व्यापार

(Reuters) -A fire broke out at Chevron's El Segundo refinery in Los Angeles county, California Governor Gavin Newsom's press office said on Thursday on X. The city's fire department is ready to assist with any request for aid, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said, adding, "There is no known impact to LAX at this time," referring to the city's international airport. The cause of the incident was unclear, the Los Angeles Times said, while broadcaster CBS said officers and firefighters rushed to the refinery after reports of an explosion. Police in El Segundo were not aware of any immediate injuries or evacuations, it added. The refinery's rated capacity is 290,000 barrels per day, and its main products are gasoline, jet and diesel, Chevron says on its website. Its total storage capacity is 12.5 million barrels in about 150 major tanks. (Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

(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 Alexander Marrow and Dominique Patton LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) -Ageing brands and declining sales could make Coty's makeup business a hard sell, raising the prospect of piecemeal deals or lower than expected proceeds that might complicate the group's plans to cut debt and invest in growth. Coty said on Tuesday it had launched a review of its mass-market Consumer Beauty business, a prelude to a possible sale or spinoff of some brands in a bid to cut debt, reverse shrinking cash flow, and focus on more profitable fragrances.  The business, home to the CoverGirl and Rimmel brands, generates around $1.2 billion in annual revenues, but has been losing market share to competitors with faster innovation cycles and more accessible price points. WHO COULD BUY COTY'S CONSUMER BEAUTY BRANDS? "It's hard for these brands because they don't look new to today's consumers. And newness is important, especially in colour cosmetics," said Morningstar analyst Dan Su. Barclays analysts described the division as a "tough asset to sell". They said it could be worth anywhere between $690 million and $950 million. Buyers this year have shown strong interest in smaller, fast-growing brands like Hailey Bieber's makeup and skincare line Rhode, snapped up by retailer Elf Beauty for $1 billion, and the vitamin A-based skincare business Medik8 bought by L'Oreal for an estimated $1 billion. Buyout firms could look at the division, much as private equity house KKR bought a majority stake in Coty's professional and retail haircare business, Wella, in 2020.  "I expect piecemeal deals rather than a one-shot sale," Michael Ashley Schulman, partner and CIO at Running Point Capital Advisors, naming private equity firms Permira and L Catterton among possible suitors. Coty said it did not comment on speculation. L Catterton declined to comment. Permira did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Coty's Consumer Beauty business reported an 8% drop in sales in the year ended June 30. Morningstar analysts expect another high-single-digit percentage decline this financial year, as it struggles to compete with social media influencers launching their own brands and selling on fast-growing online channels. Coty's in-house manufacturing has made it slower to innovate when compared to firms like Elf that use third-party producers, resulting in market share that is slipping over time, said Bank of America analyst Anna Lizzul. "It's a melting iceberg situation," she said. COTY CAME LATE TO SHIFTING FRAGRANCE TRENDS Coty became a beauty industry giant after buying Procter & Gamble's perfume, hair care and makeup businesses for $12.5 billion in 2015. After divesting from hair and now possibly consumer cosmetics, fragrance will be its primary focus. Its newly combined fragrance division accounts for 69% of Coty's sales and, with categories growing between 2% and 9%, is performing far better than Coty's consumer cosmetics.  But it relies heavily on licences, and about 14% of them are due to expire in the next three-and-a-half years, said BofA. The blockbuster licence for Gucci fragrances, which analysts believe runs until 2028, brings in about $500 million a year, BofA estimates – almost double Coty's free cash flow of $277.6 million in its last financial year.  Selling the makeup business could bring in money for what some analysts think is much-needed investment. "It would have probably helped to do this strategic review 10 years ago," said Alfonso Emanuele de Leon, a beauty industry veteran and partner at FA Hong Kong Consultancy. "Most importantly, when it was getting clear that the fragrance market was moving towards conceptual, experiential brands." Top sector player L'Oreal has invested in niche Chinese fragrance brands To Summer and Documents, Estee Lauder in fellow Chinese brand Melt Season, and Spanish rival Puig acquired a majority stake in Sweden's Byredo. Coty should have recognised that its fragrance segment was shrinking and made acquisitions too, Emanuele de Leon said. "They can still do it, it's just going to be more expensive and maybe too late because the wave has already reached the shore." (Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Dominique Patton; additional reporting by Abigail Summerville. Editing by Lisa Jucca and Mark Potter)

