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NY court halts vaping ban; Constellation Brands Q2'20 EPS beats estimates

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NY court halts vaping ban; Constellation Brands Q2'20 EPS beats estimates

TOP NEWS

* New York's appellate court has put a temporary stay on the state's ban on sales of flavored e-cigarettes. According to a Reuters report, the stay will remain in place until Oct. 18 when the Supreme Court in Albany hears a case brought by a trade group seeking a preliminary injunction on the ban.

* Constellation Brands Inc. reported second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2020 that beat analysts' expectations and raised its full-year non-GAAP EPS estimates. The Victor, N.Y.-based maker of beer and wine posted comparable, or non-GAAP, EPS of $2.72 for the quarter ended Aug. 31, above the S&P Global Market Intelligence mean consensus estimate for normalized EPS of $2.62.

FOOD RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION

* Food retailer J Sainsbury PLC announced that it will sell only 100% free-range eggs in its U.K. stores and online, starting April 2020. The supermarket operator sells about 800 million eggs a year, equivalent to 2.2 million eggs a day, it said.

* Costco Wholesale Corp. fiscal fourth-quarter as-reported earnings fell below expectations although comparable sales met estimates. Diluted EPS of $2.47 for the period to Sept. 1 missed the S&P Global Market Intelligence mean consensus estimate for GAAP EPS of $2.55. Comparable sales advanced 5.1%.

* Japanese workers at Uber Eats, the food-delivery arm of Uber Technologies Inc., have formed a labor union to negotiate better working conditions, contract terms and wages with the ride-hailing giant, Kyodo News reported. The union, formed by 17 platformers, reportedly represents about 15,000 Uber Eats employees in the country.

BEVERAGES

* Coca-Cola Co. unveiled a bottle made from 25% recycled marine plastic from the Mediterranean, produced in partnership with Ioniqa Technologies, Indorama Ventures and Mares Circulares. The soda-maker said it plans to introduce the recycled marine plastic content in some of its bottles by 2020.

* Fitch Ratings revised the outlook of Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev SA to positive from stable and affirmed its long-term issuer default rating and senior unsecured rating at BBB. The outlook reflects management's shift toward a more creditor-friendly financial policy and Fitch's expectations that this stance is maintained well into 2021.

* Starbucks Corp. is paying a premium totaling $20 million to more than 8,000 farmers in Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala as a cushion against falling coffee prices globally, Bloomberg News reported, citing Michelle Burns, senior vice president of global coffee and tea at the coffee giant.

TOBACCO & SMOKING PRODUCTS

* Delaware state health officials confirmed the first vaping-associated death in the state. The Delaware Division of Public Health noted that there are 11 cases of vaping-related lung injury in Delaware. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said illnesses and deaths related to vaping rose to 1,080 across 48 states and one U.S. territory as of Oct. 1. The CDC confirmed 18 deaths across 15 states.

* The Federal Trade Commission said it is seeking information from six e-cigarette manufacturers regarding how they advertise and sell their products. The U.S. agency sent orders seeking information to Juul Labs Inc., R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., Fontem US Inc., Logic Technology Development LLC, NJOY LLC and Nu Mark LLC, which is owned by Altria Group Inc.

* Altria Group, through its licensing agreement with Philip Morris International Inc., is set to launch a heat-not-burn device, IQOS, in Atlanta, CNBC reported. The news comes after the Marlboro-maker and Philip Morris ended their merger talks but agreed to focus on launching IQOS in the U.S.

PACKAGED FOODS

* PepsiCo Inc.'s division Frito-Lay Inc. will replace its diesel-powered freight equipment with zero- and near-zero-emission technologies at its Modesto, Calif., manufacturing site. The move is in line with PepsiCo's target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2030.

* The J. M. Smucker Co. issued a recall for specific lots of its Robin Hood All Purpose Flour due to possible E. coli contamination. The company said the affected products were distributed across the U.S., and the recall does not impact Robin Hood items sold in Canada.

* French private equity firm PAI Partners is considering acquiring The Hain Celestial Group Inc.'s U.K. arm, Hain Daniels Group, which produces brands including Mary Berry desserts and Sun-Pat peanut butter, Sky News reported, citing sources. The terms of the deal and any potential price remain unclear, the report said.

* Vietnam Dairy Products JSC, known as Vinamilk, is aiming to start exporting milk products to China by mid-October in a bid to tap into the country's $60 billion-a-year dairy market, Bloomberg News reported. The company reportedly said it is seeking to grow net profit by 2.5% to 10.48 trillion dong and sales by 7% to 56.3 trillion dong. It did not provide a time frame.

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The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 1.11% to 25,821.03, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.32% to 21,410.20.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.35% to 7,102.21, and the Euronext 100 increased 0.27% to 1,057.94.

On the macro front

The employment situation report, the international trade report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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