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OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said he had "a meeting of minds" with U.S. President Donald Trump on the future of the steel and aluminum sectors, which are currently facing U.S. tariffs. Carney met Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday for talks on trade. Officials said the meeting had been productive but more work was needed to persuade Trump to lift damaging tariffs on imports of Canadian steel, aluminum and autos. Ottawa says Carney and Trump asked officials to work on possible agreements for key sectors over the next few weeks. "The President … and myself had a meeting of minds yesterday with respect to the future of the steel sector, the aluminum sector, energy sector cooperation, which is why our teams are negotiating the terms of those deals," Carney said. "And we are working … on the modalities of an auto agreement," he told legislators in Parliament. Opposition parties say that Carney, who won an April election on the back of a promise to stand up to Trump, had made far too many concessions to Washington. "Canadians do remember the last election where that prime minister promised to put elbows up … it was the promise that he ran on. Now those elbows have come down," official opposition leader Pierre Poilievre told Parliament. (Reporting by David Ljunggren and Maria Cheng; Editing by Chris Reese and Chizu Nomiyama )

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HOUSTON (Reuters) -Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told employees on Wednesday that he believes the company will outperform publicly-stated financial targets given to investors following the acquisition of smaller oil producer Hess. Upon closing the $55-billion purchase of Hess in July, Chevron said it expected $1 billion in synergies and raised free cash flow guidance for 2026 from $10 billion to $12.5 billion. "I fully expect the (Hess) deal will meet and exceed what we've committed externally," Wirth said during an internal town hall meeting, audio of which was heard by Reuters. “Our talented workforce is an essential part of the ongoing success of our company, and we engage regularly to align on strategic priorities and our shared purpose to safely provide affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy that enables human progress," a Chevron spokesperson said.  (Reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston;)

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By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) -Elon Musk and X Corp have reached a settlement in a lawsuit by four former top executives at Twitter, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, who claim they were not paid $128 million in promised severance pay after Musk acquired the social media company and fired them. The terms of the settlement, which was first announced in a filing in San Francisco federal court last week, were not disclosed. A federal judge on October 1 pushed back filing deadlines and a hearing in the case so the settlement can be finalized.  X in August agreed to settle a separate lawsuit by rank-and-file Twitter employees who lost their jobs during mass layoffs and claimed they were owed $500 million in unpaid severance.  The cases are among a series of legal challenges that Musk, the world's richest person, has faced after he acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, cut more than half of its workforce and renamed it X. X and lawyers for the former Twitter executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The plaintiffs are Agrawal; Ned Segal, Twitter's former chief financial officer; Vijaya Gadde, its former chief legal officer; and Sean Edgett, its former general counsel. The former executives say that Musk falsely accused them of misconduct and forced them out of Twitter after they sued him for attempting to renege on his offer to purchase the company. Musk then denied the executives severance pay they had been promised for years before he acquired Twitter, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs say they each are owed one year's salary and hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stock options. Musk and X have denied wrongdoing and said the executives were fired over their performance. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New YorkEditing by Marguerita Choy)

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By Anshuman Tripathy (Reuters) -Shares of Joby Aviation fell more than 11% on Wednesday after the electric air-taxi maker priced a $514 million discounted share sale. The Santa Cruz, California-based company on late Tuesday sold 30.5 million shares at $16.85 per share, representing a 10.9% discount to the stock's previous close. Joby said it would use the proceeds to support aircraft certification and manufacturing, prepare for commercial operations and fund working capital and other general corporate needs. Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft firms are racing to secure approvals and bring their vehicles to market, aiming to meet the growing demand for faster, more sustainable urban transportation. The firm, backed by Toyota Motor, is also expected to benefit from Washington's push to speed air taxi deployment through executive orders and a pilot program which was announced last month. "Joby plans to use the proceeds to continue S4 eVTOL aircraft development and its manufacturing ramp on California and Ohio, in addition to preparing commercial operations at vertiports following the acquisition of Blade," Canaccord Genuity analyst Austin Moeller said. The company recently bought Blade Air Mobility's passenger business, planning to integrate it into the Uber app as early as next year, and partnered with L3Harris Technologies to develop a military aircraft. Joby's shares trade at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of -23.6, compared with -11.4 for rival Archer Aviation, highlighting that both pre-revenue companies continue to trail the broader market. Joby's stock had risen 133.7% this year, as of its last close. The company has a market value of $16.3 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Morgan Stanley acted as the sole bookrunner for the offering, which is expected to close on Thursday. (Reporting by Anshuman Tripathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal Reserve officials agreed at their recent policy meeting that risks to the U.S. job market had increased enough to warrant an interest rate cut, but many remained wary of high inflation amid a debate about how much current borrowing costs were weighing on the economy, minutes of the September 16-17 session showed on Wednesday. "Most participants observed that it was appropriate to move the target range for the federal funds rate toward a more neutral setting because they judged that downside risks to employment had increased," said the minutes, which captured the emerging discussion between Fed officials most concerned about protecting the labor market and relatively unconcerned now about inflation, including new Governor Stephen Miran, and those who see signs of inflation remaining persistently above the U.S. central bank's 2% target. Yet at the same time "a majority of participants emphasized upside risks to their outlooks for inflation, pointing to inflation readings moving further from 2%, continued uncertainty about the effects of tariffs," and other factors, the minutes said. The result was that while "most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year," the timing and pace of further moves remained in question in a divided Federal Open Market Committee. "Some participants noted that, by several measures … monetary policy may not be particularly restrictive, which they judged as warranting a cautious approach" toward further rate cuts, the minutes said. "A few participants" said there was "merit" in keeping the policy rate steady, while at the other end of the spectrum "one" of them advocated a larger half-percentage-point cut. Miran, on leave from his job as a White House economic adviser, dissented in favor of a larger half-percentage-point cut, with more to follow at upcoming meetings. NEARLY EVEN SPLIT AMONG FED POLICYMAKERS The Fed cut its benchmark policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point in September to the 4.00%-4.25% range. New projections showed the median policymaker expected two more such cuts this year. The projections, however, showed a nearly even split among the 19 participants at the meeting, with nine of them anticipating two cuts and Miran seeing many more, and the remaining nine seeing only one or no more cuts. Investors have set their expectations for two cuts, but the minutes showed a textured debate over the risks facing the U.S. economy and over just how much restraint current policy is actually having on investment and spending. Speaking to reporters after the end of last month's meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said monetary policy remained at a "clearly restrictive level," though he remained noncommittal about further reductions in rates. The Fed's next policy meeting is slated for October 28-29, with another quarter-percentage-point rate cut anticipated by financial markets. The analysis and commentary since last month's meeting, however, have been complicated by a federal government shutdown that has delayed release of the September jobs report and could postpone publication of the next round of consumer price data scheduled for next week. (Reporting by Howard Schneider in Washington; Editing by Dan Burns, Andrea Ricci and Paul Simao)

