2025-04-24 11:16

TSX ends up 1% at 24,727.53 Tech rises 2.8% with Shopify up 4.3% Teck Resources adds 3.7% on upbeat results Energy adds 1% as oil settles 0.8% higher April 24 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index came within a whisker of erasing its decline since the start of the year on Thursday, with technology and mining shares leading gains as investors weighed prospects of U.S. trade deals and Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite Index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 254.85 points, or 1%, at 24,727.53, its highest closing level since April 2. At the end of 2024, it was at 24,727.94. Sign up here. Better-than-expected U.S. corporate earnings, hopes that the U.S. is making progress on trade deals and the potential for a June interest rate cut from the Fed have driven improved investor sentiment, said Mike Archibald, a portfolio manager at AGF Investments. A June rate cut would "help the liquidity of the market" and propel risk taking, Archibald said. The Canadian 10-year yield eased 6 basis points to 3.189%, tracking moves in U.S. Treasury yields. The Toronto market's technology sector rose 2.8%, with e-commerce company Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) , opens new tab adding 4.3%. The materials group, which includes fertilizer companies and metal mining shares, ended 1.4% higher as gold and copper prices climbed. Teck Resources Ltd (TECKb.TO) , opens new tab reported first-quarter results that beat expectations due to higher commodity prices and copper sales volumes. Shares of the mining company were up 3.7%. The price of oil also rose, settling 0.8% higher at $62.79 a barrel in a boost for energy. The sector advanced 1% and heavily weighted financials were up 0.8%. Cargojet Inc (CJT.TO) , opens new tab was a standout. Its shares advanced 15.3% after the company beat earnings estimates. In contrast, shares of Aecon Group Inc (ARE.TO) , opens new tab fell 9.8% after the construction company reported first-quarter results. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/tsx-futures-flat-market-optimism-fades-2025-04-24/

2025-04-24 11:02

Coinbase to let users redeem PYUSD directly for U.S. dollars Companies will work together on payments, DeFi innovations Move comes as U.S. Congress looks likely to pass stablecoin bill April 24 (Reuters) - Coinbase, the largest publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange, is waiving fees on transactions connected to PayPal's stablecoin and allowing its users to redeem the token directly for U.S. dollars, a major milestone for PayPal as the company doubles down on crypto payments. The move is part of a joint effort by Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab and PayPal (PYPL.O) , opens new tab to increase the adoption of PayPal's stablecoin, called PYUSD, which it launched in 2023. PayPal says the integration with Coinbase will allow merchants on its network to settle directly in PYUSD instead of traditional financial rails. Sign up here. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 dollar peg, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Their use has grown rapidly in recent years, and proponents like PayPal say that they could be used to send payments instantly. "This combination of being able to connect the consumer bases of PayPal and Coinbase, bringing our merchants to the table, bringing [Coinbase's] institutional access to the table -- we think that it creates a really, really powerful combination," said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal's senior vice president of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies. The two companies also plan on partnering for future efforts to increase the adoption of stablecoins for payments and explore use cases for PYUSD on decentralized finance platforms, which allow users to transact directly on a blockchain network without intermediaries. "This is a partnership that is all about advancing the future of global payments, taking stable coins mainstream, pushing forward this technology," said Lauren Abendschein, global head of institutional sales at Coinbase. Coinbase has previously only offered the same zero-fee treatment for Circle's stablecoin, USDC, the number two stablecoin in terms of market capitalization. "Definitely there will be cases for payments where people will make a choice between PYUSD and USDC, and we want to make sure that we establish PYUSD as the best stablecoin for payments," said Fernandez da Ponte. Circle has also doubled down on the use of its stablecoin for payments. On Monday, the company announced the launch of its Circle Payments network designed for cross-border payment and real-time settlement of its stablecoins between financial institutions. Stablecoins have a market capitalization of more than $238 billion, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. PayPal's stablecoin has a market cap of only about $872 million, but it could stand to gain greater market share through its integration with Coinbase. The partnership between the two companies is happening as the U.S. Congress appears likely to pass a bill creating stablecoin rules for the first time. The House of Representatives and the Senate have both advanced bills to create a regulatory regime for stablecoins, and the White House said it wants to see a final bill passed by August. President Donald Trump has sought to broadly overhaul U.S. cryptocurrency policies after courting cash from the industry during his presidential campaign. In office, he has appointed crypto-friendly leaders to agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and signed an executive order last month to create a strategic cryptocurrency reserve. In addition, Trump Media & Technology Group, which is majority-owned by the president, on Tuesday said it had reached a binding agreement to roll out an array of retail investment products, including crypto, in its latest bid to diversify into financial services. https://www.reuters.com/business/coinbase-waives-fees-paypals-stablecoin-crypto-payments-push-2025-04-24/

