Economy

(Reuters) – Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)’ third-quarter profit beat expectations on Thursday, as higher underwriting and wealth management fees offset a hit from bigger deposit costs.The bank has diversified beyond lending into fee-earning businesses – a strategy that paid off as companies sold stocks and bonds and pursued deals, driving up the fee that banks charge for these transactions.Capital markets and advisory fees jumped 50%, while wealth and asset management revenue rose 18%, Huntington said.Zach Wasserman, chief financial officer of the bank, said the value-added fee businesses provide a cushion to the balance sheet and are a significant support to bank financials.Net interest income (NII) – the spread between earnings on loans and deposit costs – dipped 1% to $1.35 billion but was 3% higher than the second quarter.Banks have paid more interest on deposits to prevent customers from fleeing to higher-yielding alternatives.Wasserman expects 2025 to be a record year for NII.Huntington forecast fourth-quarter NII to be flat or up 1% from last year. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected a rise of 3.9%.”Our increased loan growth should help boost NII,” Wasserman said on a call with Reuters.”We have been seeing growth in small business banking, middle markets, consumer auto are some of the areas where we are seeing good loan growth,” he said adding that loan growth is expected to sustain at the current 6% levels.CEO Steve Steinour also expressed optimism about next year.”Loan pipelines are robust as we enter the fourth quarter, and we believe this growth momentum establishes a foundation for growing revenue and expanded profitability heading into 2025,” Steinour said.Provision for credit losses rose 7%, reaffirming a trend that was also seen in reports from big banks as consumers exhaust their savings built up during the pandemic.However, banks believe that the U.S. consumer is still healthy.”Outlook around the economy is gradually improving and also based on what we’re seeing in our own portfolio, which continues to indicate that we’re not going to see any significant worsening conditions,” Wasserman said.Profit fell 5.5% to $517 million, or 33 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with expectations of 30 cents.Shares were down over 2%. They have gained nearly 22% this year, underperforming the S&P 500 banks index’s .SPXBK 27.7% jump. More

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – – Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, said on Thursday it was rebranding to World Network and was ramping up efforts to scan every human’s iris using its “orb” devices.Its core offering is its World ID, which the company describes as a “digital passport” to prove that its holder is a real human and tell the difference with AI chatbots online. World Network, which is facing scrutiny over its data collection, introduced a new version of its orb iris-scanning device at an event in San Francisco on Thursday, which it said features 5G connectivity and enhanced privacy and security features.It also unveiled a slew of new ways to make it easier to access the orb, such as purpose-built retail locations and a partnership with Latin American delivery service Rappi to bring orbs to people.To get a World ID, a customer signs up to do an in-person iris scan using World Network’s “orb”, a silver ball approximately the size of a bowling ball. Once the orb’s iris scan verifies the person is a real human, it creates a World ID. As an enticement, those who sign up in certain countries receive a cryptocurrency token called WLD.The company behind World Network is San Francisco and Erlangen, Germany-based Tools for Humanity. Since the project launched in July 2023, over 6.9 million people have signed up to have their irises scanned, according to the company.Privacy campaigners have criticized the project over the collection, storage and use of personal data. Earlier this year, Spain and Portugal issued temporary bans, and Argentina and Britain said they would examine World Network. More

(Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Anyone hoping for a quiet end to the trading week in Asia will be disappointed, as investors brace for a batch of top-tier economic data on Friday that includes Japanese inflation, Malaysian GDP, and the main event – Chinese GDP.Other Chinese indicators – September’s retail sales, house prices, industrial production, unemployment, and investment – will also be released. But all eyes will be on third quarter growth and how close it is to the 5.0% mark.That’s Beijing’s 2024 target, but most analysts say it will be missed. The wave of fiscal stimulus measures announced recently has come too late to boost growth this year but has prompted some economists to raise their 2025 forecasts.Overall, however, analysts remain pretty glum. Their consensus forecast in a Reuters poll is that gross domestic product expanded 4.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier, slowing from 4.7% in the previous quarter.For 2024 as a whole they forecast growth of 4.8%, undershooting the government’s target, and expect a further deceleration next year to 4.5%. Citi’s Chinese economic surprises index has been inching higher in recent weeks but remains firmly in negative territory, where it has been since June. Investors are realizing that Beijing’s fiscal, monetary and liquidity support, however successful they prove to be, will take time to bear fruit. This is perhaps reflected in Chinese stocks’ third decline in a row on Thursday – Shanghai’s blue chip index is down 15% from its October 8 peak, although still up around 18% since the first stimulus measures were unveiled last month.Elsewhere in Asia on Friday Japan releases September inflation figures, with economists expecting a marked slowdown in the annual core rate to 2.3% from 2.8% in August. That would be the biggest month-to-month decline since February last year.It would also support the thinking of Bank of Japan officials who favor a more cautious approach to tightening monetary policy. The BOJ will forgo raising interest rates again this year, according to a very slim majority of economists in a Reuters poll published this week, although nearly 90% still expect rates to rise by end-March.Japanese interest rate swaps traders are pricing in a 15 basis points rate hike from the BOJ in January, and only 35 bps of tightening in total next year.The global market picture looks fairly positive though. On Thursday chip-making giant TSMC delivered an upbeat outlook and U.S. economic data was strong, lifting the Dow to a new high. Treasury yields and the dollar also rose on Thursday, which is not so positive for emerging markets, however. The dollar is its strongest in two and a half months and has appreciated in all but two of the last 14 trading days. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday:- China GDP (Q3)- Japan inflation (September)- Malaysia GDP (Q3) More

