2026-01-20 11:46
Jan 20 (Reuters) - Indian jewellery retailer Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZL.NS) , opens new tab reported a 170% surge in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, buoyed by strong festive demand and higher store footfalls during the peak wedding season. The company's net profit rose to 806.3 million rupees ($8.86 million) in the October-December quarter from 298.8 million rupees a year earlier. Sign up here. Quarterly revenue rose 14.4% to 10.61 billion rupees. The December quarter typically accounts for about a third of gold sales in the world's second-largest gold consumer, as it not only comprises festival days that are considered auspicious for gold purchases but it also coincides with the start of the wedding season. Climbing gold prices also meant customers turned to the bullion for investment. Spot gold prices rose nearly 12% during the quarter, driven by geopolitical uncertainties, rate cuts and robust central bank buying. The sector has benefited from higher disposable incomes, supported by fiscal measures such as the goods and service (GST) tax cuts and income tax relief, which have left consumers with more spending power on discretionary purchases such as gold. Peers such as Titan (TITN.NS) , opens new tab, Kalyan Jewellers (KALN.NS) , opens new tab and Senco Gold (SENC.NS) , opens new tab have reported robust quarterly sales growth, underlining broad-based sector strength. OCT-DEC STOCK PERFORMANCE COMPARISON FOR PEERS -- All data from LSEG ($1 = 90.9640 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-jeweller-tribhovandas-bhimji-zaveris-quarterly-profit-rockets-170-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 11:40
Jan 20 - What matters in U.S. and global markets today By Mike Dolan , opens new tab, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets Sign up here. U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland are unnerving global markets as Wall St returns from Monday’s holiday, with stock futures, Treasuries and the dollar under pressure and safe-haven gold and silver touching new all-time highs. The moves are contained thus far, but the VIX volatility index, the so-called fear gauge, has leapt to its highest point of the year, as Transatlantic tensions continue to rise. I’ll get into all that and more below. But first, check out my latest column on why President Trump's latest tariff threat could prove more troublesome for markets this time round. And listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily podcast. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists discuss the biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week. Today's Market Minute * U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed tariff threats against European allies amid rising tension over Greenland have revived talk of the 'Sell America' trade that emerged in the aftermath of his sweeping Liberation Day levies last April. * The White House threatened to hit French wines and champagnes with 200% tariffs in an apparent effort to cajole French President Emmanuel Macron into joining President Trump’s Board of Peace initiative. * Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to foster a new global trading order by working more closely with China and inking smaller trade deals. * President Trump's embrace of the oil industry risks turning into an uncomfortable bear hug amid his wider push for lower energy prices, argues ROI Energy Columnist Ron Bousso. * Despite multiplying threats to the world order, EU leaders cannot afford to delay long overdue economic reforms in line with Mario Draghi's recommendations, argues former Reuters Senior Editor Mike Peacock. TRANSATLANTIC TANTRUM European equities fell over 1% on Tuesday morning, while Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures also slipped before the bell. And the dollar was under pressure even as the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 4.265%, marking a four-month high. Even though the greenback and Treasuries slumped, Trump’s threats lifted demand for other traditional safe-havens. Gold surpassed $4,700 per ounce for the first time on Tuesday. So far, today’s activity looks more like a ‘sell America’ trade rather than a pure risk-off mood. While the direction of travel is clear, these moves appear to be contained so far, with markets inevitably wary of overreacting after last year’s tariff ructions and climbdowns. But it is difficult to see how this Transatlantic fracas will be resolved. President Trump showed no signs of softening his demands on Tuesday, noting in a post on Truth Social that Greenland remained “imperative for National and World Security” and that “there can be no going back”. This comes after he appeared to link his desire to acquire the Arctic island to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year, which he blamed on Norway. This should put even more of a spotlight on Davos in the coming days, where the World Economic Forum is entering its second day. President Trump is expected to speak on Wednesday. He recently told journalists that the U.S. would discuss his proposed acquisition of Greenland at the event. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is at the event in Switzerland, told reporters he was “confident that the [European] leaders will not escalate”, brushing off the prospects of a prolonged trade war and a European sell-off of U.S. Treasuries. It is worth noting that European investors own $8 trillion worth of U.S. equities and bonds, leading some to question what it would take for a sell-off to occur. While some analysts poured cold water on any immediate risk of this happening absent further escalation, others noted that appetite for portfolio diversification away from the U.S. remains strong. Elsewhere, long-dated Japanese government bond (JGB) yields hit record highs on expectations that the country’s February 8 snap election would lead to looser fiscal policy and further strain public finances. Demand was low at an auction of 20-year JGBs on Tuesday, with yields touching a high of 3.35% as the market priced in the fiscal and political risks. Chart of the day Japanese government bond yields reached all-time highs on January 20 as markets weighed expectations of looser fiscal policy ahead of a February election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Yields now sit significantly higher than they did on October 20 last year, the eve of Takaichi's election as prime minister. Today's events to watch * French President Emmanuel Macron visits WEF at Davos * U.S. corporate earnings: Netflix 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 Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 11:34
LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The pound headed for its largest two-day rise since December on Tuesday, rallying as investors ditched the dollar in the face of mounting trade tensions between the United States and Europe over Greenland. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs from February 1 on imports from the UK, Denmark, Norway, Finland, France, Germany and the Netherlands unless they agree to U.S. ownership of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory. Sign up here. Investors have responded by selling U.S. assets, including the dollar, and largely buying European currencies and gold. Sterling has gained 0.8% in the last two days to trade around $1.348, although it has lost out against a resurgent euro , the major beneficiary of the push out of the dollar, which was last up 0.4% on Tuesday, the most since early November, to trade at 87.03 pence. UK labour market data earlier in the day painted on the surface a fairly bleak picture for the employment market, with the jobless rate holding around five-year highs in November and the number of workers on payrolls dropping by the most since November 2020. But there were some bright spots in the report to suggest that the worst of the downturn may have passed, analysts said. George Buckley, chief UK and euro area economist at Nomura, said the report also showed redundancies fell, while vacancies and the unemployment rate stabilised, along with the inactivity rate falling. Wage growth, a key metric for the Bank of England, also slowed to what he called "inflation-target consistent rates". "This provides a helpful backdrop for the bank to cut rates again – we expect a final move to 3.50% in April, with markets pricing in the risk of earlier/more cuts," he said. Markets are currently pricing one rate cut from the BoE by mid-year, with a roughly 60% chance of a second by December. https://www.reuters.com/business/pound-heads-biggest-two-day-rise-since-december-dollar-wilts-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 11:31
KAMPALA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Uganda's gold exports leaped 75.8% last year from the previous 12 months, helped by record prices that attracted new dealers into the sector, Uganda's central bank said on Tuesday. Gold has surpassed coffee as the east-African country's biggest export and source of foreign exchange. Sign up here. In 2025, Uganda shipped bullion worth $5.8 billion, up from $3.3 billion in 2024, Adam Mugume, the Bank of Uganda's executive director for research and economic analysis, told Reuters in an email, partly attributing the increase to the soaring international gold prices. Uganda has emerged in recent years as a processing and trading centre for gold shipped in from neighbours including eastern Democratic Republic Congo, South Sudan and other areas, as Uganda produces little gold of its own. The price of gold rose more than 64% in 2025 as global geopolitical tensions drove a surge in demand for the safe-haven metal. "The attractive gold prices have incentivised new entrants into the business, generating a significant volume of exports," Mugume said. He did not give volume figures. Last year, Uganda inaugurated its first large-scale gold mine, a $250 million Chinese-owned project in eastern Uganda. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ugandas-gold-exports-surged-76-last-year-to-58-billion-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 11:19
PARIS, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Fresh tariffs by the U.S. would weaken economic growth for all parties involved but their impact on European inflation should be rather muted, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau told Bloomberg TV in Davos on Tuesday. "On activity, tariffs are obviously bad news for everybody... including the U.S.," Villeroy said. Sign up here. Last year's tariffs did not have an impact on euro zone inflation as they were mostly paid by U.S. consumers, and a similarly muted price outcome is likely in case of fresh duties, Villeroy added. https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/fresh-tariffs-have-muted-inflation-impact-europe-ecbs-villeroy-says-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 11:11
GABORONE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Botswana's diamond stockpile is nearly double its target inventory levels amid persistent low prices, leaving the country unable to increase gem production in the short term to lift its economy, the finance ministry has said. Botswana's economy was expected to shrink by almost 1% in 2025 following a 3% contraction the year before, largely due to the collapse of diamond prices under pressure from lab-grown gems and weak global demand. Sign up here. The price slump forced miner Debswana, Botswana's joint venture with De Beers which accounts for 90% of the country's diamond sales, to temporarily suspend production at some of its mines last year. Botswana produced 18 million carats of diamonds in 2024, only second to Russia, according to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. It had a stockpile of 12 million carats at the end of December 2025, according to the finance ministry's 2026/27 Budget Strategy Paper seen by Reuters on Tuesday, nearly double the government's allowable inventory level of 6.5 million carats. "This suggests that, over the short term, production is expected to remain broadly unchanged, until the level of inventories is drawn down closer to minimum allowable levels, creating room for additional production," the ministry said in the budget document. Limited scope for increased output will constrain the economy, unless the non-mining sector performs strongly, it added. Diamonds normally contribute around one-third of Botswana's national revenues and three-quarters of its foreign exchange receipts. Botswana's exports to the U.S., including diamonds, now face a 15% tariff. Higher tariffs imposed on major diamond consuming markets such as India could prolong lower gem prices and squeeze profit margins, the ministry added. "This may ripple through to mining operations. A slowdown in mining activity would reduce government's fiscal revenues from the sector," it said. Botswana's mineral revenues are estimated to reach 10.3 billion pula ($729.24 million) in 2025/26, compared to a historical annual average of 25.3 billion pula, reflecting lower diamond sales. ($1 = 14.1243 pulas) https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/botswanas-diamond-stockpile-swells-gem-price-slump-persists-2026-01-20/
