News updates from March 25: Boeing CEO to step down; UN Security Council calls for Gaza ceasefire

Adam Neumann, the co-founder of WeWork, has submitted a conditional bid of about $600mn for the bankrupt co-working company he led until 2019, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Flow, Neumann’s new property company, confirmed the offer on Monday, saying “a coalition of half a dozen financing partners — whose identities are known to WeWork and its advisers — submitted a potential bid” two weeks ago.

Neumann, who resigned as WeWork’s chief executive in 2019, has been courting potential investors for months to finance his effort to regain control of the company. But Flow did not specify who had agreed to step in alongside the entrepreneur.

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Baseball star Shohei Ohtani said his former interpreter stole money from his account to pay an illegal bookmaker and vigorously denied that he ever personally, wilfully engaged in sports betting, in his first public address following allegations of impropriety that emerged last week.

“I never bet on baseball or other sports or asked anyone to bet on my behalf, said Ohtani, who in December signed a 10-year, $700mn contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Referencing his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, he said, “Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.”

Ohtani made prepared comments to journalists who had gathered in the Dodgers clubhouse. He took no questions.

Ohtani’s remarks are his first public comments since the Dodgers fired Mizuhara last week after ESPN and the Los Angeles Times reported the interpreter had allegedly placed bets with an illegal bookmaker. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has directly accused Ukraine of being behind an attack on a concert hall in Moscow, presenting no evidence for the claim, which he made despite Isis claiming responsibility for the assault. 

Though he acknowledged that the attack was conducted by “radical Islamists”, Putin on Monday said he was also interested in “who ordered it” and “who benefits”. 

“This evil act can only be another link in a whole chain of attempts by those who have been fighting with our country since 2014 via the Nazi Kyiv regime,” Putin claimed.

Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack. Isis shared a photograph of what it said were the four gunmen against a black Isis flag before the attack. The clothes of the men in the picture matched those of the men later detained by the FSB security service.

A US judge has struck down a lawsuit brought by X against a non-profit group that researched toxic content on the social media platform, finding the Elon Musk-owned company’s case appeared to be an attempt at “punishing” the group for exercising free speech.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate had sought to dismiss the case from X, which alleged the non-profit unlawfully accessed and scraped X data for its studies. The CCDH found a rise in hate speech and misinformation on the platform. X had also alleged the group “cherry-picked” from posts on the platform to conduct a “scare campaign” to drive away advertisers, costing it tens of millions of dollars.

In a stinging ruling, US judge Charles Breyer in California granted the motion. “Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiff’s true purpose. Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose.”

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The US and UK have unveiled sweeping measures against hackers backed by China’s government, alleging they carried out extensive cyber attacks against targets across Washington and Westminster.

The US Department of Justice on Monday indicted seven Chinese nationals who it said were members of APT31, a Wuhan-based hacking group run by China’s main spy service.

The indictment alleges that the group sent more than 10,000 “malicious” emails with hidden tracking links to officials across the federal government, businesses “of national economic importance” including defence, and Capitol Hill.

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US stocks were lower in early-afternoon trading, with declines among consumer discretionary, industrials and technology stocks offsetting gains for energy names.

Wall Street’s S&P 500 was down 0.1 per cent on Monday. Consumer discretionary, industrials and tech were the benchmark’s worst-performing sectors, down 0.5 per cent, 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. The energy sector remained the top performer.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1 per cent.

Government bonds were weaker as yields headed higher. The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury note was up 0.03 percentage points to 4.63 per cent while the yield on the benchmark 10-year note gained 0.04 percentage points to 4.26 per cent.

European stocks edged higher on Monday, pulled up by gains in the energy sector as oil prices rose.

The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 gained less than 0.1 per cent. France’s CAC 40 was flat, while Germany’s Dax rose 0.3 per cent.

London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2 per cent as declines for consumer stocks and technology groups offset strong gains for heavyweights in the energy sector.

Energy stocks rose on Wall Street as the price of oil ticked higher and Morgan Stanley’s analysts turned bullish on the sector.

The energy sector was up 1.2 per cent during lunchtime trading, making it the best-performing sector in the S&P 500 on Monday.

