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By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar was on the defensive early on Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bolstered wagers on an interest rate cut this month. The greenback had lost ground to the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc on Tuesday as Washington and Beijing traded volleys in a simmering tariff spat. The euro had also gained on the dollar after the French government proposed suspending landmark pension reforms. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against those three peers along with three others, was flat at 99.055 as of 0011 GMT, after declining 0.2% in the prior session. The greenback was steady at 151.80 yen, following a 0.3% slide on Tuesday, and was little changed at 0.8013 franc, having dropped 0.3% overnight. The euro held firm at $1.1606 after gaining 0.3% in the previous session. Powell left the door open to cutting rates at the Fed's policy meeting on October 28-29 by saying the labor market remains mired in its low-hiring, low-firing doldrums, and that the absence of official economic data due to the government shutdown has not prevented policymakers from being able to assess the economic outlook, at least for now. Markets are currently priced for a quarter-point cut this month and another in December, followed by three more next year, according to LSEG data. On the global front, the U.S. and China escalated tensions on Tuesday with tit-for-tat fees on shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil. President Donald Trump said Washington is considering terminating some trade ties with Beijing, including for cooking oil. "We consider the U.S.‑China tensions have room to escalate even further," said Joseph Capurso, head of foreign exchange at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in particular flagging potential downside for the risk-sensitive Australian dollar. "President Trump could retaliate at any time." The Aussie edged up 0.1% to $0.6491, after falling 0.5% a day earlier, when it touched the lowest since August 22 at $0.64405. The New Zealand dollar eased 0.1% to $0.5706, extending a 0.2% decline from Tuesday, when it sank to a six-month low of $0.56839. (Reporting by Kevin BucklandEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

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(Reuters) -Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has reduced the size of her stake in Amazon.com by 42% since last year, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing a regulatory filing. Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, holds 81.1 million shares in the company, according to the latest disclosure dated September 30, down 58 million from a year ago, according to the news report. Based on Amazon's closing price on Tuesday, the reduction is worth $12.55 billion. Reuters could not independently confirm the filing. A regulatory filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Bezos' name said he beneficially owned more than 964 million Amazon shares as of September 30, including 81.1 million shares over which Bezos exercises sole voting authority. Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. As part of the terms of their divorce in 2019, Scott received a 4% stake in Amazon worth $36 billion from Bezos. She has donated more than $19.25 billion to more than 2,450 non-profit teams, according to her Yield Giving website. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Pooja Desai)

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By Nora Eckert and Nathan Gomes (Reuters) -Stellantis announced a $13 billion investment in the U.S. on Tuesday, a move it said will bring five new models to the market and add 5,000 jobs in plants across the Midwest over the next four years. The plan, which includes some previously disclosed investments, may help buffer Stellantis from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, which the automaker has said would cost it around $1.7 billion this year. The investment, which Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said is the largest in its history, comes as the automaker works to regain its sales momentum in one of its most important markets. "Tariffs are getting clearer and clearer. And we believe that tariffs will be just another variable of our business equation that we need to be ready to manage, and we will," Filosa told Reuters in an interview. U.S.-listed shares of Stellantis were up about 4% in after-hours trade. The investment will infuse new capital into plants in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana. Some of the factories are slated to receive new models, while others will have expanded production of existing vehicles. One of the plants at the center of the company's announcement, a factory in Belvidere, Illinois, has been a sticking point for the United Auto Workers union, which last year threatened a strike against the Franco-Italian automaker. "Their decision today proves that targeted auto tariffs can, in fact, bring back thousands of good union jobs to the U.S.," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. The factory, which was shuttered in 2023, is reopening and will produce two Jeep models starting in 2027, creating around 3,300 jobs, the company said. "Filling Stellantis' underutilized plants should be a welcome announcement for UAW workers," said Sam Fiorani, vice president at research firm AutoForecast Solutions. Stellantis leadership disclosed elements of the plan to employees earlier this year, including some of the investments in the Belvidere plant, and factories in Ohio and Indiana. Tuesday's announcement pegs the investment amount and the number of jobs that will be created, which is a larger figure than had been previously given. The company declined to quantify how much of the $13 billion announcement was previously laid out. Filosa, who became CEO in June, is tasked with turning around the carmaker's sagging U.S. market share. Dealers complained that the company's strategy under former CEO Carlos Tavares left them with models that were priced too high relative to competitors, and hurt sales.  