2025-05-21 10:21

MUMBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee closed nearly flat on Wednesday, trailing behind its Asian peers as the impact of a weaker U.S. dollar was blunted by strong demand for the greenback from foreign banks, likely on behalf of custodial clients. The rupee closed at 85.6375 per dollar, compared to its previous close at 85.6350. Sign up here. Other Asian currencies rose between 0.1% to 0.6% as the dollar index drooped to a two-week low before paring losses to last quote at 99.6. The dollar has been weighed down by concerns about U.S. fiscal policy and fading optimism about cooling of trade tensions, as investors await details on signs of progress on trade talks. "The tendency to add to USD short positions has been clear, even though the greenback remains notably undervalued against most G10 currencies when judged by short-term drivers such as rates and equity differentials," ING Bank said in a note. While this has helped boost most emerging market currencies, the rupee has been lagging amid strong local dollar demand, which traders reckon was spurred by immediate corporate payments and foreign portfolio outflows. India's benchmark equity indexes, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN) , opens new tab and Nifty 50 (.NSEI) , opens new tab closed higher by 0.5% each, pulling back from earlier gains of as much as 1%, while the benchmark 10-year bond yield edged lower. Dollar-rupee forward premiums dipped, as U.S. bond yields stuck to their recent uptrend. The 1-year dollar-rupee implied yield eased to 2.02%, its lowest level in over two months. Traders will keep an eye on remarks from Federal Reserve policymakers, news flow from the ongoing G7 meetings and developments on a U.S. tax-cut bill, which nonpartisan analysts say could add $3 trillion to $5 trillion to the U.S. debt. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-rupee-lags-behind-asian-peers-foreign-banks-dollar-bids-weigh-2025-05-21/

2025-05-21 10:19

MOSCOW, May 21 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble briefly strengthened past the level of 80 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday before rebounding, but remained close to its highest level since June 2023. By 1000 GMT, the rouble was up 0.4% at 80.30 per U.S. dollar, LSEG data based on over-the-counter quotes showed. The Russian currency has risen by over 40% against the dollar this year. Sign up here. The rouble's exchange rate did not appear to suffer any major impact from new sanctions against Russia, announced by the EU and Britain on May 20, which targeted Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers and financial firms. Analysts have said the rouble's strength this year is linked to the easing of geopolitical tensions and the central bank's tight monetary policy, which has reduced demand for foreign currency. "The strengthening of the rouble is largely due to the prolonged rigidity of monetary policy, which stimulates interest in rouble assets, against the backdrop of a positive geopolitical track," said Denis Popov from PSB bank. Against the Chinese yuan, which Russia's central bank uses for its foreign exchange interventions and is the most-traded foreign currency in Russia, the rouble was up 0.7% at 11.09 per yuan on the Moscow Stock Exchange. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/russian-rouble-near-highest-against-us-dollar-since-june-2023-2025-05-21/

2025-05-21 07:56

US copper imports surged to 123,000 tons in March from 58,000 tons in February Bulk carriers used for faster copper transport amid tariff uncertainty Copper stocks in LME warehouses down nearly 60% since February Unusual copper shipments from Germany and Spain to US seen HONG KONG/LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Unusually large shipments of copper to the United States are unlikely to abate as long as the threat of tariffs hangs over the market and price premiums for the metal on U.S.-based COMEX make deals profitable for traders and producers, analysts said. Since February, when U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on imports of copper vital for electric vehicles, power grids and construction, prices of the metal on COMEX (CME.O) , opens new tab have soared. Sign up here. COMEX copper hit a record high at $11,633 a metric ton on March 26, creating a premium of more than $1,570 a ton against the benchmark contract on the London Metal Exchange. According to U.S. government data, copper imports in March amounted to more than 123,000 tons compared with around 58,000 tons in February and 76,000 in January. "We expect 250,000-300,000 tons of extra copper will be shipped to the U.S. over March-May because of the spread and amid the uncertainties regarding the tariff," said Sharon Ding, head of China basic materials at UBS Investment Research. Ding was speaking on Tuesday at a Shanghai Metals Market event during LME Week in Hong Kong. Some of the metal heading for the U.S. has been diverted from China, but much of it has come from LME-registered warehouses where copper stocks have dropped nearly 60% since the middle of February to 170,750 tons. The premium for copper on COMEX has fallen to $600 a ton, a level traders say is still high enough to make a lucrative profit by sending copper to the United States. "Anyone who could get any material into the U.S. was pretty highly incentivised to do so. I think that rolls on for a little bit longer. We're still at super-normal (premiums)," said Marcus Garvey, head of commodities strategy at Macquarie. UNUSUAL SHIPMENTS Typically, traders and producers with contractual commitments transport metal using container ships as the amounts are regular and relatively small. One container can hold up to 25 tons of metal. However, traders wanting to move quickly before tariffs are potentially imposed have been transporting metal using bulk carriers. Container ships stop along the route to pick up cargo and can take 40 days to reach final destinations, according to a logistics source, while bulk carriers sail directly to final destinations, cutting transit time to around two weeks. Data provider Kpler estimates 95,202 tons of copper transported on bulk carriers reached the U.S. in March and 127,539 tons in April, compared with around 44,000 tons in January and February. In the first half of May, 71,591 tons of copper arrived in bulk carriers, according to Kpler, which highlighted larger than usual volumes from Chile, alongside unusual shipments of 10,000 tons and 4,500 tons from Germany and Spain in March and April respectively. Germany and Spain do not typically export copper to the United States. "It's possible we'll see more atypical cargos in the second half of May," Kpler analyst Ben Ayre said. "While the COMEX price continues to run at a premium to the LME there’s a strong incentive to land refined copper in the United States." https://www.reuters.com/world/china/lme-week-trumps-copper-tariff-threat-still-lucrative-bet-traders-2025-05-21/