Sentiment was buoyed by Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, trading 1.4 per cent higher to $86.60, and Morgan Stanley upgrading its view on the sector to “overweight”.

The bank’s upgrade follows its forecast last week that Brent crude prices will hit $90 a barrel by the third-quarter. The sector remains “one of the cheapest and most under-owned areas of the market”, strategists led by Michael Wilson wrote.

ConocoPhillips, Devon Energy and Occidental Petroleum are expected to outperform, analysts wrote. Shares in those names were up at least 1.4 per cent.

A New York appeals court has reduced the size of the bond payable by Trump to delay the enforcement of a $464mn fraud judgment to just $175mn, after the former president claimed it would be “impossible” to obtain the full amount from an insurance company.

The ruling came as a 30-day grace period granted to Trump by the New York attorney-general, who brought the fraud case, was set to expire, paving the way for Letitia James’ office to seize Trump’s cash and properties.

In an order on Monday morning, the appeals court gave Trump and his businesses 10 days to find the new sum.

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Rishi Sunak faces another difficult by-election after former Conservative MP Scott Benton announced his resignation from the House of Commons on Monday.

The MP, who had been stripped of the Tory whip, was facing a recall petition following his suspension from parliament last month for 35 days after he was caught in a lobbying sting.

He had offered to do paid lobbying work for a fictitious company in an episode that the Commons standards committee said had given the impression he was “corrupt and for sale”.

Benton won his constituency of Blackpool South, a key Labour target seat, by a narrow majority of 3,690 votes in 2019.

It will be the 23rd by-election since the last general election in 2019.

Sales of new-single family homes in the US have stalled since the start of this year, as mortgage rates creep up from the multi-month lows they hit in late 2023.

Sales fell to an annualised rate of 662,000 in February, the Census Bureau said on Monday. That missed economists’ forecast for 675,000 new home sales, but January’s figure had been revised higher to 664,00.

The 0.3 per cent month-on-month decline was the biggest since November, but February’s rate is still up 5.9 per cent from a year ago.

After declining from 23-year highs in October, the slide in mortgage rates has stalled. The 30-year borrowing rate breached 7 per cent in mid-February for the first time since December as traders scaled back bets on interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year.

The UN Security Council on Monday passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The US abstained from the vote, allowing the body to pass its first resolution calling for a ceasefire since the war began in October. Monday’s vote comes after Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored resolution on Friday that would have supported “an immediate and sustained ceasefire” of at least six weeks and a prisoner exchange.

The vote could further roil US-Israel relations, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly threatened not to send a delegation to Washington to discuss Israel’s possible offensive in Rafah. The delegation was expected to arrive on Tuesday.

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A top Federal Reserve official has said risks to the US central bank’s dual mandate of low inflation and full employment “are moving into better balance”, paving the way for rate cuts this year. 

In comments that echo remarks by Fed chair Jay Powell, board governor Lisa Cook told students at Harvard: “The risk of easing monetary policy too much or too soon is that it could allow above-target inflation to become entrenched . . . But easing too late could also do unnecessary harm by holding back the economy.”

Cook’s speech comes after a slim majority of policymakers said last week they would still support three cuts to interest rates this year, despite signs that inflation is proving stickier than hoped.

Zambia has reached a revised deal to restructure nearly $4bn in US dollar bonds, moving the bankrupt southern Africa nation closer to exiting a years-long default after months of tension between China and other creditors.

Africa’s second-biggest copper producer and the bondholders said an agreement announced on Monday would provide more debt relief than a deal which China, the country’s single biggest creditor, rejected in November, throwing the country’s restructuring into disarray.

Bondholders will take an $840mn haircut on their claim, extend repayment dates and provide debt relief while Zambia continues a $1.3bn IMF bailout.

Zambia’s official creditors including China have already signed up to debt relief, which made a private creditor deal the last hurdle to leaving a 2020 default behind.

US stocks fell slightly in early trading on Monday, paring gains from the previous session, which capped Wall Street’s best weekly performance so far this year.

The benchmark S&P 500 was 0.2 per cent lower shortly after the opening bell in New York, as a 0.7 per cent dip for the technology sector weighed on the index. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5 per cent.

