Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 advances 31 points to 8152
- Shell (LON:SHEL) loads up new buyback after earnings impress
- Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) leads risers after big beat
Bullish US open predicted
Having slept on it, US investors are now taking confidence from the Fed decision yesterday, with Wall Street set for a bullish start to Thursday.
Futures market are indicating that the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 will form the vanguard this morning, up 0.9%, with S&P 500 futures up 0.7% and those for the Dow Jones up 0.45%.
Looking at notable US earnings, former pandemic darline Carvana Co has revved nearly 40% higher in pre-market trades following a surprisingly bullish first-quarter result and upbeat sales forecast.
Meanwhile, Fastly Inc shares crashed 34% after the cloud-based content delivery network (CDN) delivered an underwhelming outlook.
Lloyd's of London do not expect large losses from Baltimore Bridge
Following up from that Baltimore Bridge story, Reuters hacks have been checking with Lloyd's of London insurers to see if they expect to be on the hook.
But Hiscox (LON:HSX) and Lancashire do not expect large insurance claims from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge, they told the newswire.
Some estimates for the total insured losses are as high as $4 billion.
Baltimore Bridge insurer to make $350m payout
The insurer of the Baltimore's Bridge, which collapsed after being hit by a tanker in March, will make $350 million payout to the state of Maryland, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Chubb Ltd (NYSE:CB) is the company in question.
It is not expected to be the end of the costs to insurers, with analysts estimating up to a record $4 billion total loss.
Chubb, Maryland and the families of the victims of the crash are likely sue the ship owner and others, the WSJ report said.
Taylor Swift returns to TikTok after UMG deal
Universal Music Group (AS:UMG), the world's biggest record company, has patched up its differences with TikTok after pulling its music off the social media platform last month.
The pair have announced a "new multi-dimensional licensing agreement" that included "significant industry-leading benefits" for musical artists, songwriters and labels.
Yes, that means that TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, will pay more money to UMG’s songwriters and artists and is offering better protection over the use of generative AI.
UMG is 20% owned by China's Tencent Holdings (HK:0700), where shares are up 3.8% today.
UMG boss Lucian Grainge said: "This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community. We look forward to collaborating with the team at TikTok to further the interests of our artists and songwriters and drive innovation in fan engagement while advancing social music monetization."