2025-04-15 00:47

BENGALURU, April 15 (Reuters) - The Bank of Korea will keep its key interest rate unchanged at 2.75% on Thursday, according to a Reuters poll of economists who expect the central bank to resume reductions in May. If realized, this will be the central bank's second hold since it began its rate-cutting cycle in October. The previous hold was in January, when it paused to assess the impact of domestic political turmoil on the economy. Sign up here. This time, policymakers are grappling with volatile currency moves and trying to gauge the economic impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war which is likely to be negative given exports account for nearly half of gross domestic product (GDP). Nearly two-thirds of economists, 24 of 37, polled April 8-14 expected the BOK to hold its base rate (KROCRT=ECI) , opens new tab at 2.75% on April 17. The remaining 13 forecast a 25 basis point cut. A strong majority, 27 of 30, predicted the rate would be 25 basis points lower by May, at 2.50%, with most expecting another quarter-point cut next quarter. That view is unchanged from a February survey. "We expect the BOK to make a dovish hold decision at the April meeting while digesting the recent announcements on reciprocal tariffs and the 90-day pause on them, as well as the roller-coaster moves in the global markets," wrote Kathleen Oh, chief Korea economist at Morgan Stanley. "At the same time, we think the recent hyper FX volatility will keep the BOK cautious against moving into a rushed cut. We see a further downward revision to the BOK's growth forecast as unavoidable at the coming meeting in May, given further developments on the trade conflict between the U.S. and China." Last week's sudden announcement of a 90-day tariff reprieve by Trump provided some relief to the Korean won which sank to a 16-year low on April 9 - a level last seen when the country was recovering from the global financial crisis. Over half of economists who had forecasts through year-end said rates would finish 2025 at 2.25%, considered by some economists as the "neutral" rate which neither hinders nor stimulates the economy. Nine forecast rates at 2.00% or lower, while three said 2.50%, highlighting the range of views on the rate outlook given so much uncertainty over trade. "South Korea is one of the countries which is opting for active negotiation with the U.S. In this sense, it is likely for South Korea to see early waiver of tariffs compared to other countries," said Stephen Lee, chief economist at Meritz Securities. "This does not mean BOK should stop cutting. The range and extent of tariffs were bigger than what everybody expected. It means that BOK would have to change its assumptions, alter their economic outlook, and be more proactive in terms of cutting rates." (Other stories from the April Reuters global economic poll) https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/bank-korea-hold-rates-275-april-17-assessing-trade-impact-2025-04-15/

2025-04-15 00:44

SAO PAULO, April 14 (Reuters) - Brazilian fintech Meliuz (CASH3.SA) , opens new tab said on Monday it will propose expanding its bitcoin reserves strategy, aiming to make the cryptocurrency the main strategic asset in the firm's treasury. In a securities filing, Meliuz said it will call a shareholder meeting for May 6 to vote on including bitcoin investments as one of the company's corporate purposes. Sign up here. Meliuz had launched earlier this year its bitcoin strategy. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/brazil-fintech-meliuz-proposes-expanding-bitcoin-reserves-strategy-2025-04-15/

2025-04-14 23:07

LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - British shoppers overcame their worries about a global trade war and sharply increased their spending in April with Easter and sunny weather boosting sales of food, gardening equipment and clothing, data showed on Tuesday. Sales reported by members of the British Retail Consortium trade body jumped by 7.0% from April last year, helped by the timing of the Easter holiday. It was the biggest year-on-year increase for any month since the COVID-19 pandemic period. Sign up here. Clothing sales picked up as the sunniest April in the UK since records began in 1910 prompted shoppers to refresh their wardrobes after a weak run. Over March and April combined, smoothing out the distortions caused by Easter falling in April this year and in March in 2024, sales were up by 4.3% compared with a year earlier. Separate data published by Barclays showed a similar bounce in consumer spending last month: the bank's measure of transactions on spending cards rose by 4.5% compared with April 2024, the biggest annual increase since June 2023. It was also the first time that the increase in spending was stronger than inflation in more than two years, Barclays said. A survey included in the bank's spending report showed almost three in four consumers were worried about the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war on household finances. However, that represented a slight fall from early April and overall confidence among households about their finances remained unchanged from March at 70%, Barclays said. The Bank of England, which cut interest rates last week, is watching for signs that the uncertainty hanging over the global economy since Trump announced his high import tariffs on April 2 - many of which have since been suspended - is slowing demand. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-shoppers-raised-their-spending-march-face-trumps-tariff-onslaught-2025-04-14/