Tavares abruptly resigned in December, and the automaker conducted a months-long search for his successor before appointing Filosa, an Italian national who joined the company in 1999. Filosa is expected to unveil a new strategic plan in the second quarter of next year, after recently delaying it from the first quarter. (Reporting by Nora Eckert in Detroit; Additional reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Christopher Cushing)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar was on the defensive early on Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bolstered wagers on an interest rate cut this month. The greenback had lost ground to the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc on Tuesday as Washington and Beijing traded volleys in a simmering tariff spat. The euro had also gained on the dollar after the French government proposed suspending landmark pension reforms. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against those three peers along with three others, was flat at 99.055 as of 0011 GMT, after declining 0.2% in the prior session. The greenback was steady at 151.80 yen, following a 0.3% slide on Tuesday, and was little changed at 0.8013 franc, having dropped 0.3% overnight. The euro held firm at $1.1606 after gaining 0.3% in the previous session. Powell left the door open to cutting rates at the Fed's policy meeting on October 28-29 by saying the labor market remains mired in its low-hiring, low-firing doldrums, and that the absence of official economic data due to the government shutdown has not prevented policymakers from being able to assess the economic outlook, at least for now. Markets are currently priced for a quarter-point cut this month and another in December, followed by three more next year, according to LSEG data. On the global front, the U.S. and China escalated tensions on Tuesday with tit-for-tat fees on shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil. President Donald Trump said Washington is considering terminating some trade ties with Beijing, including for cooking oil. "We consider the U.S.‑China tensions have room to escalate even further," said Joseph Capurso, head of foreign exchange at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in particular flagging potential downside for the risk-sensitive Australian dollar. "President Trump could retaliate at any time." The Aussie edged up 0.1% to $0.6491, after falling 0.5% a day earlier, when it touched the lowest since August 22 at $0.64405. The New Zealand dollar eased 0.1% to $0.5706, extending a 0.2% decline from Tuesday, when it sank to a six-month low of $0.56839. (Reporting by Kevin BucklandEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Sam Li and Jeslyn Lerh (Reuters) -Oil prices fell in early trade on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session, as investors weighed the International Energy Agency's warning of a supply surplus in 2026 and U.S.-China trade tensions that could hurt demand. Brent crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.19%, to $62.27 a barrel by 0021 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures declined by 10 cents, or 0.17%, to $58.60. Both contracts closed at five-month lows in the previous trading session. The International Energy Agency said on Tuesday the global oil market could face a surplus next year of as much as 4 million barrels per day, a bigger glut than it earlier expected, as OPEC+ producers and rivals raise output and demand remains sluggish. Weighing on the demand outlook, the United States and China began imposing additional port fees on ocean carriers, while Beijing also announced sanctions against five U.S.-linked subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean. Trade tensions between the world's two largest economies intensified last week after China announced a major expansion of rare earth export controls and President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to 100% and tighten software export curbs from Nov. 1. "Beyond U.S.-China trade relations and the progress of talks, the key for oil prices now is the degree of oversupply, reflected in changes in global inventories," said Yang An, analyst at Haitong Futures. For a view on U.S. demand, traders will be awaiting weekly inventory data. U.S. crude oil stockpiles are expected to have risen last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories likely fell, a preliminary Reuters poll showed. Six analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories rose by about 200,000 barrels in the week to October 10. The weekly industry report from the American Petroleum Institute is expected at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Wednesday, and U.S. Energy Information Administration data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Thursday. Both reports are delayed by a day due to the Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day holiday on Monday. (Reporting by Sam Li and Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sonali Paul)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)