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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Sales of previously owned U.S. homes increased solidly in August as lower mortgage rates pulled buyers back into the market, though a softening labor market could curb further gains. The National Association of Realtors said on Monday pending home sales, based on signed contracts, rebounded 4.0% last month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast contracts, which become sales after a month or two, rising 0.2%.  Contracts increased in the densely populated South, Midwest and West, but declined in the Northeast. Pending home sales advanced 3.8% from a year earlier. "Lower mortgage rates are enabling more homebuyers to go under contract," said Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist. Mortgage rates declined in August as the Federal Reserve prepared to resume easing monetary policy. The U.S. central bank cut its benchmark overnight interest rate this month by 25 basis points to the 4.00%-4.25% range.  The rate on the popular 30-year mortgage is near an 11-month low, data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac showed. But some of the stimulus from low mortgage rates could be offset by a weakening labor market. Job gains averaged only 29,000 jobs per month in the three months to August compared with 82,000 during the same period last year. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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By America Hernandez (Reuters) -TotalEnergies will cut its annual capital expenditure by $1 billion, it said on Monday, as the French oil major sought to soothe investor fears over slow asset sales and rising debt at a meeting with investors in New York. The reduction in capex, to around $15–17 billion annually between 2027 and 2030, is part of a drive to save $7.5 billion, it said in a statement. The group also said last week it plans to reduce quarterly buybacks as it adapts to lower oil prices. "We can do the same growth but with less capex and opex," CEO Patrick Pouyanne told investors. Shares fell about 2% in European afternoon trading. SOLAR SALE IS ONE OF SEVERAL Earlier on Monday, Total said it would raise $950 million from the sale of a stake in a U.S. solar portfolio. As other energy majors reduce renewables spending, Total has bucked the trend by continuing to build wind and solar projects, then selling minority stakes to raise cash that it invests in natural gas assets to grow its portfolio as global demand rises. Under the solar deal, investment company KKR will take 50% of six utility-scale solar assets and 41 distributed generation assets, mostly in the United States. Total will keep the remaining half of the 1.4-gigawatt portfolio, with an enterprise value of $1.25 billion. Pouyanne has said the solar sale is one of several meant to raise $3.5 billion by year-end, to offset more than $3 billion in acquisitions that have contributed to a more than doubling of Total's debt in the first six months of 2025. The French major also announced on Monday it would purchase a 49% stake in Continental Resources' upstream gas fields in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, for an undisclosed sum. STRUGGLE TO SELL ASSETS Last week TotalEnergies sold an oilfield stake to Shell for $510 million, but two other deals are in jeopardy. An $860 million divestment of Nigerian oil assets fell through last week as buyer Chappal Energies failed to raise enough money. In July, the sale of Total's West of Shetland gas assets in Britain for an undisclosed sum also fell apart, after would-be buyer Prax Group went bankrupt. Total's gearing – a measure of net debt to equity – has leapt to 18% from about 8% in the first six months of this year. That figure rises to 28% when including $8.9 billion in leases and 9.75 billion euros ($11.37 billion) of hybrid debt. Quarterly earnings hit a four-year-low this summer. Analysts at RBC described the changes announced on Monday as modest, adding that Total may find it a challenge to keep gearing below 20% unless commodity prices stay close to current levels. Brent crude is trading below $70 per barrel, a 40% drop since 2022 when Total initiated its $8 billion annual buyback scheme.  (Reporting by Alessandro Parodi in Gdasnk, America Hernandez in Paris and Shadia Nasralla in London; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Barbara Lewis)

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(Reuters) -CSX Corp on Monday has appointed Steve Angel as its top boss, replacing Joe Hinrichs, as the railroad operator fends off pressure from an activist investor while facing industry consolidation. Shares of the company rose about 3% in premarket trade. Angel succeeds Joe Hinrichs, who will work closely with the board and management to help with the transition, CSX said. He brings on more than four decades of experience, including at Linde plc and 22 years at General Electric, where he was involved in locomotive and rail operations. The announcement comes after CSX faced activist pressure from Ancora Holdings to pursue merger options to replace Hinrichs. Hedge fund Toms Capital Investment Management also requested a meeting with the board at CSX in August after buying a stake in the U.S. railroad operator. U.S. railroad leader Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern earlier announced a surprise $85 billion deal, fueling speculation that CSX would explore a merger of its own. Since news of that deal, the industry's largest ever buyout, speculation has been mounting that more big mergers are likely to follow, especially as the Trump administration eases antitrust concerns. CSX has said that it is open to all ways to boost the stock price for shareholders. (Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would impose a 100% tariff on all foreign-made movies, an unprecedented move that threatens to upend Hollywood's global business model. The step signals Trump's willingness to extend protectionist trade policies into cultural industries, raising uncertainty for studios that depend heavily on international box-office revenue and cross-border co-productions. Trump announced the measure in a post on his Truth Social platform, claiming U.S. movie-making is