By Hannah Lang and Kanjyik Ghosh

(Reuters) -Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit a three-month high on Monday, rising 3.62% to $31,087 amid investor enthusiasm about the possibility of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

The rise in bitcoin sent shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies such as Coinbase Global and Marathon Digital Holdings up 6.5% and 11.9% respectively. Bitcoin is up 17.5% from the year’s low of $26,533 on Oct. 11.

The move also comes as concern ripples through the broader markets about the risk of Israel’s war with the Islamist group Hamas becoming a wider regional conflict.

On Monday, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries reached as high as 5.021%, the latest stage of a relentless sell-off in government bond markets.

Bitcoin briefly soared on Oct. 16 following an erroneous news report about asset manager BlackRock’s high-profile application for a spot bitcoin ETF, which would track the underlying price of the token. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is still reviewing the proposal, and is expected to deliver a decision by next year at the latest.

“Over the past month, the growing investor confidence in the imminent approval of BTC spot ETFs has driven considerable momentum toward BTC,” Matteo Greco, a research analyst at crypto- and fintech-focused investor Fineqia, said in a note.

Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 1.57 % to $1,60.3 on Monday.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

By David Randall

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors looking toward U.S. corporate earnings growth to revive the rally in the benchmark S&P 500 may be disappointed as inflation remains volatile, strategists at the BlackRock Investment Institute warned in a note Monday.

The S&P 500 is down nearly 8% from its July highs as a selloff in Treasuries has pushed yields near 16-year highs, sapping investor enthusiasm for equities.

“U.S. corporate profits have plateaued along with the economy,” the firm noted. “Broad equities have started to adjust to the new regime of greater volatility, but don’t fully reflect the macro damage we expect.”

While the firm is underweight broad equities for the next 6 to 12 months, it remains bullish on mega-cap technology companies, as well as healthcare and Japanese stocks, it noted.

Among the risks it sees for equities are the loss of company pricing power as the pandemic-era mismatch in spending between goods and services normalizes, and a tight labor market pushing wages up and keeping inflation above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate.

Overall, stock valuations look elevated, especially given the higher yields available in the bond market, the firm noted.

“The income in bonds is also more attractive than stocks on a relative risk basis,” it said.

The bearish call from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, comes as investors closely watch earnings for signs that the U.S. economy remains resilient in the face of rising interest rates.

Companies in the S&P 500 are expected to post earnings growth of 1.3% in the third quarter compared with the same time last year, according to LSEG IBES. That would mark the first pickup after three quarters of flat or declining earnings growth.

Results from megacaps Microsoft, Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook-parent Meta are expected this week, while Apple and Nvidia are set to report next month.

Overall, the megacap companies are expected to post a 32.8% gain in earnings for the full year, while the rest of the S&P 500 sees a 2.3% decline over the same time, according to LSEG.

(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Infighting among Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives has left that chamber leaderless for three weeks, preventing Congress from taking up urgent legislation.

Here are some of the items on lawmakers’ growing to-do list:

ISRAEL AND UKRAINE AID, U.S. BORDER SECURITY

Democratic President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide $61.4 billion to Ukraine and $14.3 billion to Israel to help in their military conflicts.

Those are the biggest items in a $106 billion package that also includes $13.6 billion for U.S. border security and $9.2 billion for humanitarian aid.

Biden has rolled all those items together, but Republicans may try to break them up, as they are divided over further support for Ukraine.

LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

U.S. government funding is due to expire on Nov. 17 and a partial shutdown of many federal services, from scientific research to nutrition benefits, could begin the next day if lawmakers do not act.

Congress has yet to pass any of the 12 detailed spending bills that fund government operations for the fiscal year that started on Oct. 1. Republicans have passed four of those bills out of the House, but they differ significantly from bipartisan legislation being developed in the Senate.

To avert a partial government shutdown in mid-November, the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate will have to resolve their differences and send those 12 spending bills to Biden to sign into law, or else agree on a stopgap bill that would push the deadline back.

