2025-02-07 05:32
MUMBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) , opens new tab rose for a second straight week and stood at $630.6 billion as of January 31, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday. The reserves increased by $1.1 billion in the reported week, after rising by $5.58 billion in the prior week. Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the central bank's intervention in the forex market as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves. The RBI intervenes on both sides of the forex market to curb undue volatility in the rupee. The rupee had fallen 0.9% against the U.S. dollar in the week to January 31 and hit its then record low of 86.6525 per dollar, hurt by portfolio outflows and uncertainty around U.S. trade tariffs. The rupee and other emerging market currencies have been under pressure amid concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans and sanctions on countries could disrupt global trade and stoke inflation. The domestic unit was last quoted at 87.4750 on Friday, and has declined 1% week-on-week so far. The forex reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-forex-reserves-rise-second-consecutive-week-2025-02-07/
2025-02-07 05:18
Prices supported by new US sanctions on Iran crude exports Offset by fears that trade tensions will hit demand Trump also repeating pledge to increase US oil production HOUSTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Oil prices finished with daily gains on Friday after new sanctions were imposed on Iran's crude exports but prices were down for the week as investors worried about U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed trade war on China and threats of tariffs on other countries. Brent crude futures settled at $74.66 a barrel, up 37 cents, or 0.5% and poised to fall more than 2% this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $71.00 a barrel, up 39 cents, or 0.55%. Reports of planned tariffs from the Trump administration reined in gains following the sanctions announced on Thursday, said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC. "We're just trying to make our way through the sanctions/non-sanctions, tariff talk from the White House," Kilduff said. WTI has been left close to $70 a barrel, which seems to be the bottom of the trading range, Kilduff said. "I don't know if oil prices are low enough for the president, but we'll see," he said. Traders were watching statements by Trump throughout Friday for possible changes in U.S. policies that could reshape the market quickly, said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. "Trump giveth and Trump taketh away," Flynn said. The U.S. Treasury said on Thursday it was imposing new sanctions on a few individuals and tankers helping to ship millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil per year to China, in an incremental move to increase pressure on Tehran. "The imposition of tariffs and the pauses should be bullish for the oil market because it adds uncertainty, said Michael Haigh, global head of commodities research at Societe Generale. But you haven't seen this response because of demand concerns. Tariffs and tit for tat responses from nations, it hurts global GDP ... and oil demand." Trump has announced a 10% tariff on Chinese imports as part of a broad plan to improve the U.S. trade balance, but suspended plans to impose steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada. "Downside pressure has stemmed from the news flow around tariffs, with concerns over a potential trade war fuelling fears of weakening oil demand," analysts at BMI said in a note on Friday. Oil prices settled lower on Thursday after Trump repeated a pledge to raise U.S. oil production, unnerving traders a day after the country reported a much bigger than anticipated jump in crude inventories. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/oil-set-third-straight-weekly-drop-tariff-fears-2025-02-07/
2025-02-07 04:19
MUMBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India likely intervened to support the rupee before the open of the local spot market ahead of a closely-watched monetary policy decision on Friday, four traders told Reuters. The rupee was quoting at 87.56-87.58 on the interbank matching system around 08:45 a.m. IST, but strengthened quickly to open at 87.45 at 09:00 a.m. IST. The currency was last quoted at 87.4525. State-run banks were spotted selling dollars, most likely on behalf of the RBI, the traders said. "My orders at 87.54, 87.50 and 87.46 all got filled up before the market opened. All the names I got were state-run banks," one of the traders said. The dollar index was little changed at 107.8 while other Asian currencies were mostly higher. The RBI will announce its decision at 10 a.m. IST, and is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/indian-central-bank-likely-intervened-support-rupee-ahead-rate-decision-traders-2025-02-07/
2025-02-07 04:00
MUMBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee rose in early trading on Friday, tracking the gains in most Asian currencies, while dollar-rupee forward premiums dipped ahead of a closely watched monetary policy announcement by the Reserve Bank of India. The rupee was at 87.46 against the U.S. dollar as of 09:20 a.m. IST, stronger by 0.1% on the day. The dollar index was little changed at 107.7, while Asian currencies were mostly up between 0.1% and 0.4%. The RBI will announce its policy decision at 10 a.m. IST and is widely expected to cut policy rates by 25 basis points, the first rate reduction in nearly five years. Expectations of the rate cut, alongside persistent portfolio outflows and elevated dollar bids in the non-deliverable forwards market have hurt the rupee this week, with the currency hitting its lifetime low of 87.5825 on Thursday. While traders' outlook on reactions to the policy decision varies, most of them expect the central bank to curb undue volatility. "Generally, the RBI is active on policy days. It (rupee) could be restricted to a very narrow range today," a trader at a large private bank said. Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums eased ahead of the policy decision, with the 1-year implied yield slightly lower at 2.17%. The 1-year yield has declined 8 basis points so far this month due to expectations of policy easing and the central bank's ongoing measures to ease a liquidity crunch in the banking system, which were seen as a precursor to a rate cut. A rate cut could help ease some of the pressure on the rupee by attracting foreign investments and would also lead to an increase in rupee supply, which could further weaken the currency, said Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-strengthens-forwards-dip-ahead-central-bank-policy-decision-2025-02-07/
