By Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) – The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-laden Nasdaq touched near two-week highs on Wednesday, as lower Treasury yields boosted megacaps, while investors keenly awaited inflation reports and earnings from major lenders later in the week.

Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com and Meta Platforms rose between 0.6% and 2.6%, as U.S. Treasury yields ticked lower, with those on the benchmark 10-year note slipping to 3.98%. [US/]

Nvidia also gained 1.1% after TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, beat fourth-quarter revenue expectations.

Communication services stocks rose 0.7%, hitting a near two-year high and leading sectoral gains.

Equities have remained range-bound since the turn of the year, as investors reassess their expectations of the timing and the pace of monetary policy easing following contrasting economic data and mixed signals from Federal Reserve officials.

All eyes are now on the December consumer and producer inflation reports, due on Thursday and Friday, respectively, which could help determine the monetary policy trajectory for the central bank.

“Unless you see inflation come in higher than expected, which is unlikely, there is going to be an inclination to move sooner rather than later (on rate cuts),” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital.

Market participants have scaled back expectations for at least a 25-basis-point rate cut in March, and currently see a near 66% chance, down from around 86% in the final week of 2023, as per the CME FedWatch Tool.

Investors will closely monitor comments by New York Fed President John Williams – considered a neutral voice on policy by analysts – scheduled to speak later in the day.

On Friday, banking giants JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are expected to report lower fourth-quarter profits, as they set money aside to cover souring loans and paid more to depositors.

The lenders slipped between 0.6% and 0.8% on Wednesday, pushing the S&P 500 bank index to a one-week low.

“The secret to happiness is low expectations, and that’s exactly what we have going into earning seasons,” Hayes added.

At 9:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 115.94 points, or 0.31%, at 37,641.10, the S&P 500 was up 12.16 points, or 0.26%, at 4,768.66, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 39.30 points, or 0.26%, at 14,897.01.

Crypto stocks including Coinbase, Bitfarms and Riot Platforms shed over 4% each, as prices of the world’s most valued cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, dipped after the U.S. securities regulator said a fake social media message was posted on its account regarding the eagerly awaited approval of exchange traded funds.

Boeing rose 1.7%, recovering from a 9.3% tumble in the last two sessions. CEO Dave Calhoun acknowledged errors by the U.S. planemaker as more than 170 jets remained grounded for a fourth day.

DocGo dropped 27.8% after Fuzzy Panda Research revealed short position on the health services company’s stock.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.29-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.01-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 20 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 37 new highs and 24 new lows.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

By Joe Cash

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s exports likely grew more quickly and for a second month in December, a Reuters poll showed, adding to signs global trade is starting to recover thanks to an upturn in the electronics industry and expectations of lower borrowing costs in 2024.

Outbound shipments from the world’s second-largest economy are expected to have risen 1.7% in December from a year earlier, after ending a six-month slump and growing 0.5% in November, according to the median forecast of 32 economists polled.

Global trade slowed in 2023 as higher interest rates in the United States, Europe and other major consumer markets crimped demand.

The United Nations warned trade in goods likely contracted by nearly $2 trillion or 8% last year. But improving Chinese, South Korean and German export data suggests conditions are slowly turning a corner.

South Korea’s exports, a closely watched indicator of global trade, rose for a third month in December, while the latest German export data for November surprised on the upside, increasing 3.7% month-on-month.

Analysts also anticipate that interest rates will drop at least 1.5 percentage points in the United States and Europe this year, which should improve demand for imported goods.

“There’s increasing evidence that a cyclical upturn in the global electronics sector is driving a bottoming-out of global trade,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, noting better-than-expected growth in Taiwan’s export data for December, buoyed by stronger demand for high-tech products from the United States.

“This gives us reason for optimism about a rosier trade picture in 2024,” he added.

China’s trade data, which will be released on Friday, is also expected to show imports grew by 0.3% last month, after dropping 0.6% in November.

But South Korean exports to the Asian giant, a leading indicator of China’s imports, declined 2.9% on the year in December, as did outbound shipments from Taiwan, which fell 6.4% year-on-year. German exports to China grew 3.1% in November compared with a month earlier.

In its December Global Trade Update, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said the forecast for global trade in 2024 remained “highly certain and generally pessimistic.”

Global trade activities, represented by the Baltic Dry Index, fell 7.3% to its lowest since Nov. 23 on Tuesday, reflecting the challenges facing shipping companies, including attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants on container ships in the Red Sea.