losing ground to international competition. "Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing candy from a baby," he wrote. However, it was not immediately clear what legal authority Trump would use to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films. White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on how the tariffs would be implemented. Warner Bros Discovery, Comcast, Paramount Skydance and Netflix also did not immediately respond to requests. Shares of Netflix were down 1.5% in early trading. The president had first floated the idea of a movie tariff in May but offered very little details, leaving entertainment executives unsure whether it would apply to specific countries or all imports. Studio executives told Reuters earlier this year that they were "flummoxed" by how a movie tariff might be enforced, given that modern films often use production, financing, post-production and visual effects spread across multiple countries. The move has drawn skepticism from legal and trade analysts. Some argue films are a form of intellectual property and part of the global trade in services, an area where the U.S. often runs a surplus, raising questions about the legal basis for tariffs. Co-productions with foreign studios have also become more common, adding to doubts about how such films would be classified. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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By Stephanie Kelly LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell by nearly 2% on Monday as OPEC+ plans for another increase to oil output in November and the resumption of oil exports by Iraq's Kurdistan region via Turkey raised the global supply outlook. Brent crude futures dropped $1.26, or 1.8%, to $68.87 a barrel by 1309 GMT after settling at their highest since July 31 on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.36, or 2%, at $64.36. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, together known as OPEC+, is likely to approve another increase to crude oil production at its meeting on Sunday. The group is expected to confirm an increase of at least 137,000 barrels per day for November as rising oil prices encourage efforts to regain market share, said three sources. However, OPEC+ has been pumping almost 500,000 bpd less than its targets, defying market expectations of a supply glut. Meanwhile, crude oil flowed through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey for the first time in 2-1/2 years on Saturday, Iraq's oil ministry said. Crude oil flows from Kurdistan to Turkey's Ceyhan port are running at 150,000-160,000 bpd, two industry sources told Reuters on Monday. The resumption is expected eventually to bring up to 230,000 bpd of crude back to international markets. Monday's oil price decline followed weekly gains of more than 4% for both benchmarks last week after Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure hit the country's fuel exports. "Ukraine naturally smells blood here … If anything Ukraine will likely double up on its strategic attacks on Russian refineries," SEB analysts said.  Russia pounded Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine early on Sunday in one of the most sustained attacks on the capital since Russia's invasion in 2022. (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly, Enes Tunagur, Florence Tan and Jeslyn Lerh;Editing by David Goodman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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(Reuters) -Companies are increasingly opting for a co-CEO structure as their operations become expansive, diverse and complicated. Among the high-profile firms, Oracle and Netflix have joint CEOs running their business operations. Below is a list of companies that have adopted such a structure: COMCAST The media and telecom major appointed Michael Cavanagh as its first co-CEO on Tuesday, effective Jan 2026. He will serve alongside existing CEO Brian Roberts. Cavanagh will also be named to Comcast's board. NETFLIX The streaming giant transitioned to a dual CEO model in July 2020 when Ted Sarandos was promoted to the top job alongside then-CEO Reed Hastings. In January 2023, Hastings stepped down, and Greg Peters was promoted to join Sarandos. Sarandos leads content, marketing and legal affairs, while Peters focuses on technology, product development and operations. KKR The private equity firm appointed co-presidents Scott Nuttall and Joseph Bae as co-CEOs in 2021, succeeding the company's billionaire co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts. Bae focuses on private markets and Asia expansion, while Nuttall leads on credit, capital markets, insurance and the firm's overall balance sheet. LENNAR The U.S. homebuilder's current chief executives are Stuart Miller and Jon Jaffe. Miller was appointed as co-CEO to join Jaffe when Rick Beckwitt decided to step down. Both executives shape the company's strategy, overseeing homebuilding operations and leading initiatives like mergers and acquisitions. GENSLER Architecture and design firm Gensler is led by Elizabeth Brink and Jordan Goldstein, both of whom were appointed in 2024, succeeding the previous pair Andy Cohen and Diane Hoskins. Brink and Goldstein share responsibilities of day-to-day operations. SERES THERAPEUTICS The drug developer in July appointed Thomas Desrosier and Marella Thorell as co-CEOs, taking over from Eric Shaff. Shaff remains in the company as a director. SHARPLINK GAMING The online marketing company appointed Joseph Chalom as co-CEO in July alongside Rob Phythian, who co-founded the company in 2019. SharpLink has been raising funds to acquire cryptocurrencies, including ether, to work as a crypto treasury vehicle, mimicking the playbook of Michael Saylor's Strategy. IREN Bitcoin miner IREN is run by co-founders Daniel Roberts and Will Roberts. The brothers serve as co-CEOs. MONSTER BEVERAGE The energy drinks maker in January 2021 named Hilton Schlosberg as co-CEO alongside Rodney Sacks. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala, Kritika Lamba and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Anil D'Silva)