Shares in Boeing gained 1.7 per cent after the aircraft manufacturer announced that chief executive Dave Calhoun would step down at the end of the year.

European stocks slipped in morning trading on Monday, pulling back from record highs notched last week.

The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.3 per cent. Gains for defence firms, which climbed higher following Friday’s terror attack in Moscow, were offset by drops for consumer stocks and technology groups.

France’s Cac 40 fell 0.5 per cent, pulled lower by declines for index heavyweights in the luxury sector, including Pernod Ricard and LVMH.

The European Commission has rejected any suggestions that Ukraine was linked to Friday’s terrorist attack on a concert venue in Moscow, and called on the Kremlin not to use it as a pretext to ramp up its war against Kyiv or to increase internal repressions in Russia.

“Naturally we are concerned by the indications from representatives of the regime in Moscow who are trying to create a link between this attack and Ukraine, which we reject entirely,” said Peter Stano, commission foreign policy spokesperson. “There is no proof whatsoever that Ukraine was in any way linked to this attack.”

“We call on the Russian government not to use this terrorist attack in Moscow as a pretext or as motivation to increase the illegal aggression against Ukraine, nor to use it as a pretext for the increase of internal repressions,” Stano told reporters.

Novo Nordisk has struck a €1bn deal for Cardior Pharmaceuticals, a German biotech company developing RNA-based therapies to treat heart disease, as it seeks to build expertise in diseases beyond diabetes and weight loss.

The deal will give the Danish pharmaceutical company a treatment for heart failure currently in mid-stage, phase 2 trials that targets root causes of heart disease.

Novo Nordisk, the maker of blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, said the deal was an “important step” in its strategy to “establish a presence in cardiovascular disease”.

Big share price moves in Europe today include UK insurer Direct Line, UK-based transport company Mobico and Italian carmaker Ferrari:

• Direct Line: The UK-based insurer’s shares plummeted 14 per cent in early trading after rival Ageas said on Friday it would not make a further offer for the company. Ageas had two preliminary cash-and-share offers rejected by Direct Line’s board, the second of which valued the group at 237p per share. Ageas’s shares, meanwhile, rose 2 per cent this morning.

• Mobico: Shares in the international transport group formerly known as National Express slid 10 per cent after the FTSE 250-listed company warned of a hit to profits in light of a review into the accounts of its German rail business.

• Ferrari: Shares in the Italian luxury-car maker climbed 1 per cent after its chief executive said sales in Taiwan had doubled in the past four years due to the country’s number of wealthy individuals increasing in the chip boom and the pivot of supply chains away from China. 

European stocks held steady in early trading on Monday as traders look ahead to a busy day of commentary from central bank policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.

The region’s major indices were close to flat shortly after the opening bell. Wall Street futures were also little changed, with contracts tracking the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1 per cent ahead of the New York trading session.

Later on Monday, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Catherine Mann will speak at a conference in Belfast and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will participate in a climate advisory council for the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg.

Traders will also be looking out for commentary from US Federal Reserve representatives Austan Goolsbee, Raphael Bostic and Lisa Cook.

Kingfisher, owner of the B&Q, Screwfix and Castorama DIY chains, has warned that profits will fall again this year, after a 25 per cent drop in the year to January.

The company said on Monday that it was “cautious on the overall market outlook for 2024 due to the lag between housing demand and home improvement demand”. DIY markets are often linked to the strength of the housing market, as people spend money renovating their properties after moving.

Kingfisher recorded adjusted pre-tax profits of £568mn in the year, down from £758mn the previous year. For the current year, the company expects profits of between £490mn and £550mn.

Japanese equities led losses in Asia on Monday as the region’s currencies strengthened against the dollar.

The country’s benchmark Topix shed 1.3 per cent, with companies from the more rate-sensitive property sector leading losses.

The yen strengthened 0.15 per cent against the dollar to ¥151.21 after Japan’s finance vice-minister Masato Kanda said the currency’s current weakness did not reflect fundamentals.

China’s renminbi also strengthened after the People’s Bank of China set the midpoint for trading the currency at Rmb7.0996 a dollar, stronger than estimates.

The mainland’s benchmark CSI 300 shed 0.2 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 0.1 per cent.

