2025-09-02 10:53
Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Ether Machine has raised $654 million worth of ether in private financing, it said on Tuesday, as the cryptocurrency firm expands its treasury strategy ahead of its Nasdaq listing later this year. The 150,000 ether - invested by longtime ethereum proponent Jeffrey Berns - will be delivered to its wallet later this week, the company said. Sign up here. Berns will also join the company's board of directors. As cryptocurrencies gain favor across corporate treasuries, ether stands out for its yield-generating ability. Holders can lock up their tokens to support the ethereum network in exchange for rewards, earning active returns. Ether Machine's financing comes less than two months after it was formed via a merger between the Ether Reserve and blank-check firm Dynamix Corporation (ETHM.O) , opens new tab. The deal was initially expected to raise over $1.6 billion, with investors like Blockchain.com, Kraken, and Pantera Capital. Ether Machine is now expected to go public with over 495,362 ether, the world's second largest cryptocurrency, worth $2.16 billion, and another $367.1 million remaining in capital to acquire additional ether. THIRD ROUND When buying crypto, treasury companies try to minimize dilution via instruments like convertible debt or preferred stock to maximize their crypto holdings per share. "Between the issuance of debt and the ability to do on chain yield generation that surpasses exchange traded funds, we believe that we should be able to sustain a multiple-to-net asset value (mNAV) in perpetuity," co-founder and Chairman Andrew Keys told Reuters in an interview. mNAV compares the market capitalization of a company to the actual value of the assets they own. With the Nasdaq listing expected to close next quarter, the Ether Machine is continuing fundraising, Keys said. "Citibank is leading our third capital raising round," Keys said, adding that it would be at least $500 million. "It starts on Wednesday." https://www.reuters.com/business/ether-machine-raises-654-million-private-ether-financing-nasdaq-debut-nears-2025-09-02/
2025-09-02 10:48
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets today By Mike Dolan , opens new tab, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets Sign up here. It may just be the 'back to school' trade, but September is bringing a sudden burst of financial market volatility as Americans return from Labor Day, with the dollar, long-term government bond yields and record-high gold all surging on Tuesday. Although worries abound about mounting public debt, tariffs and Federal Reserve independence, it was difficult to identify any precise trigger for the sequence of overnight market moves - and hard to connect the dots. Rising long-term government bond yields in Britain, France and the United States may reflect debt concerns as we enter the annual budget season and higher oil prices aren’t helping things, but the simultaneous rise of gold and the dollar made less sense. The rise in volatility has knocked back stocks worldwide. * Europe was the epicentre of Tuesday's bond jolt, with France's 30-year government bond yields hitting their highest in over 16 years as Prime Minister François Bayrou began talks with political parties in a bid to prevent a government collapse over his budget. Britain's 30-year borrowing costs rose to their highest levels since 1998 and sterling slid more than 1% on Tuesday, with this week's reshuffle of PM Keir Starmer's economic team ahead of the Autumn budget raising questions about the position of Chancellor Rachel Reeves. With Fed independence a key focus in a big week for labor data on Wall Street, U.S. 30-year yields stalked 5% yet again and hit their highest in over a month - sending the 2-to-30-year yield curve to its highest in almost four years. * With China's gathering of its Russian, North Korean and Indian allies this week as a backdrop, gold soared to record highs on a heady mix of long-term inflation and government debt concerns - bursting through April's prior peak to top $3,500 per ounce and clocking year-to-date gains of 33%. However, the dollar - unusually in times of stress this year - also surged against the euro, sterling, yen and yuan - with U.S. payrolls eyed, real-time U.S. GDP estimates , opens new tab running at 3.5% for the third quarter and August manufacturing surveys due later. * Elsewhere, global stocks were down generally - with Wall Street futures down about 0.5% after a rough session last Friday saw a 1%-plus shakeout in the tech sector. There was also a wave of uncertainty over fresh legal challenges to President Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs - a ruling that arrived after Friday's closing bell. The tech wobble hit Japanese and South Korean stocks on Monday, but they recovered some of that today. Aside from the government bond angst in Europe, there was a focus on Nestle's 1% share slip after the Swiss food giant ousted Chief Executive Laurent Freixe a year into his tenure. Today's column explores the implications of the legal challenges to Trump’s 'reciprocal' tariffs and how they complicate an already messy policy picture. Today's Market Minute * China's President Xi