TOP NEWS
* The U.S. House of Representatives will investigate four major e-cigarette makers about the health effects of their products amid tightening scrutiny over the vape industry, Reuters reported. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee reportedly sent letters to Altria Group Inc.-backed Juul Labs Inc., Fontem Ventures BV, Japan Tobacco Inc. and British American Tobacco PLC's Reynolds American Inc.
* Meat and food products company Hormel Foods Corp. said its third-quarter adjusted diluted EPS was 37 cents, down 5% year over year but above the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate of 36 cents. For the quarter ended July 28, net sales decreased year over year to $2.29 billion from $2.36 billion. The company also reaffirmed its full-year earnings guidance.
FOOD RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
* German discounter Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG said it is set to roll out reusable net bags for unpacked fruit and vegetables across 3,200 outlets in Germany, beginning Aug. 26.
* Supermarket chain operator Coles Group Ltd. reported that group EBIT, excluding hotels and significant items, for fiscal 2019 declined 8.1% year over year to A$1.33 billion from A$1.44 billion. Group sales revenue, excluding fuel sales and hotels, rose 3.1% year over year to A$35 billion from A$33.96 billion. Coles also said its board declared a fully franked dividend of 35.5 cents per ordinary share, payable Sept. 26.
* British grocer Tesco PLC plans to ban products that have too much non-recyclable packaging from its stores beginning in 2020, The Guardian reported, citing CEO Dave Lewis.
* Amazon.com Inc. launched a Hebrew-language website to recruit sellers in Israel to its platform, Reuters reported, citing a company statement. The company, which did not disclose how many local vendors have registered on the platform, only said it plans to fully launch its business in Israel "soon."
* Amazon.com launched a 3 million-square-foot campus building in Hyderabad, India, its largest campus in the world. The site, which is the online retailer's first owned office building outside of the U.S., will house more than 15,000 employees.
* U.K. online grocery retailer Ocado Group PLC said there was some disruption to picking and some customer orders have had to be canceled due to a small fire at its customer fulfillment center in Erith, London. A hopper container for waste packaging caught fire and was later extinguished. The incident follows a fire at the company's automated warehouse in Andover, England, in February.
BEVERAGES
* Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd., a unit of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., agreed to acquire Brisbane-based craft brewer Green Beacon Brewing Co. for an undisclosed sum.
TOBACCO & SMOKING PRODUCTS
* Indian tobacco company ITC Ltd. is considering acquiring a stake in Bengaluru-based coffee chain Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd. in a bid to diversify its business, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. ITC and Coffee Day did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's requests for comment.
PACKAGED FOODS
* Snack maker The Simply Good Foods Co. said it will acquire protein bar maker Quest Nutrition LLC for $1 billion in cash, or approximately $870 million net of tax benefits.
* Nestlé SA said it will invest 1 billion reais to install new technologies and a production line at its existing facilities in São Paulo, Brazil, over the next three years.
* Japanese seasonings and frozen food producer Ajinomoto Co. Inc. agreed to acquire a 50.1% equity stake in U.S. sauces producer More Than Gourmet Inc. from Culinary Group Holdings LLC to enhance its business in North America. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
* The a2 Milk Co. Ltd.'s revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30 increased 41.4% year over year to NZ$1.30 billion. The dairy company said it will exit its liquid milk operations in the U.K. during the first half of fiscal 2020 but said it expects continued growth in revenue for full year 2020, backed by its increasing brand and marketing investment in China and the U.S.
RESTAURANTS
* Restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc. partnered with food delivery Grubhub Inc. on a delivery-only restaurant concept, dubbed Whole30 Delivered, which will offer healthy food consistent with the Whole30 diet.
* Yum China Holdings Inc. said it signed an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Chinese-style casual dining franchise business Huang Ji Huang for an undisclosed sum. The deal, expected to close in early 2020, would allow Yum China to expand its Chinese dining business.
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The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, Hang Seng dropped 0.84% to 26,048.72, while the Nikkei 225 gained 0.05% to 20,628.01.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 fell 0.59% to 7,161.28, and the Euronext 100 was down 0.39% to 1,050.52.
On the macro front
The jobless claims report, the PMI composite FLASH report, the leading indicators report, the EIA natural gas report, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing index, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply 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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