2025-02-04 18:03

Canadian dollar gains 0.6% against the greenback Posts its strongest since Jan. 22 at 1.4306 Price of U.S. oil falls 0.9% 2-year yield eases 2.4 basis points TORONTO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened to a near two-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, with the currency extending the gains it notched the day before when Canada avoided the immediate implementation of planned U.S. trade tariffs. The loonie was trading 0.6% higher at 1.4345 to the U.S. dollar, or 69.71 U.S. cents, after earlier touching its strongest level since Jan. 22 at 1.4306. "I think what we're seeing is a broader pullback for the U.S. dollar," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex LLC. The U.S. dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab fell against a basket of major currencies as President Donald Trump's tariff threats were interpreted more as a negotiating tactic rather than an end goal. On Monday, the loonie hit its weakest intraday level since April 2003 at 1.4793. That was before Trump suspended his threat of steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighboring countries. "The takeaway is that even if the tariffs aren't imposed this month that the disruption still to businesses and consumer sentiment may require the Bank of Canada to cut rates more than previously thought," Chandler said. Investors see a roughly 70% chance the Bank of Canada will ease further in March, after last month lowering the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3% to support the economy. The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, was trading 0.9% lower at $72.52 a barrel due in part to ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China. Canadian bond yields were mixed across the curve. The 2-year was down 2.4 basis points at 2.623% but holding well above the near three-year it hit during Monday's session at 2.459%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-notches-13-day-high-greenback-slides-2025-02-04/

2025-02-04 15:38

MEXICO CITY, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Private sector analysts expect the Mexican economy to grow 1.00% this year, a slight drop from their December forecast, a Mexican central bank survey showed on Tuesday. Analysts also see Mexico's peso currency finishing this year and next year slightly weaker compared to the U.S. dollar, according to the survey. The survey polled 40 analysts and was taken between January 23-29, before the announcement on Monday that the United States would pause for a month the implementation of across-the-board tariffs on imports from Mexico. The values shown are medians. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/analysts-lower-mexicos-2025-economic-growth-forecast-see-weaker-peso-2025-02-04/

2025-02-04 12:37

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Pipeline operator ONEOK (OKE.N) , opens new tab and midstream company MPLX LP (MPLX.N) , opens new tab entered into a joint venture on Tuesday to construct a 400,000-barrel per day (bpd) liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) export terminal in Texas at a total investment of $1.4 billion. The two companies will pump in an equal amount and jointly own the Texas City Logistics (TCX) export terminal, which is expected to be completed in early 2028. MPLX will build and operate the facility. The agreement also includes ONEOK building and operating a 24-inch pipeline from its storage facility in Mont Belvieu, Texas, to the new export terminal. ONEOK will have 80% ownership of the pipeline. Energy infrastructure firms, including midstream companies, have seen increased investor interest as they wager on long-term demand, fueled by the growing need for electricity as more EVs are sold and the rise of power-guzzling technologies such as generative AI. "Given our high expectations for future growth and demand for more energy infrastructure, including export capacity, these projects with MPLX complement our disciplined capital allocation strategy," ONEOK said in a statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oneok-mplx-build-lpg-export-terminal-pipeline-texas-2025-02-04/

2025-02-04 12:20

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom (ROSNP.BX) , opens new tab reported a 57% slump in fourth-quarter adjusted operating profit on Tuesday, citing weaker commodity prices and the impact of gas and power regulations. The company said it aims to invest around 8 billion lei this year mainly in its Neptun Deep Black Sea offshore gas project and renewable power projects, having ramped up investment by 52% to 7.2 billion lei overall in 2024, provided the fiscal and regulatory framework remain stable and competitive. "There are parts of our capex which are relatively fixed and parts ... which are very flexible," Chief Executive Christina Verchere said. "So, if something really dramatic happens, not just necessarily on the regulatory side, even on the pricing side, there is more that is fixed than we've had in the past ... but there is some very variable that you can adjust accordingly and we would respond." The Bucharest-listed company posted an adjusted operating profit of 955 million lei ($197.61 million), down from 2.24 billion lei a year earlier. The clean operating result, which is based on the current cost of supply, excludes one-off items and short-term gains and losses from energy inventory holdings. OMV Petrom, majority-owned by Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI) , opens new tab, reported a weaker performance across all segments for the quarter, pressured by lower oil prices and sales volumes, reduced margins from regulatory changes, and declining refining and sales margins. A turnover tax introduced in 2024 is estimated to cost OMV Petrom around 250 million lei in 2025, up from 216 million lei last year. A new 1% tax on special buildings introduced in late December was also seen as having an impact valued at millions of euros. The company said drilling was expected to start this year for Neptun Deep in the Black Sea, one of the European Union's most significant natural gas deposits. The company said its plans for 2.5 GW of renewable power by 2030 remained unchanged. "We expect 2025 to be a difficult and volatile year, with fiscal and regulatory challenges," Verchere said, adding that a balance was needed between meeting short-term fiscal needs and supporting long-term development. ($1 = 4.8328 lei) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/omv-petroms-operating-profit-slumps-57-weaker-prices-regulatory-pressures-2025-02-04/