Jinping convened his Russian and North Korean counterparts together for the first time on Tuesday, a show of solidarity with countries shunned by the West over their role in Europe's worst war in 80 years. * Nestle (NESN.S) investors were pitched back into choppy waters on Tuesday after the Swiss food giant changed its CEO for the second time in a year, ousting boss Laurent Freixe over an affair he had with a subordinate. * U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday the Federal Reserve is and should be independent but said it had "made a lot of mistakes" and defended President Donald Trump's right to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud. * The complex web of Western sanctions targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry has failed to impede Moscow’s energy flows or its war effort, writes ROI energy columnist Ron Bousso, suggesting that time and overuse are blunting the force of U.S. and European financial weapons. * Asia's imports of crude oil rebounded in August as heavyweight buyers China and India bought more crude from top exporters in the Middle East. But is this being driven by demand or price? Read the latest from ROI columnist Clyde Russell. Chart of the day As government budget season looms in Europe and anxiety about U.S. debt loads and central bank independence linger stateside, long-term public borrowing rates are climbing and the so-called yield curve gaps between 2-year maturities and 30-year tenors is widening to reflect much of that long-term uncertainty. French and British yield curves are now at their steepest since 2017 and the U.S. curve is at its steepest since 2021. Today's events to watch * U.S. August manufacturing surveys from S&P Global (9:45 AM EDT) and ISM (10:00 AM EDT) * Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing * U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits Mexico -- Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. You can find ROI on the Reuters website , opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2025-09-02/
2025-09-02 10:44
MUMBAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee ended marginally higher on Tuesday, but came off the day's high, as importer demand for the greenback wiped out recovery witnessed earlier in the session. The currency ended at 88.1550, marginally up 0.05% from Monday's close of 88.1950. It hit an intraday high of 87.8450 before declining past the 88-mark later in the day. Sign up here. "After the initial losses, there has been some strong demand from oil importers pushing the (USD/INR) pair higher," trader with a state-run bank said. The rupee had dropped to a lifetime low of 88.33 on Monday after moving past the 88-mark for the first time on Friday, in the aftermath of the U.S. government imposing additional tariffs on Indian goods. Traders and analysts said that U.S. tariff related concerns will continue to remain a drag on the Asian currency in the near term. "With U.S. tariff issues unresolved, risks remain skewed to the downside… any recovery is likely to stay limited without clear trade relief," said Amit Pabari, managing director at CR Forex. Traders will continue monitoring the Indian central bank’s stance around intervention, as well as portfolio outflows and importer hedging - all key factors that will affect the rupee’s trajectory. Meanwhile, Asian currencies traded largely steady against a strong dollar. The dollar index was up 0.77% at 98.401 as of 2:55 p.m. IST. Investors are now awaiting the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for August, due on Friday, for clues on the interest rate trajectory in the world's largest economy. Confidence that the Fed will deliver a rate cut have strengthened after Chair Jerome Powell's relatively dovish remarks at Jackson Hole. The odds of a 25-basis-point cut in two weeks time stand around 90%, according to CME FedWatch Tool. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-off-days-high-importer-dollar-demand-wipes-out-most-gains-2025-09-02/
2025-09-02 10:40
Sterling down as much 1.5% vs dollar 30-year gilt yields highest since 1998 Global bonds sell off, but UK vulnerable Britain still sells record 14 billion pounds of new bonds LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Britain's 30-year borrowing costs rose to their highest levels since 1998 and sterling slid over 1.5% on Tuesday, highlighting growing investor anxiety about the UK's ability to keep its finances under control. The selloff in British bonds, known as gilts, coincided with selling across other major bond markets, where the focus is firmly on rising debt levels. Sign up here. But weakness in sterling pointed to vulnerability in UK markets at a time of increasing concern about the Labour government's ability to exercise fiscal constraint. "The UK has had a perilous (fiscal) backdrop and that's going to continue," said Lloyds FX strategist Nick Kennedy. "Over the summer, there has been a bit of a risk premium built into the rates market. Investors are now wanting more of a risk premium for sterling as well." Thirty-year gilt yields rose to 5.723%, their highest since May 1998, and sterling was by far the day's weakest performing G10 currency against the dollar, down over 1.5% at