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(Reuters) -Long-term Starbucks shareholders have written to the company to resume talks with its workers' union to discuss staffing, wages and other issues, a letter posted on the New York City Comptroller's website on Thursday showed. The letter, signed by Comptroller Brad Lander, Trillium Asset Management, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education and Pensions Investment Research Consultants, was addressed to Starbucks' board members Jorgen Vig Knudstorpand and Beth Ford and called on the company to reach a contract agreement with Starbucks Workers United. "We are concerned that Starbucks' labor relations have significantly deteriorated, as reflected by over one hundred Unfair Labor Practice complaints filed since the beginning of the year, in-store actions, partner walkouts and protests over store closings, and even strikes," the letter said. The New York City pension funds said they were the largest Starbucks stockholders within the group, with about 1.33 million shares. Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment. The union has been at odds with management for months. Talks between Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United, which represents more than 12,000 baristas, began in April last year but have since stalled. In December, union members staged multi-day strikes across several U.S. cities during the peak holiday season. "Over three years have passed since the first successful union election by Starbucks Workers United and yet no contract agreement has been reached," the letter said. The Starbucks' store in Buffalo, New York was the first company-owned location to unionize in the U.S. in December 2021. There are over 650 unionized Starbucks stores currently in the country, according to the SBWU's website. The SBWU republished excerpts from the shareholder letter on its website, without commenting further. Last month, Starbucks said it would shutter underperforming stores in North America, including its flagship unionized outlet in Seattle, as CEO Brian Niccol pushed ahead with a $1 billion restructuring aimed at reviving sales. (Reporting by Shubham Kalia, Mrinmay Dey and Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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By Alun John, Ankur Banerjee and Manya Saini SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) -Fear over credit quality in U.S. regional banks rippled through markets on Friday, dragging global financial stocks lower and reviving memories of the crisis of confidence that shook sentiment just over two years ago. The selloff hit Wall Street, with main equities indexes seeing a mixed open, as investors stayed on edge with banking sector worries adding to anxiety already heightened by escalating U.S.-China trade tensions and renewed worries about the global economic outlook. The banking sector's exposure to two recent U.S. auto bankruptcies has rekindled concerns about lending standards more than two years after Silicon Valley Bank's failure, when high interest rates drove paper losses on its bonds and sparked a global bank stocks rout. Investors are now trying to assess whether recent issues in U.S. credit markets will have a similar effect, as an overnight selloff on Wall Street rippled across Asia and Europe and shone a spotlight on the recent AI-led surge in broader stock markets that some fear could have created a bubble. Some analysts said, at this stage, the concerns around U.S. regional banks appeared idiosyncratic rather than a sign of something more systemic.  "Pockets of the U.S. banking sector including regional banks have given the market cause for concern," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.  "This includes Zions flagging an unexpected loss on two loans and Western Alliance alleging a borrower had committed fraud." MARKETS WHIPSAW Some of the largest U.S. banks fell in Friday trading, closing a week marked by broadly strong earnings on a dour note. The KBW Banks Index, which tracks large-cap banks, fell 0.4%.  White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Friday that banks have ample reserves and that he was optimistic that credit markets could stay ahead of the curve. He added in an interview with Fox Business Network that Trump administration officials led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve's Michelle Bowman are "cleaning things up right now" without providing further details. "What we see in the banks selling off overnight in the U.S., Asia wakes up to it, Europe wakes up to it, and so it spreads," said TD Securities head of global macro strategy James Rossiter. European banks fell almost 3%, with Deutsche Bank and Barclays sliding around 6%, and Societe Generale down 4.6%, after financial firms in Asia, especially Japanese banks and insurers sank. In early U.S. trading, the SPDR S&P regional banking ETF was up 0.4%, a day after the benchmark tumbled 6%, its steepest one-day selloff in six months.  