2025-04-24 10:27

April 24 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets today. By Naomi Rovnick, markets enterprise correspondent Sign up here. Animal imagery, popular in financial markets since the 1870s , opens new tab, will dominate conversations today as traders question if U.S. stocks that turned bullish this week after skirting bear market territory have just executed a dead cat bounce. Investors eyeing Thursday's drop in U.S. equity futures after two days of Wall Street gains driven by the White House mulling softer China tariffs might see this as the end of one of those brief bear market reversals with feline characteristics. But beware anxiety about minor market fluctuations, known as Chicken Little thinking, obscuring prospects of what consultancy Capital Economics predicts as further rallies ahead before U.S. President Donald Trump's volatile trade rhetoric shifts again. Today's Market Minute * U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 145% China tariffs are not sustainable * Relief rally fizzles as markets take stock of Trump's U-turns * Nestle warns of the unclear indirect impact of tariffs on consumers, customers and currencies * Global central bankers face the U.S. Federal Reserve becoming a less stable source of global monetary policy influence. * German business sentiment unexpectedly improved in April Was that a dead cat bounce? S&P 500 futures traded 0.7% lower on Thursday morning and contracts tracking the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 lost 0.9%, echoing stock market falls across Europe as nerves about erratic White House policy appeared to grip markets once again. It is not just tariffs on investors' minds either, as worries linger about Trump's fickle stance towards the Federal Reserve after the U.S. president lambasted Fed chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates, then rowed back. Mirroring stock markets, the brief respite for the weakened dollar has also faded, with the U.S. currency down 0.5% to $1.137 per euro, heading closer to its recent 3-1/2 year low. More than 90% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly earnings so far have mentioned tariff risks, according to transcripts crunched by Reuters, more than doubling the rate of trade war comments from the previous earnings season. That suggests the burst of confidence that lifted risk appetite this week could well be fragile, as businesses deter hiring and investment plans to assess how trade tensions are impacting their customers and suppliers. Nestle, the world's largest packaged goods group, has just warned that the indirect effect of tariffs on everything from currencies to commodities prices remains unclear, sending its shares 0.7% lower despite better-than-expected quarterly sales. On the plus side, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's comments on Wednesday that high tariffs between the U.S. and China are not sustainable signalled openness to de-escalating tensions between the world's two largest economies. And even if tariff nerves have peaked, mounting U.S. slowdown signals, which strategists at BCA Research say are not fully priced into markets, are the next potential source of pessimism that could prolong bear market trends. S&P Global's "flash" purchasing managers index for the U.S. dropped to 51.2 points for April, still in growth territory but its weakest reading since December 2023. Chart of the day Trump's first 100 days in office will likely draw to a close with a major underperformance in U.S. assets after a rush out of dollars that called its global reserve status into question. That is placing pressure on other currencies where a surge of haven demand could well be economically disruptive. The euro has surged 5.3% month-to-date in a trend that threatens to bludgeon exporters already facing punitive U.S. tariffs, while the rocketing Swiss franc has spurred talk of currency intervention by the nation's central bank. Today's events to watch * G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will hold a press conference after the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring meetings * Donald Trump meets with Norway's prime minister and finance minister in Washington * Kansas City Fed manufacturing index * European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-2025-04-24/