The government is currently funded by a similar stopgap bill that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy engineered the passage of on Sept. 30, leading a small group of hardline Republicans to oust him and set off the current leadership crisis.

AIR TRAVEL

Congress also faces a Dec. 31 deadline to update legislation that covers the Federal Aviation Administration and other air travel issues.

The House passed bipartisan legislation in July, but the Senate has yet to pass its own version. The two chambers would need to resolve any differences before sending it on to Biden to sign into law.

Failure to renew these programs could prevent the government from collecting more than $50 million in taxes each day that fund the U.S. aviation system.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD

Congress must renew legislation that covers farm subsidies, nutrition aid and other agricultural programs. Lawmakers are supposed to pass a new farm bill ever five years, but negotiations often push that deadline back. This version is expected to cost more than $1.5 trillion.

FLOOD INSURANCE

Congress also must periodically update the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized insurance to property owners in flood-prone areas.

The program is due to lapse on Nov. 17. If Congress does not renew it, the Federal Emergency Management Agency says it would be able to process insurance claims but would not be able to provide new policies, which could affect more than a thousand property sales each day.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)

By Polina Devitt and Amy Lv

LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) -Some graphite consumers will aim to accelerate imports of the EV battery ingredient from China in November before the country’s export curbs for some products come into force, but it may be difficult due to complex specifications, analysts said.

China, the world’s top graphite producer and exporter, said on Friday that from Dec. 1 exports of some types of natural and man-made forms of graphite would require permits.

Graphite is used in virtually all EV battery anodes, which is the negatively charged portion of a battery.

“I expect we will see a surge in November of both buying and prices,” said Tom Burkett at consultancy Global Graphite Advisory LCC.

Existing producers in Canada and Africa will receive an immediate positive impact with new producers in Australia, Brazil, Africa, Canada and the U.S. likely to experience a new round of investment to move to production as quickly as possible, he added.

The curbs are similar to those in place since Aug. 1 for two chip-making metals, gallium and germanium. Their announcement boosted China’s exports in July as overseas buyers rushed to lock in supply, while the launch of the restrictions slashed exports in August-September.

Companies, however, are now beginning to get Chinese licenses for gallium and germanium, said James Willoughby at Wood Mackenzie.

“I would expect a similar scenario for graphite: an initial slow down and a gradual restart.”

China produces two-thirds of the global natural graphite and dominates production of its synthetic version. It also makes more than 90% of the final processed material for EV battery anodes.

PANIC BUYING?

Top buyers of graphite from China include Japan, the United States, South Korea and India.

“Some anode manufacturers in Japan and South Korea could look to increase purchasing of spherical graphite from China in the near term, if they fear that export licensing applications either won’t be approved, or could take a while to be approved,” said Daisy Jennings-Gray at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Some battery makers, however, may find it difficult to source more on a short-term basis because they go through extensive safety testing for graphite going into each model of EVs that can take up to three years.

“In the event of a worst-case scenario… it may be challenging to panic buy,” Willoughby said. “There may not be material that matches exact needs available on a spot basis.”

The curbs come as China’s domestic needs in graphite products have risen in recent years.

“We have been waiting for (China’s) graphite exports to slow,” said John Meyer at SP Angel. “Having overproduced synthetic graphite we reckon China is also keen to keep this material within China to meet rapid growth in EV battery demand.”

U.S. and European companies have been recently investing in developing synthetic graphite as demand from the EV sector is surging for this soft form of carbon, which until recently was mainly used for steelmaking refractories.

“This is in effect putting an extra step in place to control the amount of the materials leaving the country… if exports became a more attractive market,” said consultancy Project Blue.

“In effect it becomes a quota system for exports safeguarding Chinese interests.”