Strong earnings from Truist Financial, Regions Financial, and Fifth Third bolstered investor sentiment, sending most U.S. regional banks higher in morning trading. Zions Bancorp, at the heart of the investor scrutiny, recovered some lost ground, after closing down 13%. Western Alliance was up 2.6% after losing roughly 11% on Thursday.  "Despite growing hopes of further rate cuts this year, attention is turning to the underlying health of the economy, as emerging credit losses amongst America’s regional banks raised further questions about lending practices," said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.  The U.S. KBW Regional Banking Index closed down 6.3% on Thursday.  The latest selloff came after Zions said it would take a $50 million loss on two commercial and industrial loans from its California unit, while Western Alliance disclosed it had initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group V, LLC. Attorneys for Cantor denied the allegations. Credit impairments in private debt have been rising and default rates have hit 5.5%, said Mark Dowding, chief investment officer at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, citing the latest available data for the second quarter.    Despite tenuous gains in U.S. bank stocks, the gloom spread across other pockets of the U.S. financial sector, weighing on mortgage lenders, buy-now-pay-later firms, and brokerages. Analysts say that any cracks in credit on Wall Street are likely to spill over into other areas of the financial sector. Robinhood and Interactive Brokers fell 1.5% and 2%, respectively. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said earlier this week about credit markets: "When you see one cockroach, there are probably more, and so everyone should be forewarned."      BROADER MARKET IMPACT  "The market is clearly priced for perfection," said Bo Pei, analyst at US Tiger Securities. "This leaves sentiment vulnerable, so even isolated negative headlines can trigger outsized reactions like what we saw yesterday."  European bank shares are up some 40% year-to-date. Gold meanwhile hit a fresh record high.  U.S. banks borrowed nearly $15 billion from the Federal Reserve's Standing Repo Facility (SRF) on Wednesday and Thursday, suggesting tightness in meeting funding obligations with large net Treasuries settlement due this week. That was the largest borrowing over a two-day period since the Covid-19 pandemic. On Friday morning, however, banks did not tap the repo facility, although they get another chance to do so in the afternoon. The SRF acts as a liquidity backstop for potential funding shortfalls. Introduced in July 2021 in response to the pandemic, the Fed's facility provides twice-daily overnight cash loans in exchange for eligible collateral such as U.S. Treasuries. "The market has been concerned on a bubble brewing on private credit for the past few months," said Alan Devlin, Global Financials Research Analyst, Impax Asset Management. "The market is basically shooting first, asking questions later." (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore and Alun John in London and Manya Saini in Bengaluru. Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Kevin Buckland, Stella Qiu, Dhara Ranasinghe, Jose Joel, Pritam Biswas and Medha Singh. Editing by Mark Heinrich, Mark Potter and Nick Zieminski)

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By Enes Tunagur and Jonathan Saul LONDON -A majority of countries at the U.N. shipping agency voted on Friday to postpone by a year a decision on a global carbon price on international shipping, after failing to reach consensus on the emissions reduction measure amid U.S. pressure. The decision to delay the deal is a blow to the European Union and other countries including Brazil which have been pushing for the global shipping industry to go greener and set out a price mechanism for decarbonisation.     Washington and Riyadh, the world's two largest oil producers, have strongly opposed a carbon price on shipping during talks in London at the International Maritime Organization. After days of disagreements, Saudi Arabia tabled a motion on Friday to defer discussions for one year, which was passed by a simple majority of 57 countries with 49 opposed who sought to continue with a deal. U.S. President Donald Trump called on IMO member states on Thursday to vote no, saying on his Truth Social platform that Washington would "not stand for this global green new scam tax on shipping and will not adhere to it in any way, shape or form". "The delay leaves the shipping sector drifting in uncertainty," said Faig Abbasov, director of shipping with environmental group Transport & Environment. (Reporting by Enes Tunagur and Jonathan SaulEditing by Peter Graff and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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By Chibuike Oguh and Amanda Cooper NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar was set for a weekly loss against major currencies on Friday, as concern about trade tensions and signs of growing risk in regional American banks drove investors into safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and the yen. The U.S. federal government shutdown has also choked off the release of key macroeconomic data, leaving investors with less certainty than usual about what is happening in the economy. U.S. President Donald Trump said his proposed 100% tariff on goods from China would not be sustainable, but blamed Beijing for the latest impasse in trade talks that began with Chinese authorities tightening control over rare earth exports. Trump also confirmed he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea in an attempt to ease trade tensions.  "There's a bit of safe-haven selling of the dollar," said Steve Englander, Standard Chartered's global head of G10 FX research. "I think there's the news on China, which has been partly but not fully walked back, and the news on regional banks and credit more broadly are sort of hurting the dollar." The U.S. dollar fell to its weakest level against the Swiss franc in a month while the yen erased earlier gains following Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda's discussion of factors that could lead to a rate increase this month. The dollar fell 0.1% to 0.792 against the Swiss franc, dropping to its lowest level since mid-September and was set for the biggest weekly loss since June. Concerns about trade, Federal Reserve independence and the U.S. shutdown are making the dollar vulnerable to the "debasement" trade, where investors seek assets that cannot easily be devalued, Pepperstone research strategist Dilin Wu said. "It's really hard to find a bullish scenario for the dollar index," said Wu. "Instead of betting on any currency by a single sovereign credit, people are rushing into gold, cryptocurrency and other assets as a risk hedge." Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he is on board for another interest rate cut at the U.S. central bank's meeting later this month because of the mixed readings on the state of the job market. The euro was down 0.22% at $1.1661. It was on course for its biggest weekly gain against the dollar in nine weeks. The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against six of its counterparts, headed for a 0.44% slide this week, although it was up 0.26% on the day to 98.51. Japan's lower house scheduling committee board has agreed to hold a parliamentary vote to select the next prime minister on October 21. The yen has been on the defensive since fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi was elected to head Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party this month. But a vote to install her as prime minister was delayed after a split with the LDP's coalition partner. Against the Japanese yen, the U.S. dollar was flat at 150.44, on track to notch a weekly loss. Meanwhile, BOJ Governor Ueda said in Washington on Thursday that the central bank remains ready to increase its key policy rate if the likelihood of its growth and price forecasts materializing increases. Sterling was down 0.2% at $1.3401, heading for a weekly gain. (Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Additional reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Kim Coghill and Timothy Heritage)

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LONDON/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk has appointed U.S. pharmaceutical executive Greg Miley as its new head of corporate affairs, according to a statement he posted on LinkedIn, as the obesity drugmaker faces growing pressure from the Trump administration on drug pricing. Miley, an American, is currently senior vice president of government affairs at U.S. pharmaceutical giant AbbVie. He posted the statement on LinkedIn on Friday and Novo Nordisk shared the statement with Reuters. (Reporting by Maggie Fick in London and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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By Rachel More BERLIN (Reuters) -Porsche lined up ex-McLaren boss Michael Leiters as its likely new CEO on Friday, in a bid to revive the German luxury sports car maker's fortunes and end a dual role for Oliver Blume that had rankled with some investors. Blume, who took the wheel at Porsche a decade ago, has for the past three years also run its parent Volkswagen, during which time both companies have struggled. "Negotiations with Dr. Leiters will be initiated," Porsche said in a statement, adding that leading supervisory board members had authorised talks with Blume on ending his tenure. INVESTOR SAYS COMPANY LISTENING TO CRITICISM Hiring a new CEO is a bid by Porsche to improve its performance as it faces global tariffs, falling Chinese demand and a costly reversal back to combustion engines from electric. Only three years ago, Porsche's market value was the second highest in German history and the carmaker was Europe's most valuable, worth 83 billion euros ($97 billion).  