Shares in Olam Group, an agri-business company, surged by up to 8.85% following the announcement of the sale of its remaining 64.57% stake in Olam Agri to Saudi Agriculture & Livestock Investment (Salic). The company will initially sell its 44.58% stake (1.51 billion shares) to Salic for approximately $1.78 billion, giving the Saudi firm an 80.01% controlling stake in Olam Agri. Olam Group retains the option to sell its remaining 19.99% stake to Salic after three years.
In Australia, shares of Perpetual dropped by 3.62% after the company ended discussions with KKR regarding the sale of its wealth management and corporate trust units, a deal valued at 2.2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion). Perpetual plans to sell its wealth management business separately. The deal with KKR, initiated in May last year, was terminated after an independent expert deemed it not in the best interest of shareholders. KKR claims a break fee is due and has reserved the right to seek further damages, but Perpetual disputes this assertion.
Market expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts have increased, with trading in 30-day fed funds futures contracts suggesting a 55% chance of two to three rate cuts by year-end, down to a range of 3.50% to 3.75% from the current 4.25% to 4.50%. Previously, the odds stood at about 44.4%. By the October policy meeting, there is now a roughly 50-50 chance of a rate cut of one half to three quarters of a percentage point, up from a 38% likelihood indicated earlier.
— news from CNBC