(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 Laura Matthews and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) -The long-awaited resumption of the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle is likely to cheapen hedging of dollar exposure for foreign investors and increase their motivation to guard more of their U.S. assets against further currency weakness. In September, the U.S. central bank lowered interest rates by an expected 25 basis points to 4.00-4.25% on labor market concerns and indicated more cuts would follow later this year. That cut narrows the interest-rate differential between the U.S. and other developed countries, which helps to lower the hedging costs for foreign pensions, sovereign funds and other institutional investors, managers and analysts said. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index is down about 10% this year, partially driven by foreign investors increasing hedging activity on worries about the impact of U.S. trade and tariff policies on their U.S. assets, market participants said. "There are some people that are watching it, that have been waiting for the resumption of the cutting cycle by the Fed," said Van Luu, global head of solutions strategy for fixed income and foreign exchange for Russell Investments in London. "Now they are inclined to raise the hedge ratio, and they're waiting for the right moment or they're waiting for some kind of catalyst." Hedging is a way to limit losses on an existing portfolio by using financial instruments such as derivatives to create an offsetting position. Since it often involves selling dollars via forwards or swaps, any rise in hedging activity can spell additional weakness for the beleaguered greenback. NEW-FOUND NEED TO HEDGE High hedging costs and a bullish view on the buck were two major factors suppressing FX hedging ratios in recent years, according to a June report from the Bank for International Settlements. Years of dollar strength meant foreign investors could leave U.S. assets unhedged since it boosted their overall returns and was a source of diversification. Now that's set to change. With the greenback down significantly this year and with more potential weakness on the horizon, hedging could help blunt the hurt from unfavorable FX moves. Markets are pricing in about two more quarter-point rate cuts this year, which could incentivize investors who want to ramp up their hedges but have found the cost to do so a deterrent. GUARDING MORE BUSINESS AGAINST CURRENCY SWINGS Foreigners currently have more than $30 trillion invested in U.S. stocks and bonds, according to Morgan Stanley, $8 trillion of which is held by European investors. Rising concerns over Fed leadership, its independence, and U.S. policy uncertainty have helped keep pressure on the dollar, even as U.S. stocks have rallied. The S&P 500 is up about 14% for the year, near a record high. "The strong gains in U.S. (stock) market and the very sharp U.S. dollar falls are unusual but they’re not unheard of – we think an increase in hedging is part of the reason for this divergence," said Steve Dooley, head of market insights at Convera in Melbourne. A July research note from Deutsche Bank showed that equity investors in Germany and Austria have increased their hedge ratios to 60-70% from 20-30% at the start of the year. A new report from the Danish central bank showed that insurance companies and pension funds are shielding more than three quarters of their dollar investments from currency swings. The Deutsche note stated that some high-profile pension funds plan to top up those ratios after the summer. "I think foreign investors are still inclined to hedge away their dollar exposure," Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie in New York, said. "So they will come out again at some point in the next few weeks … you're going to see another round of dollar hedging by foreign institutions," he said. Research from MillTechFX also shows that 86% of European corporates are currently hedging their forecastable currency risk, up from 67% in 2023, with their mean hedge ratio rising to 49% from 43%.  Joseph Hoffman, chief executive officer at Mesirow Currency Management, said the shift among international investors is not mainly about short-term interest-rate advantages, but is driven "more by a bearish structural view on the dollar rooted in the Fed’s policy, heightened political uncertainty, and persistent fiscal deficits." WHAT'S MY COST? Still, a lower cost of hedging will likely draw those investors who may have held off boosting hedges due to price considerations. For instance, the 4% annual hedging cost for investors in Japan and Switzerland, based on current interest rates, remains a big hurdle. It costs other euro-based investors around 2% annually. "I think there's like a psychological level that if the hedge cost goes to 1% or below, which is on the horizon for EUR investors over the next 12 months, people wouldn't worry about it as such," said Russell's Luu. (Reporting by Laura Matthews and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley and Andrea Ricci)

