By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was among those affected by a wide-ranging hack centered on a piece of software called MOVEit Transfer, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

The report comes as the hackers behind the massive breach claimed credit for stealing data from two major law firms, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and K&L Gates LLP.

The ransomware gang known as cl0p posted the names of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and K&L Gates LLP to its leak site, typically a sign that negotiations between the victims and the hackers had broken down.

The hackers' claims could not immediately be verified. Kirkland and K&L did not immediately return messages left after hours. A spokesperson for HHS could not immediately be reached.

HHS' name did not appear among cl0p's list of purported victims. The group has previously insisted it doesn't deliberately steal data from government organizations, but that doesn't mean that data hasn't been compromised.

Bloomberg cited a person familiar with the incident at HHS as saying that tens of thousands of records could have been exposed.

Cl0p didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.

Believed by researchers to be a Russian-speaking group of hackers, cl0p was recently able to gain access to a wide swathe of organizations' data by compromising MOVEit Transfer, a file commercial management tool made by Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS).

Speaking to Reuters ahead of the latest claims, Jon Clay, the vice president for threat intelligence at cybersecurity firm TrendMicro, described cl0p as a resourceful group with little incentive to stop its shakedown spree.

"They aren't going away," he said. "Unless the heat gets on them very bad."

By Akash Sriram and Noel Randewich

(Reuters) -Apple's stock climbed to a record high close on Wednesday and was on the cusp of a $3 trillion market capitalization.

The iPhone maker's stock rose 0.6% to end the day at $189.25, putting Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s market value at $2.98 trillion, according to Refinitiv data. It was the second straight record high close for Apple's shares.

Apple has yet to end a trading session with a stock market value above $3 trillion. It briefly peaked above $3 trillion in intra-day trading on Jan. 3, 2022 before closing the session just below that mark.

The latest gains in shares of the world's most valuable company follow strong rebounds this year from several of Wall Street's technology-related heavyweights, fueled by bets that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its campaign of U.S. interest rate hikes, and by optimism about the potential for artificial intelligence.

"There hasn't really been any new information fundamentally that would be supportive of the stock move," said Thomas Martin, Senior Portfolio Manager at Globalt Investments. "What you're left with is, you know, the market itself."

Apple has jumped 46% in 2023, while Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has surged 185%, making it the first chipmaker with a stock market value over $1 trillion. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Meta Platforms have more than doubled this year, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has added 40%.

Apple's approach toward its $3 trillion milestone follows the June 5 launch of a pricey augmented-reality headset, its riskiest bet since the introduction of the iPhone more than a decade ago.

As well, Apple's most recent quarterly report in May showed a drop in revenue and profits, but still beat analysts' expectations. Along with a steady track record of stock buybacks, those financial results reinforced its reputation among investors as a safe investment at a time of global economic uncertainty.

Recent gains in Apple's shares have outpaced analysts' estimates for the company's future earnings. The stock is now trading at about 29 times expected earnings, its highest multiple since February 2022, according to Refinitiv data.

(Bloomberg) -- US new-home sales advanced in May to the fastest pace in over a year, bolstered by limited inventory in the resale market.

Purchases of new single-family homes increased 12.2% to an annualized 763,000 pace last month, government data showed Tuesday. The figure marked the third-straight monthly advance and beat all but one estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

While new homes make up a much smaller share of overall housing stock than older construction, owners’ reluctance to list their homes in a high interest-rate environment has altered the makeup of home purchases. 

Builders are rushing to create more inventory to satisfy pent-up demand, driving a surge of groundbreakings and helping new-home sales reach levels above those seen before the pandemic.

The number of homes sold in May and awaiting the start of construction — a measure of backlogs — rose for a third month to the highest since January 2022.

Inventory Levels

There were 428,000 homes for sale as of the end of last month, roughly in line with prior readings this year. That represents 6.7 months of supply at the current sales rate, the lowest since February 2022.

High mortgage rates remain a key affordability concern, though there are indications that the housing sector has not only bottomed, but could also begin contributing to economic growth.

Read more: Homebuilding Set to Boost US Economy After Two-Year Contraction

The median sales price of a new home was down 7.6% from a year earlier to $416,300. That marked a second-straight month of annual declines.

Sales advanced in all four regions, and purchases in the South were the highest since the end of 2021.

