2025-12-15 01:42

MUMBAI, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The rupee's rough patch is likely to extend into the final few weeks of the year as weak flows and the lack of a U.S. trade deal bog down investor sentiment, while bonds will react to the central bank's debt purchase and foreign investors' activity. The currency hit a record low of 90.55 before closing at 90.4150 on Friday, down 0.5% on the week and set for its worst yearly fall since 2022. Sign up here. The dollar index logged its third consecutive weekly decline last week, weighed down by expectations of further policy easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve. That offered little relief to the Indian rupee, which remained under strain from portfolio outflows and sentiment dampened by the absence of a trade deal. Traders expect the rupee to hover between 89.80 and 90.80 this week and reckon that volatility could pick up as the year draws to a close and trading activity gets thinner. Trade negotiations between India and the United States remain a focal point for investors. In the absence of a breakthrough, analysts think the rupee is poised to keep drifting lower. Subdued capital flows and reduced central bank intervention have been the immediate drivers of the rupee's recent underperformance versus emerging-market peers, against the backdrop of a wider current account deficit, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. Among broader markets, the focus this week will be on the Bank of Japan's policy decision. Markets have almost fully priced in the chance of a rate hike to 0.75% from 0.5% at the December 18-19 meeting. In Indian bond markets, the 10-year benchmark 6.48% 2035 bond yield settled at 6.5931% on Friday, up 10 bps from the previous week, posting its biggest weekly rise in nearly four months. Bonds fell amid heavy selling pressure from foreign players as well as a sharp spike in overnight index swap rates due to offshore paying interest. Traders expect the yield to drift between 6.55% and 6.65%, with major focus on the central bank's upcoming bond purchase. Last week, the RBI bought 500 billion rupees of bonds at higher-than-expected cutoff prices, which led to some relief in a market that was otherwise dominated by sellers. Traders will continue to remain focused on activity from foreign portfolio investors closer to the year-end, to watch if they continue their selling streak. Foreign investors net sold bonds worth over 54 billion rupees, while foreign banks have net sold bonds worth 30 billion rupees in the first two weeks of December. Wontae Kim, portfolio manager at Western Asset Management, said he is broadly neutral on the rupee but "overweight" government bond duration, and this has not changed meaningfully in the last year. "In Singapore our mandate is pan Asia, and in the Asian context, Indian yields are generally higher and thus have higher hedging costs than regional peers." KEY EVENTS: India ** November WPI inflation - December 15, Monday (12:00 p.m. IST)(Reuters poll 0.60%) ** December HSBC manufacturing, services and composite Flash PMI - December 16, Tuesday (10:30 a.m. IST) ** Minutes of Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy meeting - December 19, Friday (05:00 p.m. IST) U.S. ** November non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate - December 16, Tuesday (7:00 p.m. IST) ** October retail sales - December 16, Tuesday (7:00 p.m. IST) ** December S&P Global manufacturing, services and composite Flash PMI - December 16, Tuesday (8:15 p.m. IST) ** November consumer price inflation - December 18, Thursday (7:00 p.m. IST) (Reuters poll: 3%) ** Initial weekly jobless claims for week to December 13 - December 18, Thursday (7:30 p.m. IST) ** December Philly Fed Business index - December 18, Thursday (7:30 p.m. IST) ** November existing home sales - December 19, Friday (8:30 p.m. IST) ** December U-Mich sentiment - December 19, Friday (8:30 p.m. IST) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-rupee-set-keep-drifting-lower-bonds-track-debt-buy-fpi-activity-2025-12-15/

