2025-08-21 11:54
All eyes on Powell's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday Odds of Fed rate cut next month at 79% Trump's Fed attacks chip away at investor confidence US, EU lock in trade deal with 15% levy on European exports SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar drifted on Thursday as investors awaited policy cues from the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium while keeping an eye on renewed concerns over central bank independence after President Donald Trump's latest salvo. Currencies showed a muted reaction to the announcement that the United States and the European Union locked in a framework trade deal reached last month that includes a 15% U.S. tariff on most EU imports. Sign up here. The euro and sterling were flat at $1.1649 and $1.3460, respectively. The Japanese yen declined 0.3% to 147.85 while the Swiss franc nursed modest losses as well. Odds of a rate cut by the Fed next month eased slightly to 79%, offering mild support to the dollar as focus remained on whether Fed Chair Jerome Powell will push back against market expectations for a September cut when he speaks on Friday. There would likely be a greater reaction if Powell were to indicate the Fed could keep rates steady again, than if he leans in the direction of a cut, said Kenneth Broux, head of corporate research for FX and rates at Societe Generale. "The risks are asymmetric. Because it (a cut) is already priced in, the risk is that we go back to 50-50," said Kenneth Broux, head of corporate research for FX and rates at Societe Generale. The reaction to that would be a sell-off in near-tenor U.S. treasuries and a firmer dollar, Broux said. President Trump's call for Fed Governor Lisa Cook to resign on the basis of allegations made by one of his political allies has meanwhile revived investor concerns over his efforts to gain influence over the central bank. Trump has also repeatedly criticised Powell for being too slow to cut rates. Investors expect Trump will replace Powell, whose term ends in May, with a more dovish appointment. "Trump’s desire for lower rates, even if not justified by the Fed’s dual mandate, poses upside risks to the US inflation outlook and could trigger a loss of confidence in the US dollar and long-term US Treasuries if implemented," Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG, said in a note. Earlier this month, Trump also said he would nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the final few months of a vacant Fed seat after Adriana Kugler unexpectedly resigned. The dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six other peers, was flat at 98.337 and on course for a 0.4% rise this week. The benchmark U.S. 10-year yield was a touch higher at 4.30%, while the two-year yield, which is more sensitive to the monetary policy, ticked up slightly to 3.756% . Some analysts cautioned that markets could end up being disappointed by Powell's speech on Friday, noting that the impact of Trump's tariffs on inflation remains unclear. Elsewhere, the Norwegian krone rose 0.6% each against the dollar and the euro , after data showed that Norway's mainland economy grew at a faster pace than economists had expected in the second quarter. First quarter growth was also revised up. Bearish bets on China's yuan, meanwhile, hit their highest since mid-May, with analysts turning short spurred by mounting concerns over the economy, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was down 0.8% at $113,527 while ether fell 1.3% to $4,303.89. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dollar-drifts-investors-ponder-fed-independence-await-jackson-hole-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:39
MOSCOW, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Russia and India have achieved good results in energy cooperation and Moscow is interested in working on joint energy projects with New Delhi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Indian counterpart in Moscow on Thursday. Moscow and New Delhi have talked up their "strategic partnership" since U.S. President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs on imports from India earlier this month because of its purchases of Russian oil. Sign up here. "We have good results in cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, in the supply of Russian oil to the Indian market. And we have a mutual interest in implementing joint projects for the extraction of energy resources, including in the Russian Federation - in the Far East and on the Arctic shelf," Lavrov said. He was talking at a joint news conference with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Moscow. Russia was able to divert its exports of oil, a significant source of state revenue, away from Europe and mainly to China and India after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its conflict in Ukraine. India and China are the biggest buyers of Russia's oil. Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday that Russia expected to continue supplying oil to India despite pressure from the United States, adding that Moscow hoped trilateral talks with India and China would soon take place. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-is-interested-joint-energy-projects-with-india-lavrov-says-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:37
STOCKHOLM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Swedish state utility Vattenfall said on Thursday it has selected Britain's Rolls-Royce SMR (RR.L) , opens new tab and U.S. group GE Vernova (GEV.N) , opens new tab as candidates for the planned construction of a series of small modular reactors (SMR). Sweden's parliament in May passed legislation to finance a new generation of nuclear reactors, which the government says are key to energy security and achieving net zero emissions by 2045. Sign up here. Vattenfall plans to order either five BWRX-300 reactors from GE Vernova or three Rolls-Royce SMRs, which will provide a total output of around 1,500 MW, in what will become Sweden's first new nuclear reactors in four decades, it said in a statement. After looking like a doomed technology after nuclear accidents at Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan, nuclear power has seen a revival in recent years as countries scramble to phase out fossil fuels and address a warming climate. Sweden wants to build at least 2,500 MW of nuclear capacity by 2035. In total, the government wants the equivalent of around 10 full size reactors by 2045. "Now it's happening - with new nuclear power Sweden will get a more stable, competitive and climate friendly energy generation," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on X. "It's good both for Swedish families and the industrial economy." Electricity demand in Sweden is expected to double to around 300 terrawatt hours over the next two decades, the government says, due in part to key new industries like green steel, bio-fuels and large-scale hydrogen production. Without new energy capacity such as nuclear power, those industries will go elsewhere, the government says. However, industry has proven reluctant to invest and the government will now shoulder the lion's share of nuclear financing. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/swedens-vattenfall-shortlists-rolls-royce-ge-vernova-build-smr-nuclear-reactors-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:36
