2025-03-10 05:20
March 10 (Reuters) - Spanish bank BBVA (BBVA.MC) , opens new tab said on Monday it received approval from the country's securities regulator to offer bitcoin and ether trading services in Spain. The bank is set to launch a service that will allow its clients to securely purchase, sell, and handle bitcoin and ether transactions via its app. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/spanish-lender-bbva-offer-bitcoin-ether-trading-2025-03-10/
2025-03-10 04:29
MUMBAI, March 10 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee weakened on Monday on the back of strong demand to buy dollars at the daily reference rate and as the Chinese yuan slipped amid worries about the country's economy and a global trade war. The rupee declined 0.4% to 87.26 against the U.S. dollar as of 9:45 a.m. IST. The reference rate, or the daily fix, was quoted at a 1/1.20 paisa premium, signalling strong dollar bids, a trader said. Meanwhile, the dollar index ticked up to 103.8, recovering from a four-month low hit last week after data showed the U.S. economy created slightly fewer jobs than expected. While worries about trade policy uncertainty and a slowdown in the U.S. economy have hurt the dollar, tepid risk sentiment has kept a lid on gains for Asian currencies. The dollar index has fallen more than 3% in March so far. "Tariff delays and exemptions could also remain a drag on the U.S. dollar, with President (Donald) Trump flip-flopping with his tariff policies," MUFG Bank said in a note. In an interview on Sunday, Trump declined to predict whether the U.S. could face a recession amid stock market concerns about his tariff actions on Mexico, Canada and China. U.S. tariffs of 25% on imports of steel and aluminium will take effect on Wednesday and investors await the announcement of reciprocal tariffs in early April. Asian currencies were mostly weaker on the day led lower by the yuan, which declined 0.3% to 7.25, hurt by worries over an escalating global trade war and fresh signs of economic wobbles. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-slumps-strong-demand-buy-dollars-daily-fix-weak-yuan-2025-03-10/
2025-03-10 03:11
MUMBAI, March 10 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is likely to open lower on Monday despite weakness in the U.S. dollar as concerns over global trade tensions continue to dampen risk appetite, while importers' hedging requirements may also weigh on the currency. The one-month non-deliverable forward indicated that the rupee will open at around 87.15 to the U.S. dollar compared with its previous close of 86.8725. The dollar index was at 103.7, hovering slightly above a four-month low hit on Friday after data showed that the U.S. economy created slightly less jobs than expected in February while the unemployment rate ticked up. Other Asian currencies were mostly weaker, tracking losses in the offshore Chinese yuan which declined 0.2% amid concerns about building deflationary pressures in China. U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies are also likely to stay in focus amid concerns about the growth impact of a global trade war, especially with the U.S. economy displaying signs of a slowdown. Risk aversion has driven investors to safe-haven currencies like the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, which are both trading at multi-month highs. India's high tariffs require a rethinking of its "special relationship" with the United States and should be brought down, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told India Today television on Friday. India could be acutely susceptible to Trump's reciprocal tariffs, expected to come into force in April, due to the country's high import levies, analysts have said. In addition to tariff-related risk aversion, importers' appetite to "lap up dips on the dollar-rupee pair" are likely to keep the local currency's gains limited in the near-term, an FX salesperson at a foreign bank said. Consumer inflation data from the United States and India, due on Wednesday, will be in focus as they will influence expectations of rate cuts by the countries' central banks. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 87.34; onshore one-month forward premium at 18.75 paisa ** Dollar index at 103.73 ** Brent crude futures down 0.6% at $70 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.28% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $303 million worth of Indian shares on March 6 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $8.3 million worth of Indian bonds on March 6 Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/weaker-dollar-unlikely-help-rupee-amid-tariff-worries-importer-hedging-2025-03-10/
2025-03-10 03:02
TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Japan recorded a current account deficit in January for the first time in two years as a weak yen inflated the cost of imports, finance ministry data showed on Monday. A boost in imports of smartphones and electronic parts in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holiday, which started at the end of January, also pushed up total imports during the month, the data showed. Japan's current account deficit in January stood at 257.6 billion yen ($1.75 billion), bigger than a median market forecast for a deficit of 230.5 billion yen, the data showed. Imports rose 17.7% in January from a year earlier, while exports rose 2.1%, according to the data. ($1 = 147.5000 yen) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-posts-current-account-deficit-first-time-2-years-2025-03-10/
2025-03-10 00:22