The median estimate in the poll indicated that China’s trade surplus would increase, with analysts predicting it will come in at $74.8 billion, compared with $68.4 billion in November.

(This story has been corrected to say the December exports forecast are expected to have risen after ending a six-month slump, not ending a seven-month slump, in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Polling by Milounee Purohit and Anant Chandak in Bengaluru and Jing Wang in Shanghai; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

By Yury Garcia and Alexandra Valencia

GUAYAQUIL/QUITO (Reuters) -Gunmen with explosives stormed a TV station on-air in Ecuador on Tuesday during a wave of violence around the nation that prompted President Daniel Noboa to name 22 gangs as terrorist organizations to be hunted by the military.

Police arrested the 13 men who burst into TC’s studio during a live broadcast, while elsewhere at least seven police officers were kidnapped and there were several explosions.

“Thank God, we are alive, because it was an extremely violent attack,” said Jorge Rendon, deputy director of the news program that was interrupted.

Noboa, who took office in November promising to stem drug-related violence, declared a 60-day state of emergency on Monday in response to prison violence – including hostage-takings of guards by inmates – and the apparent escape of Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias over the weekend.

In a revised decree on Tuesday, Noboa recognized an “internal armed conflict” and identified nearly two dozen gangs as terrorist groups, including Los Choneros.

The government has said the violence is a reaction to Noboa’s plan to build a new high security prison and transfer jailed gang leaders. “They have created a wave of violence to frighten the populace,” said Admiral Jaime Vela, head of the joint command of the armed forces, adding that the decree made the gangs military targets.

Prison transfers of gang leaders have historically led to violence, with hundreds of inmates killed in recent years. Gang wars over lucrative cocaine smuggling routes have also fueled the instability.

Peru declared an emergency along its border with Ecuador, while other South American nations Brazil, Colombia and Chile all expressed support for Noboa’s government, and China closed its embassy and consulates until further notice.

LIVE INVASION

The takeover of TC’s studio in Guayaquil was broadcast for about 20 minutes. Men wearing balaclavas and mostly dressed in black wielded guns and accosted staffers huddling on the floor.

Gunshots and yelling were heard and some of the invaders gestured at the camera.

“They shot one of our cameramen in the leg, broke the arm of another one. They fired bullets,” added the broadcaster’s Rendon. “The police came in minutes, surrounded the TV station and the tactical units intervened.”

TC, which broadcasts nationally, shares a site with another public broadcaster, Gamavision, and several radio stations.

The attackers entered through Gamavision’s reception, assaulting staff there and leaving dynamite behind, TC news coordinator and reporter Leonardo Flores Moreno told Reuters, saying he and others in a meeting were able to hide.

Police said they confiscated explosives and guns, and showed images of young men kneeling with their hands zip-tied.

The channel was back on-air for its evening news broadcast, with anchors saying the attorney general’s office was on site collecting evidence. Two employees were injured, it said.

In the southern city of Machala, Quito and Los Rios province seven police officers were kidnapped in three incidents, police said earlier. The three officers taken in Machala were freed late on Tuesday, the police said, and ten arrests were made.

The police confirmed explosions in Esmeraldas and Los Rios, while mayor’s offices in Cuenca and Quito confirmed others, and the attorney general’s office said it was investigating one in Guayaquil. Media also reported explosions in Loja and Machala.

PRISON GUARDS CAPTURED

Prisons agency SNAI said earlier on Tuesday a group of prisoners escaped from a penitentiary in Riobamba, including accused gang member Fabricio Colon Pico, who was suspected of a plot against the attorney general. Seventeen of the 39 escapees have been recaptured, the prosecutor’s office said.

Eleven prison guards taken hostage over the past two days have been released, SNAI added, but 139 guards and other staff are still being held.

Authorities in Guayaquil said there were “takeover” incidents at five hospitals, but that police and soldiers had restored order. It was unclear what the incidents entailed.

Video footage on social media showed armed men on the streets, traffic at a standstill and a helicopter overhead in Guayaquil. Shops and offices closed early in Quito.

“They told us to leave earlier at work,” said one Quito resident. “Overall, there’s a feeling of fear.”

Some Ecuadoreans are questioning Noboa’s efforts to control violence, which stymied his predecessor. He plans a plebiscite this year focused on security.

Violent deaths rose to 8,008 in 2023, nearly double the 2022 figure.