2025-05-21 07:46

SYDNEY, May 21 (Reuters) - Heavy rain in Australia's southeast triggered flash flooding and cut off entire towns on Wednesday, stranding some residents on the roofs of their homes, as authorities issued snap evacuation orders with rivers staying above danger levels. Rural towns in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, were the worst hit from the downpour, with some areas receiving more than four months worth of rain over the past 24 hours. Sign up here. "We have seen an enormous amount of rainfall," New South Wales Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib told reporters. "We've got a situation here where the rain really has been falling quite heavily and quite hard, and it hasn't been moving away. Part of that is because the ground is saturated and another part is also because the rivers are swollen." In its latest update, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said some areas could receive up to 300 mm (12 inches) of rain over the next 24 hours, three times the mean total for May. Images shared on social media showed some residents sitting inside their homes ankle-deep in water waiting for rescue crews. In the towns of Taree and Glenthorne, which sit along the Manning River more than 300 km (186 miles) north of Sydney, some residents were trapped on verandas and roofs with emergency crews struggling overnight to access the area by boat or air, authorities said. "We didn't expect this amount of water," Glenthorne resident Jordan Halloran told ABC News. "Our neighbours will have to go onto the roof next and if we're not rescued, I would say we will have to make our way to the roof as well." New South Emergency Services Commissioner Mike Wassing said emergency crews were giving top priority to rescuing vulnerable people and those who could not leave their homes. "The current focus (will be on) people that are actually on roofs or in other cases might be on the second story of their home," Wassing said. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/flash-floods-cut-off-inland-australian-towns-residents-flee-rooftops-2025-05-21/

2025-05-21 07:34

Sterling hits highest since 2022 after UK inflation data BoE more hemmed in by inflation concerns Economists expect April price pressures to ease LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - The pound hit its highest in three years on Wednesday, catching a brief lift from data that showed UK consumer inflation picked up faster than expected in April, which reduces the Bank of England's ability to quickly cut rates to protect growth. Consumer prices rose at a rate of 3.5% in April from 2.6% in March, the Office for National Statistics said, the highest since January 2024 and the largest increase since 2022 when inflation was rocketing. Sign up here. Sterling rose as much as 0.58% to $1.347, its highest since February 2022, although it was broadly steady against the euro , trading at 84.325 pence. UK finance minister Rachel Reeves said she was "disappointed" by the data. "I know cost of living pressures are still weighing down on working people," she said in a statement. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of 3.3% in April while the Bank of England earlier this month projected inflation of 3.4%. There had been an expectation for a sharper pick-up in prices last month, thanks to increases in water, gas and electricity bills. A rise in air fares contributed to the hot data print, the ONS said. Worryingly for the BoE, services inflation, which captures domestic price pressures, rose by 5.4% in April, above even the highest forecasts in a Reuters poll for an increase of 4.8% and beyond the BoE's forecast for a reading of 5% last month. Wednesday's data will add to unease among Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members over the outlook for Britain's economy, which grew strongly in early 2025 but is likely to slow in the second half of the year. However, many of April's price increases were seen as one-offs, meaning pressure should gradually subside, even though U.S. tariffs are in effect, analysts said. "Big picture, this is not the end of a quarterly cutting cycle – not yet at least," Deutsche Bank chief UK economist Sanjay Raya said. "While the bar may be higher for an August rate cut than previously thought, it's likely that the majority of the MPC will look past this if inflation expectations start to recede... the labour market continues to loosen as we expect, and pay settlements continue to come in lower." UK interest rate futures showed traders are pricing in just 35 basis points in rate cuts from the BoE between now and the end of this year. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/sterling-hits-highest-since-2022-after-red-hot-uk-inflation-data-2025-05-21/

2025-05-21 07:21

GDANSK, May 21 (Reuters) - Polish power utility Enea (ENAE.WA) , opens new tab posted a 3.4% year-on-year rise in its first quarter core profit on Tuesday evening, supported by higher revenue from its distribution segment at a time when it seeks to expand its renewable energy offering. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose to 1.94 billion zlotys ($518.2 million), in line with Enea's preliminary estimate. Sign up here. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Enea, Poland's third-largest power utility by market value, is under pressure from falling profitability in its coal-fired power-generation fleet as renewable energy sources capture an increasing share of the nation's energy mix. Poland is reducing its reliance on coal, which accounted for about 57% of its electricity generation in 2024, according to energy policy think tank Forum Energii. CONTEXT In March, Enea's unit signed an agreement to buy six wind farms and a photovoltaic project. In the coming months, it plans to acquire another portfolio of wind projects at various stages of development, with a total capacity of about 33 MW, and project companies or rights to photovoltaic farm projects with a total capacity of about 40 MW. KEY QUOTES "Changing the production mix is a priority for us, which is why we continue to search for new ... opportunities and talk to owners and developers of renewable energy projects, thanks to which we will effectively build the growth of our emission-free production sources," CEO Grzegorz Kinelski said in a statement. BY THE NUMBERS Enea's quarterly revenue fell 9.5% to 7.59 billion zlotys. Net profit rose 3.3% on the year to 1.05 billion zlotys. Its capital expenditures amounted to 618.3 million zlotys in the quarter. ($1 = 3.7436 zlotys) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/polish-utility-enea-reports-expected-rise-q1-core-profit-2025-05-21/