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By Arasu Kannagi Basil (Reuters) -Insurance technology firm Exzeo Group said on Thursday it was targeting a valuation of up to $2 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, becoming the latest company to proceed with its listing plans despite the ongoing government shutdown. The Tampa, Florida-based company is aiming to raise as much as $176 million in its IPO by offering 8 million shares priced between $20 and $22 apiece. With no resolution in sight for the federal government shutdown, some corporate issuers are turning to the rarely used 20-day rule to pursue IPOs. The SEC last week eased the IPO path for companies during the government shutdown, though legal advisers say the shift will not open the floodgates. "While the SEC’s updated guidance issued last week was welcome, its utility is really limited to a handful of companies," said Edward Best, co-head of capital markets group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Companies moving ahead with IPO roadshows and pricing now are those that are near the end of SEC review and confident they won't receive major new comments, he added. Earlier this year, Exzeo parent HCI Group had announced its plans to pursue a spin-off of the insurance tech firm, before pivoting to an IPO. Exzeo's current structure is "not ideal for either valuation purposes or competitive reasons", HCI Chief Financial Officer Mark Harmsworth had said in August. Previously known as TypTap Insurance, Exzeo provides technology to streamline and automate the interaction between insurance carriers and their policyholders. TypTap Insurance had been pursuing an IPO since 2021, but shelved the plan in 2023. Exzeo aims to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "XZO". Truist Securities, Citizens Capital Markets and William Blair are the joint bookrunning managers for the offering. (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Tasim Zahid)

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(Reuters) -Oracle said on Thursday it expects cloud infrastructure revenue to be $166 billion in fiscal 2030. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

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By Suzanne McGee and Ateev Bhandari (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told Reuters that it was "unclear" whether the dozens of recent filings by asset managers to issue highly leveraged ETFs would be approved by the agency. Since the U.S. government shutdown began, "the agency has received a large number of registration statements for ETFs seeking to offer 3x and 5x leveraged, equity-linked exposure," said Brian Daly, director of the SEC's division of investment management.  "It is unclear whether these ETFs would comply with the Derivatives Rule (Rule 18f-4), which generally limits leverage to 2x." On Wednesday, ETF issuer Volatility Shares filed to launch a total of 27 highly leveraged ETFs, including the first-ever proposed 5x ETF for the U.S. market, in a move that raised eyebrows amid widespread concerns over inflated asset prices.  A 5x target means that an ETF would seek to quintuple the daily return of an underlying single stock. Until now, the SEC has approved single-stock leveraged ETFs with a maximum of 2x. The SEC's response comes as a partisan shutdown in Washington has forced the agency to function on skeletal staffing, limiting its ability to review corporate filings, investigate misconduct, and oversee markets. "It is reassuring to see that, despite the shutdown, the SEC continues to monitor new ETF filings and take note of those that could be potentially problematic for retail investors and for the ETF industry as a whole," said Amrita Nandakumar, president of Vident Asset Management, a firm that works with ETF issuers. A concentration of investor assets into leveraged ETFs has fueled caution across the market, highlighted by last week's broad-based selloff after U.S. President Donald Trump escalated the trade war against China. While such leveraged ETFs are designed to amplify the return of the underlying stock or index, a fall in the price of the indexed asset can force liquidations. "Of those launched more than three years ago, over half have closed and 17% have lost over 98% of their value over their lives," said Bryan Armour, ETF analyst at Morningstar, referring to the dangers of leveraged ETFs. A JPMorgan report estimated that some $26 billion of selling from leveraged ETFs at Friday's close exacerbated the downward spiral. A Reuters analysis of SEC filings found that Volatility, whose filings included a 3x and a 5x offering on bitcoin treasury pioneer Strategy, proposed its filings to go effective 75 days after submitting.  "This SEC administration has been more amenable to new strategies coming to market, but 5x leveraged single-stock ETFs will test those limits," Armour added. SEC staff will not be able to review the new filings until after the shutdown is over, the agency's Daly added. Volatility did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Reporting by Suzanne McGee; Editing by Mark Porter and Philippa Fletcher)