Sales of new homes are considered a timelier barometer than purchases of previously-owned homes, which are calculated when contracts close. Those sales remained weak in May, separate data showed last week. 

The new-homes data are volatile; the report showed 90% confidence that the change in sales ranged from a 0.6% decline to a 25% gain.

A separate report Tuesday showed consumer confidence rose in June to the highest level since early 2022.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the United States economy is "strong now" and he does not expect a recession, a day before delivering an economic policy speech in Chicago.

Biden delivered his remarks on Tuesday at a private fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

He will deliver a speech on Wednesday in Chicago on "Bidenomics," a catch-all term his aides use to describe his economic vision, as the president ramps up political events and travel two months after launching his re-election campaign.

By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares hesitated on Wednesday as surprisingly upbeat U.S. economic news warred with global growth concerns, while the embattled yen hit a 15-year low on the euro and Japan hinted at intervention to prevent further losses.

The strength of U.S. data also combined with hawkish commentary from the European Central Bank to undermine bonds as markets narrowed the odds on further rate hikes.

That only heightened attention on a star-studded panel of central bankers later in the day in Portugal which includes Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, ECB head Christine Lagarde and Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda.

"The U.S. data signals continued resilience in interest rate sensitive sectors, and the Fed is very clear that a period of sub-trend activity may be needed to bring inflation under control," said analysts at ANZ. "So far, that doesn't seem to be happening."

"For the ECB, senior officials signalled the need for ongoing tightening unless core inflation slows materially and a September rate hike is looking increasingly on the cards."

The rate risk kept markets cautious and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely changed.

Chinese blue chips dipped 0.2%, having bounced on Tuesday as officials talked up the prospects for growth.

Japan's Nikkei outperformed with a rise of 0.7%, aided by the weakness of the yen.

Nasdaq futures eased 0.4%, dragged by a Wall Street Journal report Washington was considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China. Shares in Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 3% after the bell.

S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2%, though that followed solid gains on Tuesday as U.S. data on housing, durable goods orders and consumer sentiment handily topped expectations.

"The data indicated a firmer pace of residential, inventory, and equipment investment in the second quarter," wrote analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). "We boosted our Q2 GDP tracking estimate by 0.4pp to +2.2%."

That resilience offset recent softness in manufacturing surveys and led the market to narrow the odds on a July rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Futures now imply around a 77% chance of a hike to 5.25-5.5%, and slightly more risk of a further move to 5.5-5.75%, which nudged short-term Treasury yields higher.

EURO ON THE RISE

Bond yields also moved sharply higher in Europe after a bevy of central bankers sounded hawkish on inflation and warned rates would likely have to stay higher for longer.

Markets imply a 90% probability of a rate hike to 3.75% in July and a peak around 4.0%.

The euro responded by climbing to $1.0957, while surging on the low-yielding yen to a 15-year peak of 157.97.

The dollar rose to a near eight-month peak of 144.18 yen, before easing back to 143.87 as Japanese officials again protested the weakness in the yen.

Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda on Wednesday warned against further falls in the yen, saying authorities would take an appropriate response if moves became excessive.

Markets are wary in case Japan intervenes to buy the yen as they did last October, when they knocked the dollar down from a top of 151.94 to as low as 144.50 in a matter of hours.

Yet, a rally in the yen looks unlikely while the Bank of Japan maintains its super-easy monetary policy.

"Following BOJ Governor Ueda's consistently dovish message and weak Japanese wage growth, market participants now lack the conviction the BOJ will soon tighten its monetary policy," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at CBA.

"So we now see a higher risk Japanese authorities will step into the market to prop up the JPY."

In commodities, gold steadied at $1,915 an ounce, after finding support at the recent three-month low of $1,909.99. [GOL/]

Oil prices edged up after data showed a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories, but remains uncomfortably close to its lows for the year so far. [O/R]

Brent firmed 33 cents to $72.59 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 29 cents to $67.99 per barrel.

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's budget surplus for 2022/23 will be bigger than the A$4.2 billion ($2.81 billion) projected in the May budget but high inflation and global challenges will "significantly slow" the domestic economy, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday.

Strong jobs growth and bumper mining profits will swell government coffers, similar to the forecast during the federal budget, while spending curbs and A$40 billion in savings have also boosted the budget bottom line.

