2025-08-06 07:04
MUMBAI, August 6 (Reuters) - India’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $688.9 billion as of August 1, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Wednesday. The forex reserves fell $9.3 billion compared to the previous week, which economists said reflects the central bank's defence of the rupee amid tariff-related uncertainties. Sign up here. Detailed data on forex reserves will be released later this week. The rupee slid 1.18% against the dollar in the week through August 1, marking its sharpest weekly decline in nearly three years. It has lost another 0.2% so far this week and would likely have breached its record low if not for the Reserve Bank of India’s intervention to support the currency, according to traders. India faces the imposition of a 25% tariff on its shipments to the U.S. from Friday, and President Donald Trump has warned of "very substantial" additional levies because of New Delhi's oil imports from Russia. The RBI kept its growth forecasts unchanged at its policy review on Wednesday and left rates unchanged. "Given that the Indian rupee is weakening and narrowing of the global interest rate differentials, the scope for rate reduction was slim," said Umesh Kumar Mehta, chief investment officer at SAMCO Mutual Fund. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-fx-reserves-drop-9-billion-about-689-billion-reflecting-tariff-driven-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:59
TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Japanese oil and gas explorer Inpex Corp (1605.T) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it has awarded additional contracts for early-stage design work on its $20 billion Abadi liquefied natural gas project in Indonesia's Masela block. In April, the firm launched a front-end engineering design (FEED) process to assess technical details and costs to build the facilities needed to extract and process natural gas from the Abadi gas field and convert it to LNG at an onshore plant. Sign up here. Following its announcement of some initial awards on Monday, Inpex said that two contractor consortiums - one led by Japan's JGC Holdings (1963.T) , opens new tab and the other by U.S. engineering firm KBR (KBR.N) , opens new tab - have been selected to conduct FEED work for the onshore LNG facility. The two groups will work in parallel under a so-called "dual FEED" framework to foster competition. The consortium that provides the better technical and commercial proposal will be awarded the subsequent Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract, Inpex said. The FEED scope also includes work related to carbon capture and storage (CCS), it said. The move signals progress toward a final investment decision on the project, which is expected to produce at its peak 9.5 million metric tons of LNG a year. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/inpex-awards-more-contracts-engineering-design-indonesias-abadi-lng-project-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:54
PARIS, Aug 6 (Reuters) - One person has died as a result of a wildfire in the Aude region in southern France, the local authority said on Wednesday. The Aude prefecture said in a statement the fire was progressing "very quickly" and that 1,820 firefighters were trying to get it under control. Around 2,500 households in the area were currently without electricity, it said. Sign up here. President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X late on Tuesday that all of the government's resources were being mobilized to tackle the Aude fire. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/wildfire-southern-france-kills-one-progressing-quickly-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:48
Trump set to fill Fed board vacancy by week's end Traders see 88% chance of Fed rate cut in September Perth Mint's July gold sales slump 33% Aug 6 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday due to a slightly firmer dollar, while investors held back from making big bets ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision on appointments to the Federal Reserve. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $3,376.69 per ounce, as of 0631 GMT, after hitting a near two-week high on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $3,432.40. Sign up here. The dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab rebounded from a one-week low hit in the previous session following weak U.S. jobs data that raised rate-cut hopes in September, reducing gold's appeal to holders of other currencies. "Gold has been caught between conflicting forces. The drop in yields has helped, but the U.S. dollar has managed to hold up well despite Friday’s selloff. That has produced the range we’re now seeing, as prices wait for conviction across the catalysts," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. Trump on Tuesday said he would soon announce a short-term replacement for Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who announced her resignation on Friday, as well as his pick for the next Fed chair. The CME FedWatch tool , opens new tab now puts the odds of a September cut at nearly 88%, after Friday's weaker-than-expected employment growth data, following which Trump fired the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). On the trade front, Trump again threatened to raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, while New Delhi called his attack "unjustified" and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening the trade rift between the two countries. Elsewhere, Perth Mint's gold product sales fell 33% in July from the previous month, while silver sales slipped to a six-month low, the refiner said on Wednesday. Spot silver was steady at $37.85 per ounce, platinum slipped 0.1% to $1,319.35 and palladium fell 0.6% to $1,168.17. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/gold-inches-lower-dollar-gains-markets-await-fed-appointments-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:47
