2024-12-03 07:09

JAKARTA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia has signed a contract with units of Harbour Energy and Mubadala Energy for the development of a Central Andaman oil and gas block, the energy ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The contract was signed under a new gross split scheme, the first deal to employ the simplified scheme since it was launched, the ministry said. Central Andaman is located offshore of northern Sumatra island. The block has estimated resources of 100 million barrels of oil and 500 billion cubic feet gas, according to energy ministry data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indonesia-signs-contract-with-harbour-energy-mubadala-units-central-andaman-2024-12-03/

2024-12-03 07:06

KAMPALA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The bodies of two three-year-old boys were among those pulled from mud in eastern Uganda, swelling to 28 the death toll from a landslide last week that buried several villages, police said, with dozens still unaccounted for. More than 100 people had been feared missing, with 17 dead after Wednesday's landslide on the slopes of Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano on the border with Kenya, about 300 km (190 miles) east of the capital, Kampala. More bodies have been retrieved since, including the two boys, police said in a statement on X late on Monday, but gave no further details. Since October, unusually heavy rains have triggered widespread flooding and landslides in some areas of Uganda, in weather the Uganda Red Cross has blamed on climate change. The area around the site of last week's tragedy has experienced several deadly landslides, with one in 2010 killing at least 80. Authorities' past efforts to persuade residents of the areas most prone to such disasters to shift to safer ground have met little success as most are poor and lack the means to do so. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/death-toll-uganda-landslide-rises-28-2024-12-03/

2024-12-03 07:02

Ghana's cocoa production sees worst decline Extreme weather, disease, hit output Farmers say government has not done enough Ghana votes on Dec. 7 ASSIN FOSO, Ghana, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Cocoa farmer Joseph Arkoh's vote in Saturday's election in Ghana hinges on one unlikely issue: fertiliser. "All of us farmers are suffering," the 56-year-old said, as labourers harvested bright yellow pods on his land deep in the bush. "When we meet, the fertiliser and chemicals are big concerns." Following the pandemic, a painful cost-of-living crisis and a sovereign debt default, Ghana's economy is again growing. But the cocoa sector in the world's number 2 producer is in the throes of a crisis. In an expected close contest between the ruling New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Mahamudu Bawumia, the current vice-president, and former president John Dramani Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, the votes of cocoa farmers could be decisive. And many of them are angry. "The NPP, they're not for farmers. They're for business," said one farmer in a ruling party stronghold, who asked not to be named. "I am voting NDC." Previously, he supported NPP. Cocoa farming households, estimated to constitute around 2 million voters, are a heavily courted voter bloc in a country with a total electorate of more than 18 million. As the cocoa sector's problems help to alienate farmers from the government, at least one voter survey has tipped Mahama to win, although detailed polling data is not available in Ghana. "Should the trend in favour of the NPP be reversed due to any disaffection over cocoa, this will reinforce a pattern analysts are observing in the upcoming elections: the NPP losing most of the swing vote," said Bright Simons, of the Accra-based IMANI thinktank. 'JUST BEGGING' FOR PRICE RISES On the campaign trail, both leading candidates are after the cocoa vote. "We have helped cocoa farmers. Cocoa farming has become good. We've raised cocoa price," Bawumia told growers during a campaign stop last week. His campaign declined a Reuters request for an interview. Ghana's cocoa production peaked in 2021, with output of over 1 million metric tons of beans. But it has been in rapid decline ever since, hitting its lowest level in decades last season. Analysts say climate change and tree disease are responsible, while many farmers also blame the government for failing to clamp down on wildcat gold mining that has destroyed large parts of the cocoa heartland. The government-set price for farmers has increased under NPP, but Ghana's cedi currency is depreciating as global markets for the chocolate ingredient are at historic highs. That has left farmer incomes lagging global price trends and fuelled smuggling. "The government should be sympathetic," said 34-year-old farmer Abubakar Jebril. "We are just begging that they raise the price." MONEY FOR MANAGEMENT, CUTS FOR FARMERS Much of the farmers' ire is reserved for Cocobod, the state regulator that manages the cocoa sector. Cocobod did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Even as production has shrunk, Cocobod's spending has ballooned. Its accounts showed administrative costs more than tripled between 2018 and 2023, sparking accusations of waste and corruption. A 2023 government audit of a programme to rehabilitate roads used to transport cocoa to warehouses and ports found that just 13% of contracts were awarded through competitive bidding. Cocobod awarded contracts worth 18.2 billion cedis ($1.2 billion), or more than six times the programme's budget. At the same time, it rolled back free fertiliser distributions for farmers. "They're pushing all the money to themselves on cars and other things and reduced spending on the farmers," Mahama said last week while campaigning in Takoradi, an important cocoa-growing region. Mahama has promised to distribute free fertiliser, improve Cocobod's management, cut administrative costs, and combat illegal mining and smuggling. Bawumia has been less specific but Cocobod, at the International Monetary Fund's behest, has proposed a turnaround plan to reduce costs and increase farmers' share of cocoa revenues. Industry players remain sceptical about either candidate's pledges to reverse the sector's decline. On his farm, Arokoh, who voted for the ruling party in the last election, still hopes that Bawumia and the NPP will address his main concern. But so far he has been disappointed. "If they give me fertiliser, I will vote for them," he said. "If not, then I will change and vote for NDC." ($1 = 15.1500 Ghanian cedi) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ghanas-cocoa-farmers-fertiliser-is-vote-winner-looming-election-2024-12-03/