"I can reveal that we're expecting the surplus will be bigger than forecast in May," Chalmers said in a speech to the Property Council of Australia. "In fact, we're in a significantly better position than we forecast."

Australia's Labor government in May boasted the first budget surplus in 15 years for the year to June 2023, a huge turnaround from the A$37 billion shortfall forecast last October.

But Chalmers said the increases in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which now sit at an 11-year high, and warnings more tightening may be required to push inflation to target will put the brakes on economy.

"The 400-basis point increase in rates since before the election last year, is the most significant tightening cycle the RBA has undertaken since the inflation targeting era began," the treasurer said. "And this, along with global challenges, will significantly slow our economy."

The Australian economy could dip to 1.5% in 2023/24 from 3.25% this fiscal year, he said.

Ahead of the May inflation data due to be released later on Wednesday, Chalmers said high inflation remained the biggest challenge for the economy although he hoped it could return to RBA's target of 2-3% in 2024/25 from about 7% now.

"We expect (inflation) to stay higher than we'd like, for longer than we'd like, but still tracking in the right direction," Chalmers said.

($1 = 1.4963 Australian dollars)

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) -A New York City plan to charge a daily toll on vehicles entering or remaining in the central business district got a boost on Monday from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which said the city had adequately assessed how the congestion charge would help the environment.

The department's Federal Highway Administration said the planned change will have no significant environmental impact and that a more comprehensive environmental analysis was unnecessary.

The decision allows the sponsors of the plan, the first of its kind in the U.S., to advance their application to the U.S. agency's Value Pricing Pilot Program which "provides transportation agencies with options to manage congestion through tolling and other pricing mechanisms," the FHA said.

Three Democratic lawmakers from New Jersey - Senator Bob Menendez and representatives Josh Gottheimer and Bill Pascrell blasted the decision saying the plan was "nothing more than a cash grab to fund" the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Menendez has introduced legislation that would cut 50% of federal highway grant funding to New York state if the plan goes ahead.

In May, USDOT approved release of the final environmental assessment for New York's congestion pricing plan for public review.

The city wants to charge a daily variable toll for vehicles entering or remaining within the central business district, defined as between 60th Street in Midtown Manhattan and Battery Park on Manhattan's southern tip.

Following entry into a tolling agreement, tolling could begin up to 310 days later, the city said in May.

New York City, which has the most congested traffic of any U.S. city, would become the first major city in the U.S. to follow London, which implemented a similar charge in 2003.

New York lawmakers approved the plan in 2019 to provide funding to improve mass transit by using tolls to manage traffic in central Manhattan. The plan was originally projected to start in 2021 but the federal government under President Donald Trump took no action.

By Rocky Swift

TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar held its ground against major currencies on Tuesday as tension in Russia simmered and traders looked ahead to U.S. data that may determine the timing of further interest rate hikes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he let an aborted mutiny go on as long as it did to avoid bloodshed, a crisis that pushed the greenback to a 15-month high against the rouble.

The dollar index fell 0.13% to 102.600, paring a 0.46% gain on Monday.

The rouble weakened 0.30% versus the greenback to 84.65 per dollar after hitting its weakest level since March 2022 in the previous session.

The dollar was softer against the yen after Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masato Kanda said Japan was not ruling out any options in possible responses to excessive currency movement. Japan intervened to boost the yen last year when it weakened passed the 145 per dollar level.

The yen strengthened 0.01% versus the greenback at 143.49 per dollar.

U.S. data this week include new orders for durable goods, housing figures, and consumer surveys from The Conference Board and University of Michigan.

Market participants expect the Federal Reserve to raise its funds target rate by 25 basis points in July, but the path beyond is less clear.

"We will have many U.S. indicators, which I think will be mixed, so there will be no strong momentum, at least today," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities.

"Two more rate hikes are not fully priced in the market. If the U.S. economic data comes out on the strong side, then further pricing in for the two rate hikes will push up the dollar," Yamamoto said.

The euro was up 0.15% to $1.092 ahead of remarks by European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal.

Sterling was last trading at $1.2734, up 0.17% on the day.

In Asia, the dollar fell 0.37% against the offshore Chinese yuan to $7.2174 after hitting a 7-month high as investors braced for potentially more support measures as China returned from a holiday on Monday.

China's central bank set its daily yuan fixing stronger than market expectations for a second day in a row on Tuesday, and sources said state-owned banks had been selling dollars in the offshore spot foreign exchange market, bolstering speculation authorities were becoming less tolerant of yuan weakness.

