohl’s Corp, Macy’s Inc and Nordstrom Inc fell about 1 percent. Grocer Kroger Co was nearly 3 percent lower, while consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Inc dropped 2.1 percent.

(Reporting by Soundarya J and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Source: OANN

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A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Beijing
A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, July 10, 2014. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool (CHINA – Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)

April 26, 2019

By April Joyner

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Even as the lift from optimism over prospects for U.S.-China trade detente shows signs of wearing off for the wider U.S. stock market, upbeat sentiment around China’s economy could bolster shares of materials companies.

Shares of S&P 500 industrial and technology companies, which were buffeted by last year’s tit-for-tat tariffs as well as slowing global demand, have been very responsive to progress in U.S.-China trade relations and a strengthening Chinese economy. This year, those sectors have outpaced the ascent in the S&P 500, which reached a record closing high on Tuesday.

Materials stocks have not been as sensitive, however, even though they also stand to benefit as a stronger Chinese economy lifts global consumption and industrial output. As China has taken measures to stimulate its economy, its economic data have turned more upbeat. That in turn could aid global growth, which has flagged as a result of China’s cooldown.

“What we’re seeing is China spending more on stimulus: fiscal stimulus and monetary stimulus,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco in New York. “That’s likely to be a positive for materials.”

The People’s Bank of China has cut banks’ reserve requirement ratio five times over the past year and is widely expected to ease policy further to spur lending and reduce borrowing costs. The stimulus appears to have boosted Chinese economic data, with factory activity growing in March for the first time in four months.

Yet so far in 2019, the S&P 500 materials index has underperformed the S&P 500 at large, rising just 11.9% compared with 16.7% for the benchmark index. Moreover, it is among the biggest decliners in the period since the S&P’s previous record closing level on Sept. 20. The materials index has fallen 7% over those seven months, versus a 5.2% gain for technology and a 3% loss for industrials. Only the energy index has dropped more over that period.

A trade agreement could serve as a catalyst for a bump in materials shares as a drag on China’s economy is lifted, some market strategists say. Some commodity prices, including those for copper and oil, have ascended this year as the prospects for the global economy have somewhat brightened.

“It all goes back to the global growth outlook,” said Andrea DiCenso, portfolio manager for alpha strategies at Loomis Sayles in Boston. “With the front run in hard data, we’re beginning to see a pretty significant rally.”

Additionally, a trade agreement is expected to include commitments from China to purchase higher quantities of U.S. products such as soybeans, which could benefit companies that make agricultural chemicals, including DowDuPont Inc and CF Industries Holdings Inc.

CF Industries is scheduled to report quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, and DowDuPont is scheduled to report before the market open on Thursday.

To be sure, even with a trade agreement, some materials companies could face price pressures. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc fell 10.1% on Thursday after the copper mining company posted a lower-than-expected profit as its production slipped and its costs rose.

A rollback of tariffs on Chinese imports, particularly aluminum and steel, would likely prompt a fall in some commodity prices, which could hurt prospects for certain materials companies, said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management in El Segundo, California.

Even so, those drawbacks may be outweighed by the support for global demand fostered by a U.S.-China trade agreement.

“You could see a number of companies with lowered expectations bring them back up as they talk favorably about the impact that a trade deal would have on them,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.

(Reporting by April Joyner; additional reporting by Sinéad Carew; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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