HONG KONG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Falls in Chinese property stocks pushed Asian shares down for a fourth day on Thursday, reversing initial gains, while the dollar was in the doldrums floating within its recent range.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was last down 0.8%, and 2.8% lower on the week, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) shed 0.71%, but after hitting a 31-year high on Monday.

Futures suggested a mixed open for European equities, with the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.17% but FTSE futures were 0.04% lower. U.S. stock futures S&P 500 e-minis were 0.09% lower.

In Asia, the Hong Kong benchmark (.HSI) led the declines, sliding 2.08% to its lowest since the end of October, as Chinese property developers' shares were hurt by the sense that the endgame for embattled developer China Evergrande Group's (3333.HK) was edging closer.

The company, which has total liabilities of more than $300 billion and is...

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A boom in corporate dealmaking, surging input costs and a focus on short-term cash flows in the pandemic have sent companies rushing to hedge their currency exposures this year, giving a boost to banks that sell foreign exchange products.

Corporate treasurers say the pandemic, which sent revenues tanking in 2020 before this year's sharp rebound, has encouraged many to hedge currency risks more frequently.

Relentless supply chain pressures, and a sharp rise in raw material and other input costs that are mostly denominated in U.S. dollars, are reasons for companies to lock in prices too.

And a surge in mergers and acquisitions as the recovery takes hold is also lifting corporate demand for foreign currencies. Global dealmaking is running at a record high this year, with $3.9 trillion of deals already transacted by early September, according to Refinitiv data.

Multinational firms are among those to have increased their foreign...

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Biofuel producers are seeking last-minute changes to a proposal to boost production of sustainable aviation fuel tucked in the Democrat's $3.5 trillion spending plan that they say will allow the nation's farmers to join the emerging multi-billion market.

The changes center on how the carbon-saving benefits of producing the fuel are measured, and could force the White House to choose between environmental groups who believe using land and food supply for fuel squanders earth's resources, and farm and agribusiness groups hoping to benefit from the push to stop climate change.

The White House said last week it wants to cut aircraft greenhouse-gas emissions by 20% by decade's end by significantly boosting the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Currently, less than 1% of the roughly 21.5 billion gallons of jet fuel burned each year in the United States is SAF, but the White House set a target of 3 billion gallons by 2030.

It has backed a...

SHANGHAI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China's regulatory crackdown has ensnared sectors from technology to education to property, wiping hundreds of billions off the market capitalisations of some of its largest companies and putting investors on alert over who may be next.

Here are some of the largest names that have been affected so far:

ALIBABA GROUP (9988.HK)

The woes of China's biggest e-commerce company began in late 2020 when China abruptly suspended the record $37 billion stock market debut of its financial affiliate Ant Group and later fined Alibaba $2.75 billion for abusing its market dominance.

The company's U.S.-listed shares have shed more than $400 billion in value since late October, when its founder Jack Ma made a speech that blasted China's regulatory system, which is widely regarded as the trigger for the government backlash that followed.

Alibaba's sprawling empire of businesses has continued to face heat from regulators, over issues...

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street indexes were set to open flat on Thursday, with economically sensitive sectors likely to gain as retail sales rose more than expected, indicating resilience in economic recovery.

S&P and Dow index futures pared losses after a report from the Commerce Department showed retail sales unexpectedly rose in August, heralding positive trends in consumer spending, which is a key factor in gauging economic strength. read more

Data on Wednesday had also shown a dip in import prices, which coupled with a recent reading that showed consumer prices were slowing, implied that inflation had likely peaked and would fall to more manageable levels eventually.

But stocks have struggled to hold on to record highs hit earlier this month due to seasonally weaker trends in September, as well as concerns that the economic recovery could lose steam towards the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the labor market remained under pressure, with data on...

PARIS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - France will look to ensure any financial hit to Naval Group from a cancelled Australia submarine deal is limited, French Armed Forces Florence Parly said on Thursday.

Parly did not rule out France seeking compensation from Australia.

"We are studying all avenues," Parly told French radio RFI when asked whether France might seek compensation.

