2025-03-28 07:24

NEW DELHI, March 28 (Reuters) - India has offered tariff cuts on imports of U.S. farm products like almonds and cranberries as a further concession to the United States, two government sources said, hoping to avert President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs set for next week. Unlike China, Canada and the European Union, India is actively seeking to appease the Trump administration and is open to cutting tariffs on over half of U.S. imports worth $23 billion, Reuters reported earlier this week. Sign up here. In a series of meeting in New Delhi with Brendan Lynch, the assistant U.S. trade representative for South and Central Asia, India agreed to cut tariffs on bourbon whiskey and agricultural products such as almonds, walnuts, cranberries, pistachios and lentils, one of the sources familiar with discussions, said. The talks to fast-track negotiations is likely to conclude late Friday. Trade talks are "progressing well" and the bilateral trade pact, still in progress, will benefit both nations, Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. "Securing a favourable deal is a priority for Indian negotiators," a second government source said, adding that India has aligned its offers with U.S. priorities, particularly in the agriculture industry and some other sectors. Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks. India's trade ministry didn't respond to email request for comment, while the U.S. embassy spokesperson in New Delhi said: "We don't have anything to share on private diplomatic discussions." India lowered duties for bourbon whiskey to 100% from 150% last month. Import duties range from 30% to 100% on agricultural products like cranberries, almonds, walnuts, and around 10% on lentils. However, there is still resistance in government circles to lowering tariffs for dairy products, rice, wheat and maize, the source said, adding India is seeking greater market access for shipments of fruits like pomegranates and grapes besides rice to the U.S. market. The negotiators are expected to agree on the framework for the broad contours of the first phase of the bilateral deal, expected to be signed by fall 2025, the sources said. In 2024, exports of U.S. agriculture and allied products to India totalled nearly $2 billion, including $452 million in alcoholic beverages and $1.3 billion in fruits and vegetables while India's exports to the U.S. stood at about $5.5 billion. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-offers-us-tariff-cuts-farm-imports-eyes-trade-success-government-sources-2025-03-28/

2025-03-28 07:23

SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - China's Rongsheng Petrochemical (002493.SZ) , opens new tab, a major independent refiner, has opened an office in Canada to buy Canadian crude and made its first purchase from local producer Suncor Energy (SU.TO) , opens new tab, trade sources said. Rongsheng, China's largest independent refiner with capacity of 40 million metric tons a year, or 800,000 barrels a day, has become a regular buyer of the heavy sour Canadian crude since the newly-expanded Trans-Mountain pipeline started operations last May. Sign up here. More Canadian crude is expected to flow into Asia this year, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose a 10% import tariff on its oil and gas. Rongsheng's first purchase since opening the new office in the western city of Calgary is for June-arrival crude cargo to China, the sources said. The company recently started buying Canadian crude on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, while past purchases were mostly on a delivered at place (DAP) basis, Wang Jie, its Calgary-based general representative for Americas procurement and trading, told Reuters. An FOB contract normally allows buyers to re-sell cargoes, affording more flexibility to redirect them, depending on market conditions. Rongsheng also buys Canadian crude from suppliers such as Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) , opens new tab, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) , opens new tab, ConocoPhillips (COP.N) , opens new tab, BP (BP.L) , opens new tab and Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab, Wang said. Wang, who founded and chaired PetroChina International Canada Trading, an arm of state oil giant China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), joined Rongsheng in January, his LinkedIn profile shows. He was previously at Singapore-based Essence Energy. "The company has always attached importance to the global talent layout and continues to optimise team configuration according to the needs of business development," Rongsheng said in an email to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-rongsheng-petchem-opens-canada-office-buys-crude-suncor-2025-03-27/

2025-03-28 07:18

GDANSK, March 28 (Reuters) - The pound briefly rose on Friday after data showed UK retail sales were surprisingly strong in February, offering some optimism about the resilience of the consumer, while the broader economy barely grew in the fourth quarter. British retail sales unexpectedly rose in February, growing 1.0% from January, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday. Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a monthly fall of 0.4% in sales volumes. Sign up here. This marked the second straight monthly increase in retail sales, after a dismal reading in December, the key month for holiday shopping. Sterling rose to a session high of $1.297 after the data, before retreating to $1.295, roughly flat on the day. The euro was last down 0.25% against the pound at 83.20. The derivatives market shows traders are placing roughly a 50% chance on the Bank of England cutting rates at its May meeting, and Friday's retail sales data did little to shift this expectation. This week has been turbulent for sterling. On the one hand, the pound has been caught up in the volatility that has affected global markets after U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a blanket 25% tariff on all imported cars into the United States, further stoking fears of a full-on trade war. The U.S. government is expected to release its full suite of trade policies on April 2, including details on tariffs. On the other hand, UK finance minister Rachel Reeves this week unveiled her budget plans, in which she announced spending cuts, while the UK's Debt Management Office said it would issue fewer bonds than expected this year and next. "Wounds run deep in FX markets and the build-up to (Reeves') Spring Statement was dominated by tough decisions that the chancellor would need to make. In the end, bond vigilantes and the "glass half empty" brigade were left disappointed," Bank of America strategists Kamal Sharma and Sonali Punhani said in a note on Friday. "Where from here? Immediate focus turns to the tariff announcement on April 2nd and positive seasonality through next month," they said, referring to the pound's tendency to perform well in the month of April, when the new fiscal year begins. A separate data release on Friday showed the UK economy expanded 0.1% in the fourth quarter, as economists polled by Reuters had expected. On an annual basis, growth expanded by 1.5%, compared with forecasts for an increase of 1.4%. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-blips-up-after-uk-retail-sales-2025-03-28/