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By Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta (Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were poised to open higher on Monday, kicking off a potentially turbulent week on a strong footing as investors shrugged off hawkish remarks from a Federal Reserve official and weighed the impact of a government shutdown. The moves build on Friday's gains, when an in-line inflation print kept hopes for rate cuts alive and lifted all three major indexes, despite their overall declines for the week. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, among the most hawkish Fed officials and not a voter on policy this year, said the central bank needed to maintain restrictive monetary policy to cool inflation. Traders, however, are pricing in a 91.4% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at the next Fed meeting. At 08:32 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 174 points, or 0.37%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 32.5 points, or 0.49%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 160.3 points, or 0.65%. Attention is now riveted on a standoff between Republicans and Democrats over funding that has raised the prospect of a shutdown beginning Wednesday, the first day of the U.S. government's 2026 fiscal year. "I don't think the shutdown is the doomsday scenario," said Mel Casey, senior portfolio manager at FBB Capital Partners. "It could actually be an opportunity for Republicans to push through more government spending cuts." Still, some analysts warned that a shutdown could stall the release of key economic data, including Friday's nonfarm payrolls report, and cloud the outlook at a critical juncture for markets. With the Fed emphasizing its data-dependent approach, any loss of visibility into economic indicators could complicate policy decisions, adding to risks, especially at a time when equity valuations are stretched. Through the day, investors will closely monitor the commentary from several other Fed policymakers, including New York Fed President John Williams, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, for any signs of concern over the potential loss of economic visibility should a shutdown materialize. Also on the docket on Monday is the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index for August. A leading indicator of housing activity, the report comes as the sector continues to struggle with elevated mortgage rates. In premarket trading, U.S.-listed shares of cannabis-related companies rose, with Canopy Growth and Cronos Group climbing 11.9% and 9.5%, respectively, while Tilray Brands added 20%. Trump on Sunday shared a video promoting the health benefits of hemp-derived cannabidiol. Electronic Arts climbed 5.5% after agreeing to be taken private in a $55 billion deal. U.S.-listed shares of Merus NV surged 37%, after Danish pharmaceutical company Genmab agreed to acquire the Dutch biotech firm for $8 billion in cash. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics slumped 88%, after the company reported mixed results from two late-stage trials of its experimental skin disease drug on Sunday. (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shilpi Majumdar)

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By Suzanne McGee and Chris Prentice (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday paved the way for an asset manager to add exchange-traded share classes to mutual funds, a move expected to kick-start approvals for dozens of applicants, spark more ETFs and make the products more accessible to retail investors. The planned order, which is open for public response before the SEC moves ahead, is specific to Dimensional Fund Advisors and allows the asset management firm to launch the new share class. It has been long-awaited by the investment industry. Monday’s notice is expected to throw open the gates for others if they meet certain guidelines. The agency gave Vanguard permission to pioneer the dual-share class model more than two decades ago under a patent that expired in May 2023.  Under the change, a mutual fund could offer investors the opportunity to participate in its investment portfolio in the form of an exchange-traded product, known as an ETF share class. Investors would be able to buy and sell the exchange-traded mutual fund shares throughout the day at the market price through their brokerage accounts, rather than waiting for a mutual fund order to settle at the day's closing price. It has the potential to open up access to a host of existing funds to investors who prefer owning ETFs because of their low cost, tax advantages or liquidity. "We see this as a win," said Brian Daly, director of the SEC's Investment Management Division. "We are increasing choice. We are reducing expenses. We are increasing tax efficiency, and we are making the innovation of the ETF – which is now decades old – more accessible to the average retail investor." Offering different share classes of the same mutual fund are not new. Currently these may target different investor groups or carry diverse fee structures. But the change will blur the line between exchange-traded funds and traditional mutual funds. A number of asset managers are likely to follow DFA and add ETF share classes to their top funds, ultimately triggering a surge in the number of new exchange-traded products vying for investor dollars. Currently, an asset manager that wants to offer an ETF has to do so from scratch. That has meant designing a new fund and filing with the SEC for permission to launch. A new fund could not cite the mutual fund's track record in marketing documents.  "This makes it much easier for mutual funds to compete head-to-head with ETFs, because they won't have to wait two or three years to acquire a track record and gather assets slowly over that time," said Brian Murphy, a partner in the investment management practice at Stradley Ronon, who worked on several of the share-class filings submitted to the SEC.  