By Joan Faus BARCELONA (Reuters) – Now you see him, now you really, really don’t. “It was magic,” said former Barcelona mayor Xavier Trias, of how Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont appeared at a rally in central Barcelona on Thursday and then, embarrassingly for authorities, disappeared. Puigdemont, 61, faces an arrest warrant for alleged embezzlement over his role in holding an illegal referendum on independence for Catalonia in 2017. Nonetheless, he returned to Spain as … Read more…

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Nasdaq surged more than 3% on Thursday as U.S. stocks rallied after U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected in the latest week, soothing worries the labor market was weakening too quickly. The S&P 500 was up more than 2%, with technology-related megacaps giving it the biggest boost. The technology sector rose 3.5%, with communication services sector up 2.5% in afternoon trading. Among the S&P 500’s biggest gainers, … Read more…

(Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had agreed to three presidential debates in September and was awaiting a response from Democrat Kamala Harris’ campaign. “We’ve agreed with Fox on a date of September 4th, we’ve agreed with NBC … on September 10th, and we’ve agreed with ABC on September 25th,” Trump told a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “I hope she agrees,” Trump added. (Reporting by … Read more…

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) – An options strategy that bets on individual stocks logging larger-than-expected moves after corporate results was winning big this earnings season but is among many that has been derailed by this week’s volatility spike. The strategy involves buying options straddles – which combine a put and a call options purchase – on shares of a company ahead of its earnings report. Data from ORATS showed the strategy worked … Read more…

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. stocks were lower in choppy trading on Wednesday afternoon, rising early with technology shares and then falling in tandem with them as investor jitters were stoked by weak demand in a 10-year Treasury auction. With investors still nervous after a recent steep selloff in global stocks, equities pared early gains further after the Treasury auction. Wall Street then turned red, and the S&P technology index was last down … Read more…

By Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is drawing attention from U.S. Republicans – and within China – for his long history with a country seen as Washington’s greatest economic and military rival. Attacks from supporters of the Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, started after Harris announced on Tuesday that Walz – who taught in China after college and has traveled … Read more…

(Reuters) – Piper Sandler has agreed to pay a total of $16 million as a civil penalty to U.S. regulators to resolve investigations into its record-keeping practices, the investment banking firm said on Tuesday. The firm will pay $14 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and $2 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to settle probes into unapproved business-related communications on messaging platforms, according to a company filing. The SEC … Read more…

By Harry Robertson LONDON (Reuters) – The sharp sell-off in tech stocks has created opportunities to buy into profitable companies at a cheaper price, the chief investment officer of HSBC’s private bank said on Tuesday. The tech-focused U.S. Nasdaq 100 index dropped 3% on Monday, as investors fretted about the U.S. economy. It has slid 12% from a record high in July, with some investors also worried that artificial intelligence has been overhyped. “In technology, … Read more…