(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 Rocky Swift TOKYO (Reuters) -The yen edged lower on Friday, trimming its sharpest weekly gain in more than four months, as traders considered the impact of potential rate increases by the Bank of Japan and a leadership election this weekend. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda struck a cautious tone in comments about the global economy, lowering expectations of an imminent rate hike. Markets are also focused on a Liberal Democratic Party election on Saturday that will determine Japan's next prime minister. The dollar rebounded overnight despite a closure of the U.S. government that has halted the publication of key economic data, including the closely watched monthly jobs report for September that was due to be released on Friday. Canada's currency held near a four-month low on a slide in oil prices. "The government shutdown has not had a major short-term impact, but if anything, underlying pressure remains toward a weaker dollar," said Hirofumi Suzuki, the chief currency strategist at SMBC. "That said, with yen-depreciation pressure likely to linger ahead of this weekend's LDP leadership election, the pair is likely to hover around current levels," he added. The yen slid 0.3% to 147.72 per dollar, still on track for a 1.2% advance this week that would be the biggest since mid-May. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of key currencies, rose 0.1% to 97.90. The euro was up 0.1% at $1.1722. Sterling was little changed at $1.3437. Markets were keeping a close eye on speeches by BOJ officials this week after the central bank's tankan survey on Wednesday showed confidence among big manufacturers improved for the second straight quarter. Deputy governor Shinichi Uchida said on Thursday that the business mood is improving and corporate profits remain high even as U.S. tariffs weigh on exports. But in a speech on Friday, Governor Ueda put the focus back on how global factors, particularly the health of the U.S. economy, could impact the trajectory of wages and prices in japan. Goldman Sachs economists said in a note that Ueda's speech "supports our view that the possibility of an October rate hike is very low." Japan's market is also girding for an election on Saturday that has consequences for its budget and central bank policies. Among the front-runners, dovish party veteran Sanae Takaichi could trigger more bond market uncertainty, while farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi and top government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi are less likely to rock the boat. In the U.S. overnight, a Chicago Fed report that combines private and available public data estimated the September jobless rate was 4.3%, the same as in August and evidence that a feared rapid rise in unemployment had not yet begun. But details of the report, along with other data, pointed to sluggishness in the labor market. The ADP National Employment report on Wednesday showed private payrolls decreased by 32,000 in September, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates two more times this year. Traders see a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed's October meeting as almost certain and are pricing in an 89% probability of an additional cut in December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan on Thursday said the central bank appropriately cut rates last month to guard against the risk of a sharp deterioration in the job market, but said that so far the cooling has been gradual and signalled she is not eager to cut rates further. The Canadian dollar weakened to a four-month low against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as the price of oil fell more than 2% and investors worried about negotiations to renew a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The Canadian currency traded little changed at 1.3968 per U.S. dollar after touching 1.3986 on Thursday, its weakest intraday level since May 16. (Reporting by Rocky SwiftEditing 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 Ankur Banerjee SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Asian stocks were set for solid weekly gains on Friday as rising odds of the Federal Reserve cutting rates in the near-term helped cushion jitters around a U.S. government shutdown that have pushed gold to record highs and weighed on the dollar. Investors have mostly shrugged off the shutdown, the 15th since 1981, even as it resulted in the suspension of scientific research, financial oversight and delayed crucial economic data, including the jobs report on Friday. The lack of market reaction is partly because historically shutdowns have had limited impact on economic growth and market performance. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares was up 0.3%, hitting a record high for second straight session. The index was set for a 2.3% gain for the week and has risen about 23% so far this year. With China and parts of Asia closed for a long holiday, volumes are likely to be thin in the region. European futures pointed to a higher open ahead of a flurry of manufacturing data from across the region. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed at a record high on Wednesday. Weiheng Chen, global investment strategist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, said investors appear willing to give Washington time to resolve its disagreements, though a prolonged shutdown may start to move markets. "For now, investors remain more focused on the potential impacts of the Fed's rate-cutting cycle, trade and immigration policy, economic data, and corporate earnings," Chen said. Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.5%, not far from the record high it touched last month ahead of the crucial weekend vote that will determine the next prime minister and set the tone for fiscal and monetary policy outlook. [.T] Asian markets were taking cues from Wall Street, where all three major indexes closed at record highs buoyed by technology stocks as investor enthusiasm for all things AI remains unchallenged. Taiwan's benchmark index also hit a record high and was last up over 1%.[EMRG/FRX] NO OFFICIAL DATA With no government reports on the labour market to take cues from, investors have turned to alternative data from public and private sources and so far they point to a sluggish U.S. labour market. Blerina Uruci, chief U.S. economist at T. Rowe Price, said the potential delay of critical economic data is a problem for a data-dependent Fed, leaving the central bank reliant on less comprehensive indicators like ADP and jobless claims. Still, markets are becoming more confident of the Fed sticking to its rate cutting path and are almost fully pricing in a 25 basis point rate cut in October. Traders are pricing in 114 bps of easing by the end of 2026. That has left the U.S. dollar under pressure. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six other units, was steady on the day but on course for a 0.35% weekly decline, the biggest drop since August. The Japanese yen has been the biggest beneficiary of the dollar weakness this week and is set to register a 1.2% gain, its biggest weekly gain since mid-May. It weakened 0.3% to 147.74 per U.S. dollar on Friday after comments from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda left markets guessing on when the central bank will next hike interest rates. In commodities, gold eased 0.3% $3,845.15 an ounce, but remained near the record high it touched on Thursday. The yellow metal is on course for an over 2% weekly gain, its seventh straight week of gains. Gold, viewed as a safe-haven asset during times of uncertainty, thrives in a low-interest-rate environment. It has risen 47% so far this year.[GOL/] "As the U.S. dollar’s status as the global reserve currency is tested, gold is emerging as the preeminent safe haven and we continue to view it as the ultimate diversifier," said Greg Hirt, global CIO for multi asset at AllianzGI. "We hold a long-term negative view on the U.S. dollar and we are positioning for further falls in the short term." Oil prices recovered slightly on the day but were on course for steepest weekly decline in over three months. Brent crude futures rose 0.6% to $64.51 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.6% to $60.85 a barrel. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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

ZURICH (Reuters) -Roche said on Friday Claudia Suessmuth Dyckerhoff would not stand for re-election as a member of the pharma company's board of directors. Suessmuth Dyckerhoff, who has been on Roche's board since 2016, is stepping down after being nominated for election to the board of another healthcare company. (Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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

(Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Friday after four straight sessions of declines but were on track for their steepest weekly fall since late June due to market expectations that the OPEC+ group could hike output further despite oversupply concerns. Brent crude futures gained 43 cents, or 0.7%, to $64.54 a barrel by 0500 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed by 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.89 a barrel. On a weekly basis, Brent has plunged 8%, while WTI is 7.4% lower. OPEC+ could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November, triple the increase for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share, sources told Reuters this week. "If OPEC+ do go ahead and announce a 500,000 bpd increase this weekend, it's likely a big enough increase to send crude oil lower again, initially to support at $58.00, before a test of this year's lows (of around) $55.00," said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG.    Potentially higher OPEC+ supply, slowing global crude refinery runs due to maintenance and a seasonal dip in demand in the months ahead are set to accelerate oil stock builds in the U.S. and elsewhere, analysts say. The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week as refining activity and demand softened. "We believe September marked a turning point, with the oil market now heading towards a sizeable surplus in Q4 2025 and into next year," JPMorgan analysts said in a note. The Group of Seven nations' finance ministers said on Wednesday they will take steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who are continuing to boost purchases of Russian oil. (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Jamie Freed and Jacqueline Wong)