There are about 80 applications similar to Dimensional Fund Advisors' to launch an ETF share class for existing mutual funds, the SEC said. DFA, the first firm to file with the SEC after the expiry of Vanguard's patent in 2023, amended its application for a third time on Friday, containing final modifications sought by regulators. The first approval is "the biggest step and biggest lift,” said an SEC official. The others will largely track DFA’s, and the process is expected to move quickly for others, the official said. The SEC's order would include safeguards aimed at reducing conflicts of interest between the classes and ensuring proper disclosures to investors, the official said. Initially, only a handful of asset managers sought the go-ahead from the SEC to offer an ETF share class after the expiry of Vanguard's patent, with 12 filings submitted by September 2023.  In mid-March, then-acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda told an ICI meeting that he had directed the commission's staff to prioritize their review of the applications, surprising many asset managers and their advisers who had not expected movement before 2026. "What was slow is moving at light speed," Joe Mannon, chair of private fund formation for law firm Vedder Price, told an ETF conference in Las Vegas in March.  (Reporting by Suzanne McGee and Chris Prentice; editing by Megan Davies, Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler)

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(Reuters) -U.S. auto parts maker First Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, burdened by heavy debt from a flurry of acquisitions and stressed finances. First Brands has obtained $1.1 billion in debtor-in-possession financing from its first-lien lenders to support ongoing operations, it said in a statement. The company said that its Chapter 11 cases pertain solely to U.S. operations, and expects its global operations to continue uninterrupted. Financial troubles at the auto parts supplier, coupled with the recent bankruptcy of subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings, have rattled debt investors and stoked fears of broader stress in credit markets, according to bondholders and bankruptcy experts. Bankers and creditors had been racing to restructure First Brands' $6 billion in debt as investor confidence eroded leading up to the filing, with several of its associated companies also declaring bankruptcy. Privately-held First Brands makes replacement components including filters, brakes and lighting systems for the automotive aftermarket, and emerged as a significant player through debt-financed acquisitions of rival auto parts makers. Its well-known brands include Raybestos brake solutions, TRICO wiper blades, and FRAM filtration products. First Brands, which filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas, disclosed assets exceeding $1 billion against more than $10 billion in liabilities. Last week, ratings agency Fitch downgraded First Brands' credit rating, saying the company's options for managing its debt were increasingly limited to off-market solutions. Over the past week, First Brands' loans plummeted in value as its bondholders braced for the group's debt to be restructured. Several Wall Street lenders and hedge funds, including Jefferies and Millennium, are exposed to First Brands' supplier invoice-linked facilities. More than a dozen companies affiliated with First Brands Group, including Carnaby Capital Holdings, filed for bankruptcy protection last week, according to court documents signed by First Brands' owner and CEO Patrick James. The affiliated entities had secured loans that were backed by guarantees from First Brands, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Carnaby Capital Holdings' petition listed assets of over $500 million and liabilities exceeding $1 billion. In addition to its debt, the company has several billion dollars more in financing facilities that are tied to its customers and suppliers, according to a source. (Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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By Sheila Dang, Stephanie Kelly and America Hernandez HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters) -European oil and gas majors BP and TotalEnergies on Monday deepened their commitments to the United States, with BP approving a $5 billion offshore oil field and TotalEnergies buying into an onshore gas field. Higher investment in U.S. oil and gas production aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump's goal to capitalise on the country's hydrocarbon resources. BP, which currently produces around 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, is becoming increasingly reliant on the United States to shore up its oil and gas business following a strategic revamp announced in February to shift spending from renewables to hydrocarbons. INCREASING US EXPOSURE BP has vowed to increase its U.S. production to just over 1 million boed by the end of the decade, or just under half of its global target of 2.3 million to 2.5 million boed in that timeframe. Its $5 billion Tiber-Guadalupe project in the Gulf of Mexico, expected to begin production in 2030, will include a floating 80,000 boed platform to tap into an estimated 350 million boe in recoverable resources, BP said. BP is considering selling minority stakes in Tiber as well as another fully BP-owned Gulf of Mexico project, Kaskida, sources have told Reuters. French rival TotalEnergies said on Monday it would buy a 49% stake in Continental Resources' onshore gas fields in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, for an undisclosed sum. The assets will net it around 150 million standard cubic feet per day of gas by 2030, or about 26,000 boed, helping to secure access to low-cost upstream gas as the company signs deals to deliver the fuel via ship to mostly Asian clients. TotalEnergies is the largest buyer of U.S. liquefied natural gas, purchasing 10 million metric tons per year, but its own output in the United States is much smaller. Its U.S. upstream assets last year produced 93,000 boed, or about 3.8% of Total's global production, far behind its assets in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. This is set to change as Total seeks to balance its U.S. LNG purchases with increasing its own gas production in the country. (Reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston, Stephanie Kelly in London, America Hernandez in Paris. Writing by Shadia Nasralla. Editing by Marguerita Choy, Barbara Lewis and Mark Potter)

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