2025-01-16 10:33
KAMPALA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Ugandan shilling firmed slightly on Thursday, helped by scant appetite for hard currency from merchandise importers, traders said. At 1018 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,685/3,695, compared to Wednesday's close of 3,690/3,700. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/ugandan-shilling-firms-scant-demand-hard-currency-2025-01-16/
2025-01-16 07:48
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 16 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand was little changed on Thursday, a day after a key U.S. inflation report boosted hopes of a less restrictive Federal Reserve policy this year. By 0725 GMT, the rand traded at 18.7625 against the dollar , near its previous close of 18.7575. U.S. core inflation slowed last month, while headline consumer prices showed no major surprises, boosting market bets that the Fed would reduce rates twice by the end of 2025, with the first reduction expected in June. However, markets have a wary eye on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, watching for a slew of executive orders, especially on tariffs, that are likely to roil asset prices and the dollar. There are no major domestic economic releases due in South Africa this week. On the Johannesburg stock market, the Top-40 (.JTOPI) , opens new tab index was up about 0.6%. South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally stronger, with the yield down 1 basis point to 9.15%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/south-african-rand-stable-after-us-inflation-report-2025-01-16/
2025-01-16 07:47
PARIS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab expects fourth-quarter 2024 downstream results to have benefited from a slight increase in refining margins, the French oil major said in a trading update on Thursday. Its European refining margin marker stood at $25.90 per metric ton in the fourth quarter of last year, up from $15.40 in the previous quarter. Exploration and Production results in the fourth quarter are expected to be hurt by a $5 per barrel fall in oil prices, it noted. Total's adjusted net income has dropped for five straight quarters, hitting a three-year low at end-September reflecting a combination of upstream outages and a collapse in European refining margins. BP (BP.L) , opens new tab, Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab and Exxon (XOM.N) , opens new tab issued profit warnings this month, as lower seasonal natural gas demand drags on trading results. Global demand for gasoline and diesel has also fallen short of expectations, while the launch of new oil refineries in Asia and Africa has resulted in oversupply. The world's top oil and gas companies saw profits decline throughout 2024 following record earnings in the previous two years, as global oil demand faltered and energy prices steadied after jumps triggered by Europe's loss of Russian gas supply following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totalenergies-flags-slight-recovery-fourth-quarter-refining-margins-2025-01-16/
2025-01-16 07:21
LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Antofagasta (ANTO.L) , opens new tab on Thursday reported a modest 1% rise in its 2024 copper production to 664,000 metric tons, below its guidance, as higher production at its flagship projects was offset by lower grades. The company had previously guided to a range of 670-710,000 tons versus 660,600 tons in 2023. The Chilean miner, which operates four copper mines in Chile, left its 2025 output outlook unchanged at between 660,000 and 700,000 tons, as only an incremental production increase was expected at its Centinela site. Copper's uses include energy transition applications such as solar panels and electric cars. The London-listed producer reiterated it expects its capital expenditure to jump to $3.9 billion in 2025 from $2.7 billion last year, partly as work continues to develop a second Centinela concentrator. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/antofagasta-reports-flat-2024-copper-output-2025-01-16/
2025-01-16 07:08
LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The pound fell on Thursday after data showed the British economy grew more slowly than expected in November, which could give the Bank of England more room to cut interest rates this year. The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product expanded by 0.1% in November, following October's 0.1% drop, and below forecasts in a Reuters poll of analysts for a rise of 0.2%. The pound edged lower following the data to trade down 0.31% on the day at $1.2207, compared with around $1.222 right before the data. Against the euro sterling was down 0.26% on the day at 84.29, from 84.18 pence before the GDP numbers. The derivatives market is currently pricing in 58 basis points' worth of cuts from the BoE by the end of this year . Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-dips-after-data-shows-slower-uk-economic-growth-2025-01-16/
2025-01-16 07:04
WARSAW, Jan 16 (Reuters) - European Union companies could become more competitive against their U.S. and Chinese rivals if they paid less for energy -- a goal governments could achieve by cooperating to invest and to integrate the EU's fragmented energy market, the IMF said. Boosting Europe's economic competitiveness is a priority for the 27-nation bloc as it struggles in the race for new, climate-friendly technologies against China and the United States. The challenge has become much tougher after the collapse of cheap pipeline gas imports from Russia in the aftermath of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, making EU companies pay twice as much as their U.S. rivals for electricity. The competitive disadvantage for Europe was especially visible in energy-intensive industries like chemicals, steel and aluminium production, the IMF said. In a paper prepared for talks of EU finance ministers on Monday, the International Monetary Fund said EU energy market integration would not only lower prices, but also improve EU energy security and help reduce CO2 emissions. Electricity prices also varied inside the 27-nation EU, making the EU market fragmented. The IMF said the fragmentation could be fixed if countries traded electricity more across borders and boosted the capacity of such cross-border grids. But it noted that countries importing as well as exporting electricity could be reluctant to trade more across borders because countries which produced electricity at a low cost and could export it often resisted grid integration out of fear that domestic prices would rise. "Conversely, high-cost countries may be reluctant to open their markets to cheaper electricity imports, which could undercut local producers," it said. The paper said that if the 27 EU governments integrated their energy markets, they could save around 40 billion euros ($41.16 billion) per year as a bloc and attract investors. But energy policy was now still up to national government decisions, rather than joint EU policy, raising the risk of uncoordinated and more expensive approaches, the paper said. ($1 = 0.9717 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-can-stand-up-us-china-with-integrated-energy-market-imf-states-2025-01-16/
