2025-11-13 18:58
BRASILIA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Ministry on Thursday trimmed its 2025 economic growth forecast to 2.2% from 2.3%, citing weaker than previously expected third-quarter results that also weighed on its outlook for the final three months of the year. Latin America's largest economy has been slowing after an aggressive monetary tightening cycle carried out by the central bank in a bid to bring inflation back to its 3% target, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. Sign up here. Policymakers at the bank halted in July a rate-hiking cycle that had lifted borrowing costs by a total 450 basis points since September 2024, bringing the benchmark Selic interest rate to 15%, a near two-decade high. "This slowdown was already expected, reflecting the lagged and cumulative effects of the restrictive monetary policy currently in place," the ministry's economic policy secretariat said in a report. The ministry cut its 2025 inflation projection to 4.6% from 4.8%, still above the official goal, citing a stronger Brazilian real, lower wholesale agricultural and industrial inflation, and global oversupply of goods amid trade disputes. In the 12 months through October, Brazil's benchmark IPCA consumer price index rose 4.68%, according to government statistics agency IBGE. "We are ending 2025 with results very similar to what we expected at the beginning of the year," Economic Policy Secretary Guilherme Mello told a press conference. The government kept its GDP growth forecast for next year unchanged at 2.4%, saying that expansion in industry and services should more than offset a slowdown in agricultural activity. It cut its 2026 inflation estimate to 3.5% from 3.6%. Mello said he expects the central bank to start an easing cycle next year, which should help support economic growth. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-cuts-forecasts-2025-economic-growth-inflation-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 18:29
Schumer, other Democratic senators criticize Trump for delaying export curbs on China Rule delay risks advancing China's tech agenda, Democrats argue Suspension undermines U.S. national security, reopens loopholes, they say WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Top Senate Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took aim at the Trump administration for suspending a measure that blocked thousands of Chinese companies from accessing U.S. technology in the last round of trade talks with Beijing, calling it a "giveaway of key national security tools." The rule, unveiled on September 29, sought to stop sanctioned Chinese companies from using a network of subsidiaries to obtain key American equipment they were otherwise barred from receiving. Sign up here. But President Donald Trump last month agreed to delay by a year that rule as part of a deal with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping in exchange for Beijing suspending for the same period its restrictions on rare earth mineral exports, key ingredients for tech that are primarily controlled by China. In a letter dated Wednesday and first reported by Reuters, the senators, including Ron Wyden, called on Trump to reimpose the rule, arguing its delay puts "American-developed advanced computing technologies at risk of advancing China’s agenda instead of our own." "The suspension of these controls undermines U.S. national security and will make it far more difficult to stem the illicit diversion of American-made semiconductors and other advanced technology to Chinese state-affiliated entities," they wrote. "We urge you to reinstate these controls and end your giveaway of key national security tools." The White House defended itself on Thursday, arguing that the "Trump administration has implemented a rigorous export control regime to safeguard our economic and national security," according to a statement to Reuters from White House spokesman Kush Desai. The letter is the latest blowback against the Trump administration over its suspension of the rule, which was hailed by China hawks from both parties. It barred firms at least 50% owned by previously sanctioned companies from receiving U.S. tech exports, hitting roughly 20,000 additional Chinese firms with U.S. export restrictions, according to a recent report from WireScreen. The one-year suspension, the Democrats argued in their letter, reopens a "loophole" and provides "a year-long opportunity for affiliates of blacklisted foreign firms to restructure in order to evade the rule." The delay, they added, is part of a troubling pattern of Trump choosing "to trade away national security in search of quick handshake 'deals' to mitigate the harms of trade wars of your own making." "We urge you to reconsider this misguided strategy and ensure that our nation’s export controls are no longer used as a bargaining chip," said the letter, which was also signed by senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Ben Ray Lujan, Andy Kim and Catherine Cortez Masto. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/top-democrats-slam-trump-delaying-export-curbs-china-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 17:08
Nov 13 (Reuters) - Current benign international financial market conditions are an opportunity for Argentina to accelerate its accumulation of international reserves, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. "The recent improvement in market conditions does present a window of opportunity for the authorities to strengthen macroeconomic policies, to entrench stability and to accelerate reserve accumulation," said IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack in a scheduled press briefing. Sign up here. She added it was also a time for planned structural reforms, singling out the areas of tax and labor. The Fund said U.S. support for Argentina has helped stabilize markets and complements the objectives of the Fund's $20 billion program with the South American country. Kozack said the Fund has stressed to Argentina the need to accelerate reserves accumulation and maintain a consistent monetary and foreign exchange framework. "The choice of the FX regime is one for the country authorities," Kozack said. "Our view at the IMF is that the chosen regime needs to be consistent with strengthening international reserves and external stability." U.S. SUPPORT SUSPECTED Argentina's Special Drawing Rights holding at the IMF increased last month by the same amount as the United States' holding diminished, Fund data showed, suggesting the Trump administration came through in its support for Javier Milei's government as a payment to the Fund was due. The United States' holdings of SDR, the IMF's reserve asset, diminished by 640.8 million by the October 31 cutoff, the same amount that Argentina's holdings increased in the same period, according to the Fund's website. Argentina was due to make a payment to the Fund for just over 620 million SDRs on November 1, IMF data show. Asked whether the numbers indicated direct U.S. support, Kozack said: "The specific size and modalities of the support are bilateral matters between the US authorities and the Argentine authorities." https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/imf-says-market-conditions-are-opportunity-argentina-accumulate-reserves-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 16:53
WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Thursday the government would release the closely watched employment report for October, but without the jobless rate after a weeks-long federal government shutdown. "The household survey wasn't conducted in October, so we're going to get half the employment report. We'll get the jobs part, but we won't get the unemployment rate. And that'll just be for one month," Hassett told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "We probably ... will never actually know for sure what the unemployment rate was in October." Sign up here. The 43-day government shutdown, the longest on record, caused the suspension of data collection, processing and publishing by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics as well as the Commerce Department's Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis. The employment report is made up of two parts, the household survey from which the unemployment rate is derived and the establishment survey from which the nonfarm payroll count is calculated. The government surveys businesses and households for the employment report during the week that includes the 12th day of the month. Economists had raised doubts about whether the October household survey portion of the report would be published as the data is collected from a random sample of households through interviews by field workers. Hassett also separately told reporters that the Council of Economic Advisers estimated the shutdown, which ended on Wednesday night, cost the economy about $15 billion per week. He estimated that translated to a subtraction of roughly 1.0 to 1.5 percentage points from annualized gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter. That is broadly in line with projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Hassett said the CEA estimated that 60,000 non-federal workers lost their jobs because of the ripple effects of the shutdown. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/white-house-make-housing-recommendations-within-months-hassett-says-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 16:33
Company's refining capacity will rise to 829,000 bpd in Q4 Citgo will use a portion of its liquidity to complete redemption of $650 million in outstanding notes HOUSTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Citgo Petroleum's profit rose to $167 million in the third quarter from $100 million in the previous period, while the liquidity of the Venezuela-owned refiner increased to $2.75 billion from $2.6 billion, the company said on Thursday. The Houston-based company, which in the second quarter returned to profit after two consecutive periods of losses, is fighting in Delaware to suspend the auction of its parent, PDV Holding, in a court-ordered process to pay creditors for debt defaults and expropriations in Venezuela. Sign up here. On Thursday, Delaware Judge Leonard Stark denied motions by the Venezuela parties and bidder Gold Reserve (GRZ.V) , opens new tab to disqualify him, the court officer and advisors overseeing the auction, which could allow the sale process to move forward for now. Improved refining margins led to the third quarter's results, the company said in a release. "Our refineries performed reliably as market conditions improved during the quarter," said the company's chief executive, Carlos Jordá. Planned maintenance was completed at Citgo's Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery as well as preparations for a major turnaround at its Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery. The company's crude refining capacity will rise to 829,000 barrels per day starting in the fourth quarter, from 807,000 bpd currently. Citgo plans to use a portion of its quarter-end liquidity of $2.75 billion, which includes cash and credit facilities available, to complete the redemption of $650 million in outstanding notes due next year, it said. After the redemption, it will have repaid more than $1.8 billion in senior notes and industrial revenue bonds this year. Citgo's cash flow and financial results are key metrics for the company's valuation as part of the Delaware auction. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/citgo-raises-profit-167-million-liquidity-up-275-billion-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 14:57
21shares launches first US crypto index ETFs under '40 Act ETFs include bitcoin and exclude it, fees set at 0.5% and 0.65% 21shares sees slower uptake than for single coin crypto ETFs Nov 13 (Reuters) - 21shares launched its first exchange-traded funds tracking the price of a basket of cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, solana and dogecoin, for U.S. investors, the Swiss-based digital assets manager said on Thursday. The debut of the 21Shares ETFs marks the most recent push by issuers beyond single-coin spot ETFs and into index products, although the firm is the first to do so under the terms of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Sign up here. While most ETFs are 1940 Act funds, the vast majority of crypto vehicles have launched as 1933 Act funds, a category designed for riskier assets and underlying structures, such as commodity pools. "There's a difference in the tax treatment, and for professional investors, '40 Act funds are really the gold standard," said Duncan Moir, president of 21shares. 21shares launched the new ETFs in partnership with Teucrium Trading, which has used the '40 Act structure to roll out other commodity-linked funds. Such funds obtain their exposure to the underlying asset indirectly, through other publicly-traded securities. In this case, 21shares will invest in its own exchange-traded products that are listed and traded in Europe. The FTSE Crypto 10 Index ETF (TTOP.P) , opens new tab and the 21Shares FTSE Crypto 10 ex-BTC Index ETF (TXBC.P) , opens new tab ETFs will have fees of 0.5% and 0.65%, respectively. UPTAKE EXPECTED SLOWER THAN BITCOIN ETFS Moir expects uptake of multi-coin crypto funds to be slower than the blockbuster growth of the spot bitcoin ETFs in January 2024. "Those single-coin products tend to be dominated by retail investors, while an index product is likely to be adopted first by financial advisers," and other professionals who "are aware that no one really knows yet which of these cryptocurrencies will be the eventual winners," said Moir. They will make their debut in what Moir described as a volatile price environment. Bitcoin's price briefly fell below $100,000 this month for the first time since June, driven by growing risk aversion among investors and profit-taking. They also arrive on the market at a time when asset managers are competing to attract investor interest in an array of spot crypto ETFs tied to altcoins, the first of which launched during the U.S. government shutdown. Prior to 21shares, only two index crypto ETFs tied to multiple coins have launched. Both are '33 Act funds. In late September, Grayscale Investments converted its private index fund, the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC.P) , opens new tab, into an exchange-traded vehicle offering capitalization-weighted exposure to bitcoin, ethereum, solana, Ripple's xrp, and cardano. It joined the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF as the early multi-coin fund to include altcoins in the mix. T. Rowe Price (TROW.O) , opens new tab also submitted a recent filing to launch a crypto index fund. Bitwise Asset Management is awaiting U.S. regulatory approval to convert its own 10-coin investment fund into an ETF. https://www.reuters.com/business/21shares-launches-two-us-crypto-index-etfs-2025-11-13/
