May.25 — Bayer AG has reached verbal agreements to resolve a substantial portion of an estimated 125,000 U.S. cancer lawsuits over use of its Roundup weedkiller, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Tim Loh reports on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.”

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(Bloomberg Opinion) — China’s decision to impose a national security law on Hong Kong has spurred speculation of capital flight and an erosion of the city’s status as an international financial center. As a venue for share offerings, at least, the near-term future is looking bright. For that, the territory can thank worsening U.S.-China relations.U.S.-listed Chinese technology companies are lining up to sell stock in Hong Kong, seeking refuge from an environment that has become increasingly less hospitable. Nasdaq-traded JD.com Inc. and NetEase Inc. are planning secondary listings in the city next month, following a trail blazed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in November. Optimism that more companies will join them drove shares of Hong Kong’s exchange operator up more than 6% on Monday.There’s every reason to expect these stock offerings to do well, and push Hong Kong back up the rankings of the world’s largest fundraising centers. So far this year, the city is the sixth-largest market by capital raised. It topped the table for the whole of 2019 when New York-listed Alibaba sold $13 billion of stock, underscoring the existence of a strong local investor base for China’s most successful companies.The reception for Alibaba suggests that Asian institutional investors want to be able to trade China’s leading enterprises in their own time zone. JD and NetEase are also among the nation’s technology champions. Beijing-based JD competes with Alibaba in e-commerce, while Hangzhou-based NetEase is behind some of the most popular mobile games in China. Beyond these two, search-engine operator Baidu Inc. is considering delisting from Nasdaq and moving to an exchange nearer home, Reuters reported last week. The coronavirus has exacerbated tensions between Washington and Beijing, while scandals such as fabricated sales at Luckin Coffee Inc. have spurred politicians to push for tighter regulation, giving Chinese companies an incentive to list elsewhere.Hong Kong is an obvious choice. The city burnished its appeal for U.S.-traded companies last week when the compiler of the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index said it would change its rules to admit secondary listings and companies with dual-class share structures. Stocks that join the benchmark can expect inflows from passive investors such as exchange-traded funds that track the index.Citigroup Inc. reckons that 23 of the 249 Chinese stocks traded in the U.S. meet Hong Kong’s criteria for a secondary listing, which require companies to have a market value of $5.2 billion or, alternatively, a combination of $129 million in annual sales and a $1.3 billion market cap. JD tops the group with a value of $73 billion.An even more alluring prize would be inclusion of secondary listings in Hong Kong’s stock-trading links with the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, which would enable mainland Chinese investors to buy these shares. Alibaba wasn’t included in the stock connect, to the disappointment of some investors. China’s government could yet decide to make this happen.It’s a reminder that Beijing has levers at its disposal to help shore up Hong Kong’s economy and financial industry, which accounts for a fifth of the city’s gross domestic product — as it did after the SARS epidemic in 2003, when half a million people demonstrated against the Hong Kong government’s first, aborted attempt to introduce national security legislation. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. surged the most in 18 months Monday even as unrest returned to the city. Listing of American depositary receipts may double the exchange operator’s revenue, Morgan Stanley said. The Hang Seng Index, meanwhile, stabilized after slumping 5.6% on Friday.An exodus of businesses, people and capital may yet imperil Hong Kong’s role as an international financial center. The IPO outlook suggests that, rather than a sudden demise, that’s likely to be a long drawn-out process.  This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Nisha Gopalan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and banking. She previously worked for the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones as an editor and a reporter.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Boeing Co (BA) will lay off 400 employees at its aerospace manufacturing facility in Winnipeg as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic."Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boeing previously announced we would adjust the size of our company to reflect new market realities through a combination of voluntary layoffs, natural turnover and involuntary layoffs," Boeing spokeswoman Jessica Kowal said in a statement.Boeing Winnipeg, which employs 1,600 workers is one of the largest aerospace composite manufacturers in Canada. At the site, Boeing produces over 500 end item composite parts for the company’s commercial airplanes. Major products include wing to body fairings, engine strut forward fairings, landing gear doors, and the engine inlet inner barrel of the new 737 MAX. In addition, Boeing Winnipeg designs and manufactures many parts for the 787 Dreamliner.Earlier this month, Boeing reported that it did not receive a single order in April, while it was also grappling with 108 order cancelations for its grounded 737 MAX plane. Commercial airline travel has fallen off a cliff due to coronavirus-induced lockdown restrictions forcing many airlines around the world to ground the majority of their fleets, suspend aircraft deliveries, and streamline operations.Shares in Boeing dropped another 1.1% to $137.53 on Friday taking this year’s slide to 59%.Despite the steep plunge this year, five-star analyst Kenneth Herbert at Canaccord Genuity still sees limited upside potential in the stock. The analyst last week sharply cut Boeing’s price target to $155 from $175, and maintained a Hold rating, saying that the outlook is now very depressed with expectations of more negative news flow.“While BA has come back from the financial cliff, we see limited opportunity for capital allocation to be a catalyst for the stock, and we believe Boeing now has little flexibility to pursue new aircraft programs if necessary,” Herbert wrote in a note to investors. “We are still cautious on Boeing until we get better visibility on the pace of improvement in air travel and when airlines will start to order aircraft again.”Turning now to the rest of the Wall Street, TipRanks data shows that overall analysts are cautiously optimistic on Boeing shares. The Moderate Buy consensus is based on 7 Buy ratings, 11 Hold ratings and 1 Sell rating. The $162.11 average price target implies 18% upside potential in the stock in the next 12 months. (See Boeing’s stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Ryanair Cuts Traffic Target By Almost 50% For Coming Year, Seeks To Reduce Boeing Plane Deliveries Boeing Gets No Orders in April, Customers Cancel 737 MAX Jets Colombian Carrier Avianca Files for Bankruptcy Protection Due to Coronavirus Woes More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Aurinia Submits FDA New Drug Admission For Novel Voclosporin Kidney Treatment * China’s Tencent To Pour $70B Into ‘New Infrastructure’ Including AI * Australia’s New Century In Talks To Buy Vale’s Nickel, Cobalt Mine * New HBO Max Streaming Service Will Go Live on Wednesday

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