2025-03-28 07:18

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Britain's economy expanded 0.1% in the fourth quarter, the Office for National Statistics confirmed on Friday, as economists polled by Reuters had expected. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-economy-grew-01-end-2024-ons-confirms-2025-03-28/

2025-03-28 06:58

Stocks struggle over tariff concerns Gold scores fresh record high, oil slips Bond markets increasingly pricing in recession risks NEW YORK/LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Safe-haven gold hit a fresh record high on Friday as an index of global shares fell, weighed down by worries over a looming trade war sparked by tariff decisions from U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. traders had new sticky inflation data to grumble about but it was Trump's 25% tariff on auto imports and plans for much broader levies next week that continued to cause the nail-biting. Sign up here. On Wall Street, all three main indexes ended lower and notched their third straight losses. The biggest losers were communication services, consumer discretionary, technology and financial equities. Utilities stocks finished higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 1.69% to 41,583.90, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab fell 1.97% to 5,580.94 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab fell 2.7% to 17,322.99. Europe's STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) , opens new tab finished down 0.77% and ended the week down 1.38%, dragged down by a nearly 1% drop by the car and auto parts sector. (.SXAE) , opens new tab MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab fell 1.58% to 829.89. It is on track to end the week down 1.44%. State Street's head of global macro strategy, Michael Metcalfe, said U.S. car tariffs had been more aggressive than expected, especially as there had been no adjustments made for U.S. neighbors Mexico and Canada. "What I don't know is whether the hawkishness of the auto tariffs is going to translate to the broader tariffs that we are going to get next week," Metcalfe said. "And that is keeping risk appetite on the back foot." Gold prices set another new peak of $3,086.70 as the threat of trade wars drives a rush towards the safe-haven metal. It was last up 0.86% to $3,082.25 an ounce. For the quarter it is now up more than 17%, which is its best quarterly performance since 1986, and its 18th record high this year. U.S. gold futures settled 0.8% higher at $3,114.30. Wasif Latif, chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners in New Jersey, said gold prices have been buoyed by rising inflation, elevated geopolitical tensions, and fiscal risks, particularly deficit spending in the U.S. and other countries. "We continue to see inflation as being stubborn, sticky and just won't go away. The geopolitical environment continues to be risky and elevated ... You can see the fiscal risk on the U.S. budget side but also broader Western sovereign debt and it's getting challenging with the budget continuing to run a deficit and interest rates remaining stubbornly high," Latif said. In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields declined as investors assessed the likely negative hit on growth from Trump's tariffs. Traders in interest rate futures were betting on a total of about 66 basis points in interest rate cuts this year, according to LSEG data. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 12 basis points to 4.249%. Traders now see an 80% chance of a 25-basis-point ECB rate cut in April from around a 50% chance a week ago. German Bund yields , the euro zone's benchmark of borrowing costs, fell 0.2 basis points to 2.731%. The dollar weakened against major currencies, including the Japanese yen and euro, after the hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data added to concerns about tariffs. The euro has been one of the big beneficiaries of the greenback's struggles. It is up 0.21% this week against the greenback. The dollar weakened 0.87% to 149.73 against the Japanese yen , while the euro rose 0.29% at $1.0832. Against the Swiss franc , the dollar weakened 0.06% to 0.881. The Canadian dollar weakened 0.07% versus the greenback to C$1.43 per dollar. In commodities, oil prices turned flat as traders assessed a tightening of crude supplies along with new U.S. tariffs and their expected effect on the world's economy. Brent crude futures fell 0.5% to settle at $73.63 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.8% to close at $69.36 a barrel. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-03-28/

2025-03-28 06:24

MUMBAI, March 28 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is on track to log its best monthly gain since November 2018, boosted by seasonal and portfolio dollar inflows alongside a drop in bearish positions on the currency. The local unit has rallied over 2% this month so far, outperforming its major regional peers, and was last up 0.2% on the day at 85.5875 per U.S. dollar, with traders pointing to dollar sales from foreign and local private banks. Sign up here. After struggling near record-low levels until mid-February, the rupee has staged a sharp recovery to trade nearly flat on the year. It "appears that longs (on USD/INR) have been exiting after custodial inflows started to hit," a salesperson at a large foreign bank said, referring to an easing of bearish bets on the local currency. Following an extended period of outflows that kicked off in October last year, the direction of foreign portfolio flows appears to have reversed over the last few days. On Thursday, foreign investors bought Indian equities worth over $1.2 billion, taking their total purchases over the past six sessions to $6 billion. Indian bonds, meanwhile, have seen inflows worth $3 billion so far in March, as overseas investors have stepped up purchases ahead of an anticipated cut in central bank policy rates in April. However, the focus is likely to shift towards U.S. tariff announcements next week. The White House is set to announce reciprocal trade levies on April 2. India, meanwhile, is eyeing tariff cuts on more than half of its U.S. imports, looking to mitigate the impact of reciprocal tariffs, Reuters has reported. "Any adverse or aggressive tariff announcement will limit the room for further rupee gains," DBS Bank said in a note. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/inflows-short-unwinding-put-rupee-course-best-month-over-6-years-2025-03-28/