The daily business briefing: November 26, 2019

1. Alibaba shares jump after Hong Kong debut

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's new Hong Kong-listed shares jumped by 7 percent early Tuesday. The secondary listing, at $22.5 per share, was the largest offering in the world this year, beating out the $8 billion raised by Uber in May, although Saudi Aramco's December listing is expected to become 2019's biggest. Alibaba issued 500 million ordinary shares, and 75 million "greenshoe" options. "When Alibaba Group went public in 2014, we missed out on Hong Kong with regret," Daniel Zhang, CEO and chairman of Alibaba, told investors in a mid-November letter. "Hong Kong is one of the world's most important financial centers." Alibaba's offering gave the Hong Kong market a boost after turmoil stemming from the Chinese-ruled city's pro-democracy protests.

CNBC

2. Charles Schwab agrees to buy TD Ameritrade

Charles Schwab Corp. on Monday reached a deal to buy TD Ameritrade for $26 billion in an acquisition that creates a giant brokerage with $5 trillion in assets under management. Analysts expect the purchase to force smaller rivals to seek their own mergers to compete in an industry already shaken by price wars. Schwab, a pioneer in low-cost investing, has been on the front lines, last month becoming the first major brokerage to eliminate commissions. Fidelity Investments, E*Trade, and TD Ameritrade then matched the move. "In a low, or no fees world ... the pressure will be on other financial services rivals to try to keep up, or to gain further scale themselves," Bankrate.com senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick said.

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Reuters

3. Stocks rebound from last week's losses to hit record highs

U.S. stocks jumped to record highs on Monday on mounting indications that the U.S. and China are near a "phase one" deal to end their trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.7 percent to close at a record. The S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent, also hitting an all-time high. The Nasdaq had the biggest day, rising by 1.3 percent and closing at a record level. President Trump noted the records and tweeted: "Enjoy!" Monday's gains came after several rough days last week when all three of the main U.S. indexes snapped multi-week winning streaks as expectations of a trade deal weakened.

CNBC

4. Powell says Fed unlikely to raise rates soon

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled Monday that the central bank was unlikely to hike interest rates anytime soon. Powell said in a speech to the Greater Providence (Rhode Island) Chamber of Commerce that the economy was in good shape, but persistent low inflation — below the Fed's 2 percent target — made it unnecessary to nudge rates higher. The central bank has lowered its benchmark short-term rate three times this year to give the economy a boost and continue the country's record-long expansion, now in its 11th year. Powell said the rate cuts had helped by boosting home purchases, and that keeping the expansion going was key to helping workers who saw meager wage gains in the first half of the economic recovery.

MarketWatch Reuters

5. Uber loses license to operate in London, again

London's transit authority on Monday declined to renew Uber's license to operate in the British capital, citing a "pattern of failures" on safety and security. The move marked the second time in two years the ride-hailing company has lost its right to carry paying passengers in the city, one of its key markets. Uber said it would appeal the decision, which it called "extraordinary and wrong." It can keep operating pending a final ruling. The regulator, Transport for London, found "several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk," including thousands of trips in which passengers were picked up by someone other than the driver advertised after unauthorized people managed to upload their pictures to others' accounts.

The Associated Press Reuters