Trump calls on Fed Governor Cook to resign over mortgage allegations Fed's Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming begins today Palladium up 1.6% Aug 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Thursday, pressured by a firmer dollar, while investors looked to the U.S. central bank's annual Jackson Hole symposium later in the day for further policy cues. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,331.74 per ounce, as of 1041 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery also lost 0.4% to $3,373.70. Sign up here. The U.S. dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab was up 0.1%, making U.S. dollar-priced gold expensive for overseas buyers. "Global bond yields have ticked higher, and the dollar has firmed up a tiny bit, and both of these factors are helping to provide some light pressure on gold today.... the metal is continuing to consolidate, frustrating both the bulls and bears alike," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak on Friday at the August 21-23 Jackson Hole symposium, with investors watching whether he backs measures to bolster the labour market or focuses on curbing inflation. The Fed has held rates steady since December, although investors expect a 79% chance of a quarter-point cut by September, according to the CME's FedWatch tool. "There are growing expectations that the Fed Chair will signal a clear shift in policy on Friday... but whether the metal will head sharply higher to break $3400 resistance remains to be seen," Razaqzada added. Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low interest rate environment. Minutes from the Fed's July meeting showed the policymakers who dissented against last month's decision to keep interest rates unchanged - Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller - were alone in advocating for a rate cut. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Fed Governor Lisa Cook to resign over allegations made by one of his political allies about mortgages she holds, intensifying his efforts to influence the central bank. Spot silver was down 0.7% at $37.64 per ounce, platinum fell 1.5% to $1,318.18 and palladium shed 1.6% to $1,096.73. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/gold-falls-dollar-firms-focus-jackson-hole-meeting-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:27
No one has claimed responsibility for 2022 pipeline blasts Suspect used sailing yacht to carry out attack, prosecutors say Ukraine has previously denied involvement Pipelines carried Russian gas to Europe BERLIN, Aug 21 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian man has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of coordinating the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, German prosecutors said on Thursday, marking a breakthrough in an episode that sharpened tensions between Russia and the West. Seen by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, the explosions severely damaged three pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Europe, prompting a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezing energy supplies on the continent. No one has ever taken responsibility for the blasts. Sign up here. The arrest comes just as Kyiv is engaged in fraught diplomatic discussions with the United States over how to end the war in Ukraine without giving away major concessions and swathes of its own territory to Russia. Successive Ukrainian governments had seen the pipelines as a symbol of, and vehicle for, Russia's hold over European energy supplies that Kyiv argued made it hard to act against Moscow ever since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering Europe's deadliest conflict in 80 years, in which analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or injured. "The bombing of the pipelines must be investigated, including through criminal prosecution. Therefore, it is good that we are making progress in this regard," said German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig in a statement. An official in the Ukrainian president's office said he could not comment as it was not clear who had been arrested. The official reiterated Ukraine's denial of any role in the blasts. The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was part of a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, a statement from the prosecutor's office said. He and his accomplices had set off from Rostock on Germany's northeastern coast in a sailing yacht to carry out the attack, it said. The vessel had been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents via middlemen, it added. Authorities acted on a European arrest warrant for the suspect, who faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of important structures. Carabinieri officers arrested him overnight in the province of Rimini on Italy's Adriatic coast, the German prosecutors' statement said. The Italian Carabinieri confirmed the arrest and said the suspect was aged 49 but gave no further details. MYSTERIOUS BLASTS In September 2022, one of the two lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, along with both lines of Nord Stream 1 that carried Russian gas to Europe. Both the U.S. and Ukraine have denied having anything to do with the attacks, as has Russia. Moscow, without providing evidence, blamed Western sabotage for the blasts, which largely severed Russian gas supplies to the lucrative European market. Denmark and Sweden closed their investigations in February 2024, leaving Germany as the only country continuing to pursue the case. Danish authorities concluded there was "deliberate sabotage of the gas pipelines" but found "insufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case", while Sweden closed its investigation citing a lack of jurisdiction. The Washington Post and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine have previously said the team that carried out the attack was put together by a former Ukrainian intelligence officer, who has denied involvement. In January 2023, Germany raided a ship that it said may have been used to transport explosives and told the United Nations it believed trained divers could have attached devices to the pipelines at about 70 to 80 metres deep. The boat, leased in Germany via a Poland-registered company, contained traces of octogen, the same explosive that was found at the underwater blast sites, according to the investigations by Germany, Denmark and Sweden. German media reported last year that Germany had issued a European arrest warrant against a Ukrainian diving instructor who allegedly was part of the team that blew up the pipelines. Citing unnamed sources, several outlets reported that German investigators believed the man, last known to have lived in Poland, was one of the divers who planted explosive devices on the pipelines. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ukrainian-man-arrested-over-nord-stream-pipeline-attacks-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:27
Aug 21 (Reuters) - McCormick said on Thursday it will raise its stake in its Mexico joint venture to 75% by acquiring 25% more for $750 million as the condiments maker seeks to expand further in Latin America. Founded in 1947, the joint venture with Mexican food processing company Grupo Herdez (HERDEZ.MX) , opens new tab has been a dominant player in the condiments and sauces segment of Latin America's second-largest economy. Sign up here. McCormick de Mexico's portfolio consists primarily of mayonnaise, including its flagship McCormick Mayonesa con Jugo de Limones brand. The deal is subject to customary closing and regulatory conditions, McCormick said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/mccormick-expands-stake-its-mexican-joint-venture-75-750-million-deal-2025-08-21/
