Chip stocks bounce back as OpenAI files for Wall Street float – business live

And finally…

The UK competition watchdog has opened an investigation into Paramount Skydance's $110bn (£82bn) takeover of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).

The deal will create a media powerhouse controlling assets including the Paramount and HBO Max streaming services, Channel 5 and TNT Sports, which broadcasts Champions League, Premier League and the Olympics, the Hollywood studios behind franchises including Superman, Batman and Top Gun, as well as HBO, home to shows including Game of Thrones, The White Lotus and Succession.

Here’s the full story:

Existing-home sales in the US accelerated to their fastest pace of the year in May.

Sales rose by 3.2% to an annualized rate of 4.17 million last month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, beating forecasts.

“More Americans are on the move, with home sales rising to the highest level since December,†said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.

“This is great news for the housing market and the economy.â€

The US trade deficit has narrowed, thanks to the Iran war.

The trade deficit fell to $55.9bn in April, down from $56.6bn, thanks to a rise in exports which outpaced an increase in imports.

The increase in exports was largely due to the surge in petroleum exports since the Middle East conflict disrupted supplies from the region.

Exports of goods increased by $8.7bn to $221.3bn in April, the US Census Bureau and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported, including a $6.4bn jump in crude oil exports.

They say:

Capital goods increased $4bn, including:

• Computers increased $2.5bn.

• Civilian aircraft increased $1.0bn.

Industrial supplies and materials increased $2.5bn, including:

• Crude oil increased $6.4bn.

• Fuel oil increased $1.3bn.

• Other petroleum products increased $1.0bn.

• Nonmonetary gold decreased $5.8bn.

• Other precious metals decreased $1.9bn.

Consumer goods increased $1.7bn.

Grace Zwemmer, US economist at Oxford Economics, says:

The strength in exports relative to imports provides some upside risk to our forecast for net trade to pose a 0.6ppt drag on GDP in Q2

Zwemmer added that capital goods imports, including computers, computer accessories, and semiconductors, remain strong thanks to ongoing demand for AI hardware, saying:

The reliance on electronics equipment from abroad means that AI spending has had a marginal impact on GDP so far.

US chip company shares are rallying in early trading, following the recovery on South Korea's market overnight.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector (SOX), which tracks America's semiconductor industry, is up 1.8% in early trading, adding to its 5.6% gains on Monday.

Intel's shares are up 2.1%, while Nvidia are 0.5% higher.

This follows a sharp fall in chip share prices on Friday, which saw the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged -10.26%.

That was one of its worst days on record, as Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank explains:

That marked its worst day since March 2020 and… the fourth-worst session since data for the index is available in 1994, spanning more than 8,000 trading days. Notably, the five worst days now include two from 2000, two from 2020, and now one from 2026.

Wall Street has opened higher, as technology shares continue to recover from last week's sell-off.

The S&P 500 shares index has risen by 40 points, or 0.55%, in early trading to 7,446 points, with the tech-focused Nasdaq up 0.75%.

Investors may be keen to ‘buy the dip' after losses last week, which culminated in sharp losses after a strong US jobs report on Friday.

Oxford Economics told clients:

This is the correction we flagged: a healthy unwinding of stretched sentiment. It's an attractive opportunity to add to long US equity positions, particularly in AI.

Paramount has pledged to work constructively with the CMA as the regulator probes its $110bn takeover of Warner Bros.

A Paramount spokesperson said in an emailed response to Reuters.

“Today's milestone is consistent with our expected timeline. We look forward to continuing to work constructively with the Competition and Markets Authority and all regulatory agencies as they advance their review process.â€

Neil Woodford's firm has hit out at the City regulator for taking legal action against the former star investor and his new online platform for allegedly doling out unauthorised investment advice.

Woodford's UAE-registered company W4.0 has issued a statement this afternoon, saying they had purposefully set up the company to ensure it would not have to deal with the UK regulator.

W4.0 says:

We were clear about W4.0's purpose from the start: to inform and educate subscribers and to provide the research, analysis, and commentary they need to make their own decisions.

We deliberately informed readers that we were not regulated and did not provide financial advice. Like other publishers and platforms offering this kind of information, it was built to sit outside the regulatory perimeter, and we remain confident that it does.

Consequently, we do not accept the FCA's characterisation of the service.

The statement also claimed that the FCA publicly announced its legal action before serving the company with proceedings “before any proceedings have been served on us, and before the dialogue we have been engaged in for the past nine months was concludedâ€.

W4.0 said that it had been trying to understand which of the features on the site needd to be regulated, adding that it “ made changes and adjustments in response to accommodate the FCAâ€, adding:

We have continued to engage with it to seek a resolution. We would have continued the dialogue, and it is regrettable that the FCA has chosen to litigate instead.

Woodford's company indicated it would not be halting operations – a move which could put it on a collision course with the FCA. The company said:

Informed by subscriber feedback, we will continue to build the features, education, information, analysis and insight that W4.0 was created to provide, and we will have more to share with subscribers in due course.

UK oil giant BP has announced a restructuring, which appears to relegate its renewable energy division.

BP, which surprised the City by parting company with its chairman last week, is reorganizing into two business segments — upstream and downstream — as it tries to simplify its operations.