By Tetsushi Kajimoto

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki kept up verbal warnings on Tuesday against the yen's depreciation, saying he would respond appropriately if currency moves became excessive.

Suzuki's latest warning shot came as the dollar traded at 143.43 yen, down 0.06% from late U.S. levels. Japanese officials have sounded the alarm in recent days over rapid weakening of the currency.

"Sharp (OTC:SHCAY) and one-sided moves" were observed recently in the currency market, he added.

Though he gave little clue whether Japan would intervene to back the yen, the tone of his warning was not so sharp as last year's, when he vowed decisive steps because he was deeply concerned about the weak currency.

"It was important for currencies to move in a stable fashion, reflecting economic fundamentals," Suzuki told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

"We will closely watch currency market moves with a strong sense of urgency and will respond appropriately if the moves become excessive."

A weaker yen boosts profits for exporters and companies with overseas operations, but on the other hand, higher import bills weigh on companies and consumers.

With both positive and negative effects it is difficult to say which factors outweigh the rest, Suzuki said.

"Rising prices have become a big policy issue," he added. "We will closely watch price trends and impacts on people's livelihood and businesses."

On Tuesday, Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda retained his post for a second straight year in an annual reshuffle, as a jittery market requires Kanda's ability to intervene to turn the tide in currencies.

Suzuki did not elaborate on the reason for retaining Kanda, but called him "the right person in the right job".

He added, "Japan needs to keep close co-ordination with G7 and other countries concerned. We take into account the experience and human networks Kanda has gained through his job."

Under Kanda, Japan made rare interventions last September and October to stem weakness in the yen that had carried it as low as just below 152 against the dollar.

Speculation is rife that Japanese authorities may intervene again to support the yen if it falls to 145 to the dollar, near a level that prompted intervention in September.

By Kane Wu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks wobbled on Tuesday as investors held tight ranges awaiting clues on the interest rate outlook and wary of risks about China's shaky economic recovery and developments in Russia after an aborted mutiny.

MSCI's gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 0.08% at 0126 GMT, after dropping 0.06% an hour earlier. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average fell as much as 1%.

"Asian equities are set for a downturn on Tuesday, prompted by Wall Street's risk-aversion behavior," said Anderson Alves, a global macro analyst at ActivTrades.

All three major U.S. stock indexes ended in the red on Monday, with megacap momentum stocks pulling the tech-heavy Nasdaq down the most.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04%, the S&P 500 lost 0.45% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.16%.

"It's significant to mention that a sense of caution prevails among investors with respect to the global economy's trajectory over the forthcoming months," Alves said. "The threat of a potential recession during a high-interest rate cycle, enforced by central banks, could significantly impact both the U.S. and Europe, thereby influencing global trade, financing conditions, and demand."

Hang Seng Index and China's benchmark CSI300 Index opened up 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, shaking off losses from the past four sessions.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) on Monday cut its forecast for China's economic growth to 5.2% in 2023, down from an earlier estimate of 5.5%, underscoring the uneven nature of the country's recovery from the pandemic.

It was the first time a global credit ratings agency has cut China's forecast this year and follows lowered predictions by major investment banks including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

Redmond Wong, market strategist Greater China at Saxo Markets, said investors are also closely watching end-of-quarter rebalancing flows in U.S. stocks

"The impending rebalancing is expected to have a notable impact on the market dynamics, as traders prepare for potential shifts in stock prices and overall market sentiment," Wong said. "With the month and quarter end coinciding, the magnitude of these rebalancing flows adds an element of anticipation and uncertainty for market participants."

Geopolitical turmoil also dampened risk appetite following an aborted mutiny in Russia on the weekend, which appeared to reveal cracks in President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.

"Although the situation has subsided, any subsequent insurrection against Russia remains a potential cause for concern, potentially triggering a defensive reaction in safe-haven assets," said Alves of ActivTrades.

In energy markets, U.S. crude went up 0.61% to $69.79 a barrel while Brent gained 0.53% to $74.57 a barrel, wiping out earlier gains.

Spot gold added 0.32% to $1,928.9 an ounce.

In currency markets, the dollar index was up 0.029%.

Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields were steady in early Asia trade at 3.7154%. Two year yields fell 7 basis points to 4.671%.