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Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expect seasonally adjusted output to increase 6.0% in December and decline 7.2% in January.Other data showed Japanese retail sales expanded 5.3% in November from a year earlier. That was roughly in line with the median market forecast for a 5.0% gain and marked the 21st consecutive month of expansion since March 2022.Compared with the previous month, retail sales grew 1.0% in November, following a 1.7% decline in October, the data showed. More

(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday temporarily paused a ruling that had restricted imports of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s popular Apple Watches into the United States.Here is a look at what the case means for consumers and what is next for Apple.Why was the ban imposed?The U.S. International Trade Commission in October ordered Apple to stop importing and selling some Apple Watches following a complaint from medical-monitoring technology company Masimo (NASDAQ:MASI). The ITC, a federal agency that handles international trade disputes, found that an Apple Watch feature for reading blood-oxygen levels infringed on Masimo’s pulse oximetry patents.President Joe Biden’s administration had until Dec. 25 to veto the order based on public policy concerns but did not do so. Cupertino, California-based Apple had preemptively paused U.S. sales of its latest high-end Series 9 and Ultra 2 models ahead of the Christmas Day deadline. Apple appealed the ban to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington. The court halted the ban on Wednesday while it considers the company’s request for a longer-term pause during the appeals process.How are U.S. Apple Watch sales affected?Wednesday’s decision allows Apple to continue importing and selling infringing Apple Watches while the court considers whether to put the ban on hold for the duration of the appeals process.Apple said in a statement that Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches would be back on sale in Apple Stores starting on Wednesday and through Apple’s website on Thursday.The ITC’s order does not affect the lower-priced Apple Watch SE, which does not have pulse-oximetry capabilities.The ITC decision says it applies only to Apple Watches with the light-based pulse oximetry capability in question, but does not specify which models with that technology are affected. Apple first introduced pulse oximetry in its Series 6 watches, and Masimo has argued that all Apple Watches with the technology infringe its patents.Apple said it would also stop replacing out-of-warranty watches going back to Series 6 based on the ban. The ban specifically applies to Apple and its “affiliated companies, parents, subsidiaries, or other related business entities,” and may not affect other retailers. Series 9 and Ultra 2 Apple Watches were still available during the ban from third-party sellers including Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT). What are the accusations against Apple?Masimo, which released a watch last year that also reads blood-oxygen levels and tracks other health indicators, accused Apple of hiring away its employees and stealing its technology after discussing a potential collaboration. A jury trial on Masimo’s allegations in California federal court ended with a mistrial in May and has yet to be rescheduled.Apple has called Irvine, California-based Masimo’s legal actions a scheme to clear a path for its competing smartwatch, and has countersued Masimo for patent infringement in Delaware federal court.What are Apple’s other options?In addition to its appeal, Apple is working on a redesign that would enable its watches to operate without infringing on Masimo’s patents. It could import and sell the redesigned watches regardless of the ITC’s ban if U.S. Customs and Border Protection approves the workaround.Apple told the Federal Circuit on Tuesday that the customs agency is scheduled to make its decision on the workaround on Jan. 12.Masimo has said that its patents cover hardware, and that a software fix would not work.Masimo CEO Joe Kiani has also indicated that he is willing to settle the dispute. More

President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, but Republicans are refusing to approve the assistance without an agreement with Democrats to tighten security along the U.S.-Mexico border.The White House has warned that without the additional appropriation U.S. aid will run out by the end of the year for Ukraine’s fight to retake territory occupied by Russian forces since it invaded in February 2022.Blinken said the latest aid package included air defense munitions, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems, artillery ammunition, anti-armor munitions and over 15 million rounds of ammunition.Congress has approved more than $110 billion for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, but it has not approved any funds since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives from Democrats in January 2023. More

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A measure of the cost of borrowing short-term funds backed by U.S. Treasuries spiked this week to its highest since 2019, a move some market participants attributed to dealers closing their balance sheets for the year.The DTCC GCF Treasury Repo Index, which tracks the average daily interest rate paid for the most-traded General Collateral Finance (GFC) Repo contracts for U.S. Treasuries, jumped to 5.452% on Tuesday from 5.395% last week. That is the highest level since September 2019, when dwindling bank reserves sent the cost of overnight loans as high as 10%, forcing the Federal Reserve to intervene.The spike resulted from dealers closing their books for the year, which meant borrowers had to pay more to fund their collateral, several market participants said.”It looks like there was a need for cash which drove up the overnight fund rates,” said Tom di Galoma, managing director and co-head of global rates trading at BTIG. “There is a lot volatility in overnight rates due to year-end.”A spike in the price for repurchase agreements, or repos, in which investors borrow against Treasury and other collateral, can be a sign that cash is getting scarce in a key funding market for Wall Street. A three-day jump in the Treasury GCF Repo Index from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 raised concerns on whether cash levels were sufficiently healthy.This week’s GFC repo price increase is not worrying, said Steven Zeng, U.S. rates strategist at Deutsche Bank. “The GCF market is dealer to dealer lending, so a much more limited amount of cash (is) being moved around, resulting in higher rates.”Because large dealer banks are offering less intermediation at year-end, cash in money market funds could not make its way to hedge funds and other cash borrowers. Increased usage of the Fed’s reverse repo facility, through which money market funds lend to the Fed, was evidence of money market funds wanting to invest cash but lacking private counterparties, Zeng said.Cash flowing into the Fed’s reverse repo (RRP) facility jumped to $793.9 billion on Dec. 26 from $772.3 billion as of the end of last week.”It’s year-end coming and bank balance sheets and window-dressing are preventing the money market funds from taking cash to banks,” said Scott Skyrm, executive vice president of Curvature Securities. “If it wasn’t year end … a lot more of that RRP cash would be flowing into the repo market.” More