(Reporting by Polina Devitt, Amy Lv and Eric Onstad; editing by Veronica Brown and Josie Kao)

By Joseph White and Ben Klayman

DETROIT (Reuters) -United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Friday warned of more walkouts at U.S. truck and SUV factories unless the Detroit three automakers improved their offers for wages and benefits, insisting the companies could afford more than what was on the table.

“We’re striking the Big Three like we’ve never struck before,” Fain said. “These extremely profitable companies have more to give.”

After five weeks of strikes, Fain said the UAW had received fresh contract offers from General Motors and Chrysler-parent Stellantis in the past 24 hours. Ford made its offer over two weeks ago.

Fain confirmed the Detroit three automakers had converged on a 23% wage hike offer but said “there is more to be won.”

Fain acknowledged some union members want to vote on the offers the union bargainers have in hand. He urged UAW members not to give in to what he called “fear, uncertainty, doubt and division” sowed by the companies.

The union had said earlier on Friday it would update members on bargaining after a week of “intensive negotiations” with the big three.

Shares in GM and Ford both closed up about 1% on Friday.

More than 34,000 union members working at the three automakers are on strike since the walkouts began on Sept. 15.

The union, waging its first simultaneous strikes against the Detroit Three automakers, opened bargaining with a demand for a 40% wage hike. The demand included a 20% immediate increase, elimination of different pay scales among UAW workers and restoration of defined benefit pension plans. The union also demand that battery plant workers be covered under union agreements.

General Motors said earlier on Friday it was raising its offer to striking auto workers, matching Ford’s previously proposed 23% wage hike and other benefit improvements.

“We have made substantial movement in all key areas in an effort to reach a final agreement with the UAW and get our people back to work,” GM said in a statement earlier on Friday.

“The majority of our workforce will make $40.39 per hour, or roughly $84,000 a year by the end of this agreement’s term,” it said.

The GM offer “suggests we may be in the endgame,” said University of California Berkeley labor professor Harley Shaiken. “In effect Ford has set the dimensions of the pattern, but GM is contributing to that. We’ve got a ways to go, but there’s clearly movement.”

Progress in talks followed the UAW’s surprise strike last week at Ford’s biggest Kentucky truck plant, which generates $25 billion in annual sales and accounts for about a sixth of the company’s worldwide automotive revenue.

Fain had described the Kentucky walkout as a warning to GM and Stellantis, saying the union was ready to strike at the GM assembly plant in Arlington, Texas that builds Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Suburban and other large, high-priced SUVs.

Ford, which has had the best offer among the three, has said it is at the limit of what it can pay and remain competitive.

But Fain said on Friday that Ford dividends shows “money is there” for a better offer.

GM said on Friday the new 23% general wage increase offer represents a 25% compounded wage rise over the life of the agreement, with a 10% hike in the first year. With cost of living increases, the offer tops 30%. GM’s previous offer was a 20% pay increase.

Also, it is now offering $21 an hour in wages for temporary workers, versus its prior offer of $20.

Ford declined to comment on GM’s offer and Stellantis had no immediate comment.

Ford hasn’t talked about the joint venture battery plants being under the master agreement yet, Shaiken said. “Clearly, GM wants to settle, but Ford feels it’s got a good pattern out there to start with.”

Rather than the hammer blow of a mass walkout that the UAW has wielded historically, the union is strategically playing the companies against each other, using reprieves from expansion of work stoppages as encouragement with different automakers.

Automakers have said union demands would significantly raise costs and hobble their electric vehicle ambitions, putting them at a disadvantage when compared to EV leader Tesla and foreign brands such as Toyota, who are non-unionized.

On Monday, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford warned of the growing impact to the automaker and the U.S. economy from the strike.

The total economic losses from the UAW strike have reached $7.7 billion, according to the latest data from economic consultancy Anderson Economic Group, with the Detroit Three suffering losses of $3.45 billion.

