Taylor Wimpey PLC said Friday that its 2022 performance met its expectations with higher operating profit, despite lower completions and a lower sales rate on-year.
The U.K. home builder said it expects 2022 operating profit to meet market views. It provided a market expectation for 2022 operating profit, including joint ventures and excluding exceptional items of around 921 million pounds ($1.12 billion). For 2021 it posted an operating profit of GBP828.6 million.
VW Posts Lowest Sales in Over a Decade on Supply-Chain Issues
BERLIN-Volkswagen AG reported its lowest sales in more than a decade, but said it was confident business would improve this year as supply-chain blockages ease and semiconductors become more easily available.
VW, which also includes passenger-car brands Skoda and Seat, luxury-car maker Audi, and sports-car maker Porsche AG, said Thursday that global sales dropped 7% to 8.3 million vehicles, as supply-chain constraints shut down some factories in Europe in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Covid-19 measures in China.
Rare-Earth Find in Sweden Lifts Hope for Shift Toward Clean Energy
KIRUNA, Sweden-The discovery here of a large deposit of rare-earth elements, vital for renewable energy and electric vehicles, offers fresh hopes for Europe's transition away from fossil fuels and a lessened reliance on China, the world's top supplier of the critical minerals.
Announcing potentially the largest known find in Europe, Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB said Thursday that some of the rare-earth elements in the deposit could be used to produce permanent magnets, which are components in motors for electric vehicles and wind turbines. The company said the rare-earth elements could be produced as a byproduct of mining iron ore.
Saudi Arabia Seeks to Lure Global Miners in Bid to Overhaul Its Economy
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia-Saudi officials are wooing top mining companies to help exploit untapped mineral deposits in the kingdom that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, as the world's biggest exporter of oil accelerates plans to build new industries away from hydrocarbons.
The fourth-largest net importer of minerals globally has a small domestic mining industry despite unverified estimates putting its mineral wealth at over $1.3 trillion, including deposits of copper, zinc, phosphates, uranium and gold. The results of a new survey are expected by 2027.
U.A.E. Names Oil Chief to Run COP28 Climate Summit
DUBAI-The United Arab Emirates named the chief executive of its national oil company as the president of this year's United Nations climate summit, drawing criticism from environmental activists.
The Gulf state said Thursday that Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or Adnoc, would be tasked with framing the agenda of the COP28 summit in Dubai, which opens at the end of November. Mr. Jaber, a top Emirati technocrat, is also the country's minister for industry and technology and special envoy on climate change, playing a leading role in the country's move to finance and produce more renewable and nuclear energy.
GLOBAL NEWS
China's Export Decline Deepens, Threatening Growth
HONG KONG-The export boom that carried China's economy through much of the Covid-19 pandemic has lost momentum, adding urgency for Beijing to seek growth drivers elsewhere as the global economy struggles.
The decline for Chinese exports got steeper in the final month of 2022, falling 9.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 8.7% drop in November, according to data from China's customs bureau. While the decline wasn't as steep as the 10.5% drop forecast by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, it marked the biggest dip since February 2020, when a nationwide lockdown brought economic activity to a halt.
Japan's 10-Year Government Bond Yield Breaches New Cap
TOKYO-The yield on benchmark 10-year Japanese government bonds breached the 0.5% cap set by the Bank of Japan less than a month ago, as pressure grows on the central bank to tighten policy.
Strong inflation data this week have sparked speculation among investors that the BOJ will join the Federal Reserve and other central banks in unwinding its easing program by lifting the cap again, or even scrapping its yield-curve control policy altogether.
Inflation Weary Americans Find Some Relief as Prices Fall for Dozens of Products
Prices were lower last month for dozens of products including airline tickets, chicken and shoes, providing some modest relief to Americans who faced historically high inflation in 2022.
Overall consumer prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in December from November-the first monthly decrease since May 2020, the Labor Department said. But the annual inflation rate remained high. The consumer-price index rose 6.5% from December 2021.