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(Reuters) -Electronic Arts' "Battlefield 6" has hit all-time highs for franchise sales during the first three days of its launch, selling over seven million copies, the video game publisher said on Thursday. EA was betting on the latest "Battlefield" title to restore the franchise's reputation and loosen the dominance of "Call of Duty," published by Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard, in the first-person shooter genre. "Battlefield 6" was launched on October 10, weeks after EA agreed to a $55 billion sale to a Saudi-backed investor group in a deal fueled by its prized gaming portfolio. The game had over 172 million matches played online and accumulated over 15 million hours watched on streaming services over the three-day weekend, EA said in a statement. It recorded the highest number of concurrent players ever for "Battlefield." "Battlefield 6's" Season 1 will be released on October 28. Seasonal content will be rolled out regularly, with the next two phases of the season arriving later this year. EA's other shooter games such as "Apex Legends," "Titanfall" and "Star Wars Battlefront" have lost steam, forcing it to rely on one of its best-known franchises to attract consumers who are sticking with proven titles amid tariff-led economic worries. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

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By David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chair of the House Select Committee on China said Thursday that a licensing agreement for use of the TikTok algorithm as part of a deal by Chinese-based ByteDance to sell U.S. assets of the short video app would raise "serious concerns." Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican, is waiting for a briefing to get more details on the deal that White House officials said previously would include the new owners of TikTok's U.S. assets licensing the algorithm. "I think anytime you have (China) with leverage over the algorithm, I think that's a problem," Moolenaar said at a forum. TikTok did not immediately comment. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 25 declaring the plan to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors meets the national security requirements set out in a 2024 law and gave them 120 days to complete the transaction. "I just believe you have to have a new algorithm, and I don't know that you can reprogram," Moolenaar added, pointing to technology experts saying that it is unclear precisely what is in the algorithm. "I would say it's still very much a work in progress." Trump last month delayed until January 20 enforcement of the law banning the app used by 170 million Americans unless its Chinese owners sell it. Trump's order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company's security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture. The agreement on TikTok’s U.S. operations includes the appointment by ByteDance of one of seven board members for the new entity, with Americans holding the other six seats. ByteDance would hold less than 20% in TikTok U.S. to comply with requirements set out in the 2024 law that ordered it shut down by January 2025 if ByteDance did not sell its U.S. assets. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper, Editing by Franklin Paul)

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By Alexander Marrow AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Nestle's new CEO Philipp Navratil has started with a bang, announcing 16,000 job cuts and a portfolio review that could see brands sold or partnered off as the world's largest packaged food company looks to focus on fast-growing areas. Nestle's shares leapt 9.3% on Thursday, the biggest daily rise since 2007, as investors welcomed the plans after a period of management turmoil for the KitKat-to-Nescafe maker that saw both the CEO and chairman depart in a month. CEO Laurent Freixe was fired over an office relationship, with Chairman Paul Bulcke stepping down shortly after to make way for former Inditex chief Pablo Isla. STRUGGLING UNITS: TO FIX, PARTNER, OR SELL? Navratil is looking to sharpen the company's focus that could put parts of an empire that spans vitamins, pet food, coffee, confectionery, bottled water and more on the chopping block. "I will consistently review every part of our portfolio with an open mind," Navratil said alongside third-quarter results, adding this meant looking at whether brands are growing, the returns are attractive and if Nestle is the market leader. "If our assessment concludes that one or … (another) business does not meet the criteria I described, we will act, whether that means fixing, partnering or selling." NESTLE: A $245 BILLION MARKET CAP FOOD GIANT Nestle, with a market value of about $245 billion, competes with the likes of Unilever, P&G, Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo and Danone. Coffee brands Nescafe and Nespresso form a key part of Nestle's top business unit, Powdered & Liquid Beverages, which accounted for 18.4 billion Swiss francs ($23.1 billion), or almost 28%, of sales for January-September. PetCare, with brands such as Felix and Purina, had 13.6 billion francs of sales in that period and led on real internal growth, a measure of sales volume that Nestle uses. NESTLE REVIEWING CERTAIN UNITS, BRANDS FOR POTENTIAL SALE Nutrition & Health Science includes Nestle's Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements (VMS) division. In VMS, premium brands grew strongly in the nine months, but a weaker performance across some mainstream brands offset that. Nestle is reviewing low-growth, low-margin VMS brands like Nature's Bounty, Puritan's Pride and Osteo Bi-Flex that together generate around 1 billion francs in annual sales. It is also reassessing its Water business, which includes Sanpellegrino and Vittel, accounting for under 4% of total sales. KitKat is Nestle's stand-out Confectionery performer and in Prepared Dishes and Cooking Aids, it's Maggi seasoning. ($1 = 0.7957 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Alexander Marrow in Amsterdam. Editing by Adam Jourdan and Mark Potter)