DUBAI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - ADNOC Gas (ADNOCGAS.AD) , opens new tab reported on Wednesday a 16% rise in second-quarter net profit as strong domestic demand and operational efficiency helped offset lower hydrocarbon prices. The subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's state oil giant said it made net profit of $1.385 billion in the three months to June 30, its highest quarterly earnings. Sign up here. The gas processing and sales company said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 8% to $2.256 billion, with margins improving across its portfolio. Revenue dipped 2% to $5.96 billion, but cost reductions and higher-margin sales supported earnings growth. "We are pleased to report the highest quarterly net income in ADNOC Gas' history," CEO Fatema Al Nuaimi said, citing robust local market performance and improved efficiency. The company's board approved an interim dividend of $1.792 billion, a 5% increase from a year earlier, to be paid in September. ADNOC Gas increased capital expenditure by 49% in the first half of 2025, advancing key projects including a $5 billion investment in the first phase of its Rich Gas Development (RGD) project. It also expects to progress the Ruwais LNG project and other initiatives aimed at expanding its LNG footprint. Following its inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in June, ADNOC Gas said it saw capital inflows of around $500 million. It said it expects to join the FTSE Index in September, potentially attracting an additional $200 million in passive investment. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/adnoc-gas-posts-record-quarterly-profit-despite-lower-prices-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:43
Japan, Australia outperform rest of Asia European stock futures up 0.5%, S&P 500 futures rise 0.3% Dollar drifts, oil rebounds after four sessions of decline SYDNEY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Most share indexes edged up in Asia on Wednesday as investors looked through weak U.S. data and corporate warnings about the hit from tariffs, while the dollar struggled to gain ground amid growing Federal Reserve rate cut expectations. European stocks are bracing for a higher open, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures up 0.5%. Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) , opens new tab reported second-quarter sales growth of 18%, below initial analyst expectations. Sign up here. Wall Street futures recovered from an earlier dip, with Nasdaq futures up 0.3% and S&P 500 futures rising 0.4%. Shares of AI chip stock Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) , opens new tab slid 6.6% after the bell on disappointing data centre revenue. "We see risk assets in a tug-of-war between solid U.S. corporate earnings, powered by the artificial intelligence (AI) theme, and tariffs hurting growth while lifting inflation," said analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute. "We stay overweight U.S. stocks but get granular while assessing the tariff fallout." Overnight, U.S. stocks finished lower after the services sector activity unexpectedly flatlined in July. Employment further weakened and input costs climbed by the most in nearly three years, underscoring the impact from President Donald Trump's tariff policy. While U.S. earnings have been generally upbeat in the second quarter, they are starting to show the impact of tariffs. Taco Bell parent Yum Brands (YUM.N) , opens new tab missed expectations as steep trade duties dented consumer spending, while Caterpillar (CAT.N) , opens new tab warned that U.S. tariffs would cost it up to $1.5 billion this year. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab slipped 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) , opens new tab gained 0.6%. Australia's resource-heavy shares (.AXJO) , opens new tab rose 0.8%. Both Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) , opens new tab and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HSI) , opens new tab were up 0.1%. Trump on Tuesday said it would announce tariffs on semiconductors and chips in the next week or so, while the U.S. would initially impose a "small tariff" on pharmaceutical imports before increasing it substantially in a year or two. He also said the U.S. was close to a trade deal with China and that he would meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the end of the year if an agreement was struck. However, he threatened to further raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases. The Reserve Bank of India kept its key interest rate steady at 5.50% on Wednesday, in line with expectations, but the odds of another cut have risen after the steep U.S. tariffs on Indian exports last week. In currency markets, the dollar consolidated after sliding from two-month highs last Friday on a weak jobs report that had markets price in a near-certain chance of a Fed interest rate cut in September. The dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six counterparts, was flat at 98.73 and little changed this week after Friday's 1.4% fall. Fed funds futures imply a 94% chance of a rate cut next month, with at least two cuts priced in for this year, according to the CME's FedWatch. Investors are waiting for Trump's pick to fill a coming vacancy on the Fed Board of Governors. Trump said the decision will be made soon, while ruling out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as a contender to replace current chief Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May 2026. Treasury yields edged up after a $58 billion auction of three-year notes went poorly, but still hovered near multi-month lows. More supply will hit the market this week with $42 billion in 10-year notes on Wednesday and $25 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday. Two-year Treasury yields rose 2 basis points to 3.7323%, having risen 3.5 bps overnight, while benchmark 10-year yields ticked up 3 bps to 4.2217%, after holding steady overnight. In commodity markets, oil prices rose after four straight sessions of declines. U.S. crude rose 0.6% to $65.57 per barrel, while Brent was at $68.07 per barrel, up 0.6%. Trump said on Tuesday he will decide on whether to sanction countries that purchase Russian oil after a meeting with Russian officials scheduled for Wednesday. Spot gold prices slipped 0.3% to $3,370 an ounce. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-2-2025-08-06/