(Reporting by Joseph White in Detroit and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit and Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Writing by Sayantani Ghosh; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson and David Gregorio)

By Nelson Banya and Clara Denina

(Reuters) – As China moved to control some exports of key battery mineral graphite on Friday, miners elsewhere face a race against time to bring new projects to fruition to secure supplies for the next generation of electric vehicles.

China will require export permits for some graphite products to protect national security, its commerce ministry said, in its latest move to safeguard supplies of critical minerals and protect its manufacturing dominance.

The world’s top graphite producer and exporter also refines more than 90% of the material used in virtually all electric vehicles’ (EVs) battery anodes, which is the negatively charged portion of a battery.

The next generation of EVs is due to hit around 2025 and several carmakers have sought help plugging gaps in supply after years of pandemic-related parts shortages highlighted the risks of over-reliance on one country.

To stay ahead in a fast-changing industry, carmakers have been investing directly in mining projects to ensure future supplies of the battery inputs.

But building mines takes between five and 10 years, meaning China will keep its lead in supplying graphite for at least half a decade, miners in other countries say, as those projects are mostly still in pre-production.

“What China is saying to the West with this decision is that we are not going to help you make electric cars, you have to find your own way to do that,” Northern Graphite CEO Hugues Jacquemin said.

China’s move took multiple sectors by surprise, with some end-users fearing more curbs could follow.

“We see China’s move as a potential catalyst to highlight the urgency of improving domestic graphite supply,” said John DeMaio, president of Graphex’s graphene division.

“We’ve aligned ourselves with several graphite miners outside of China. I would imagine this news will accelerate their plans to bring capacity online in the near term,” DeMaio said.

Graphex Group plans to open a graphite processing facility in Warren, Michigan, by the end of 2024 that aims to supply U.S. automakers with at least 10,000 metric tons per year of the key metal, the largest component in an EV battery.

Commodity producing and consuming giant China dominates other critical minerals including forms of refined cobalt, nickel and manganese as well as rare earths, a group of 17 elements used in products from lasers and military equipment to magnets found in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and consumer electronics such as iPhones.

“The battery controls a lot of the cost of a vehicle, so if carmakers outside of China are forced to use very expensive materials or can’t access them,…that is going to ramp up their prices or force them to purchase the batteries from Chinese battery manufacturers,” said Stefan Bernstein, CEO of GreenRoc Mining, owner of a graphite project in Greenland that is due to reach production in 2027.

Northern Graphite’s Jacquemin said the company had been getting calls from OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) on what impact China’s latest move would have, concerned about supply security for batteries and other electronics equipment.

He said China’s move meant Northern Graphite could encourage investors to raise money to hit production by 2027.

Shishir Poddar, Executive Chairman of Tirupati Graphite, which has mining and processing operations in Madagascar and recently acquired two projects in Mozambique, said the import curbs will “further boost the development of ex-China graphite activities”.

(Reporting by Nelson Banya, Clara Denina, Divya Rajagopal, Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Veronica Brown and Elaine Hardcastle)

By Joseph White and Abhijith Ganapavaram

DETROIT (Reuters) -General Motors raised its offer to striking auto workers on Friday, matching Ford’s proposed 23% wage hike and other benefit improvements, hours before union chief Shawn Fain was scheduled to speak on negotiations.

Chrysler-parent Stellantis is also raising its wage offer to 23%, matching GM and Ford, Bloomberg News reported about an hour before Fain’s presentation was due to start. Stellantis had no immediate comment.

“We have made substantial movement in all key areas in an effort to reach a final agreement with the UAW and get our people back to work,” GM said in a statement as the strike entered week five.

“The majority of our workforce will make $40.39 per hour, or roughly $84,000 a year by the end of this agreement’s term,” it said.

Shares in GM and Ford both rose about 1% in late afternoon trade.

More than 34,000 union members working at the three automakers are on strike since the walkouts began on Sept. 15.

GM’s latest offer shows the Detroit automakers converging on similar offers that would raise hourly pay for United Auto Workers (UAW) members by some 30% over the life of the deal, including cost of living payments. Ford, which has had the best offer among the three, has said it is at the limit of what it can pay and remain competitive.