2025-04-14 23:04

LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it could keep the country's last steel blast furnaces burning for at least the next few weeks after securing a delivery of fuel - the latest step in a last-gasp government scramble to save domestic virgin steel production. The government had been racing to secure enough coking coal and iron ore to keep the loss-making furnaces running after passing emergency laws on Saturday to take operational control of the site in northeastern England from Chinese owners Jingye Group (600768.SS) , opens new tab. Sign up here. The furnaces need to be constantly fuelled, cannot easily be restarted if closed down, and were losing 700,000 pounds ($922,950.00) per day. Without them Britain would be reliant on imports for its rail, construction and automotive industries at a time of trade wars and geopolitical instability. Business minister Jonathan Reynolds said British industries at the heart of the government's plans to revive the nation's ageing infrastructure relied on domestic steel. Reynolds will travel to the east coast port of Immingham to watch the fuel be loaded for transit after the government said it has settled payment for the shipment, which originally arrived from the United States and had been stored at the docks. A separate ship from Australia carrying coking coal and iron ore was also bound for Britain after the resolution of a legal dispute and payment from the government. ($1 = 0.7584 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-secures-fuel-shipment-keep-its-last-steel-blast-furnaces-alight-2025-04-14/

2025-04-14 22:10

SAO PAULO, April 14 (Reuters) - Declining vegetable oil prices are clearing the way for Brazil to increase its mandatory biodiesel blend into diesel to 15%, up from 14%, Daniel Amaral, the director of economics and regulatory affairs at oilseed industry group Abiove, said on Monday. Brazil's national energy council decided in February to hold the blend at 14% amid fears the proposed increase could push up food prices, negatively hitting President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's declining approval ratings. Sign up here. In the second half of last year, vegetable oil prices were rising, as the government tried to tackle inflation, which stood at 5.48% for the 12 months through March. The central bank's target is 3%. Now prices are falling again, Amaral said, amid recovering supply and demand conditions for vegetable oils. That decrease in vegetable oil prices means it is now up to the government to move forward with its plans to increase the mandatory biodiesel blend to 15%, he added. "The conditions are already in place for this, the industry has capacity, we are increasing crushing, all of this is already in place," Amaral said on the sidelines of an Abiove event in Sao Paulo. "The decision now depends on the government and we hope it happens as quickly as possible." The Ministry of Mines and Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal office hours. Abiove has always argued that increasing demand for biodiesel would not affect prices for consumers, Amaral said. That is because the increase in vegetable oil prices earlier this year was principally due to the effect of foreign exchange rates and problems with the palm harvest in Southeast Asia, he added. "These were issues outside Brazil," he said. Following the decision to hold the blend at 14%, agribusiness consultancy StoneX cut its forecast increase for biodiesel sales growth in half from 1.2 million cubic meters to 600,000 cubic meters. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/declining-prices-clear-way-brazil-raise-biodiesel-blend-15-industry-group-says-2025-04-14/

2025-04-14 21:55

April 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday said most tomatoes imported from Mexico to the United States will face duties of 20.91% from July 14 as it withdraws from an agreement it said had failed to protect domestic tomato growers. "This action will allow U.S. tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace," the department said in a release. Sign up here. In 2019, Mexican tomato producers struck an agreement with President Donald Trump's first administration to avert an anti-dumping investigation and end a tariff dispute. At the time, the United States said the agreement closed loopholes and included an inspection mechanism. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-says-most-tomatoes-imported-mexico-face-21-duty-july-14-2025-04-14/