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) said it would close all 11 franchise food stores it runs with partner SFH in France over the coming months after new trade rules in place since Britain left the European Union hammered product availability.

The group said on Thursday that its remaining nine franchise stores, run with Lagardere Travel Retail (LAGA.PA), will continue to trade and the pair were working on a sustainable future business model.

M&S Chairman Archie Norman has been complaining for months that the retailer has struggled to get goods into EU members Ireland and France since Britain left the EU's single market at the beginning of the year, due to the huge amount of additional paperwork that was required. read more

"M&S has a long history of serving customers in France and this is not a decision we or our partner SFH have taken lightly," said Paul Friston, M&S' international director.

"However, as...

SHENZHEN, China, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Wu Lei says his small construction company in central China has accepted commercial paper from property developer Evergrande (3333.HK) as payment for two years but with that paper's value now in doubt, his firm is on the verge of collapse.

China Evergrande Group, saddled with more than $300 billion in total liabilities equivalent to 2% of China's GDP, is in the throes of a liquidity crisis that has it scrambling to raise funds to pay its many lenders and suppliers.

Wu, 35, was one of around a hundred protesters who descended on the headquarters of the country's No. 2 real estate developer in Shenzhen this week desperately seeking assurances of payment.

"We were working for Evergrande, so our suppliers trusted us with the materials without us paying upfront. Now they're suing me, courts have frozen my property and I've sold my car. And I still have employees who need to be paid," he said.

The plight of Wu and many...

Sept 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. government recently released its annual report on the health of Social Security. Not surprisingly, that was met with a slew of doomsday forecasts from pundits and media.

Social Security will soon be insolvent! Insolvency is coming years earlier than we thought! Benefit cuts are a real possibility!

These panicky predictions appear every year when the trustees overseeing Social Security issue their report on the financial health of the program, and this year was no exception. The pandemic-induced recession of 2020 added a new twist, since many forecasters were predicting before the report was released that COVID-19 would dramatically worsen the financial outlook for Social Security.

Guess what: it didn’t happen. But the U.S. Congress does need to address a long-range imbalance in Social Security finances - and lawmakers should expand benefits in a targeted way while they are at it.

Last year, the dramatic fall in employment and...

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) plans to build a biofuels facility in the Netherlands to help achieve its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, it said on Thursday.

The facility in Rotterdam will be able to produce 820,000 tonnes of renewable fuel per year when it starts production in 2024 and is expected to be one of Europe's largest such facilities, the energy giant said.

The plan follows Shell's pledge in February to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050, raising its ambition from previous targets in the face of growing investor pressure to battle climate change. read more

Sustainable aviation fuel could make up more than half of the Rotterdam plant's capacity, with the rest for renewable diesel, depending on customer demand.

The facility will produce the fuels from waste in the form of used cooking oil, animal fat and other residual products.

Sustainable vegetable oils like rapeseed will supplement the waste feedstocks...

Sept 16 - A look at the day ahead from Danilo Masoni.

As pressure builds on China's tech and real estate moguls and its economic growth falters, markets worldwide are starting to get uneasy. But it's Europe, with its export-oriented economy and supercharged luxury stocks reliant on affluent Asian shoppers, which is likely to feel the most genuine pain.

The STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) has fallen 1% so far in September, twice as much world stocks (.MIWO00000PUS), and while Europe broadly is still in favour with investors and research analysts, the index has slipped all the way down to July lows.

Wall Street's strength overnight could trigger a relief bounce this morning, but the China woes are far from over.

The worsening crisis at China's No. 2 property developer Evergrande has sent its shares to decade lows, pushed Asian stock markets to their fourth day of losses. Trading in Evergrande bonds has been suspended. And virus outbreaks are clouding travel plans...

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - On (ONON.N) has burst out of the IPO blocks at a blistering pace. Shares of the Roger Federer-backed Swiss sneaker company popped 50% on debut in New York on Wednesday, giving it an $11 billion valuation. With plenty of rivals on its heels and potential political headwinds in China, it may be priced for a sprint, not a marathon.