Once a cash-cow for Volkswagen, Porsche's profit margin has shrivelled, its share price has fallen by more than half and it tumbled out of the blue-chip DAX index last month. Meanwhile, Volkswagen's share price is down more than a third. Porsche shareholder DWS welcomed the apparent early end of Blume's dual role as an important signal to the markets. "It shows that repeated criticism has finally been heard," said Hendrik Schmidt, Head of Stewardship and Governance at DWS, which holds about $34 million in Porsche stock. "However, it is clear that even with new leadership, the old challenges must be tackled: Porsche must now deliver on the e-mobility track and the sales situation in China must also improve," Schmidt added. Porsche shares were up 1.2% after the company named Leiters as Blume's potential successor. Shares in Volkswagen, which did not respond to requests for comment, were up 1.7%. Leiters, a well-known figure in the sports car world after roles at McLaren, Porsche and Ferrari, could be appointed as Porsche CEO as early as Friday and start in 2026, German magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported. Leiters, who left McLaren in April after its merger with EV start-up Forseven, was previously chief technology officer for Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari between 2014 and 2019. Before that at Porsche he was instrumental in developing the successful Cayenne model during a 13-year stint as SUV director. "His background appears well aligned with Porsche's sports car and SUV DNA," said Metzler analyst Pal Skirta. PORSCHE, VOLKSWAGEN STRUGGLE IN CHINA Porsche's fortunes have reflected a wider malaise in Germany's once dominant car industry and its broader economy, which has struggled to grow and battled high costs, tariffs and fierce foreign competition. Porsche has toiled particularly in China and Blume recently announced a costly strategy reversal away from EVs and back to the combustion engine models that made it famous. Porsche's sales in China have slumped by nearly a third since hitting a record of 95,671 in 2021. Its China sales were down 26% in the first three quarters of this year from the same period in 2024 and accounted for just 15% of its total, as consumers rejected Porsche's electric vehicles in favour of Chinese futuristic sporty alternatives. Volkswagen has also suffered in China, where its sales fell to 2.8 million cars in 2024, from nearly 3.7 million in 2020. For years, Volkswagen was China's No. 1 automaker, but was overtaken by BYD in 2024. At its current rate of growth, China's Geely appears set to knock Volkswagen into third place in 2025. "This step has come far too late and a lot of time has been wasted," said Ingo Speich of German mutual fund firm Deka Investment, which holds about $48 million of Porsche stock. "Blume must win back the trust of the capital market. He must push ahead with the restructuring and deliver on the announced models and targets," Speich added. Blume, who is seen as close to the Porsche/Piech dynasty that controls Volkswagen via the Porsche SE holding company, told Germany's OMR business podcast last month that he works around 70 hours a week to manage both Porsche and Volkswagen. ($1 = 0.8554 euros)  (Additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Friederike Heine and Matthias Williams; Editing by Mark Potter, Elaine Hardcastle and Alexander Smith)

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By Stine Jacobsen, Bhanvi Satija and Sriparna Roy COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Shares of weight-loss drug makers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the price of Novo's popular Ozempic treatment would be lowered.  Although Ozempic is approved to treat diabetes, it has been frequently used in the United States as a so-called off-label treatment for obesity and often served as a generic reference to weight-loss drugs. The drug shares the same active ingredient – semaglutide – as the Danish drugmaker's blockbuster obesity treatment Wegovy. Since taking office in January, Trump has been striving to narrow the gap between U.S. and foreign drug prices. Under its "most favored nation" policy, the U.S. government will require drugmakers to charge patients in the country no more than in other wealthy nations. NEGOTIATING LEVER Novo's shares fell to a near three-week low of 342.30 crowns, and were last down 6.3% to 343 crowns. Shares in rivals dropped as well, with Lilly down more than 3% and Zealand Pharma down nearly 7%. Viking Therapeutics was down about 2%. The comment from Trump has investors worried about a worst-case scenario for the obesity landscape, said Kevin Gade, chief operating officer at investment firm Bahl & Gaynor. Trump made the comments during a White House event on Thursday, where he announced a deal with Germany's Merck to cut the cost of some drugs needed for in-vitro fertilisation in exchange for protection from future tariffs. Trump was asked by reporters to identify the drug that he said earlier at the event would be made less expensive. "I was referring to Ozempic, or – I was referring to – the fat loss drug?