Nissan plans to slash the cost of manufacturing its electric vehicles by 30 per cent as the Japanese carmaker turns to new partnerships and manufacturing methods to counter the rising threat from Chinese rivals.

Nissan, which has an alliance with France’s Renault and a partnership with Honda that was announced last week, has wrestled with flagging sales in China as the automotive industry struggles to build profitable battery-powered vehicles at affordable prices.

Following months of delay, Nissan released a business plan on Monday addressing how a carmaker of its size — with annual sales of fewer than 4mn vehicles — would finance the costs of new technology development and survive the transition to electric cars. The strategy aims to lift annual sales by 1mn units by the end of its fiscal 2026 year.

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Asian currencies strengthened against the dollar in early trading on Monday while equities were mixed.

China’s renminbi rose 0.46 per cent against the dollar to Rmb7.1958 and Japan’s yen climbed 0.06 per cent to ¥151.2020. Hong Kong was the only major Asian stock market to rise early in the day, with the Hang Seng index adding 0.5 per cent.

The People’s Bank of China set the trading band for the renminbi at around Rmb7.0996 a dollar, stronger than estimates. The PBoC had surprised markets on Friday by letting the currency weaken past Rmb7.20 to Rmb7.2291 against the dollar.

The yen strengthened after Japan’s finance vice-minister Masato Kanda said the currency’s current weakness did not reflect fundamentals.

Singapore’s former transport minister was handed eight more corruption charges in court on Monday in a rare and closely watched graft case in the city-state.

S Iswaran faces 35 charges in total and has pleaded not guilty.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said in a separate statement on Monday that the value of the goods Iswaran allegedly received from the latest charges are worth S$18,956.94 ($14,075.52).

The case is one of the biggest scandals in decades in Singapore and comes as the country prepares for a delicate leadership transition ahead of a general election by November 2025.

Events: The China Development Forum ends today. Holi, the Hindu festival of colours marking the arrival of spring, continues for a second day.

Economic data: The Bank of Japan releases minutes from its January monetary policy meeting. Singapore and Malaysia have February inflation data.

Corporate results: China Merchants Bank, PetroChina and China Resources Land report 2023 earnings.

Hello and welcome to the working week.

Will this year’s most important election battle, the US presidential contest, be decided at the ballot box or in the courtroom? It is a key question for 2024, and one that will be tested this week.

It starts with the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Monday has been set as the deadline for the former president to raise a $464mn guarantee for a New York fraud case appeal. Trump has said he may have to offload prized assets to gather the necessary cash, or perhaps the listing of his Truth Social network this week will provide the get out of jail card.

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The UK government will launch a “national endeavour” to reinforce the country’s nuclear deterrent, including a promise to invest more than £760mn with industry over the next six years into critical skills and infrastructure.

Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, will on Monday also announce a separate £200mn investment into a “transformation fund” for Barrow-in-Furness, the Cumbrian town where Britain’s nuclear submarines are built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy. Barrow has suffered from health inequalities, poor housing and some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country despite multiple attempts at lasting regeneration. 

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A Moscow court has ordered the detention of four suspects in the largest attack on Russian soil in more than a decade as the country held a day of mourning over the assault, which killed at least 137 people and injured 180.

The men, who are accused of storming a Moscow music venue on Friday evening, shooting concertgoers and setting the building on fire, appeared before the court late on Sunday. Their identities were confirmed for the first time and they were placed in custody pending trial.

Three of the men were officially identified as citizens of Tajikistan, the Tass state news agency said, citing its reporter in the courtroom. The fourth suspect is also believed to come from the country. Several of the men asked for translators as they could not speak Russian.

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The US and Japan are planning the biggest upgrade to their security alliance since they signed a mutual defence treaty in 1960 in a move to counter China.

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will announce plans to restructure the US military command in Japan to strengthen operational planning and exercises between the nations, according to five people familiar with the situation. They will unveil the plan when Biden hosts Kishida at the White House on April 10.

The allies want to bolster their security ties to respond to what they view as a growing threat from China, which requires their militaries to co-operate and plan more seamlessly, particularly in a crisis such as a Taiwan conflict.

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