Ecuadorean sovereign bonds fell. The 2035 paper fell 1.125 cents to 36.25 cents on the dollar, while the 2030 dropped 1 cent to 48.25 and the 2040 lost half a cent to trade at 32.5 cents according to LSEG data.

Spreads widened 83 basis points to 2,039 bps in JPMorgan’s EMBIG index, reversing all the gains of the year.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito and Yury Garcia in Guayaquil; additional reporting by Tito Correa and Karen Toro; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Rosalba O’Brien, David Gregorio, Daniel Wallis, Sonali Paul, Alexandra Hudson)

By Alexandra Valencia and Yury Garcia

GUAYAQUIL/QUITO (Reuters) -Ecuador faced a string of violent incidents on Tuesday, including the on-air invasion of a TV station by gunmen, as President Daniel Noboa named 22 gangs as terrorist organizations and military targets.

Police arrested 13 gunmen who took over television station TC during a live broadcast, while elsewhere at least seven police officers were kidnapped and there were several explosions around the country.

Noboa, who took office in November promising to stem drug trade-related violence, declared a 60-day state of emergency on Monday in response to prison violence – including hostage-takings of guards by inmates – and the apparent escape of Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias over the weekend.

In a revised decree on Tuesday, Noboa recognized an “internal armed conflict” and identified nearly two dozen gangs as terrorist groups, including Los Choneros.

The government has said the violence is a reaction to Noboa’s plan to build a new high security prison and transfer jailed gang leaders.

“Today’s events show that the actions and decisions taken by the national government are gravely affecting criminal structures, and as an answer they have created a wave of violence to frighten the populace,” Admiral Jaime Vela, head of the joint command of the armed forces, said after a security meeting with Noboa and other officials.

All the groups mentioned in Noboa’s decree are now military targets, Vela added.

Prison transfers of major leaders have historically led to violence. Hundreds of inmates have been killed in recent years.

The unrest in Ecuador led Peru’s government to declare an emergency along its border with Ecuador, while Brazil, Colombia and Chile expressed their support for the Ecuadorean government.

LIVE INVASION

The take-over of TC’s studio in Guayaquil was broadcast live for about 20 minutes, as people wearing balaclavas and mostly dressed in black wielded guns and accosted staffers huddling on the floor.

Gunshots and yelling were heard on the live feed, and some of the invaders gestured at the camera. Someone could be heard yelling “no police”.

TC, which broadcasts nationally, shares a site with another public broadcaster, Gamavision, and several radio stations.

The attackers entered through Gamavision’s reception, assaulting staff there and leaving dynamite behind, TC news coordinator and reporter Leonardo Flores Moreno told Reuters earlier on Tuesday, when the operation to retake the site was still ongoing.

“We were in a meeting and they alerted us and we were able to hide,” said Flores.

Police said their operation resulted in the confiscation of explosives and guns, and police social media posts showed young men with their hands zip-tied behind their backs kneeling on the floor.

“All hostages were freed … the perpetrators will confront justice and be sentenced for terrorist acts,” the police said on X.

The channel was back on-air for its evening news broadcast, with anchors saying the attorney general’s office was on site collecting evidence. Two employees were injured, the channel said.

In the southern city of Machala, Quito and Los Rios province seven police officers were kidnapped in three separate incidents, police said earlier.

The three officers taken in Machala were freed late on Tuesday, the police said, and ten arrests were made.

The police confirmed explosions in Esmeraldas and Los Rios, while mayor’s offices in Cuenca and Quito confirmed others, and the attorney general’s office said it was investigating one in Guayaquil. Local media reported additional explosions in Loja and Machala.

Authorities have not given a cause for any of the explosions, and no one has claimed responsibility.

Prisons agency SNAI said earlier on Tuesday a group of prisoners escaped from a penitentiary in Riobamba, including accused gang member Fabricio Colon Pico, who was allegedly involved in an attack plot against the attorney general. Seventeen of the 39 escapees have been recaptured, the prosecutor’s office said.

Eleven prison guards who had been taken hostage over the past two days have been released, SNAI added, but 139 guards and other staff are still being held.

Local authorities in Guayaquil said there were “take-over” incidents at five hospitals in the country’s largest city, but that police and soldiers had restored order. It was unclear exactly what the incidents entailed.

Some Ecuadoreans are already questioning Noboa’s efforts to control violence, which stymied his predecessor. Noboa plans to hold a plebiscite this year focused on security efforts.