…. They'll be much lower," Trump said. Trump has earlier said that under his administration's plans, the price of Ozempic would be reduced to $150 from $1,300. Ozempic has a list price of about $1,000 for a month's supply, but is sold directly by Novo to cash-pay customers for $499 per month. Mehmet Oz, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and was at the event on Thursday, said the agency had not yet finished negotiating the price for the GLP-1 class drugs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, and Lilly's Mounjaro. Bernstein analyst Courtney Breen said Trump's comment seem like a "negotiating lever", adding that this would also set a new precedent for upcoming oral launches for the obesity drugs, providing little space for price differentials. "We do remind investors, that we are watching a private negotiation play out in public here, and the $150 price is not yet set-in stone," said Breen. It's hard to know if Trump said that to bring the obesity players to the negotiating table or if he truly believes that will be the final price, said Bahl & Gaynor's Gade. A Novo spokesperson said the company was in discussions with the Trump administration over the "most favored nation" order.  Lilly also said it is in discussions with the administration, and did not have any specific details to share. UBS analysts said they had already factored potential U.S. price cuts into their forecasts. "If the prices mentioned by President Trump end up being the negotiated prices then this would be more than captured by our numbers," they wrote. (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, Bhanvi Satija in London and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru. Editing by Terje Solsvik, Mark Potter and Shinjini Ganguli)

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(Reuters) -Meta said on Friday it will let parents disable their teens' private chats with AI characters, adding another measure to make its social media platforms safe for minors after fierce criticism over the behavior of its flirty chatbots. Earlier this week, the company said its AI experiences for teens will be guided by the PG-13 movie rating system, as it looks to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content. U.S. regulators have stepped up scrutiny of AI companies over the potential negative impacts of chatbots. In August, Reuters reported how Meta's AI rules allowed provocative conversations with minors. The new tools, detailed by Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, will debut on Instagram early next year, in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, according to a blog post. Meta said parents will also be able to block specific AI characters and see broad topics their teens discuss with chatbots and Meta's AI assistant, without turning off AI access entirely. Its AI assistant will remain available with age-appropriate defaults even if parents disable teens' one‑on‑one chats with AI characters, Meta said. The supervision features are built on protections already applied to teen accounts, the company said, adding that it uses AI signals to place suspected teens into protection even if they say they are adults. A report in September showed that many safety features Meta has implemented on Instagram over the years do not work well or exist. Meta said its AI characters are designed not to engage in age-inappropriate discussions about self-harm, suicide or disordered eating with teens. Last month, OpenAI rolled out parental controls for ChatGPT on the web and mobile, following a lawsuit by the parents of a teen who died by suicide after the startup's chatbot allegedly coached him on methods of self-harm. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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By Joel Jose (Reuters) -UBS Global Wealth Management upgraded its stance on global equities to "attractive", citing expected productivity gains from AI spending and a supportive policy backdrop."Structural trends remain firmly in place. The wave of strategic partnerships among leading AI players reinforces our confidence in a sustained capex cycle and greater revenue visibility", UBS said in a note on Thursday.The AI boom has spurred a wave of high-profile deals involving Big Tech and Silicon Valley startups in recent weeks.Global equities have climbed to record highs, driven by optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates early enough to avoid a recession. The MSCI World Index, which is dominated by U.S. stocks, has risen about 15.5% from its April lows, rebounding after a selloff sparked by recession fears following President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs.The brokerage also raised U.S. equities to "attractive" from "neutral", adding that the rally still has room to run.The U.S. stock market's bull run reached its three-year mark recently, powered by AI enthusiasm and, more recently, expectations of interest rate cuts. However, investor worries over high valuations and bubble risks have grown.Separately, UBS lifted its 2025 year-end target for the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index to 6,900 from 6,600, aligning with a string of upward revisions from peers, citing resilient corporate earnings and a more dovish Fed. The current target implies about a 4% upside to the index's last close of 6629.07 points. (Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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