Paramount, Warner Bros. Face Multistate Lawsuit Seeking to Block Merger

Paramount Skydance's (PSKY) proposed acquisition of fellow media and entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is facing a multistate lawsuit in the US alleging that the roughly $110 billion deal would lessen competition in several areas.

Earlier this year, Paramount entered into an agreement to buy Warner Bros. after streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) withdrew from its proposed deal to purchase the HBO Max owner.

A coalition of 12 state attorneys general filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, seeking to block the deal. The complaint alleges that the transaction violates the Clayton Act, which holds that mergers that may significantly reduce or tend to create a monopoly are illegal.

The deal seeks to combine two of Hollywood's five major film distributors and two of the five major basic cable channel owners. In the US alone, the merged entity would control almost one-third of theatrical motion pictures and one-third of basic cable programming, according to the lawsuit.

"The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US," Bonta said in a statement Monday.

The lawsuit includes the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

Paramount vowed to "vigorously defend" the transaction against what it termed a "fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws" designed to block a combination meant to better compete with dominant platforms like Netflix, a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement.

Competition and foreign direct investment regulators across 24 global jurisdictions have already cleared the deal, according to the statement.

Warner Bros. didn't immediately respond to' request for comment.

Paramount shares were up 2.2% in Monday late-afternoon trade, while Warner Bros. gained 2.4%. Netflix was 1% higher.

The European Commission is reviewing the deal and has set a July 22 provisional deadline for its decision.

Price: $9.63, Change: $+0.22, Percent Change: +2.28%

Singapore Exchange Logs 18-Year High Securities Daily Average Value

Singapore Exchange (SGX:S68) saw a record securities daily average value in the full fiscal year as derivatives and securities products grew in double digits in June, according to a Monday filing by the exchange.Full-year turnover jumped 35% to SG$455.7 billion, while the securities daily average value also rose 35% year over year to SG$1.8 billion, the highest in 18 years.For June alone, securities market turnover increased 72% year over year to SG$44.6 billion in June, while the securities' daily average value also jumped 72% to SG$2.1 billion.The volume of traded derivatives increased 31% year over year to 34.3 million contracts during the month. For the whole financial year, total volume rose 15% year over year to 363.5 million contracts.The exchange also gained access to Japanese equities through the SGX Micro Nikkei 225 Index Futures.SGX also saw an all-time high month-end open interest in India during the month of 297,572 lots, and Chinese equities saw a record half-yearly daily average volume of 529,130 lots.

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New Zealand's Services Sector Returns to Growth After Six-Month Contraction

New Zealand's services sector expanded in June after six months of contraction, as supplier deliveries and new orders returned to growth.The BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index rose to 50.6 in June from 48 in May, just above the 50-point mark which separates expansion and contraction.Supplier deliveries and new orders were the only two sub-indices with readings above 50, at 51.2 and 53, respectively, while sales, employment, and inventories remained below 50 at 49.3, 48.8, and 49.9, respectively."A return to sustained growth depends on consumer confidence rebuilding, and that is unlikely while cost-of-living pressures remain this prominent," said BusinessNZ's CEO, Katherine Rich.Rich said that the recovery is tentative, unlike the strong bounce seen in the manufacturing sector in June, as households are still focusing their spending on fuel, food, and other essentials.BusinessNZ's report noted that the employment indicator has now been "worryingly" in contraction for 31 consecutive months, which is a substantial headwind to employment growth as services employ many more people than manufacturers.BusinessNZ's head of research, Stephen Toplis, said that while the June result is "hardly a spectacular number," it confirms that the trend in growth before the oil shock is resuming.The BusinessNZ Performance of Composite Index, combining both manufacturing and services, had a "solid lift" in June, rising to 51.2 from 48.4 in May on a Gross Domestic Product-weighted basis and increased to 53.6 from 49.9 on a free-weighted basis.

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Update: US Equities Rise, Oil Prices Ease as Trump Confirms Iran Talks

(Updates with market moves at the end of the day and weekly index changes.)US equities rose Friday, rebounding at the end of a mixed week on Wall Street, while oil prices slipped as President Donald Trump confirmed talks with Iran.The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 7,575.4. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% each to close at 52,637 and 26,281.6, respectively. Health care was the sole laggard among sectors, while materials led gainers.The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 logged their second consecutive weekly gains, advancing 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively. The Dow edged down 0.5% from last week after a run of four weekly wins.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.7% at $71.60 per barrel in Friday late-afternoon trade, while Brent ticked down 0.3% to $76.06.US crude futures were on track for their first weekly advance following four consecutive weekly declines. Brent prices were headed for their second straight weekly rise.Trump said Friday that the US agreed to continue negotiations with Iran, although he reiterated that their ceasefire is over.Hostilities between the two countries resumed in recent days, weeks after they reached an interim agreement to end their war.Qatari negotiators travelled to Iran, seeking to de-escalate the situation in a trip that was planned in coordination with the US, CNN reported Friday, citing a diplomat with knowledge of the visit."With oil prices softening following the mid-week spike, traders appear to view the latest tensions as a challenge to the ceasefire rather than a complete breakdown," Saxo Bank said in a report Friday. "Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains low, with no large commodity-laden vessels seen transiting."The International Energy Agency on Friday projected a smaller decline in global oil demand in 2026 amid signs of a rebound in consumption as crude flows improve.US Treasury yields were higher, with the two-year rate up 4.6 basis points at 4.21% and the 10-year rate rising 2.2 basis points to 4.56%.In company news, SK Hynix (SKHY, SKHYV) American depositary shares surged 13% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday. The stock opened traded at $170 and rose to as high as $177. The South Korean memory semiconductor company priced its initial public offering of 177.9 million ADS at $149 apiece.Meta Platforms (META) jumped 6%, the top gainer on the S&P 500. The Facebook parent is aiming to start the production of artificial intelligence chips from September, Reuters reported Thursday, citing an internal memo.Moderna (MRNA) was the worst performer on the S&P 500, down nearly 11%.Gold slipped 0.7% to $4,110.60 per troy ounce, while silver lost 1% to $60.17 per ounce.

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Singapore Exchange Logs 18-Year High Securities Daily Average Value

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Update: US Equities Rise, Oil Prices Ease as Trump Confirms Iran Talks