Violent deaths nationally rose to 8,008 in 2023, the government has said, nearly double the 2022 figure of over 4,500.

The University of Guayaquil said reports of criminals entering its facilities were false, despite social media reports.

Ecuadorean sovereign bonds fell as concern over the violence spread to financial markets. The 2035 bond fell 1.125 cents to 36.25 cents on the dollar, while the 2030 dropped 1 cent to 48.25 and the 2040 lost half a cent to trade at 32.5 cents according to LSEG data.

Spreads widened 83 basis points to 2,039 bps in JPMorgan’s EMBIG index, reversing all the gains of the year in a rally that began in mid-December.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito and Yury Garcia in Guayaquil; additional reporting by Tito Correa and Karen Toro; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Rosalba O’Brien, David Gregorio, Daniel Wallis and Sonali Paul)

(Reuters) -Japanese automaker Honda Motor announced on Tuesday plans to launch a new electric vehicle series from 2026, as it plays catch-up with global rivals in the shift to battery-powered cars.

Japan’s second-biggest car maker has been slow to step up EV sales, lagging behind European and U.S. competitors such as General Motors and Volkswagen, while facing a challenge from newer rivals such as China’s BYD.

Honda unveiled its “Honda 0 Series” and two concept models at the CES trade show in Las Vegas that it hopes will help it reach its goal of having battery-powered and fuel-cell vehicles make up all of its new car sales by 2040.

The automaker aims to roll out the first models of its new series by 2026, Honda executives told a December media briefing in Tokyo ahead of the announcement. The series will be launched globally, starting from the North American market.

The executives did not share at that briefing details of the series, such as pricing or how many models the company will launch as part of it and how many vehicles it seeks to sell.

Battery powered vehicles accounted for less than 0.5% of Honda’s worldwide sales of about 2.8 million cars over the first nine months of 2023, coming to about 11,000 vehicles, according to company data.

It sold about 10,400 of those, or around 93%, in China, but none in North America.

Honda has previously said it plans to build two million EVs globally a year by 2030 and has laid out a target to introduce 30 models powered solely by a battery by that year.

Canadian officials are meeting representatives of Honda this week, a government source said, following a news report that the car maker was considering building an almost 2 trillion yen ($13.9 billion) electric vehicle plant in the country.

“There is a possibility that we will build a plant in Canada,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe was quoted by the Nikkei business daily as telling reporters on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

One concept model it showcased at the CES trade show was the Saloon, a sedan that was likely to seat four or five passengers.

While parts of its design may still change, the concept was likely to resemble quite closely how the vehicle would look in production, executives said at the Tokyo briefing.

The other concept the automaker unveiled was the Space-Hub, a van-like vehicle that was expected to seat six or seven people, the executives said.

Honda also disclosed its new EV series will sport a revamped logo that will use a more tilted and sleeker design than its existing one.

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink in Tokyo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

By Alexandra Valencia and Yury Garcia

GUAYAQUIL/QUITO (Reuters) -A live broadcast by Ecuadorean television station TC was interrupted on Tuesday by armed people, with gunshots and yelling heard on a live feed, as President Daniel Noboa issued a decree declaring 22 gangs as terrorist organizations.

The people, wearing balaclavas and mostly dressed in black, were seen wielding guns and accosting huddled staffers before the feed cut out.

Some of the invaders gestured at the camera and someone could be heard yelling “no police”.

The national police said on social media it was evacuating the public channel’s studio in Guayaquil, verifying the condition of staff there and “reestablishing order”.

Police in Guayaquil confirmed 13 arrests, and police social media posts showed photos of young men lying on the floor with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

The incident followed the kidnappings of at least seven police officers and a series of explosions, a day after Noboa declared a state of emergency.

TC, which broadcasts nationally, shares a site with another public broadcaster, Gamavision, and several radio stations.

The attackers entered through Gamavision’s reception, assaulting staff there and leaving dynamite behind, TC news coordinator and reporter Leonardo Flores Moreno told Reuters in a message.

“We were in a meeting and they alerted us and we were able to hide,” said Flores, who was not on the sound stage during the takeover, but said two people at TC had been injured.

“We don’t know what is happening, people are nervous, there are many colleagues from Gama and TC who are hiding,” Flores said, adding he could hear helicopters overhead.