2025-02-04 12:13

China hits back with tariffs on U.S. imports Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada Gold hit a record high of $2,830.49 on Monday Feb 4 (Reuters) - Gold prices were steady on Tuesday, after a record rally in the previous session, with investors cautious about the potential effects of President Donald Trump's tariffs and ahead of the U.S. economic data set to be released later this week. Spot gold gained 0.05% to $2,815.00 per ounce as of 1133 GMT after hitting a record high of $2,830.49 on Monday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.6% to $2,841.10. Global bullion banks are flying gold to the U.S. from hubs like Dubai and Hong Kong to take advantage of the high premium the U.S. gold futures are commanding over spot prices on tariff concerns. China imposed tariffs on U.S. imports in a swift response to new U.S. duties, escalating the trade war between the world's top two economies even as Trump offered reprieves to Mexico and Canada. "It (Mexico and Canada tariff pause) does not remove the fact that global markets remain troubled by the prospect of trade wars that may boost prices while lowering the economic outlook," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. The Trump administration's plans for trade tariffs come with inflation risks, three Fed officials warned on Monday, with one arguing that uncertainty over the outlook for prices calls for slower interest rate cuts than otherwise. Bullion is traditionally considered a hedge against both inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, but higher rates reduce the non-yielding asset's appeal. Markets will also closely watch key data this week, including U.S. job openings expected at 1500 GMT, the ADP employment report on Wednesday and the payrolls report on Friday, along with speeches from several Fed officials. "For now, the tariff focus supersedes any other development given their potential impact on inflation, growth and fiscal stability," Hansen said. Spot silver rose 0.2% to $31.63 per ounce. Platinum shed 0.38% to $960.90, and palladium fell 1.5% to $994.08. Markets in top gold consumer China were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays and will resume trade on Wednesday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gold-prices-hold-near-record-highs-us-tariff-concerns-linger-2025-02-04/

2025-02-04 12:11

LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Investors, fearful of choppier markets in 2025, are again favouring alternative trades and moving away from hedge fund strategies that profit when broader markets rise or fall, a Barclays investor survey showed on Tuesday. They want hedge funds to shrink the proportion of their strategy that profits from so-called 'beta', or the movement of broader markets, to between 15% and 5%, with some as low as zero, the Barclays survey of 325 hedge fund investors overseeing almost $9 trillion showed. Heady stock valuations and an AI-related frenzy saw the hedge fund industry lose billions on Jan. 29 during a tech stock rout sparked by the emergence of DeepSeek, a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence model. While hedge fund crowding into tech stocks had dropped from its 2023 peak, concentration in these trades before the rout was still high compared to pre-pandemic levels. Hedge funds' beta as a broader industry is just over 20%, said Roark Stahler, head of strategic consulting Americas at Barclays. Uncertainty surrounding the new U.S. administration's policies means hedge fund investors are looking for less exposure to broader stock markets and towards strategies that take advantage of volatility, said Jon Caplis, CEO of hedge fund research firm PivotalPath. "Equities and their valuations have risen substantially and potentially unsustainably since 2020 (S&P 500 annualizing 14.5% since 2020)," he added. Hedge fund strategies such as long and short stock pickers, credit and those linked to activism have fallen out of favour with investors, the Barclays report said. Instead, investors this year prefer hedge funds that use algorithms to trade the difference in the relative values of stocks and assets affected by mergers and acquisition deals, said the bank's report. Multimanager funds which trade many ideas under one roof topped investors' wish-lists for hedge fund allocation, it said. Multimanagers returned to investors 56% of investment share in 2024 compared to less than half the year before, Barclays data showed. These hedge funds require investors to pay their running expenses and also take a cut of performance returns. The biggest hedge funds have grown almost 50% in size in the last 10 years, said the data. In 2014, the average top-20 hedge fund oversaw around $34 billion in assets, whereas today it manages around $50 billion. Smaller and mid-sized hedge funds only grew by roughly a billion in assets during the same timeframe. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/hedge-fund-investors-push-alternative-trades-choppy-markets-says-barclays-2025-02-04/