2025-12-15 00:27

Korea Zinc to sell $1.9 billion shares to US-backed venture Pentagon to hold 40% stake in joint venture Top investors slam plan for trying to cement chair's influence Korea Zinc's shares jump as much as 26%, end up 5% SEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Korea Zinc (010130.KS) , opens new tab said on Monday it will build a $7.4 billion critical minerals refinery in Tennessee that will be funded largely by Washington and help cut U.S. reliance on China for the building blocks of most electronics and weapons. The deal to build the first U.S.-based zinc refinery since the 1970s comes as the Trump administration has been investing in a range of mines and refining projects at a breakneck pace in recent months. The project also aims to refine copper and a range of other minerals considered critical by the U.S. government, officials said. Sign up here. An existing zinc refinery in Clarksville, Tennessee - roughly 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Nashville - will be bought from Trafigura's Nyrstar, torn down and replaced by a larger facility that will open in 2029 and grow to annual output of 540,000 metric tons of critical minerals, including 300,000 tons of zinc, 35,000 tons of copper, 200,000 tons of lead and 5,100 tons of rare earths, officials said. "The Trump administration will continue to leverage every tool at our disposal to end America's foreign dependence for critical minerals and restore working-class prosperity," White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to Reuters that confirmed the investment. Under the plan, Korea Zinc will sell shares worth $1.9 billion to a joint venture controlled by the U.S. government and unnamed U.S.-based strategic investors, who would then control around 10% of the South Korean firm. The U.S. Department of Defense will hold a 40% stake in the venture, while Korea Zinc's stake will be less than 10%. Korea Zinc will secure the remaining $5.5 billion for the plant through $4.7 billion in loans from the U.S. government and financial institutions as well as $210 million in subsidies from the U.S. Commerce Department under the CHIPS and Science Act. The news sent shares in Korea Zinc, the world's largest zinc smelting company, surging as much as 26% in Monday trading in South Korea, though they later pared gains to end up 4.9%. Korea Zinc will also restart a Tennessee zinc mine that will feed the new complex. Local officials approved a property tax abatement for the project this week. The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Major Korea Zinc shareholders, who have been seeking to oust the refiner's chairman, lambasted the planned U.S. investment, saying it was aimed at cementing management's hold on the company. REFINING PROJECT AIMS TO HIRE U.S. VETERANS The project is located near a major U.S. military base and is expected to recruit retiring soldiers for 420 new jobs with annual salaries starting at $86,000, local economic development officials said. "Our workforce is young, trainable and usually very disciplined," Buck Dellinger, head of the Clarksville economic development office, told Reuters. LG Chem (051910.KS) , opens new tab and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab Google are among the other international firms with operations in Clarksville. In October, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to a trade deal, which included a cut in tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier in the year and a pledge by South Korea to invest $350 billion in strategic American sectors. Seoul-based Korea Zinc said the plant will "respond to the expansion of global supply chain risks and the increasing demand for non-ferrous metals and strategic minerals in the United States." Korea Zinc also agreed earlier this year to help deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company (TMC.O) , opens new tab process polymetallic nodules from the seafloor. TMC has asked Trump to issue it an international seabed mining permit. Reuters was first to report earlier this month that the U.S. military would develop a fleet of small-scale refineries to produce critical minerals used to make bullets, armor and other types of weaponry. MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS TO FILE TO BLOCK SHARE ISSUE The Young Poong (000670.KS) , opens new tab conglomerate, which together with a private equity firm MBK Partners held nearly 50% of Korea Zinc, said it will file a complaint with a court to block the new share issue plan. It is rare for the U.S. government to acquire a stake in a foreign company, and Korea Zinc's management was simply attempting to secure a "white knight" so that Chairman Yun B. Choi can retain control, Young Poong said in a statement. China dominates the world's supply of critical minerals such as antimony and germanium, which are used in telecommunications equipment, semiconductors and military technology. Beijing banned exports of these minerals to the U.S. in December 2024, following Washington's crackdown on China's chip sector. The ban has been suspended since November. Trump has ordered the Department of Defense to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress. ($1 = 1,475.5400 won) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/korea-zinc-board-discuss-plan-build-smelter-under-us-joint-venture-source-says-2025-12-15/