Upstream will include BP's oil and gas regions, including exploration, development and production activities. Basically, the part of the company that finds and extracts fossil fuels.

Downstream will be the part of the business which moves and sells BP's products to customers – that includes refining, terminals, pipelines, mobility and convenience, biofuels, aviation, hydrogen and its lubricant business Castrol.

But what about solar and offshore wind? They, BP says, will sit in its Technology division, as the company “continues to advance a capital-light model in these areasâ€.

This shake-up replaces BP's current three-segment scructure: production and operations (P&O), gas and low carbon energy (G&LCE), and customers and products (C&P).

Meg O'Neill, who became BP's chief executive two months ago and outlined today's restructure in mid-April, says:

“Over the past two months, I have spent time with our teams, partners and investors around the world, and I am encouraged by the strong support for our strategic direction. Focusing BP around two distinct segments is an important step in accelerating delivery. It will reduce complexity and strengthen execution.

“BP has an incredibly capable team, with deep expertise across the oil and gas value chain. We are capitalizing on opportunities across our portfolio, strengthening the balance sheet and unlocking sustainable growth. We are moving firmly towards a simpler, stronger and more valuable BP.â€

There are signs that institutional investors are stockpiling cash ready for OpenAi, SpaceX and Anthropic to float on the stock market.

Wall Street bank BNY has spotted that money fund assets have grown significantly in recent weeks.

They told clients that money market fund assets under management jumped more than $109bn last week, to a record $7.89tn.

That could be partly because such funds are offering higher yields, but another factor could be that investors are gathering “dry powder†to deploy into upcoming IPOs.

BNY say:

Institutional investors may be building cash ahead of high-profile IPOs, including SpaceX's offering expected later this week.

The Bank of England has warned the public against falling for AI-generated scams after deepfake videos of Nigel Farage fighting its governor spread online.

Andrew Bailey, the head of the BoE, said AI-generated content related to central banks was spreading and urged people to be “vigilantâ€.

He spoke out after the videos of the Reform UK leader and Bailey fighting on the set of BBC One's Question Time appeared on the social media platform X.

Confidence among small US companies has fallen again, as they face rising costs from the Iran war.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, which tracks morale in the sector, fell by 0.6 points in May to 95.3.

The Uncertainty Index rose 3 points from April to 91, remaining well above its historical average of 68.

“AI investment spending has contributed to some excitement in the economy,†said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg.

“Despite the enthusiasm around AI, the overall picture is divided. More small business owners are struggling with significant and unpredictable hikes in fuel prices, which are more challenging for small businesses to pass on to their customers compared to their larger corporate competitors.â€

Britain's competition authority has opened an inquiry into Paramount Skydance's $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery.

The Competition and Markets Authority has decided to begin a Phase 1 investigation into the deal, and will decide by 7 August whether to refer the merger for a more detailed “phase 2 investigationâ€.

The CMA had previously invited interested parties to submit comments on the impact that the deal could have on competition in the UK.

The deal would combine two Hollywood studios, and also bring news networks CNN and CBS together.

IF a hypothetical phase 2 inquiry were to find competition concerns, the CMA could demand changes to the deal; potential remedies include divestments.

In April, WBD shareholders voted to back the deal, which has already been agreed by both board's companies after Paramount fought off a rival bid from Netflix.

Analysts have warned that the merger could result in thousands of job losses, and stifle creative innovation in Hollywood.

Two months ago, more than 1,000 film and TV industry professionals including Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, Yorgos Lanthimos and Kristen Stewart signed an open letter warning that the deal will “prioritise the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public goodâ€.

The merger has also put the Ellison family – close allies of Donald Trump – under the spotlight. Paramount's CEO, David Ellison, is the son of billionaire Larry Ellison who created tech giant Oracle.

Air passengers are increasingly putting lives at risk by filming emergencies and retrieving bags instead of evacuating planes, industry experts have said, with some suggesting fines could be needed.

Passenger aircraft are designed to be fully evacuated in 90 seconds in an emergency – but people reaching for hand luggage can significantly increase that time, blocking exits and aisles as well as damaging slides or causing injury.

The global airlines body Iata has launched a safety campaign urging customers to “save a life, not a bagâ€after a number of evacuations filmed by passengers have appeared on social media, some showing people carrying luggage from burning planes.

Nick Careen, the Iata senior vice-president for operations and security, said the first priority was to educate passengers that it was “most important to leave hand baggage behind. We need to drive the message home.â€

London's stock market is lagging behind the rest of Europe, due to the lack of tech companies listed in the City.

Germany's DAX index is up 0.5% while France's CAC is 0.75% higher, and Italy's FTSE Mib has gained almost 2%.

In Frankfurt, chipmaker Infinion (3.6%) are among the top risers, while STMicroelectronics (+1.5%) is among the stocks making gains in Paris.

Strong demand for AI-related products led to a surge in China's exports last month, new data shows.

China's exports rose by 19.4% year-on-year in May, up from 14.1% in April, with chip exports more than doubling on an annual basis.

China's exports of hi-tech products (50.9%), semiconductors (110.9%), automatic data processing machines (66.0%), mobile phones (44.3%), autos (39.3%), and ships (31.0%) continued to grow strongly in May, reported Lynn Song, ING's chief economist for Greater China.