Investors lift equity allocations to 5-month high – BofA survey

LONDON (Reuters) – Investors lifted equity allocations to a 5-month high but cash levels also increased to 5.6%, even as they remained worried about a possible credit crunch and inflation staying elevated, a Bank of America survey showed on Tuesday. The survey of 289 fund managers with a total of $753 billion in assets showed…

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Tesla applies to expand Shanghai plant, add pouch battery cell output

(Reuters) – Tesla Inc has applied for regulatory clearance to expand its Shanghai plant and to begin producing for the first time pouch-type battery cells, albeit in small numbers. An undated public notice said the potential expansion would give the Shanghai Gigafactory the capacity to produce 1.75 million powertrain units annually, up from 1.25 million…

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Analysis-Australian banks’ bid to shake mortgage reliance brings new risks

By Byron Kaye SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s big banks are pivoting to what analysts say could be a risky fight for growth in the country’s unloved business loans market as a price war ends a decade-long profit bonanza in the mortgage sector. The country’s four largest lenders said this month they would redirect capital and…

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US on track for June 1 default without debt ceiling hike, Treasury says

By David Lawder, Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury Department reiterated Monday it expects to be able to pay the U.S. government’s bills only through June 1 without a debt limit increase, increasing pressure on congressional Republicans and the White House to reach a deal in coming days. In her second letter to Congress…

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China’s April data show economic recovery losing steam, testing policymakers

By Ellen Zhang and Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter and intensifying pressure on policymakers to shore up a wobbly post-COVID recovery. Tuesday’s batch of data, which also showed a further decline in property investment,…

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Teen gunman kills 3, wounds 6 in New Mexico before police shoot him dead

By Andrew Hay and Steve Gorman (Reuters) -An 18-year-old gunman stalked through a New Mexico neighborhood on Monday firing randomly at bystanders, houses and cars, killing three people and wounding six before police shot him dead outside a church, authorities said. The late-morning shooting spree unfolded in a residential area of Farmington, New Mexico, a…

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EU must build cutting-edge computer chips – industry chief Breton

By Toby Sterling ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) – EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Tuesday touted the European Chips Act passed last month, saying Europe must manufacture its own cutting-edge computer chips and not be relegated to a position on research or in building relatively older chips. “With the Chips Act now agreed, we are sending…

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Morgan Stanley weighs cutting 7% of Asia investment bank jobs-source

(Reuters) -Morgan Stanley is considering a 7% cut in its Asia-Pacific investment banking workforce, or about 40 jobs, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The cuts would mainly impact the investment banking and capital markets business in the region, not including Japan. A Morgan Stanley spokesperson declined to comment. The job…

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