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States had "just about" ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and that he expects good results out of upcoming talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. Asked if he would consider ending the suspension, Trump said, "We just about have. We just about have." CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday the U.S. had halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine, piling pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cooperate with Trump in convening peace talks with Russia. The suspension, which could cost lives by hurting Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russian missile strikes, followed a halt to U.S. military aid to Kyiv. U.S. officials will meet on Tuesday with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia in part to determine whether Ukraine is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war. Also hanging over the talks in Jeddah is the fate of a minerals deal between Washington and Kyiv. Trump expressed optimism about the talks. "We're going to make a lot of progress, I believe, this week," he said. Zelenskiy and Trump had been slated to sign the minerals accord - which would give the U.S. access to certain mineral resources in Ukraine - before Zelenskiy's White House visit erupted into a clash between the two leaders, after which it was not signed. Trump said on Sunday he thought Ukraine would sign the minerals agreement, which Ukraine wants to contain a U.S. security guarantee. "They will sign the minerals deal but I want them to want peace... They haven't shown it to extent they should," he said. Trump also said his administration was looking at a variety of things with respect to tariffs on Russia and that administration officials are not concerned about military exercises involving Russia, China and Iran. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-expects-good-results-ukraine-talks-2025-03-09/
2025-03-10 00:01
LAUNCESTON, Australia March 7 (Reuters) - China's imports of major commodities got off to a weak start in 2025, continuing the recent softening trend amid concern over growth momentum in the world's second-biggest economy. Imports of crude oil, natural gas, iron ore and copper all declined in the first two months of the year compared with the same period last year, according to official customs data released on Friday. Coal imports were up in the January-February period compared to the same period in 2024, however, they were down significantly from the levels seen in November and December, suggesting that China's appetite for the fuel is waning. The tepid start to the year for the world's biggest buyer of commodities adds to concerns about the outlook for China's economy, especially as trade tensions with the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump show signs of escalating. Nowhere was this concern more evident than in imports of crude oil, which dropped to 83.85 million metric tons in the first two months, equivalent to 10.42 million barrels per day (bpd). This is down 3.4% on a barrels per day basis from the 10.79 million bpd reported for the first two months of 2024, and is also below the 11.31 million bpd imported in December. China combines import data for January and February to smooth out the impact of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, the timing for which changes each year. There is the possibility that the stricter sanctions on Russian crude exports introduced in January by former U.S. president Joe Biden cut some of China's import demand. But it also appears that Chinese refiners made little effort to source crude from other suppliers to replace any lost Russian cargoes, which is most likely a reflection of the high global crude prices that prevailed in early January. Brent crude futures hit a six-month high of $82.63 a barrel on January 15, a time when some February- and March-arriving cargoes would have been arranged. The price has since slipped amid geopolitical and trade tensions to around $69.52 a barrel in Asian trade on Friday, but it's too early to say if this level is low enough to spark renewed buying from Chinese refiners. LNG PRICES High spot prices may also have impacted imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with customs data showing arrivals of LNG and pipeline gas at 20.31 million tons, down 8.1% from the 22.1 million recorded for the first two months of last year. Spot LNG for delivery to North Asia reached a 15-month high of $16.10 per million British thermal units in mid-February, but the price had been around $14 since late November, a level almost double what it was in February 2024. The picture for coal, the other major energy commodity, was more mixed, with imports of all grades in the first two months hitting a record high for the January-February period of 76.12 million tons, up 2.1% from the 74.52 million last year. But that number flatters to deceive, as it is also down 29% from the 107.33 million tons for the previous two months of December and November. Such a sharp decline from the last two months of 2024 most likely reflects that domestic coal output has been strong, and inventories at power plants have been rising, cutting demand for imported fuel. Turning to metals and imports of iron ore, the key steel raw material, were down 8.4% to 191.36 million tons in the first two months of 2025 from the same period last year. Imports may have been affected in February by the delay of some cargoes from top producer Australia after a cyclone disrupted shipments from Western Australia state. However, the outlook for iron ore demand this year is at best cautious, especially in light of the state economic planner's guidance this week that steel production should be lower this year than in 2024. Copper, the industrial metal often seen as an economic bellwether, saw imports drop 7.2% in the first two months of the year to 837,000 tons. The softer demand for unwrought copper is also likely a reflection of higher prices, which London contracts rising from $8,768 a ton at the end of 2024 to a peak of $9,739 on March 5, a gain of 11%. History shows that when prices of commodities rise sharply, or rapidly, Chinese buyers tend to scale back imports and turn to inventories if needed. While price rises help explain the weakness in imports of crude oil, natural gas and copper, they are less helpful when it comes to iron ore and coal, both of which saw declining prices in the first two months of the year. Rather, it's likely that the price impact added to an already weakening trend for China's imports of major commodities. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/chinas-commodity-imports-limp-into-2025-amid-economic-trade-concerns-russell-2025-03-07/