Oil Prices Are Likely to Stay Steady This Year-With a Couple of Big Ifs
Oil prices generally aren't expected to change dramatically this year, but two big questions loom over that outlook: Will China have the workers needed to rev up its economy as the country loosens its Covid restrictions? And will American energy companies focused on fracking stick to their recent reluctance to bankroll another expensive oil boom?
Brent, the international oil standard, peaked above $127 a barrel last year but has since tumbled, trading around $84 a barrel Thursday. Around two-thirds of energy executives surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas late last year expected West Texas Intermediate oil prices-which tend to fluctuate a few dollars a barrel below Brent-to end 2023 between $70 and $90 per barrel. The forecast is based largely on the fact that analysts expect global oil supply to outpace demand this year as economic growth slows.
The Nasdaq Has Had a Hot Start to 2023. It Still Has Room to Run.
The Nasdaq has gotten out of the gates quickly in 2023. It's got more room to run for now.
For the year, the Nasdaq is up 5%, outpacing the S&P 500's gain so far. The main driver has been expectations that the rate of inflation will continue to decline, a thesis that Thursday's Consumer Price Index validated. That means the Federal Reserve could soon pause its interest rate hikes, which are meant to squelch inflation by reducing economic demand. That expectation has dragged the 10-year Treasury yield down to just over 3.4% from just over 3.8% to end 2022. Lower long-dated bond yields provide a particular boost to valuations of fast-growing technology stocks because they are valued on the assumption that a bulk of their profits will come in the long-term.
China's Housing Market Will Revive but Might Not Thrive
China's sudden shift to pro-growth policies will finally lift its struggling housing market in the Year of the Rabbit. A much stronger 2023 seems assured-but the longer term outlook remains muddy at best.
In a short space of time, Beijing has made an abrupt U-turn on almost every policy that had been clouding the economy for the past couple of years. Its strict "zero-Covid" policy is gone. The crackdown on powerful private enterprises, especially in the internet technology sector, has eased. And the campaign to curb property-sector indebtedness is also reversing.
Bank of Korea Raises Rate, Leaves Door Open for Further Tightening
South Korea's central bank raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.50%, as expected, and left the door open for further tightening.
The Bank of Korea raised the seven-day repurchase rate for a seventh straight time to fight inflation, which has recently eased but still remained high.
Trump Organization to Be Sentenced Friday in Tax-Fraud Case
Donald Trump's family business is set to be sentenced Friday following its criminal tax-fraud conviction for using an off-the-books compensation scheme to pay some employees in perks, such as cars, rent-free apartments and cash.
A New York jury in December found two Trump Organization entities guilty of a total of 17 criminal counts, including tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records. The two defendants face potential criminal fines in Friday's sentencing that could total up to about $1.6 million. State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, will determine the penalty.
South Korean President Says Country Could Develop Nuclear Weapons
SEOUL-South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said the country could develop its own nuclear weapons or ask the U.S. to redeploy them on the Korean Peninsula if the threat from North Korea grows, in the first time a leader of the country has explicitly raised the prospect in decades.
The prospect of South Korea, a nonnuclear state, acquiring its own weapons threatens to destabilize nuclear disarmament efforts and inflame already high tensions with Pyongyang. The idea has long been rejected by the U.S. and previous administrations in Seoul, although polls have shown it is supported by a majority of the public in South Korea.
Brazilian President da Silva Vows to Rein In Military After Capital Riot
BRASÍLIA-Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vowed to reduce the influence of military forces in his government after blaming security officials for aiding protesters who stormed the presidential palace on Sunday.
"There were so many people who were complicit in this, many members of the military police, of the armed forces," said Mr. da Silva, citing video footage. He said he was completing an analysis of staff at the palace, where members of the military are part of his security team.
Kevin McCarthy Says Republicans Are Focused on Spending Cuts, Probes
WASHINGTON-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) wrapped up his first week in the role by saying that House Republicans would keep up a rapid pace as they move to control spending and investigate the Biden administration.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
01-13-23 0613ET