(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 Laura Matthews and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) -The long-awaited resumption of the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle is likely to cheapen hedging of dollar exposure for foreign investors and increase their motivation to guard more of their U.S. assets against further currency weakness. In September, the U.S. central bank lowered interest rates by an expected 25 basis points to 4.00-4.25% on labor market concerns and indicated more cuts would follow later this year. That cut narrows the interest-rate differential between the U.S. and other developed countries, which helps to lower the hedging costs for foreign pensions, sovereign funds and other institutional investors, managers and analysts said. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index is down about 10% this year, partially driven by foreign investors increasing hedging activity on worries about the impact of U.S. trade and tariff policies on their U.S. assets, market participants said. "There are some people that are watching it, that have been waiting for the resumption of the cutting cycle by the Fed," said Van Luu, global head of solutions strategy for fixed income and foreign exchange for Russell Investments in London. "Now they are inclined to raise the hedge ratio, and they're waiting for the right moment or they're waiting for some kind of catalyst." Hedging is a way to limit losses on an existing portfolio by using financial instruments such as derivatives to create an offsetting position. Since it often involves selling dollars via forwards or swaps, any rise in hedging activity can spell additional weakness for the beleaguered greenback. NEW-FOUND NEED TO HEDGE High hedging costs and a bullish view on the buck were two major factors suppressing FX hedging ratios in recent years, according to a June report from the Bank for International Settlements. Years of dollar strength meant foreign investors could leave U.S. assets unhedged since it boosted their overall returns and was a source of diversification. Now that's set to change. With the greenback down significantly this year and with more potential weakness on the horizon, hedging could help blunt the hurt from unfavorable FX moves. Markets are pricing in about two more quarter-point rate cuts this year, which could incentivize investors who want to ramp up their hedges but have found the cost to do so a deterrent. GUARDING MORE BUSINESS AGAINST CURRENCY SWINGS Foreigners currently have more than $30 trillion invested in U.S. stocks and bonds, according to Morgan Stanley, $8 trillion of which is held by European investors. Rising concerns over Fed leadership, its independence, and U.S. policy uncertainty have helped keep pressure on the dollar, even as U.S. stocks have rallied. The S&P 500 is up about 14% for the year, near a record high. "The strong gains in U.S. (stock) market and the very sharp U.S. dollar falls are unusual but they’re not unheard of – we think an increase in hedging is part of the reason for this divergence," said Steve Dooley, head of market insights at Convera in Melbourne. A July research note from Deutsche Bank showed that equity investors in Germany and Austria have increased their hedge ratios to 60-70% from 20-30% at the start of the year. A new report from the Danish central bank showed that insurance companies and pension funds are shielding more than three quarters of their dollar investments from currency swings. The Deutsche note stated that some high-profile pension funds plan to top up those ratios after the summer. "I think foreign investors are still inclined to hedge away their dollar exposure," Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie in New York, said. "So they will come out again at some point in the next few weeks … you're going to see another round of dollar hedging by foreign institutions," he said. Research from MillTechFX also shows that 86% of European corporates are currently hedging their forecastable currency risk, up from 67% in 2023, with their mean hedge ratio rising to 49% from 43%.  Joseph Hoffman, chief executive officer at Mesirow Currency Management, said the shift among international investors is not mainly about short-term interest-rate advantages, but is driven "more by a bearish structural view on the dollar rooted in the Fed’s policy, heightened political uncertainty, and persistent fiscal deficits." WHAT'S MY COST? Still, a lower cost of hedging will likely draw those investors who may have held off boosting hedges due to price considerations. For instance, the 4% annual hedging cost for investors in Japan and Switzerland, based on current interest rates, remains a big hurdle. It costs other euro-based investors around 2% annually. "I think there's like a psychological level that if the hedge cost goes to 1% or below, which is on the horizon for EUR investors over the next 12 months, people wouldn't worry about it as such," said Russell's Luu. (Reporting by Laura Matthews and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley and Andrea Ricci)