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By Alexander Marrow LONDON (Reuters) -Food group Nestle said on Wednesday it had withdrawn from a global alliance for cutting methane emissions that aims to reduce the impact of dairy farming on global warming.  The Dairy Methane Action Alliance was launched in December 2023, with members, which include Danone, Kraft Heinz and Starbucks, committing to publicly measure and disclose methane emissions from their dairy supply chains and publish plans to reduce those emissions over time.  Nestle did not say why it was pulling out of the alliance but said it would continue working towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, throughout its supply chains and was sticking to its net zero commitment by 2050.  CLIMATE ALLIANCES ON THE BACK FOOT The move is the latest blow to a corporate alliance seeking to limit the impact of global warming, and comes as U.S. President Donald Trump dismantles a range of climate protection initiatives. Several major banks, for example, have left the sector's main group leading efforts to cut carbon emissions. "Nestle regularly reviews its memberships of external organizations," the Swiss company said. "As part of this process, we have decided to discontinue our membership of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance."  By the end of 2024, Nestle had reduced methane emissions by almost 21% compared to 2018 levels, the company said in its 2024 non-financial statement. Methane is nearly 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, making it a major focus of attempts to curb global warming. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, which launched the methane alliance, agriculture is responsible for nearly 40% of human-caused methane emissions, with the majority of those coming from livestock.  Nestle's logo was removed from the main page of the EDF's website, but the company's name still appears on other pages. The EDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  (Reporting by Alexander Marrow. Editing by Mark Potter)

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By Mike Colias and David Shepardson (Reuters) -General Motors is scrapping a program aimed at allowing its dealers to continue offering a $7,500 tax credit for several months on electric-vehicle leases following the September 30 expiration of the federal subsidy, the company said on Wednesday. Toward the end of last month, GM devised a plan to have its in-house lending arm initiate the purchase of EVs in its dealers’ inventory. The company planned to apply for the federal $7,500 credit on those cars and then roll that money into EV lease terms for customers through the end of the year. GM opted to kill the program after concerns were raised about it by Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a former car dealer who is active in auto policy, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters. “After further consideration, we have decided not to claim the tax credit,” the company said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday, declining to elaborate on the reason for its decision. The idea behind the program was to ease the impact of the expiration of the tax credit on dealers, who worried they would be stuck with EVs that would be tough to sell. GM had planned to apply for the credit on tens of thousands of EVs in dealer stocks, according to people familiar with the plan. Ford rolled out a similar program ahead of the tax-credit expiration. It is unclear if Ford is continuing its program. A spokesperson declined to comment. GM had planned to claim the credit on roughly 20,000 EVs that were on dealership lots or being shipped to stores, people familiar with the matter said. Its finance arm, GM Financial, began making down payments on those vehicles before the deadline to qualify for the subsidy on each of those cars, the sources said. In its statement on Wednesday, the company said it would "fund the incentive lease terms" through the end of October. The formula for determining the down payments that GM Financial paid to dealers on those EVs was 5% of the maximum price for each car. For example, GM Financial would have made a down payment of about $6,300 for two Chevrolet Blazer EVs, which top out in the mid-$60,000s, according to documents GM provided to dealers outlining the terms. GM scrambled to put together the program just a few days before the September 30 tax-credit expiration, and outlined the details on a call with dealers on September 29, three sources said. GM officials had caught wind of a similar program that Ford was putting in place for its dealers, the sources said. Auto executives, dealers and analysts have said they expect EV sales to plummet in the wake of the tax credit’s disappearance. A consumer rush to take advantage of the subsidy helped drive record electric-car sales in September. (Editing by Mike Colias, Mark Porter and Chris Reese and Marguerita Choy)