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By Manya Saini, Arasu Kannagi Basil and Ateev Bhandari (Reuters) -U.S. regional bank stocks fell on Thursday after Zions Bancorporation disclosed it would take a $50 million loss in the third quarter on two commercial and industrial (C&I) loans from its California division. The disclosure added to growing investor unease about hidden credit stress as lenders navigate elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty. "The optics of a large balance C&I loan to a fraudulent borrower from a bank that specializes in small balance C&I loans is not great, and puts into question Zions' underwriting standards and risk management policies," Raymond James analysts said in a note. The bankruptcies of auto parts maker First Brands and subprime lender Tricolor, and recent fraud allegations, have put a spotlight on the risk controls of banks and the opaque credit market, where complex loans and new facilities have made it harder to gauge participants' exposure. "Following the prominent bankruptcies of Tricolor and First Brands, bank investors are rightfully on high alert for any change in asset quality trends," KBW analysts wrote in a note. IDIOSYNCRATIC RISKS Some analysts still see the collapses as idiosyncratic and tied to individual borrowers, rather than systemic. But the cases are fueling unease. "Bankruptcies and fraud are natural in markets, but it doesn't always lead to something systemic," said David Wagner, head of equities at Aptus Capital Advisors. Shares of Zions were down 8.6% in afternoon trading. The bank said it expects to recognize the charges in the third-quarter and has filed a lawsuit in California to recover the loans. "Zions faces the challenge of showing that this is a one‐off event and not indicative of broader supervision or credit control weakness," said Brian Mulberry, senior client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management. Western Alliance's stock pared some losses after the bank disclosed it had initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group V, LLC. The Phoenix, Arizona-based bank said it is providing additional information about one of its credit relationships after a recent peer bank 8-K filing. The lender sought to reassure investors, saying its total criticized assets — credit identified as weak — were lower than on June 30. Its shares were last down 7.8%. "If further disclosures reveal more losses or related exposures, the risk is that the broader regional banking index — or weaker names — gets re-rated aggressively downward," Mulberry added. The broader regional banking index fell nearly 4%. TEST OF TRANSPARENCY Wall Street analysts drew parallels of Zions' disclosure with the collapse of auto parts maker First Brands, which exposed gaps in lenders' oversight and raised questions about credit market transparency. Brokerages pointed to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's comments this week about anxiety in the credit market following the bankruptcies of First Brands and subprime lender Tricolor. As major global lenders file unsecured claims, the issue has become a key test of transparency and management in the rapidly expanding private credit market. JPMorgan wrote off $170 million in the third quarter related to the Tricolor bankruptcy and said it was reviewing its controls, with Dimon describing the bank's exposure as "not our finest moment". "When you see one cockroach, there are probably more, and so everyone should be forewarned," Dimon said. (Reporting by Manya Saini, Arasu Kannagi Basil and Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Lananh Nguyen, Tasim Zahid and Arun Koyyur)