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Tesla is expected to post another record quarter for electric vehicle (EV) deliveries, likely shy of an ambitious 2 million annual internal target that CEO Elon Musk touted at the beginning of the year.Faced with slowing sales, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) leveraged its industry-leading margins and slashed prices of its four car models globally in 2023, with a focus on China, where the company has lost market share to locals including BYD (SZ:002594).The price war and slowing EV demand, however, have prompted automakers including Ford Motor (NYSE:F) to pull back on their electrification plans, leaving Tesla as the undisputed leader in the United States and helping its stock more than double this year.”The fourth quarter is typically the strongest of the year in terms of deliveries for Tesla, we’re expecting that to be the case again this year,” said Garrett Nelson, senior analyst at CFRA Research.Tesla likely delivered 1.82 million vehicles globally in 2023, up 37% from 2022, with about 473,000 units in the fourth quarter, according to 14 analysts polled by LSEG. The EV maker is expected to report quarterly deliveries and production as early as Tuesday.In January, Musk said that Tesla has the potential to achieve 2 million deliveries this year, if there was no “freaking force majeure”. But as recently as October, he warned that higher borrowing costs were pressuring demand.The company, which made a year-end sales push by increasing discounts on its key models, has said it aims to achieve a 50% average annual growth rate over multiple years. Going into 2024, the EV market leader will have to contend with the loss of federal tax credits for some of its cars in the United States as well as in Germany, where the government is prematurely ending its EV subsidy program.This may force more price cuts next year even though interest rates and battery ingredient costs are expected to ease.Jairam Nathan, an analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets, trimmed his estimate for Tesla’s deliveries next year to 2.04 million from 2.14 million and said he was modeling for a 4% decline in average revenue per car from 2023.2024 CHALLENGESThe company is also dealing with a rise in regulatory scrutiny of its self-driving systems and other parts in the United States and in some European countries. Earlier this month, Tesla recalled nearly all of its 2 million vehicles on U.S. roads to install new safeguards.Musk has previously said he believes full self-driving (FSD) could one day account for most of Tesla’s value.Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expect 2.2 million deliveries by Tesla next year. Most believe that the newly released Cybertruck and a refreshed Model 3 are not enough to boost demand.”Tesla candidly admitted the company is now in an intermediate low-growth period,” Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner wrote in a note, citing a meeting with Investor Relations Chief Martin Viecha. Investors expect Tesla’s margins to remain pressured as the company ramps Cybertruck production and prepares to launch a cheaper car platform.Musk has said Cybertrucks will be a small percentage of the vehicles Tesla makes next year and that there are “enormous challenges” in reaching volume production for the pickup, whose controversial design has divided fans.Tom Narayan, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a report that Cybertruck would represent 3% of Tesla’s volumes in 2024, calling it more of a “halo” product that could attract consumers to the brand. More

LONDON (Reuters) -The dollar slipped to a five-month low on Wednesday and the euro touched a more than four-month peak on expectations that the Federal Reserve could soon cut interest rates, but thin year-end trading flows limited moves. With many traders out for holidays, volumes are likely to be muted until the New Year.The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six others, fell to 101.36, its lowest level since July 28. The index is on course for a 2% drop in 2023 after two years of strong gains driven by the anticipation of Fed rate rises and then the Fed’s actual rate increases to battle inflation.”Overall, from a global perspective, I expect markets to remain quiet,” said Jens Magnusson, chief economist at SEB. “We still have strong equity markets and that is likely to hold through to New Year. If nothing happens geopolitically then currency markets will stay fairly calm over the next few days.”The dollar’s recent weakness – the index is set to clock a second straight month of losses – has been spurred by markets anticipating Fed rate cuts next year, denting the currency’s appeal. Markets are now pricing in an 85% chance of a rate cut starting in March 2024, according to the CME FedWatch tool, with more than 150 basis points of cuts priced in for next year. U.S. data showing cooling inflation has emboldened bets on rates easing next year. “Disinflation is proving entrenched (and) expectations are for central banks to pivot next year while growth is still trudging along,” said Christopher Wong, a currency strategist at OCBC in Singapore. “This paints a goldilocks market that is favourable for risk proxies,” such as equities and higher risk currencies. Meanwhile, the euro was up almost 0.2% at $1.1061, a more than four-month high. The single currency is up more than 3% in the year and on course for a third straight month of gains, matching the run it had last year.”Overall, as long as the soft landing narrative is alive and well and there’s healthy risk appetite, then I think people will be looking more towards the euro rather than the dollar,” said SEB’s Magnusson.The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 142.55 per dollar and is headed for an 8% drop in the year although the Asian currency has witnessed a bout of strength in recent weeks reflecting expectations the Bank of Japan will soon exit its ultra-loose policy. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Wednesday he was in no rush to unwind the central bank’s ultra loose monetary policy as the risk of inflation running well above 2% and accelerating was small. Meanwhile, a summary of opinions at the central bank’s Dec. 18-19 meeting showed that BOJ policymakers saw the need to maintain policy for now, with some calling for a deeper debate on a future exit from massive stimulus.The summary of opinions was somewhat dovish and showed no sense of urgency to end the ultra-loose policies, according to Saxo strategists. The likely timing of the end of the policies will be later than what the market is anticipating, they strategists said in a note. The Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar both touched more than five-month peaks earlier in the session. The Aussie last bought $0.6838, while the kiwi was at $0.6328.In emerging markets, Turkey’s lira weakened to a record low of 29.4 per dollar, bringing its losses this year to 36%. More