The tennis maestro bought a stake in the 11-year-old company two years ago. Since then, its track record is stellar, powered mainly by the pandemic boom in running. Sales have grown 60% a year, and the pace may have picked up even more this year - revenue in North America, On’s biggest market, doubled from a year ago in the first six months.

That said, an $11 billion valuation, equivalent to 13 times On’s expected sales of about $800 million this year, looks like an overstretch. Sports behemoth Nike (NKE.N), currently worth $249 billion, trades on a lowly 5 times this year’s sales. Meanwhile $54...

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Malaysia said on Thursday audit firm KPMG has agreed to pay a 333 million ringgit ($80.11 million) settlement to resolve all claims related to their fiduciary duties on auditing of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) accounts from 2010 to 2012.

The finance ministry said in a statement that the settlement will conclude a lawsuit filed against the auditor in July, and that KPMG will expedite the payment.

KPMG confirmed to Reuters in an email that a settlement has been reached in the claim filed against a number of defendants including some partners of the audit firm.

"This settlement represents a collective agreement by all the parties, including the Malaysian government," it said.

The outcome, it said, will enable all involved to "move forward and focus on other important business, health and economic issues", and for the firm to focus on building public trust.

The finance ministry said the settlement was valued at...

TOLEDO, Spain, Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. online retail giant Amazon (AMZN.O) will more than double its payroll in Spain to 25,000 workers by 2025 from 12,000 last year, Mariangela Marseglia, Amazon's vice president and general manager for Spain and Italy, said on Thursday.

She added that Amazon will raise the number of its logistics centres in the country to 40 by the end of this year from 31 now.

The retail and logistics giant also said it will train 50,000 small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs to sell their products online by the end of 2025.

(This story corrects surname to "Marseglia" from "Marsiegla")

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Cigarette maker Philip Morris (PMI) (PM.N) has clinched the roughly 1-billion-pound takeover of inhaler maker Vectura (VEC.L) after winning the backing of about 75% of shareholders in the British company, part of its expansion beyond tobacco.

Vectura shareholders had until Sept. 15 to decide whether to support the 165 pence-per-share bid from PMI, which sought to buy the London-listed asthma drug maker as part of its plan to go "smoke-free" and switch to healthcare and wellness products.

"We have reached an important milestone in our acquisition of Vectura and are pleased to have secured over 74% of the company's shares, in excess of the 50% required to make our offer unconditional and PMI the majority shareholder," PMI Chief Executive Jacek Olczak said in a statement on Thursday.

PMI had received the shares from shareholders through a public tender offer process, and the cigarette maker's offer for Vectura cannot be withdrawn...

TOKYO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Japan's exports extended double-digit gains in August, led by strong shipments of chip manufacturing equipment, although the pace of growth weakened as COVID-19 hit key Asian supply chains and slowed factory production.

The trade growth is unlikely to dispel worries about the outlook for Japan's economy, which has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels after taking an enormous hit from a collapse in global trade in the first quarter of 2020.

Exports rose 26.2% in August compared with the same month a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday, marking the sixth straight month of double-digit growth as strong demand for chip-making equipment offset slowing U.S and European Union-bound shipments of cars.

However, the growth was slower than the 34.0% expected by economists in a Reuters poll and the 37.0% advance in the previous month.

"Exports have been driving the economy. The recovery scenario for Japan's economy...

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Beijing’s crackdown on Jack Ma’s fintech giant continues, but there may be some silver linings to the latest wrinkle, Robyn Mak tells Pete Sweeney. Meantime Dasha Afanasieva explains what a cigar spinoff at Swedish Match and carveouts at Royal DSM have in common.

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LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Michael O’Leary is cranking up the mind-games. A week after easyJet (EZJ.L) asked shareholders for 1.2 billion pounds to bolster its balance sheet and revealed a spurned takeover approach, the chief executive of arch-rival Ryanair (RYA.I) is laying out his plans for domination of Europe’s skies. The Irishman on Thursday raised his long-term passenger forecasts by 12.5%, predicting 225 million “guests” a year by 2026, compared to 149 million in the year before the pandemic. Citi analysts reckon that will take Ryanair’s market share to 20% from 13% two years ago.

