2026-01-30 05:35
NEW DELHI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Oil-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta Ltd (VDAN.NS) , opens new tab aims to list its four planned demerged units on Indian exchanges by mid-May, its finance chief said. The natural resources group is nearing the end of a planned restructuring, which won approval from India's company law tribunal in December after initial government pushback. Sign up here. "We intend to make (the) demerger effective from April 1, and it will take maybe four to six weeks, so mid of May all the five companies will get listed," Vedanta Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Ajay Goel said in an interview late on Thursday. Indian newspaper Mint reported that the company first flagged the timeline on Thursday during a call with analysts. Vedanta's restructuring will spin off four businesses - steel and ferrous metals, oil and gas, aluminium, and power - into separately listed companies, while its base metals unit will remain with the parent. First announced in 2023, the plan was designed to support growth as its UK-based parent Vedanta Resources carried heavy debt, which it has since reduced significantly. Goel also said U.S. President Donald Trump's move last year to double tariffs on aluminium imports to 50% has been of "insignificant" impact on the company, offset by strong domestic demand in India. Shares of Vedanta dropped over 5% on Friday, tracking weaker global prices. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/vedanta-ltd-cfo-targets-mid-may-india-listings-demerged-units-2026-01-30/
2026-01-30 05:32
KAMPALA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Uganda's economy is projected to expand between 6.5% and 7% in the financial year starting July, sharply down from a previous estimate of 10.4%, the finance ministry said, without citing an explanation for the revision. The ministry provided the latest growth forecast in a post on the X platform late on Thursday. Sign up here. In a budget paper in December, the ministry had projected Uganda's economy to grow 10.4%, supported by the start of oil production. The country plans to begin pumping crude from reserves in its western fields, operated by France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab and China's CNOOC (600938.SS) , opens new tab. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/uganda-lowers-annual-growth-forecast-65-7-start-crude-output-west-2026-01-30/
2026-01-30 05:31
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Gregor Stuart Hunter Stocks and commodities are down, the dollar and bond yields are up, and markets have turned firmly risk-off after U.S. President Donald Trump said he has decided who he will nominate to lead the Federal Reserve. Sign up here. Kevin Warsh's name has rocketed to the top of the prediction markets after the two met at the White House. While Warsh, a former Fed governor, is seen as an advocate of lower interest rates, he is also considered to be one of the less radical choices among the various candidates , opens new tab that have been raised and perhaps more cautious on heavy monetary stimulus than others. S&P 500 e-mini futures slid 0.4% and Nasdaq e-mini futures were off 0.5% after Reuters reported Warsh visited the White House for a meeting on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Bloomberg News later reported the Trump administration was preparing to nominate Warsh as the next Fed chair. With the market weighing the implications of the pick, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab tumbled as much as 1.3%, taking the shine off the benchmark's best monthly gain of the past three years. In early European trade, pan-region futures were last up 0.6%, German DAX futures gained 0.5% and FTSE futures climbed 0.2%. Brent crude was last down 1.4% at $69.74 as oil markets weighed heightened geopolitical risks, after Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and establishing a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba. Trump also said he was planning to talk to Iran amid rising tensions. However, there's been no word yet on what Trump thought of the "Melania" film premiere on Thursday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. official told Reuters that attendance at the big-budget documentary about First Lady Melania Trump was seen as obligatory for cabinet officials, many of whom attended the glitzy event at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Key developments that could influence markets on Friday: Company results: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, American Express, Verizon, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Aon, CaixaBank Economic events: France: Consumer spending and producer prices for December, preliminary GDP for Q4 Germany: Unemployment, preliminary CPI and HICP for January, flash GDP for Q4, import prices for December UK: Bank of England consumer credit and mortgage lending for December Euro zone: Flash preliminary GDP for Q4, unemployment rate for December Debt auctions: UK: 1-month, 3-month and 6-month government debt https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-view-europe-2026-01-30/
2026-01-30 05:25
SYDNEY, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Australia on Friday said it would support its critical mineral supply chains after the U.S. stepped back from plans to guarantee a minimum price for such projects. Shares of Australia's rare earth miners fell sharply on Thursday after Reuters reported on the Trump administration's retreat. Sign up here. The sector was still in the red on Friday. Lynas (LYC.AX) , opens new tab, the world's biggest producer of rare earths outside China, was down by more than 4%. The backdown was communicated to U.S. mining executives by Trump administration officials and indicated a lack of congressional funding for price floors and the complexity of setting market pricing, Reuters reported. That "won't stop Australia (from) pursuing our critical minerals strategic reserve programme to make sure Australia has access to the resources it needs to build a future made in Australia," Resources Minister Madeleine King told Sky News on Friday. "We know from what we've seen in reports and we will let that play out ... the U.S. has introduced a price floor for one particular project and that's the only one it has done it for, and that was a game-changer." Australia has been positioning itself as a critical minerals alternative to China, the world's biggest producer, for use in the automotive and defence sectors. It has said it would establish a A$1.2 billion ($840 million) strategic reserve of minerals that it believes is vulnerable to supply disruption. The stockpile, which will prioritise antimony, gallium and rare earth elements, is expected to be ready by the second half of 2026. The government is also considering setting a price floor to support local critical minerals projects as part of its strategy. "We'll have a number of mechanisms, a floor price will be one through offtake agreements," King said. "We are determined to make sure there is value for taxpayer money in the reserve and in any floor price." ($1 = 1.4278 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-says-us-price-floor-backdown-wont-derail-its-critical-minerals-2026-01-30/