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By Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit (Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were mixed on Thursday, as financial companies dragged while chip stocks extended their rally following a strong quarterly update from TSMC that reinforced investor optimism around AI. TSMC raised its full-year revenue forecast on a bullish outlook for spending on artificial intelligence. U.S.-listed shares of the world's biggest producer of advanced chips fell 1.6% after rising more than 2% premarket. Shares of some major U.S. chipmakers also advanced, building on gains from Wednesday when ASML's solid quarterly results and a $40 billion data center deal by BlackRock and a Nvidia-backed group fueled optimism around AI. Nvidia rose 1%, Micron Technology added 5.6% and Broadcom gained 1.1%. The S&P 500 tech sector rose 0.4%. Salesforce rose 4.1% as it forecast revenue of more than $60 billion for 2030, above Wall Street estimates. "The Nasdaq is having a pretty good day, being driven higher by the semiconductors and the software side of things," said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. "There has been some concern about the potential for AI to automate software functions and so I think the market is unwinding some of those concerns today." The AI-driven momentum and optimism around U.S. interest rate cuts have helped markets in recent months. Robust earnings from major U.S. banks also grabbed attention this week, offering fresh signs of economic resilience at a time when official macroeconomic reports remain delayed due to an ongoing government shutdown. At 11:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63.60 points, or 0.14%, to 46,189.71, the S&P 500 lost 6.93 points, or 0.10%, to 6,664.13 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 16.33 points, or 0.07%, to 22,686.41. The S&P 500 financials index declined 1.3%. The S&P 500 insurance index dropped 3.3% to an over two-month low. Insurers Travelers and Marsh & Mclennan reported quarterly results and fell 3% and 6.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, investors were awaiting developments on the U.S.-China trade front after tensions resurfaced on Friday over China's rare earth export curbs. China accused the U.S. on Thursday of stoking panic over its rare earth controls and rejected a White House call to roll back the curbs. Top U.S. officials on Wednesday had called the controls a threat to global supply chains, while stressing that Washington did not want to escalate the conflict. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, emphasized on Wednesday that Trump was ready to meet his Chinese counterpart in South Korea later this month. Data showed the Philadelphia Fed Business Index for October declined 12.8, compared with a rise of 8.5 estimated by the economists polled by Reuters. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he supported an additional interest rate cut in October due to mixed readings on the state of the job market. Among other moves, Hewlett Packard Enterprise slumped 10.5% after it forecast annual profit and revenue below Wall Street expectations. J.B. Hunt shares jumped 19.3% after a higher third-quarter profit. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.43-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and nine new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 103 new highs and 56 new lows. (Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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(Reuters) -Ford Motor is recalling 59,006 vehicles that are equipped with engine block heaters for fire risks, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday. The U.S. auto regulator said the engine block heater in certain vehicles may crack and develop a coolant leak, causing it to short-circuit. The recall covers certain vehicles, including the Lincoln MKC, Explorer, Fusion, Bronco Sport, and Maverick vehicles, NHTSA added. Ford was not aware of any reports of accidents or injuries related to the recall, according to the NHTSA notice. (Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Rashmi Aich)

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By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. homebuilder sentiment jumped to a six-month high in October amid hopes that declining mortgage rates would stimulate demand for housing and help reduce an inventory overhang that has hampered new housing construction. Economic uncertainty and a lackluster labor market are, however, likely to offset some of the anticipated boost to demand from lower borrowing costs. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report on Wednesday described economic activity as little changed in recent weeks and said demand for labor was generally muted. "Mortgage rates have fallen only slightly over the last three months and households remain anxious about the job market outlook, suggesting demand will remain weak ahead," said Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "A meaningful recovery in housing demand, construction and transactions is unlikely before mid-2026." The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index increased five points to 37 this month, the highest reading since April, the NAHB said on Thursday.  But it remained below the 50 breakeven point for the 18th straight month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index edging up to 33. Higher mortgage rates have dampened housing demand, resulting in a glut of unsold new homes on the market. Mortgage rates have eased as the U.S. central bank resumed cutting interest rates. But the decline has not led to a surge in home buying as economic worries keep prospective buyers out. "The housing market has some areas with firm demand, including … ongoing solid conditions for the luxury market," said NAHB chairman Buddy Hughes. "However, most home buyers are still on the sidelines."  HOUSING MARKET CONDITIONS REMAIN CHALLENGING The survey is the latest to highlight what some economists are calling a K-shaped economy, where high-income households are driving much of activity. The Fed's Beige Book noted strong "spending by higher-income individuals on luxury travel and accommodation." Higher goods prices from tariffs on imports as well as a stagnant labor market are hampering spending by lower-income and some middle-income households. The NAHB survey's measure of current sales conditions increased four points to 38 this month, while its gauge of future sales jumped nine points to 54. A measure of prospective buyer traffic posted a four-point gain to 25. Builders continued to reduce house prices to lure buyers. Thirty-eight percent reported cutting prices. The average price reduction rose to 6%, the largest cut in a year, after averaging 5% for several months.  New housing inventory decreased in August after hovering for several months at levels last seen in late 2007.  The government shutdown amid a standoff over funding has suspended the collection and publication of economic data.  It has also impacted the processing of flood insurance coverage, with realtors warning of severe disruptions to home sales in many states, including Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.  The NAHB estimated new single-family building permits rebounded in September after plunging in August to the lowest level in more than two years. "Based on modeling of historical data, the October increase for the HMI suggests an approximate 3% increase for the September single-family permit data on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis," said NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz.  (Reporting By Lucia Mutikani, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nia Williams)

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