That puts the spotlight on 5 billion euro easyJet and slightly larger rival Wizz Air (WIZZ.L), widely reported to be easyJet’s mystery suitor. With Ryanair on a charge, there’s more pressure on the pair to join forces. That might even be to O’Leary’s advantage. Wizz’s ultra-low-cost model is at odds with easyJet’s slightly plusher offering. A merger could make Wizz less...

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The United States will struggle to meet President Joe Biden's climate goal to decarbonize the power grid by 2035 as technology and policy take time to develop, natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday.

Biden, who took office in January, has reversed many of his predecessor Donald Trump's energy policies, rejoined the Paris agreement on climate and set a goal of making the U.S. power grid run on 100% clean energy by 2035.

But the U.S. grid will more likely get only 66% of its energy from emissions free sources like wind, solar, green hydrogen and nuclear power by then as technologies take time to develop, Wood Mackenzie said in a report.

Biden's goal is still important in prompting efforts to fight emissions that cause climate change, said David Brown, Wood Mackenzie's Americas head of markets and transitions.

"Even reaching for that target is a real positive, and it's going to push companies, and...

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - European shares opened higher on Thursday, though market participants were still cautious after Asian equities fell for a fourth consecutive day, and as focus turns to key U.S. data due later in the session.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index led the declines in Asia, dropping to its lowest level so far this year, and Chinese shares sank as investors dumped property and consumer stocks over fears that the liquidity crisis at China's Evergrande Group could affect the broader economy.

The group's main unit, Hengda Real Estate Group Co Ltd, applied to suspend trading of its onshore corporate bonds following a downgrade. read more

Global stock markets have struggled to make gains so far this week, hurt by worries about the global economic recovery. Unexpectedly weak data from China on Wednesday reinforced investor bets that global growth is slowing due to COVID-19 and supply chain constraints. read more

The MSCI world equity index...

HONG KONG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Falls in Chinese property stocks pushed Asian shares down for a fourth day on Thursday, reversing initial gains, while the dollar was in the doldrums floating within its recent range.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was last down 0.8%, and 2.8% lower on the week, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) shed 0.71%, but after hitting a 31-year high on Monday.

Futures suggested a mixed open for European equities, with the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.17% but FTSE futures were 0.04% lower. U.S. stock futures S&P 500 e-minis were 0.09% lower.

In Asia, the Hong Kong benchmark (.HSI) led the declines, sliding 2.08% to its lowest since the end of October, as Chinese property developers' shares were hurt by the sense that the endgame for embattled developer China Evergrande Group's (3333.HK) was edging closer.

The company, which has total liabilities of more than $300 billion and is...

HONG KONG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) has raised fresh warnings of default risks, as it scrambles to raise funds to pay lenders and suppliers with regulators and financial markets worried that any crisis could ripple through China's banking system and trigger social unrest. read more

WHAT IS EVERGRANDE?

Founded in 1996 by Chairman Hui Ka Yan in Guangzhou, Evergrande is China's second-largest property developer with $110 billion in sales last year.

The company listed in Hong Kong in 2009, helping it grow its asset size to $355 billion today. It has more than 1,300 developments across the nation, many in smaller cities.

With sales growth slowing in recent years, Evergrande has branched into businesses such as electric cars, football, insurance and bottled water.

HOW DID CONCERNS ARISE OVER DEBT?

Investors became worried in September last year after a leaked letter purportedly from the company showed Evergrande had...

SHANGHAI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China's regulatory crackdown has ensnared sectors from technology to education to property, wiping hundreds of billions off the market capitalisations of some of its largest companies and putting investors on alert over who may be next.

Here are some of the largest names that have been affected so far:

ALIBABA GROUP (9988.HK)

The woes of China's biggest e-commerce company began in late 2020 when China abruptly suspended the record $37 billion stock market debut of its financial affiliate Ant Group and later fined Alibaba $2.75 billion for abusing its market dominance.

The company's U.S.-listed shares have shed more than $400 billion in value since late October, when its founder Jack Ma made a speech that blasted China's regulatory system, which is widely regarded as the trigger for the government backlash that followed.

Alibaba's sprawling empire of businesses has continued to face heat from regulators, over issues...