Noboa, son of one of the country’s richest men, took office in November promising to stem a wave of drug trade-related violence on the streets and in prisons which has been growing for years.

Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency – a tool used by his predecessor to little success – on Monday, enabling military patrols, including in prisons, and setting a national nighttime curfew.

The measure was a response to the apparent escape of Adolfo Macias, leader of the Los Choneros criminal gang, from the prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence, and other recent prison incidents, including hostage-takings of guards.

In an updated decree published on Tuesday afternoon, Noboa said he recognized an “internal armed conflict” in Ecuador and identified several criminal gangs as terrorist groups, including Los Choneros. The decree ordered the armed forces to neutralize the groups.

Noboa is meeting with security officials and is expected to speak later on Tuesday.

Noboa has said he will not negotiate with “terrorists” and the government has blamed the recent prison violence on Noboa’s plan to build a new high security prison and transfer jailed gang leaders.

Seven police officers were kidnapped in three separate incidents in the southern city of Machala, Quito and Los Rios province, police said earlier.

The police said there were explosions in the provinces of Esmeraldas and Los Rios, while mayor’s offices in the cities of Cuenca and Quito confirmed others and the attorney general’s office said it was investigating one in Guayaquil. Local media have also reported explosions in Loja and Machala.

Authorities have not given a cause for any of the explosions and no one has claimed responsibility.

Prisons agency SNAI said earlier on Tuesday a group of prisoners escaped from a penitentiary in Riobamba, including accused gang member Colon Pico, who was allegedly involved in an attack plot against the attorney general. Seventeen of the 39 escapees have been recaptured, the prosecutor’s office said.

Eleven prison guards who had been taken hostage over the past two days have been released, SNAI added, but 139 guards and other staff are still being held.

Some Ecuadoreans demanded action beyond the state of emergency.

“The previous government declared them and they were ineffective. Noboa needs to take more drastic measures, go out with the police and armed forces to impose order,” said Marcelo Gordillo, 42. “He must take the bull by the horns.”

Noboa plans to hold a plebiscite this year focused on security efforts.

Ecuadorean sovereign bonds fell as concern over the violence spread to financial markets. The 2035 bond fell 1.125 cents to 36.25 cents on the dollar, while the 2030 dropped 1 cent to 48.25 and the 2040 lost half a cent to trade at 32.5 cents according to LSEG data.

Spreads widened 83 basis points to 2,039 bps in JPMorgan’s EMBIG index, reversing all the gains of the year in a rally that began in mid December.

The University of Guayaquil said reports of criminals entering its facilities were false, despite social media claims.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito and Yury Garcia in Guayaquil; additional reporting by Tito Correa and Karen ToroWriting by Julia Symmes CobbEditing by Tomasz Janowski, Rosalba O’Brien, David Gregorio and Daniel Wallis)

By Nathan Layne, Tim Reid

WAUKEE/DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) -Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis made closing arguments on Tuesday in Iowa as they battle to become a clear alternative to frontrunner Donald Trump in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Haley had much of Iowa to herself earlier in the day: Trump was stuck in court, while DeSantis began Tuesday tending to his day job back home as the Florida governor.

Haley made her pitch to about 100 voters who braved snow-blanketed roads to attend a rally at an Irish pub in Waukee, a suburb of the state capital Des Moines.

Haley chose mostly to attack Trump, while DeSantis, appearing at a Fox News town hall in Iowa on Tuesday night, unloaded mostly on Haley.

DeSantis badly needs a second place finish in Iowa when it votes in the first Republican nomination contest on Jan. 15, ahead of Haley. He called a recent remark by Haley that New Hampshire voters will “correct” Iowa’s result as “wrong” and “deeply offensive”.

Haley leads DeSantis in New Hampshire, the second state to vote in the Republican nominating contest on Jan. 23, by a wide margin in opinion polls, and is narrowing the gap with Trump.

Haley focused on the mounting legal troubles facing Trump, who was some 1,000 miles (160 km)away in Washington for a court hearing. That prompted voter Valerie Bantz to nod in agreement.

“I think he is a walking dumpster fire, and I don’t want any part of that,” said Bantz, a 55-year-old nonprofit volunteer who voted for Trump when he was first elected in 2016 but not in 2020, when he lost to Biden.

Bill Kirk, a retired carpenter, said he made the 30-minute drive to see Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, after watching her performance during a TV town hall on Monday night.

“I’m hoping she’ll finish the wall and get that thing zipped up,” he said, referring to the U.S-Mexico border.

