2025-03-03 06:04

NEW DELHI, March 3 (Reuters) - India's trade minister Piyush Goyal started on a trip to the United States on Monday to pursue trade talks, two government officials said, with weeks to go for President Donald Trump's planned reciprocal tariffs , opens new tab. Goyal's visit was sudden, as he departed after cancelling previously scheduled meetings until March 8, the officials said. He is also the minister for industry. India's trade ministry did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the U.S. last month, both nations agreed to work on the first segment of a trade deal by the fall of 2025, aiming for bilateral trade worth $500 billion by 2030. Trump's proposal to impose reciprocal tariffs from early April on trading partners including India is worrying Indian exporters in sectors ranging autos to agriculture, with Citi Research analysts estimating potential losses at about $7 billion a year. During the visit, Goyal will seek clarity on US reciprocal tariffs to assess their impact on India, one of the government sources said, and may also discuss potential Indian concessions and a trade deal to reduce tariffs and boost bilateral trade. India is open to discuss tariff cuts on industrial products, including automobiles and chemicals, but is resisting pressure to lower tariffs on agricultural products, arguing it would impact millions of poor farmers, sources said. To ease trade tension, India has already cut tariffs on several items, for example to 30% on high-end motorcycles from 50% and 100% on bourbon whiskey from 150%, while promising to review other tariffs, stepping up energy imports and buying more defence equipment. India's merchandise trade with the United States, its largest trading partner, has increased by about 8% year-on-year to more than $106 billion in the ten months through January, with India maintaining a trade surplus. Analysts say chemicals, metal products, and jewellery - followed by automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and food products - are the most vulnerable sectors to potential U.S. reciprocal tariffs. If the United States expands such reciprocal tariffs to a broader range of farm products, India's agricultural and food exports, including shrimp and dairy - where tariff differentials reach nearly 40% - would be among the hardest hit, said a report by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-trade-minister-heads-us-talks-trump-tariffs-loom-officials-say-2025-03-03/

2025-03-03 05:59

February CPI fell 0.09% y/y, first deflation since March 2000 February deflation due to 50% discount in electricity tariffs CPI below Bank Indonesia's target range at 1.5% to 3.5% JAKARTA, March 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia's consumer price index fell for the first time in more than two decades in February, official data showed on Monday, after the government gave a substantial discount on electricity bills to support economic growth. The consumer price index fell 0.09% year-on-year last month, the first annual measure of deflation since March 2000, and well below market expectations for 0.60% inflation. It was the second month in a row the annual CPI rate has come in below the central bank's inflation target range of 1.5% to 3.5%. January's inflation rate was 0.76%. Among the top contributors to the annual deflation were utilities, due to a 50% discount on electricity tariffs for some customers in January-February. Lower prices of some food products such as rice, tomatoes and red chillies also contributed, as food production in the last two months recovered from the impact of a drought last year. "This (deflation) was not due to weaker purchasing power, but because of the discounted electricity tariffs," Statistics Indonesia chief Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said in a press conference. The core inflation rate, which strips out government-controlled prices and volatile food prices, picked up slightly to an annual 2.48%, compared to 2.42% expected by analysts and a rate of 2.36% in January. The CPI is expected to rise again starting March as the discounted electricity tariffs end, but will remain low with new government policies to give discounts for air fares and toll roads during the Ramadan holiday, Bank Danamon economist Hosianna Situmorang said. With that stimulus, she expected GDP to grow at 5.1% to 5.2% this year, in line with the government's target of 5.2%. Last year, the economy grew 5.03%. With inflation low, Bank Indonesia may have an opportunity to further reduce rates, but global market volatility may be the bigger consideration for the central bank. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/indonesia-sees-first-deflation-reading-more-than-two-decades-2025-03-03/

2025-03-03 05:56

Investors closely monitor peace talks for Ukraine Cryptocurrencies climb on Trump reserve statement Canadian, Mexican currencies rise before tariff decision NEW YORK/MILAN March 3 (Reuters) - The euro rebounded on Monday as hopes for a Ukraine peace deal improved, and interest rate differentials moved against the dollar ahead of a possibly pivotal steer on U.S. economic growth in the February payrolls report late in the week. The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso both hit one-month lows in afternoon trade after U.S. President Donald Trump said 25% tariffs on those countries would start Tuesday, without offering specifics. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy received a warm welcome in Britain after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump ended in disaster on Friday, nudging the euro to a 16-day low. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that European leaders had agreed to draw up a peace plan to present to Washington. The Kremlin said on Monday that someone would have to force Zelenskiy to make peace. The single currency was up 0.89% at $1.0468, a bit below the day's high but well above Friday's low of $1.0359. The single currency found support after the midmorning release of February's U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI that came in at 50.3, below expectations and January's 50.9 reading. The major scheduled events of the week look to be Thursday's European Central Bank policy meeting and Friday's U.S. employment report. Analysts said a possible peace deal in Ukraine and a likely increase of fiscal spending by euro zone countries could provide a boost to future growth, supporting the currency. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will inform member states on Tuesday about plans to strengthen the European defence industry and the EU's military capabilities, she said on Monday. Meanwhile, the parties in talks to form Germany's new government are considering quickly setting up two special funds potentially worth hundreds of billions of euros, one for defence and a second for infrastructure, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. "The defense side of things is probably somewhat supportive," said Shaun Osborne, chief foreign exchange strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto. Osborne said a smaller-than-expected fall in euro zone inflation also helped underpin the euro by undermining the case for further ECB easing, although few doubt they will cut rates again. Consumer price inflation in the 20 nations sharing the euro fell to 2.4% year on year in February from 2.5% a month earlier, just above expectations for 2.3% and moving a step closer to the European Central Bank's 2% target, data from Eurostat showed on Monday. "Short-term variables are shifting quite significantly in favor of the euro. Over the last little while, short-term spreads, rate differentials have narrowed quite significantly," he said, adding that differentials are still very negative for the euro. The U.S. dollar index - which measures the currency against the euro, sterling, yen, Canadian dollar and two other major rivals - fell 0.48% to 106.78. The Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso fell to their lowest since Feb 3 after Trump said tariffs would go into effect Tuesday on the two U.S. neighbors and largest trading partners and that there was no room left for a deal. Dollar/Canada was up 0.4% at 1.4523 and the dollar was up 0.9% vs the peso at 20.7165 pesos. "I think the direction of the market move was correct and what you would expect with a major announcement like this, but I think in terms of the percentage of the move and how long it's lasted, it's fairly muted," said John Doyle, CEO of Monex USA, in Washington, DC. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar weakened 0.26% to 150.23. Bitcoin surged back to the cusp of $95,000 earlier on Monday, before dipping back under $90,000, after Trump on Sunday named the token as among those to be included in a new strategic cryptocurrency reserve. The world's largest digital currency fell below $80,000 late last week amid an outflow from spot bitcoin ETFs, disappointment that Trump had not yet delivered on a promised bitcoin-positive crypto policy and selling in sympathy with the slide in tech shares on Wall Street. It was still up about 1.7% from late Friday at $85,665.91. Ethereum was down 4.74% to $2,119.73. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/euro-rebounds-europes-ukraine-peace-push-bitcoin-rallies-2025-03-03/