2026-01-30 05:10
SINGAPORE, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Bitcoin slumped to a two-month low on Friday as speculation the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve might tighten up on cash in the financial system hit cryptocurrencies and lifted the dollar. Cryptos are having a rough time in what was once hoped to be a golden era of flows and friendly regulation under President Donald Trump, with the market-leading bitcoin losing a third of its value since striking record highs in October. Sign up here. It traded 2.5% lower on Friday at $82,300, extending the previous session's drop and heading towards a fourth straight month of losses, its longest losing streak for eight years. Selling gathered pace on intensifying speculation that former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh was about to be anointed as Trump's pick to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Warsh has called for regime change at the central bank and wants, among other things, a smaller Fed balance sheet. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been regarded as beneficiaries of a large balance sheet, having tended to rally while the Fed greased money markets with liquidity - a support for speculative assets. "As you start to talk about pulling the rug out from underneath that ... all the hedges against balance sheet expansion that people have been going for - gold, crypto, obviously bonds start to sell a little bit," said Damien Boey, portfolio strategist at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney. Ether also skidded to a two-month low and traded 2.9% lower at $2,735.48. Cryptocurrencies have been struggling for direction since last year's tumble and have been left behind by big rallies in gold and stocks that, on occasion, they had tracked. Sean Dawson, head of research at Derive.xyz, a crypto options trading platform, said some correlation remains and that "fears around AI exuberance" were also a "big contributor" to Friday's selloff. A 10% drop in Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab stock after it reported a massive AI spend but only a modest revenue beat sent a tremor through global markets overnight. https://www.reuters.com/business/bitcoin-slips-fed-chair-speculation-hits-risky-assets-2026-01-30/
2026-01-30 05:04
ECB expected to stay on hold for fifth meeting Immediate risk of Trump tariffs over Greenland has passed Policymakers concerned about euro's rise to $1.20 LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank meets next Thursday with policymakers relieved that the threat of fresh U.S. tariffs over President Donald Trump's demands to buy Greenland proved short-lived. The immediate risk has passed but the uncertainty Trump has unleashed lingers, weighing on the dollar and prompting policymakers to worry about the euro's spike higher. Sign up here. Here are five key questions for markets: 1/ What will the ECB do? Keep rates steady at 2% for the fifth straight meeting. With Trump backing down from imposing extra tariffs on some of Europe's biggest economies, economists reckon ECB chief Christine Lagarde will stick to her mantra of a data-dependent, meeting-by-meeting approach to monetary policy, without committing to any given rate path. "These three points are not a mere formality — they matter because the world is subject to uncertainty and geopolitical shocks," said UBS chief European economist Reinhard Cluse. 2/ What does the threat of fresh U.S. trade tensions mean? For now, a stronger currency. The euro briefly topped $1.20 this week , reaching its highest level since 2021. It is up 3% over the last two weeks. "The Greenland thing has done one thing: The euro is much higher," said Christian Schulz, chief economist at Allianz Global Investors. He expects the ECB on Thursday to assess some of the risks facing the economic forecasts it will update in March. Policymakers are flagging concern over euro strength and its potential to push inflation, expected below the 2% target this year and next, even lower if it continues appreciating. Had Trump proceeded with imposing tariffs on Europe, that would have hit growth and raised inflation slightly. Longer term, what matters more is the degree of uncertainty Trump’s trade policy reversals pose for the economic outlook, Lagarde has said, which could hurt growth. 3/ Will the ECB act against a rising euro? Not yet, economists reckon. Traders are betting a firmer euro has raised the odds of an ECB rate cut this year and see a roughly 20% chance of another cut by the summer given recent policymaker comments. However, economists say that crossing $1.20 isn’t a big deal for the ECB, which cares more about the speed and scale of moves rather than outright levels. And the trade-weighted euro which it monitors has risen a lot less as the move has been driven by the fall in the dollar rather than a broad euro rise. Ross Hutchison, head of euro zone market strategy at Zurich Insurance Group, said it would take speedier moves breaking out beyond $1.25 to prompt a significant downgrade to ECB inflation forecasts. On the flipside, investors will also watch what the ECB says about a surge in European natural gas prices, which may ease downward price pressures. 4/ How resilient is the euro zone economy? More resilient than it has been for some time. It grew 1.4% last year, the fastest clip since 2022, economists polled by Reuters estimate, despite all the trade tensions, demonstrating domestic resilience. They expect 1.2% growth next year. Key to the outlook is how quickly Germany starts unleashing its fiscal bazooka. "That delivery of the fiscal stimulus can help to lean against some of the impact of high uncertainty that is still weighing on the euro zone growth outlook," said BNP Paribas’ head of developed market economics Paul Hollingsworth. German spending picked up slower than expected last year, so some economists are skeptical of how quickly the country can ramp it up this year, which could mean growth ends up a bit slower than expected. 5/ What do the Fed independence concerns mean for the ECB? A less independent Fed that sets looser policy than usually expected would send the dollar even lower and raise U.S. inflation, economists said. That risk is in focus after the Trump administration threatened Fed chair Jerome Powell with a criminal indictment. The stronger euro that would result would weigh on euro zone inflation, and higher U.S. Treasury yields could spill over into euro zone borrowing costs, not to mention financial stability risks. For now the ECB won't debate any rate change but such risks could upset that outlook, says chief economist Philip Lane. The ECB issued a rare joint statement with other major central banks earlier in January expressing solidarity with Powell and stating that central bank independence was crucial for price and financial stability. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/all-about-euro-five-questions-ecb-2026-01-30/