one point. It was last off 1.0% at $1.34 , its biggest daily fall since June, and at 86.98 pence per euro, 0.6% softer. CHALLENGES AHEAD Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday reshuffled his top team of advisers, moving finance minister Rachel Reeves's deputy Darren Jones into his Downing Street office to better coordinate policy delivery. Starmer also appointed a former Bank of England deputy governor, Minouche Shafik, as his chief economic adviser, to bolster economic expertise ahead of what is expected to be a difficult budget later this year, but also sparking headlines that the move had weakened Reeves. Analysts said the changes on the first day of parliament after the summer recess renewed focus on the economic challenges given heavy levels of borrowing, slow economic growth and the highest inflation rate among the G7 major Western economies. Santander said it now expects the Bank of England to hold rates at 4% until the end of 2026, having previously expected two cuts next year. With the budget unlikely to come before November, Britain faces weeks of speculation about tax rises, potentially dampening investment and consumer confidence. And higher borrowing costs are making the government's task harder. "Everyone wants to feel assured that the government finances are in a sound position but as yields go up ... the fiscal black hole has grown and grown and grown," said Mark Dowding, fixed income CIO at RBC BlueBay Asset Management. Britain is not the only country suffering fiscal worries. France's 30-year government bond yields surged to their highest levels in over 16 years on Tuesday, driven by fiscal concerns and political instability. Japan's bonds have sold off heavily this year on concern about rising debt. In one reassuring sign, Britain sold a record 14 billion pounds ($19 billion) of new 10-year bonds on Tuesday, after attracting 141.2 billion pounds in orders from investors. The Bank of England is also expected soon to slow the pace at which it shrinks its 558 billion-pound ($754 billion) holdings of government bonds, a process called quantitative tightening. Dowding at BlueBay wanted them to go further. "The Bank of England has got to stop QT right now," he said. "Many investors including ourselves have been saying to the Bank of England they are making life worse, not better. Stop doing this." https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-borrowing-costs-hit-highest-since-1998-pound-slides-fiscal-worries-2025-09-02/
2025-09-02 07:53
Sept 2 (Reuters) - Ithaca Energy (ITH.L) , opens new tab shares fell nearly 17% on Tuesday after its two largest shareholders sold an about 3% stake in the company at a discount, raising roughly 106 million pounds ($143.2 million). Israeli energy investor Delek Group (DLEKG.TA) , opens new tab and Italian oil and gas explorer Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab offloaded 49.6 million ordinary shares at 213.75 pence per share, bookrunner Peel Hunt said. The groups sold the shares through their UK units. Sign up here. The sale was priced at a 10% discount to Ithaca's Monday close of 237.50 pence. If losses persist, the stock is on track for its steepest one-day drop since the company’s 2022 return to the London market, LSEG data showed. Shares of the North Sea oil and gas producer have gained nearly 90% so far this year. The company has been boosting production via acquisitions in the past year. It recently bought Eni's UK oil and gas assets and increased its stake in the Cygnus gas field, which is the single largest producing gas field in the UK. Following the transaction, Delek will hold about 50.5% of Ithaca and Eni nearly 36%, according to the statement. ($1 = 0.7402 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ithaca-energy-top-investors-sell-stake-discount-shares-down-17-2025-09-02/
2025-09-02 07:50
MOSCOW, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom has agreed to a modest rise in gas supplies to China via an existing pipeline and has signed a memorandum on building the vast Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. What is the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline project? Sign up here. * The proposed pipeline would bring gas from the huge Yamal Peninsula reserves in West Siberia to China, the world's top energy consumer and a growing gas consumer. * Russia proposed the route years ago but the plan has gained urgency as Moscow looks to Beijing to replace Europe as its major gas customer. * The existing Power of Siberia pipeline runs for 3,000 km (1,865 miles) through Siberia and into China's northeastern Heilongjiang province. * The new route would cut through eastern Mongolia and into northern China. * Gazprom began a feasibility study on the project in 2020, and has aimed to start delivering gas by 2030. * Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said it would be "the largest, most ambitious and most capital-intensive gas project in the world." * The 2,600-km pipeline could carry 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year, slightly less than the now defunct Nord Stream 1 pipeline linking Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/what-is-russias-power-siberia-pipeline-2-china-2025-09-02/