2025-03-03 05:54

SYDNEY, March 3 (Reuters) - Commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance said in a statement on Monday it remained the largest creditor in Australia's Whyalla Steelworks at A$536 million ($333.23 million). South Australia's state premier put Whyalla into administration for unpaid bills on February 19 and said he wants to help develop lower carbon steel production in the state. GFG said at the time it was seeking advice on its options. Over the last 12 months, the privately held conglomerate's steel unit Infrabuild has offered customer pre-payments to Whyalla, while the steelworks also recieved working capital loans from Tahmoor Coal, GFG said in a statement. A capital raising for the Tahmoor mine is still going ahead, a spokeswoman separately told Reuters. ($1 = 1.6085 Australian dollars) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gfg-alliance-says-it-remains-largest-creditor-australias-whyalla-steelworks-2025-03-03/

2025-03-03 05:50

JOHANNESBURG, March 3 (Reuters) - South African food producer RCL Foods (RCLJ.J) , opens new tab reported a 38.8% rise in half-year earnings on Monday and declared its first interim dividend in two years, sending its shares up more than 8%. The company, whose brands include Selati sugar and Sunbake bread, had been completing a portfolio review that included selling its frozen food business Vector Logistics and spinning off and listing its Rainbow Chicken (RBOJ.J) , opens new tab poultry unit. During that review, and while grappling with depressed consumer demand, it withheld paying dividends, with the last interim dividend declared for the six months to December 2021, which it paid in 2022. With the processes concluded, the board declared an interim dividend of 20 South African cents per share for the six months ended December 2024. RCL said its headline earnings per share from continuing operations rose to 109.4 South African cents in the period. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and impairments (EBITDA) jumped 25.1% to 1.5 billion rand ($80.5 million), supported by cost savings and production efficiencies. RCL said it has begun to see some welcome price relief in certain commodities such as wheat, contributing to improved margins in its groceries and baking businesses, though prices remain elevated. Group revenue rose 5.4% to 13.6 billion rand. With the portfolio review now complete, Chief Financial Officer Rob Field told Reuters the group is quite settled with the remaining portfolio, but did not rule out further acquisitions. "We're very clear going forward that if opportunities present themselves in the branded food space, we're going to look closely at that because that's the closest to a strategic fit and what we believe we can add the most value to," Field said. RCL will no longer be chasing any commodity type businesses, Field added. ($1 = 18.6279 rand) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/south-africas-rcl-foods-reports-388-rise-half-year-earnings-2025-03-03/

2025-03-03 05:47

US payrolls data due on Friday UBS sees room for larger gains in silver Gold’s downside limited, says analyst March 3 (Reuters) - Gold prices gained on Monday, following a more than three-week low in the previous session, as they drew support from a weaker dollar and safe-haven buying triggered by concern over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Spot gold gained 0.5% to $2,873.93 an ounce by 1209 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 1.3% to $2,885. The dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab dropped by 0.6% from a more than two-week high in the previous session, reflecting weakness that makes dollar-priced gold less expensive for buyers holding other currencies. "Gold’s downside remains limited, given the apparent demand for safe havens amid rising geopolitical and economic growth uncertainties," said Han Tan, Exinity Group's chief market analyst. Trump last week threatened China with an extra 10% duty, set to take effect on Tuesday, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff. Despite being widely viewed as a hedge against geopolitical uncertainty, non-yielding gold becomes less attractive to investors when interest rates rise. Gold fell more than 1% in the previous session, retreating from record highs breached on multiple occasions this year, after U.S. inflation data suggested that the Federal Reserve could adopt a cautious stance on cutting interest rates this year. Traders await the U.S. payrolls report due later this week for more clues on the Fed's monetary policy. "Our forecast for gold to reach $3,000/oz this year is unchanged," UBS analysts wrote, adding that it could reach as high as $3,200 in certain risk scenarios. "We see room for larger gains in silver as the gold rally consolidates and global industrial production signals a modest recovery." Spot silver was up 1.2% at $31.52 an ounce, platinum gained 0.8% to $955.5 and palladium added 1.5% to $933.09. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gold-gains-weaker-dollar-ukraine-peace-deal-uncertainty-2025-03-03/