The union, waging its first simultaneous strikes against the Detroit Three automakers, opened bargaining with a demand for a 40% wage hike. The demand included a 20% immediate increase, elimination of different pay scales among UAW workers and restoration of defined benefit pension plans. The union also demand that battery plant workers be covered under union agreements.

The GM offer “suggests we may be in the endgame,” said University of California Berkeley labor professor Harley Shaiken. “In effect Ford has set the dimensions of the pattern, but GM is contributing to that. We’ve got a ways to go, but there’s clearly movement.”

Progress in talks followed the UAW’s surprise strike last week at Ford’s biggest Kentucky truck plant, which generates $25 billion in annual sales and accounts for about a sixth of the company’s worldwide automotive revenue.

Fain had described the Kentucky walkout as a warning to GM and Stellantis, saying the union was ready to strike at the GM assembly plant in Arlington, Texas that builds Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Suburban and other large, high-priced SUVs.

GM said the new 23% general wage increase offer represents a 25% compounded wage rise over the life of the agreement, with a 10% hike in the first year. With cost of living increases, the offer tops 30%. GM’s previous offer was a 20% pay increase.

Also, it is now offering $21 an hour in wages for temporary workers, versus its prior offer of $20.

The UAW said in a statement that Fain will go on Facebook live at 4 p.m. ET to update members on bargaining after a week of “intensive negotiations” with the big three.

Ford declined to comment on GM’s offer and Stellantis had no immediate comment.

Ford hasn’t talked about the joint venture battery plants being under the master agreement yet, Shaiken said. “Clearly, GM wants to settle, but Ford feels it’s got a good pattern out there to start with.”

Rather than the hammer blow of a mass walkout that the UAW has wielded historically, the union is strategically playing the companies against each other, using reprieves from expansion of work stoppages as encouragement with different automakers.

Automakers have said union demands would significantly raise costs and hobble their electric vehicle ambitions, putting them at a disadvantage when compared to EV leader Tesla and foreign brands such as Toyota, who are non-unionized.

On Monday, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford warned of the growing impact to the automaker and the U.S. economy from the strike.

The total economic losses from the UAW strike have reached $7.7 billion, according to the latest data from economic consultancy Anderson Economic Group, with the Detroit Three suffering losses of $3.45 billion.

(Reporting by Joseph White in Detroit and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit and Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Writing by Sayantani Ghosh; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson and David Gregorio)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar

(Reuters) – Investors piled into a leveraged exchange traded fund that bet on upside in Tesla’s shares as the company’s stock price sank following a weaker-than-expected earnings report.

The Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 1.5X Shares ETF, the largest single-stock ETF for bullish bets on Tesla’s shares, saw net daily inflows of $24.9 million on Thursday, according to Lipper data.

The inflows came as the $833 million fund – which seeks to track 150% of Tesla’s daily stock price performance – fell 14% on Thursday, while Tesla’s shares fell 9.3% to a two-month low the day after CEO Elon Musk warned that high interest rates could sap demand for electric vehicles.

The fund’s shares were down 4% on Friday.

“Tesla has its fair share of bulls – and bears – so guessing the bulls are attempting to view this earnings release as a speed bump and using any weakness here to add exposure to positions,” said Todd Sohn, ETF and technical strategist at Strategas Securities.

The leveraged Direxion fund has seen net inflows of $501 million so far this year and has doubled in price year-to-date. Tesla’s shares are up 72.3% this year. Tesla was also the most-bought stock among retail traders on Thursday, with net buys of $159.5 million, according to data from Vanda Research. On the other side, two ETFs bearish on Tesla, the $58 million Direxion Daily TSLA Bear 1X Shares ETF and the $109.6 million AXS TSLA Bear Daily ETF, saw net outflows of over $1 million each. Both funds climbed more than 9% on Thursday and were up 2.4% each on Friday.