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By Nell Mackenzie and Anirban Sen LONDON (Reuters) -Hedge funds returned 1.3% in September, with managers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East outperforming their North American rivals, according to a JPMorgan client note on Thursday, seen by Reuters on Friday. Global equities in September climbed 3.4%. An index of developed market sovereign bonds rose around 0.7% last month. The JPMorgan note, which tracks hedge fund trading, said positioning in U.S. stocks was only "somewhat bullish," indicating an expectation for equities to rise.  Crowding in the biggest "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, which include Apple, Amazon and Nvidia, remained near historical highs, the note said.  In Europe, stock-pickers tended to bet that equities would rise. But multi-strategy funds – those that trade many strategies – and quantitative funds, which use algorithms, tended to wager that stock prices would decline.  In Asia, where stocks rose, hedge funds had more bets on a decline than a rise, the note said.  The $92.1 billion Bridgewater notched a 6% monthly gain in its Pure Alpha fund to September 29. From the beginning of the year until September 29, Bridgewater's Pure Alpha, Asia Total Return, All Weather, and China Total Return funds posted returns of 26.2%, 32.5%, 15.3%, and 28.4%, respectively. British hedge fund Marshall Wace posted September returns of 1.32%, up 8.04% for the year so far in its Eureka Fund, a source said. The $79 billion hedge fund's Market Neutral Tops fund returned 0.45% in September and was up 13.66% for the year, the source added. Systematic stock-trading hedge funds, such as Marshall Wace, are up over 13% for 2025 so far, Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients. Multi-strategy funds remained largely flat on the month, apart from the $28 billion Balyasny Asset Management, which added 1.3% in September to its annual return so far this year of 10%, another source with knowledge of the matter said.    (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie in London, Anirban Sen in New York and Summer Zhen in Hong Kong; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Barbara Lewis)

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(Reuters) -Salesforce said on Wednesday it would spend $1 billion in Mexico over the next five years, as the cloud software provider looks to expand its operations and drive artificial intelligence adoption. The company, which began operating in Mexico in 2006, said the investment will fund a new Mexico City office and a Global Delivery Center to support customers across the Americas. "This $1 billion investment is a commitment to Mexico as a key market for AI-powered growth," CEO Marc Benioff said. Mexico is rapidly emerging as a tech services hub, drawing investments from technology companies, particularly in the AI domain due to the country's proximity to the U.S. and growing talent base. Microsoft announced last year that it will spend $1.3 billion over the next three years to build up its infrastructure in Mexico for cloud computing and AI. Salesforce said Mexico is a growth market for the company, with a customer base including organizations such as Xcaret, Grupo Bafar and FEMSA. "This investment will not only create jobs and build AI skills within Mexico but will also position our country as a key consultancy hub for markets across Latin America on AI agents and more," Mexico's Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said. Last month, Salesforce forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates. The company had also announced a $20 billion increase to its existing share buyback program. Salesforce has rolled out AI across its cloud services at a rapid pace, culminating in the 2024 commercial launch of Agentforce — its AI agent platform designed to automate tasks, streamline operations and help lift margins. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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By Roberto Samora SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's soybean exports are expected to reach 102.2 million tons through end-October, surpassing annual volumes for the whole of 2024 and 2023, reflecting the absence of U.S. competitors serving Chinese importers, grain exporter group Anec data showed on Wednesday.  The previous record for soy shipments from Brazil, the largest global producer and exporter, was set in 2023 at 101.3 million tons, according to Anec figures. In addition to harvesting a record soybean crop exceeding 170 million tons in 2025, Brazilian farmers are benefiting from strong demand in China, which is embroiled in a tariff war with the U.S. "China continues to be the main destination and drive for Brazilian soy shipments," Anec said.  Anec data showed that China imported 6.5 million tons from Brazil in September, representing 93% of the export total, maintaining a historically high share of total shipping volumes out of the South American country.  Relying primarily on Brazil to guarantee supplies, China fetched 79.9% of Brazil's total soybean exports, compared to 74% between 2021 and 2024. In 2024, China's share was 76%, Anec said. Projections for the year were released in the first monthly shipment report for October, when Anec projects shipments of 7.12 million tons, almost 2.7 million tons above the same month last year. For the present calendar year, Anec projects that 110 million tons of Brazilian soybeans will be exported. "Between November and December, another 8 million tons are expected to be shipped, corroborating the annual estimate of 110 million tons," the association said. Corn shipments reached 6 million tons this month, about 380,000 tons higher than the volume recorded a year earlier.  In the year through October, exports are estimated at 30 million tons, putting Brazil as the world's second-largest exporter of the grain, behind the U.S. (Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Mark Porter)

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