Kirk voted for Trump twice but said he was tired of the drama.

“I don’t like his mouth. It gets old,” he said.

Trump, who opinion polls show is the favorite to win in Iowa and the overall nomination to take on President Joe Biden in November, attended a court hearing on Tuesday where his legal team argued that he is immune from federal criminal charges accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

DeSantis began Tuesday in Tallahassee, Florida, for his annual governor’s speech to the legislature.

At the Fox appearance on Tuesday night, DeSantis echoed Haley’s comments about Trump’s legal problems. Trump faces over 90 criminal charges, including for his effort to overturn the 2020 election result.

“If Donald Trump is the nominee, the election is going to be about legal issues, criminal trials, January 6.,” DeSantis said.

TRIMMING THE LEAD

Two polls released on Tuesday showed Haley cutting Trump’s lead in the second state due to pick its Republican candidate, New Hampshire, where a primary will be held on Jan. 23.

Both still showed the former president ahead, with one giving him a sizeable lead.

In a CNN poll conducted with the University of New Hampshire, Trump was seven percentage points ahead of Haley, down from a 22-point lead back in November.

A poll by USA Today/Boston Globe/Suffolk University showed him with a larger lead at 20 percentage points, down from a 30-point advantage in a poll released in October.

In Iowa, Alan Koslow, a self-described Democrat, said he planned to switch his registration to Republican on caucus night and vote for Haley as a way to stop Trump.

“I want to weaken Donald Trump, and I think if she has a strong showing in Iowa that would help her going into New Hampshire,” he said, adding he would back Biden in November’s election.

JUDGE JUDY’S RULING: HALEY FOR PRESIDENT

Haley’s campaign blasted out a mass email on Tuesday announcing an unconventional endorsement: the support of Judge Judith Sheindlin, better known as TV’s “Judge Judy,” who meted out no-nonsense justice from the bench in her long-running reality daytime courtroom show.

Calling Haley “whip smart,” Sheindlin, 81, said, “I truly think she can restore America and believe she is the future of this great nation.”

Haley will hope Sheindlin’s endorsement brings better luck than her pick in 2020, when she backed the ill-fated and short Democratic presidential run of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne, Timothy Reid and Costas Pitas; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Wallis)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global stock indexes mostly dipped and Treasury yields edged higher on Tuesday, with investors bracing for key U.S. inflation data this week and the start of fourth-quarter company earnings.

Bitcoin rose, then fell, on confusion late on Tuesday afternoon over whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. An SEC spokesman said the SEC has not approved spot bitcoin ETFs and that a post on its social medial platform X was incorrect.

All eyes will be on the U.S. consumer prices report for December, due on Thursday. It is expected to show headline inflation rose 0.2% in the month and by 3.2% on an annual basis.

Investors are looking for clues on when the Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates. Expectations the U.S. central bank could begin cutting rates as soon as March have decreased, with CME’s FedWatch Tool showing a 65.7% chance for a cut of at least 25 basis points (bps) for the month, down from 79% a week ago.

Ahead of the U.S. earnings season kicking off on Friday, shares in some major U.S. banks fell around 1%.

“This is pre-earnings jitters, with valuations being quite rich, and you needing earnings growth to support these valuations,” said Phil Blancato, chief executive officer of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 157.85 points, or 0.42%, to 37,525.16, the lost 7.04 points, or 0.15%, to 4,756.50 and the gained 13.94 points, or 0.09%, to 14,857.71.

The S&P 500 rose 24% in 2023.

Boeing shares fell 1.4%. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said late on Monday it could not yet tell whether a recovered cabin panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane during a flight last week had been properly attached.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 nations, lost 0.23%, while European stocks ended down 0.2%.

Euro area unemployment data released on Tuesday came in below expectations.

U.S. Treasury yields were marginally higher. The U.S. Treasury sold $52 billion in three-year notes, picking up a high yield of 4.105%, lower than the market expected at the bid deadline, suggesting investors absorbed the note without a premium.

In afternoon trading, the benchmark 10-year yield was slightly up at 4.017%.

The dollar rose 0.17% against the yen to 144.46. The euro was down 0.2% on the day at $1.0928, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies of other major trading partners, was up 0.2% at 102.51.

The dollar index hit a five-month low in December, with investors betting the Fed would cut rates sooner rather than later.