(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 Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Oracle said on Thursday that customers of its E-Business Suite of products "have received extortion emails," confirming a warning first issued on Wednesday by Alphabet's Google. In a blog post, the California-based tech company said its investigation found that hackers had made potential use of previously identified software vulnerabilities and urged customers to upgrade their products. Oracle did not immediately respond when asked how many clients were affected. Google has described the hacking campaign as "high volume," but declined to go into detail. Cynthia Kaiser, the head of cybersecurity firm Halcyon's Ransomware Research Center, previously told Reuters that her company had seen extortion demands ranging from millions to tens of millions of dollars, with the highest coming in at $50 million. In a message to Reuters, the ransomware group tied by Google to the extortion campaign, cl0p, said Oracle had "bugged up," but added: "We not prepared to discuss details at this time." The group's members and location are not publicly known. But security researchers have long identified the group as Russia-linked or Russian-speaking. It is a ransomware-as-a-service group, meaning that it hires out its software and infrastructure for other cybercriminals in return for a cut of the proceeds. Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro previously described cl0p as "a trendsetter for its ever-changing tactics." (Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)

(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 Dawn Chmielewski LOS ANGELES, October 3 (Reuters) -Superstar Taylor Swift's latest studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," arrives Friday with a promotional blitz that includes midnight sales at Target stores, a release party at movie theaters around the globe and pop-up experiences in New York and Los Angeles. The release follows "The Tortured Poets Department," Swift's 11th studio album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and sold the equivalent of 8 million albums in the United States, according to Luminate, a firm that tracks music sales.  "She occupies a very rare position in today's fragmented music landscape: she is an active superstar with a massive and loyal fan base," said Tatiana Cirisano, vice president of music strategy for MIDiA Research. These passionate followers, who self-identify as "Swifties," help the artist break through the fragmented music landscape, and rise to the top of the charts, said Cirisano. "So few can get such a massive number of people listening to the same thing at once. So, it would surprise me a lot if the new release did not reach her usual level of success," she said.   Swift has been building anticipation for the new album since August 11, when she posted a countdown on her website that kept fans waiting until 12:12 a.m. ET on August 12, when she revealed  the name of her 12th album "The Life of a Showgirl." The next day, Swift appeared on the "New Heights" podcast hosted by her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his brother, retired Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jason Kelce. The Top-10 rated sports and pop-culture podcast provided a friendly platform for Swift to talk about her forthcoming album, which she said had been inspired by the joy she felt while performing around the world on her record-setting Eras Tour. The August 13 episode has surpassed 23.4 million views on YouTube. Swift has emerged as a cultural and economic force. Her globe-trotting Eras Tour was the highest-grossing tour of all time, surpassing $2 billion in ticket sales by the time it concluded in December 2024, according to Pollstar, a trade publication that tracks the concert industry. That figure does not include the boost to hotel and Airbnb rentals, restaurant tabs and merchandise sales.  Academics have said Swift rivals other pop icons, like Elvis or Michael Jackson, in terms of her cultural impact — whether it's driving tune-in to NFL gamesor leading voter registration drives. Business partners have been eager to tap into the phenomenon that's been dubbed "Swiftonomics." AMC Theatres announced plans to distribute "The Official Release Party of a Showgirl," an 89-minute film that features the first music video from the album, "The Fate of Ophelia,"  behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the music video, and Swift's reflections on songs from the album. The film will be in limited release, from Friday through Sunday, in more than 50 markets. Retailer Target plans to open some stores at midnight Friday to sell a limited-edition vinyl pressing of the album with a "gold shimmer," and three CDs featuring exclusive album and poster art. Music streaming service Spotify opened a three-day pop-up in New York City on Tuesday, to let Swift fans step into the world of the album, with song lyrics hidden among displays that included a dressing room and other trappings of a concert tour. On Friday, TikTok opened its own "Life of a Showgirl" installation in Los Angeles. Taylor Nation, the artist's promotional team, released a schedule of promotional appearances to tout the new album, including stops on "The Graham Norton Show" on Friday, "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Monday and "Late Night with Seth Meyers" on Wednesday.  (Editing by Patricia Reaney)

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