The bank said that if the economic scenario envisaged in its September report materializes, the rate “will see further reductions to meet its neutral level.”The bank also reaffirmed its commitment to a flexible policy to bring inflation towards 3% within the next two years.Analysts polled by the bank this month had predicted the 25-basis-point cut, pointing to lower risk of more medium-term persistency in inflation as related to shocks. They predicted the rate will hit 4.75% within five months.The bank said global financial markets had registered fluctuations in oil and copper prices, fueled by the conflict in the Middle East and Chinese stimulus packages.Chile is the world’s top copper producer.Domestic activity and demand indicators are so far consistent with forecasts, it said, pointing to a positive mining performance and “relatively stable” consumption and investment.Inflation forecasts for the coming year have edged down, it added, after inflation dropped to around 4% in September. More

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Retail sales increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% on the month, up from the unrevised 0.1% gain in August and better than the 0.3% Dow Jones forecast.
Initial unemployment claim filings totaled a seasonally adjusted 241,000, a decline of 19,000 and lower than the estimate for 260,000.

Consumer spending held up in September, underscoring a resilient economy that is now getting a boost from the Federal Reserve, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Retail sales increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% on the month, up from the unrevised 0.1% gain in August and better than the 0.3% Dow Jones forecast, according to the advanced report.

Excluding autos, sales accelerated 0.5%, better than the forecast for just a 0.1% rise. The numbers are adjusted for seasonal factors but not inflation, which rose 0.2% on the month as measured by the consumer price index.
In other economic news Thursday, initial unemployment claim filings totaled a seasonally adjusted 241,000, a decline of 19,000 and lower than the estimate for 260,000, the Labor Department reported.
Claims declined even following hurricanes Helene and Milton, which tore through the Southeast in recent weeks exacting tens of billions of dollars in damages. Filings in both Florida and North Carolina declined after jumping the previous week, according to unadjusted data.
Stock market futures were higher after the reports while Treasury yields also rose.
Together, the reports show that consumers, who power about two-thirds of all economic activity in the U.S., are still spending and the labor market is holding up after signs of weakening through the summer.

On the retail side, spending grew at miscellaneous store retailers, which showed an increase of 4%, as well as at clothing stores (1.5%) and bars and restaurants (1%). Those increases offset a 1.6% drop at gas stations as fuel prices fell, along with declines at electronics and appliances stores (-3.3%) and furniture and home furnishing businesses (-1.4%).
Sales increased 1.7% from a year ago, compared to the CPI rate of 2.4% for the same period.
The data comes from a month where the Fed cut its benchmark borrowing rate by a half percentage point and indicated more moves lower are likely this year and through 2025.
Policymakers have expressed confidence that inflation is on a glide path back to the Fed’s 2% target. However, they have expressed concern that the labor market is softening even with strong September payrolls growth and weekly claims that have stayed fairly in line after jumping due to the storm effects.
The European Central Bank on Thursday cut its key deposit rate by a quarter point, also expressing confidence in inflation along with concerns about a broader economic slowdown.
Despite the decline in initial filings, continuing claims, which run a week behind, edged higher to 1.867 million. Along with the declines in storm-ravaged Florida and North Carolina, claims decreased by an unadjusted 7,812 in Michigan, which had been hit by the Boeing strike.
The Philadelphia Fed also reported Thursday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 10.3 for October, representing the difference between companies seeing expansion against contraction. The reading, up from September’s 1.3, was better than the estimate for 3.0. More