Oil prices climbed around 2% amid ongoing worries over the Middle East crisis. Brent crude futures settled $1.47, or 1.9%, higher at $77.59 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) ended $1.47, or 2.1%, higher at $72.24.

Spot gold was steady at $2,028.95 per ounce.

(Additional reporting by Alun John in London, Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru. Editing by Andrew Heavens, Jonathan Oatis, Nick Macfie and Sonali Paul)

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) -A live broadcast by Ecuadorean television station TC was interrupted on Tuesday by armed people who obliged staff to lie and sit on the floor, as shots and yelling were heard.

The people, wearing balaclavas and largely dressed in black, were seen wielding large guns and accosting huddled staffers on the live feed, which eventually cut out.

Some of the invaders gestured at the camera and someone could be heard yelling “no police”.

Another channel showed images of police outside TC’s studios in Guayaquil. The national police said on social media its specialized units had been deployed to the site.

The incident followed the kidnappings of at least seven police officers and a series of explosions, a day after President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency.

Noboa, son of one of the country’s richest men, took office in November promising to stem a wave of drug trade-related violence on the streets and in prisons which has been growing for years.

Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency – a tool used by his predecessor to little success – on Monday, enabling military patrols, including in prisons, and setting a national nighttime curfew.

The measure was a response to the apparent escape of Adolfo Macias, leader of the Los Choneros criminal gang, from the prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence, and other recent prison incidents, including hostage-takings of guards.

In an updated decree published on Tuesday afternoon, Noboa said he recognized an “internal armed conflict” in Ecuador and identified several criminal gangs as terrorist groups, including Los Choneros. The decree ordered the armed forces to neutralize the groups.

Three police officers working the night shift were kidnapped in the southern city of Machala, police said on social media earlier on Tuesday, while a fourth officer was taken by three criminals in Quito. Another three officers were kidnapped in Los Rios province after a patrol was hit by an explosive.

“These acts will not remain in impunity,” said the police, who have given no details on whether the kidnappers have issued demands.

The police said there were explosions in the provinces of Esmeraldas and Los Rios, while the mayor’s office in the city of Cuenca confirmed another and the attorney general’s office said it was investigating one in Guayaquil. Local media have also reported explosions in Loja and Machala.

Authorities have not given a cause for any of the explosions and no one has claimed responsibility.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito, additional reporting by Tito Correa and Karen ToroWriting by Julia Symmes CobbEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Rosalba O’Brien)

By Nicole Jao

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices climbed around 2% on Tuesday as the Middle East crisis and a Libyan supply outage pared the previous day’s heavy losses.

Brent crude futures settled $1.47, or 1.9%, higher at $77.59 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) ended $1.47, or 2.1%, higher at $72.24.

Prices drew support from the closure of Libya’s 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) Sharara oilfield, one of its largest, which has been a frequent target for local and broader political protests, and Middle East tensions.

The Israeli military has said its fight against Hamas will continue through 2024, stoking concerns the conflict could escalate into a regional crisis that disrupts oil supplies.

Meanwhile, some major shipping companies are still avoiding the Red Sea following attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants in response to Israel’s war against Hamas. However, the impact on oil tanker movements has been less than expected, according to a Reuters analysis.

“The more attractive alternative for (oil tankers) right now is to make a dash for the United States, where crude oil is cheaper than Brent,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

Brent and WTI posted 3% and 4% losses respectively on Monday after sharp cuts to Saudi Arabia’s official selling prices (OSP), prompting both supply and demand concerns.

Oil futures also were also supported on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia emphasised its desire to support efforts to stabilize oil markets and following reports that Russia curbed its crude oil production level in December, said Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn.

“It’s an early sign of compliance by Russia,” he said.

Russia is part of the OPEC+ group of oil-producers that has agreed to cut production by around 2.2 million bpd.

In the U.S., crude production will hit record highs over the next two years but grow at a slower rate, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, as efficiency gains offset a decline in rig activity. Output will rise by 290,000 bpd to a record 13.21 million bpd this year.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, will release its weekly oil inventory report at 4:30 p.m. EST. U.S. crude stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories were seen rising, a Reuters poll showed ahead of the API report and government data on Wednesday. [EIA/S]

Core U.S. inflation data on Thursday will also be in the spotlight.

(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York, Robert Harvey in London, Arathy Somasekhar in Houston and Emily Chow in SingaporeEditing by David Goodman and Marguerita Choy)