Rex Shares and Tuttle Capital Management launched a suite of hyper-levered single-stock exposure funds on Thursday, including the T-REX 2X Long Tesla Daily Target ETF, the T-REX 2X Inverse Tesla Daily Target ETF.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Leslie Adler)

By Polina Devitt and Amy Lv

LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) – Some graphite consumers will aim to accelerate imports of the EV battery ingredient from China in November before the country’s export curbs for some products come into force, but it may be difficult due to complex specifications, analysts said.

China, the world’s top graphite producer and exporter, said on Friday that from Dec. 1 exports of some types of natural and man-made forms of graphite would require permits.

Graphite is used in virtually all EV battery anodes, which is the negatively charged portion of a battery.

“I expect we will see a surge in November of both buying and prices,” said Tom Burkett at consultancy Global Graphite Advisory LCC.

Existing producers in Canada and Africa will receive an immediate positive impact with new producers in Australia, Brazil, Africa, Canada and the U.S. likely to experience a new round of investment to move to production as quickly as possible, he added.

The curbs are similar to those in place since Aug. 1 for two chip-making metals, gallium and germanium. Their announcement boosted China’s exports in July as overseas buyers rushed to lock in supply, while the launch of the restrictions slashed exports in August-September.

Companies, however, are now beginning to get Chinese licenses for gallium and germanium, said James Willoughby at Wood Mackenzie.

“I would expect a similar scenario for graphite: an initial slow down and a gradual restart.”

China produces two-thirds of the global natural graphite and dominates production of its synthetic version. It also makes more than 90% of the final processed material for EV battery anodes.

PANIC BUYING?

Top buyers of graphite from China include Japan, the United States, South Korea and India.

“Some anode manufacturers in Japan and South Korea could look to increase purchasing of spherical graphite from China in the near term, if they fear that export licensing applications either won’t be approved, or could take a while to be approved,” said Daisy Jennings-Gray at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Some battery makers, however, may find it difficult to source more on a short-term basis because they go through extensive safety testing for graphite going into each model of EVs that can take up to three years.

“In the event of a worst-case scenario… it may be challenging to panic buy,” Willoughby said. “There may not be material that matches exact needs available on a spot basis.”

The curbs come as China’s domestic needs in graphite products have risen in recent years.

“We have been waiting for (China’s) graphite exports to slow,” said John Meyer at SP Angel. “Having overproduced synthetic graphite we reckon China is also keen to keep this material within China to meet rapid growth in EV battery demand.”

U.S. and European companies have been recently investing in developing synthetic graphite as demand from the EV sector is surging for this soft form of carbon, which until recently was mainly used for steelmaking refractories.

“This is in effect putting an extra step in place to control the amount of the materials leaving the country… if exports became a more attractive market,” said consultancy Project Blue.

“In effect it becomes a quota system for exports safeguarding Chinese interests.”

(Reporting by Polina Devitt, Amy Lv and Eric Onstad; editing by Veronica Brown and Josie Kao)

(Reuters) -Japan’s Toyota Motor, the world’s largest automaker by sales, said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to adopt Tesla’s electric-vehicle charging technology from 2025.

Ford Motor, General Motors and Nissan are among the other automakers that have adopted Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), taking the Elon Musk-led company’s superchargers closer to becoming the industry standard at the expense of the rival Combined Charging System (CCS).

The Japanese automaker will incorporate the NACS ports into certain Toyota and Lexus battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), including the new Toyota SUV that will be assembled at its manufacturing plant in Kentucky.

Existing owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles equipped with CCS will be offered access to an adapter to enable NACS charging, also starting 2025.

Tesla’s NACS is widely available, with the U.S. Department of Energy saying they make up about 60% of the fast chargers in the United States.

The rival CCS system is backed by automakers including Volkswagen, though the German company has held talks with Tesla about adopting the NACS.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)