🏭 Schneider Electric Agrees $23.7bn Deal to Buy PTC
- Mega deal: Schneider Electric agreed to buy PTC for $23.7bn.
- Euro dips: The euro fell to a 17-month low against the US dollar.
- Oil pricing: Saudi Aramco cut its benchmark Asia oil price to a six-year low.
- Climate case: ExxonMobil and Suncor asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in a damages suit.
Breaking News
Schneider Electric to buy software group PTC for $23.7bn FT
Schneider Electric has agreed to buy software group PTC for $23.7bn. The deal is the French conglomerate’s largest takeover to date. Schneider said the acquisition will enhance its product offerings focused on manufacturers.
- Saudi oil price cuts: Saudi Aramco has cut prices for its benchmark oil grade to Asia to a six-year low as Persian Gulf producers race for market share with flows through the Strait of Hormuz increasing. Bloomberg
- Intesa takeover bid: The Del Vecchio family, the top Monte dei Paschi investor, has backed Intesa’s sweetened €34.5bn takeover bid, providing a boost after the offer was raised by €800mn over the weekend. FT
Economy & Geopolitics
Euro slides to 17-month low against dollar FT
The euro fell to a 17-month low against the US dollar as investors weighed renewed pressure from high energy prices. The Financial Times reports that concerns over France’s public finances have added to the currency’s weakness. The move underscores how macro and fiscal anxieties are feeding into euro sentiment as the dollar remains relatively supported.
- UK jobs downturn: Britain’s jobs market is in its longest downturn since the early 2000s, according to PMI survey data, exceeding the length of the decline seen during the global financial crisis. Bloomberg
- French turmoil risk: Bloomberg argues that a potential French crisis could pose a major challenge for the ECB, raising the prospect of renewed euro-area turbulence centered on a large member economy. Bloomberg
- Brazil election lead: Flávio Bolsonaro has opened a commanding lead in Brazil’s election, with the Financial Times reporting he is in pole position against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. FT
Technical Analysis
Equity leadership: Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) led the major index proxies while S&P 500 (SPY) lagged, keeping the session positive but with a clear performance ranking across benchmarks. Sector breadth was strong with all but one of the available sectors advancing, and the relative spread ran from Consumer Discretionary (XLY) at the top to Health Care (XLV) as the lone decliner.
Cross-horizon alignment: Technology (XLK) was the only sector showing positive sign alignment across today, one week, and one month, while Health Care showed negative sign alignment across those same horizons, reinforcing its repeated relative weakness versus peers in the supplied windows. The Treasury curve snapshot, taken before the equity session, was upward sloping with the 10-year above the 2-year by 46 basis points, and the next observation to monitor is whether a curve reading dated to the completed session retains that positive slope alongside the same index and sector leadership ordering.
Industry & Regulatory
Big Oil goes to US Supreme Court over pivotal climate damages claim FT
ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy have asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in a climate damages lawsuit brought at the state level. The companies are seeking to block state action in what the Financial Times describes as a pivotal claim. The appeal puts a closely watched climate-liability dispute before the high court, with potential consequences for how similar cases proceed.
- Tariffs on Chinese EVs: UK business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has authorised officials to draw up a package of potential levies that could be imposed on Chinese electric vehicles as the government weighs up tariffs. FT
Other News
- Near deal: Schneider Electric SE is nearing a deal to acquire US engineering software developer PTC Inc. for more than $20 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. Bloomberg
- Cut US equities: Global pension funds are cutting US equities and pushing for diversification amid concerns over AI-driven concentration risk and “stretched” valuations. FT
- Oil-from-coal bonanza: South Africa’s Sasol Ltd. is the top-performing emerging-market stock outside Asia this year as the oil price rally boosts its oil-from-coal business, and Bloomberg reports many analysts see further upside. Bloomberg
- Put QT on hold: Bond market turbulence strengthens the case for the European Central Bank to pause quantitative tightening until conditions stabilize, the Financial Times argues. FT