2025-12-15 00:03

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Britain will start regulating cryptoassets from October 2027, the finance ministry said on Monday, rules it hopes will give the industry certainty while keeping out "dodgy actors". The new law - the government will introduce legislation into parliament later on Monday - will extend existing financial regulation to companies involved in crypto, aligning Britain with the U.S. rather than the European Union, which has built rules tailored to the industry. Sign up here. A draft bill giving effect to regulation has undergone only minor changes since it was published earlier this year, a ministry spokesperson said. Globally, interest in cryptoassets has surged since U.S. President Donald Trump came to power promising to embrace the industry, although the price of the largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin , has fallen sharply in recent months after hitting a record high. The U.S. is pursuing what is perceived by the industry to be a more crypto-friendly approach than Britain, while the European Union's Markets in Cryptoassets rules took effect in 2024. Britain has said it would collaborate with the U.S. on the best approach to digital assets through a "transatlantic taskforce". Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the rules would provide “clear rules of the road”, strengthen consumer protections and keep “dodgy actors” out of the market. Natalie Lewis, a partner at Travers Smith, told Reuters she hoped the changes in the final legislation would be “more than minor” as there were “quite a few technical legal problems with the original draft". Britain's regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies is taking shape, with the Financial Conduct Authority planning bespoke rules for trading and market abuse, custody and issuance, and the Bank of England last month unveiling its proposals for regulating stablecoins - a type of cryptocurrency - that are used for everyday payments. At the same time, regulators continue to warn about the risks, including that investors in cryptocurrencies should be prepared to lose all of their money. Both the BoE and the FCA have promised to finalise their rules by end-2026. Daniel Slutzkin, head of UK at crypto exchange Gemini, said firms had “long awaited regulatory clarity” and could now start preparing to meet the new requirements. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/uk-regulation-cryptoassets-start-october-2027-finance-ministry-says-2025-12-15/

2025-12-14 23:41

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Australia's Fortescue (FMG.AX) , opens new tab said on Monday it would buy the remaining 64% of Alta Copper (ATCU.TO) , opens new tab, in a deal implying a total equity value of C$139 million ($101 million) for the Toronto-listed copper miner. Fortescue, through its unit Nascent Exploration, is offering C$1.40 per share in cash for the shares in Alta that it does not already own. Sign up here. The offer price represents a 14.8% premium to Alta's closing price on Friday. The deal comes as Fortescue, the world's fourth-largest iron ore miner, looks to expand in copper, which has hit record highs in recent trading as demand for the metal is forecast to soar. Other large miners including Fortescue's iron ore rivals BHP Group (BHP.AX) , opens new tab and Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) , opens new tab, (RIO.L) , opens new tab are also looking to raise their exposure to copper to diversify their portfolios. Alta Copper fully owns the Canariaco copper project in northern Peru, with a reported mineral resource of 1.1 billion metric tons at 0.42% copper equivalent grade and 0.9 billion tons at 0.29%. Shares of Fortescue were down 0.8% in early trading, in line with the broader Australian mining sub-index's (.AXMM) , opens new tab fall. ($1 = 1.3762 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/australias-fortescue-buy-remaining-stake-alta-copper-valuing-it-101-million-2025-12-14/

2025-12-14 23:23

SEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) - South Korea has decided to extend bond market stabilisation programmes through next year, the financial regulator said on Monday, citing risk from monetary policy changes at home and abroad as well as increases in treasury bond issuance. The Financial Services Commission statement said its bond and short-term money market stabilisation funds of 37.6 trillion won ($25.5 billion) and real estate project financing support programmes worth 60.9 trillion won will be extended through 2026. Sign up here. The FSC also said it would pre-emptively deploy market stabilising measures if necessary, given growing caution in domestic financial markets and rising bond yields and foreign exchange volatility. The Bank of Korea kept interest rates unchanged for a fourth straight meeting last month after a weakening won reduced scope for further easing, signalling that the bank could be nearing the end of its rate-cutting cycle. ($1 = 1,474.7800 won) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/south-korea-financial-regulator-extends-bond-market-stabilisation-programmes-2025-12-14/

2025-12-14 20:18

RABAT, Dec 14 (Reuters) - At least 21 people were killed in flash floods triggered by torrential rains on Sunday in Morocco's Atlantic coastal province of Safi, 330 kilometres (205 miles) south of Rabat, Moroccan authorities said. The floods also injured 32 people, and most of them have left the hospital, authorities said in a statement. Sign up here. One hour of heavy rain was enough to flood homes and shops in the old town of Safi, and sweep away cars and cut many roads in Safi and its surroundings, as rescue efforts continue, they said. Morocco is experiencing heavy rain and snowfall on the Atlas mountains, following seven years of drought that emptied some of its main reservoirs. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/flash-floods-kill-seven-people-moroccos-safi-2025-12-14/