2025-04-24 10:15

MUMBAI, April 24 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee ended higher on Thursday as speculators failed to take the unit below a well-recognised support level, with dollar sales by exporters also helping. The rupee ended 0.2% higher at 85.26 to the U.S. dollar, compared to its previous close of 85.42. Sign up here. The local unit had slipped to an intraday low of 85.6625 in the session, but managed to recoup losses as it failed to move beyond a "crucial" support zone of 85.70-85.80, said a foreign bank trader. The rupee "seems poised to find support around the 85.80 level, with upside capped near 85 to a dollar," Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm, said. "A period of consolidation within this range appears likely unless there is a significant downward shift in the dollar index," she said. The dollar index fell on Thursday, surrendering some of the previous day's big gains after U.S. President Donald Trump backed down from threats to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and appeared to soften his stance on China. The Trump administration would look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks with Beijing, a source told Reuters on Wednesday. "The dollar has further to run according to our models, but in our view requires Trump to deliver more positive news," ING Bank said in a note. Longer-dated U.S. Treasuries steadied as Trump's reversal on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell seemed to ease the threat to U.S. monetary and fiscal credibility, with the 10-year yield 4 basis points lower at 4.35%. Meanwhile, worries over rising tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following a deadly militant attack in India's Kashmir region kept the rupee's gains in check, as per traders. Dollar/rupee forward premiums rose on Thursday amid the escalating geopolitical concerns. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-gains-exporters-dollar-sales-holds-key-support-level-2025-04-24/

2025-04-24 10:07

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The downturn in British factory orders eased only slightly in April, with new export business sliding sharply amid a global trade war, the Confederation of British Industry said on Thursday. The CBI's monthly balance for manufacturing new orders rose this month to -26 from -29 in March. While marking a five-month high, it still signalled a sharp contraction. Sign up here. The export orders index sank to -41 from -29, its lowest level since September 2024. A survey from S&P Global on Wednesday also showed a severe drop in business from abroad, with tariffs levied by the United States a key factor. "Manufacturers still seem gloomy about their prospects amid rising costs, an expected decline in new orders and heightened uncertainty around global economic conditions," said Ben Jones, lead economist at the CBI. Extra quarterly questions published in the latest survey showed rising cost pressures and subdued investment intentions. "The combination of financial pressures, market instability and falling confidence is leading manufacturers to cut back employment and investment, with plans for spending on buildings, equipment, innovation and training all taking a hit," Jones said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/uk-manufacturers-hit-by-weak-export-orders-april-cbi-survey-shows-2025-04-24/

2025-04-24 09:47

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The dollar, battered and bruised by U.S. tariff uncertainty and recession fears, has much further to fall, Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius says. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT The dollar has fallen over 4.5% in April, set for its biggest monthly drop since late 2022, as investors dump U.S. assets, sparking talk of a crisis of confidence in the world's No.1 reserve currency. Sign up here. It has slumped 8% this year against a basket of other major currencies . Further falls would exacerbate price pressures when tariffs are already pushing up inflation, Hatzius writes in an opinion piece in the Financial Times, A weaker dollar, by making exports cheaper, would also help narrow the U.S. trade deficit and help buffer the economy from recession. But Hatzius notes the drivers of dollar weakness matter and reduced appetite for U.S. assets could offset the impact of a weaker currency on financial conditions. KEY QUOTES "I often dodge questions about the dollar. A large body of academic literature and my own experience as an economic forecaster have taught me that predicting exchange rates is even harder than predicting growth, inflation and interest rates," said Hatzius. "But with all due humility, I believe that the recent dollar depreciation of 5% on a broad trade-weighted basis has considerably further to go." BY THE NUMBERS Hatzius, noted that two historical periods with similar dollar valuations to the present day -- the mid-1980s and early 2000s -- set the stage for a 25-30% depreciation. The IMF estimates non-U.S. investors hold around $22 trillion in U.S. assets. Hatzius says this perhaps makes up a third of combined portfolios, with half of this in equities that are often not hedged for currency moves. Hatzius adds a U.S. current account deficit of $1.1 trillion has to be financed by a net capital inflow of the same amount every year. In theory, this comes from foreign buying of U.S. assets, so even a pause in foreign U.S. asset purchases could hurt the greenback. CONTEXT Hatzius says such factors would not carry so much weight if the U.S. economy continued to outperform its peers, but this looks unlikely. The IMF on Tuesday forecast U.S. economic growth will drop by a full percentage point to just 1.8% in 2025 from 2.8% last year. WHAT’S NEXT For Hatzius, dollar weakness should not be confused with a loss of its reserve currency status. "Barring extreme shocks, we think the dollar’s advantages as a global medium of exchange and store of value are too entrenched for other currencies to overcome," he writes. Deutsche Bank believes the euro could reach $1.30 over the remainder of the decade, from $1.13 right now, as the dollar loses favour. GRAPHIC https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/dollar-has-further-fall-says-goldman-sachs-chief-economist-2025-04-24/