2025-02-07 03:00
MUMBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is expected to linger near a lifetime low at the open on Friday before the central bank most likely cuts interest rates to support sluggish economic growth. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated that the rupee will barely change from 87.5775 on Thursday and near the all-time low of 87.5825. Nearly three-fourths of the economists polled by Reuters expect the Reserve Bank of India to cut the policy rate for the first time in half a decade amid a dip in the Asian nation's growth rate. A few economists expect the RBI to take more measures to boost liquidity in addition to reducing borrowing costs. The rate decision is due at 10.00 a.m. IST. The rupee has been struggling ahead of the policy decision, down more than 1% so far this week. This is despite the postponement of U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico and the measured response by China to U.S. tariffs helping other Asian currencies recover. It is "quite evident" that there is "market nervousness" before RBI's policy, which has led to a pick up in hedging against the rupee's decline, a currency trader at a bank said. It seems that the rupee has already priced in "a lot of negatives" and the bar for a further decline based on policy will be high, the trader said. In contrast to the rupee decline this week, the offshore Chinese yuan and the Korean won are up 0.4%. U.S. JOBS DATA The January U.S. jobs report due later in the day will provide investors cues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates. The data follows a fairly hawkish Federal Reserve policy meeting last week at which it hinted it is in no hurry to cut interest rates. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 87.77; onshore one-month forward premium at 17 paise ** Dollar index at 107.71 ** Brent crude futures up 0.5% at $74.6 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.44% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $131.6mln worth of Indian shares on Feb. 5 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors bought a net $43.7mln worth of Indian bonds on Feb. 5 Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-hold-near-record-low-lead-up-central-bank-rate-decision-2025-02-07/
2025-02-07 02:41
SINGAPORE, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Oil and gas traders are likely to seek waivers from Beijing over tariffs that the Chinese government plans to impose on U.S. crude and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from February 10, trade sources said on Thursday. Shortly after tariffs on China imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump took effect on Tuesday, China's Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% on imports of U.S. coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil as well as on farm equipment and some autos, starting on February 10. Four tankers, carrying 6 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude, and two LNG vessels are currently en route to China, data from analytics firms Kpler and LSEG showed. Companies are expected to apply for waivers for tankers that have already been booked, three oil traders said. However, it would be harder for new deals to receive waivers, two of them said. A Chinese trade source said they were unlikely to resell U.S. oil as prices were not favourable amid rising production. Another two traders who deal with U.S. oil said they have not seen cargoes destined for China being re-offered in the market as there are still unsold cargoes for March loading. The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media. Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec (600028.SS) , opens new tab and also the largest Chinese buyer of U.S. oil, has had long-term deals and also participates in pipeline oil business in the United States, another source close to the company said. "The 10% tariff means Unipec needs to do more swaps, such as sending more oil into Korea and Japan in exchange for whatever these buyers have to swap out for," the person said. Unipec may also opt to sell more to domestic customers in the U.S., the person added. Sinopec declined to comment. At least eight more Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) have been booked by firms including Vitol, Gunvor, Occidental (OXY.N) , opens new tab, ExxonMobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab and Atlantic Trading and Marketing Inc. (ATMI), the trading arm of France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab, Kpler and LSEG data showed. These companies typically do not comment on commercial activities. For LNG, the Mu Lan vessel, which picked up a cargo at Corpus Christi on December 16, is set to arrive at the Fujian terminal on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Wudang vessel loaded at Calcasieu Pass on January 7 and is scheduled to arrive in China between February 9 and 11. Kpler data shows that both vessels are controlled by PetroChina. U.S. LNG flows to China are expected to decline sharply, favouring European and alternative Asian destinations once the 15% tariff is in place, Kpler analysts said in a note. "China is expected to further increase LNG imports from Qatar, Russia, and other suppliers to replace potential declines from the U.S." U.S. oil shipments en route to China Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-gas-traders-seek-tariff-waivers-beijing-us-imports-sources-say-2025-02-06/