2024-12-03 07:01

COPENHAGEN, Dec 3 (Reuters) - GlobalConnect is working to repair a broken fibre-optic cable on land in Finland, the digital infrastructure and data communication provider said on Tuesday. Two separate cuts to the cable caused a major outage in Finland, GlobalConnect said on its web site, adding that no sea cables were affected. This disruption follows recent breaches of two undersea fibre-optic communications cables in the Baltic Sea, which have raised suspicions of potential sabotage. The incidents occurred on Monday afternoon local time, and repair work has since been underway, GlobalConnect said. One of the two breaches had been repaired by Tuesday morning while the company was still working to fix the second, it said. "Major outage in Finland caused by separate incidents in our network, no sea cables are affected," GlobalConnect said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/finland-hit-by-fibre-optic-cable-outage-2024-12-03/

2024-12-03 06:40

South Korea's Yoon lifts martial law, honors parliamentary vote US dollar trims losses vs yen after JOLTS report China's yuan falls vs dollar on tariff uncertainty Fed officials steer clear of giving December rate guidance NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The euro rose modestly against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, as political turmoil in France sent traders scrambling for hedging protection against further price swings, with some market participants noting that the crisis could be nearing the end. The South Korean won, meanwhile, was one of the biggest movers, plunging against the U.S. dollar to a more than two-year low after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night address on television. But the won recouped some of its losses later on Tuesday after Yoon said he would move to lift martial law he had imposed just hours before. Yoon's martial law declaration was unanimously voted down by 190 lawmakers in parliament, with his own party urging him to lift the decree. The dollar, on the other hand, briefly rose after data showed U.S. job openings increased moderately in October while layoffs declined, even as Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday did not provide definitive guidance on what they intend to do at their policy meeting later this month. With political tension in South Korea partly easing, investors focused on one of the major stories hobbling the euro zone: French politics. French Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces a vote of no confidence on Wednesday after fierce opposition from across the political spectrum to his budget, which contains painful tax rises and spending cuts aimed at repairing the country's precarious finances. "We're at the tail end of the crisis," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Forex in New York. "Tomorrow, there is a vote of no confidence. It passes, but they can't have an election until next July. So what they'll probably do is appoint a prime minister and try again, or let Barnier become the caretaker prime minister and pass some laws to keep the government going until July." Demand for hedges, as reflected by euro options volatility, has hit its highest since March 2023 this week and, with the combination of a string of weak data, political uncertainty in major euro zone economies and the seemingly unstoppable dollar, the single European currency could struggle. The euro , which had been the weakest G10 currency through November, began this month with a 0.7% fall on Monday and was last up 0.1% at $1.0507, as France's government headed for collapse over the budget impasse. EUR/GVD SOUTH KOREAN DRAMA The Korean currency fell to as low as 1,443.40 won per dollar, the lowest since October 2022, in the immediate aftermath of the martial law declaration. It was last down 1% at 1,418.35 after Yoon lifted martial law. Yoon earlier said he had no choice but to resort to martial law in order to protect the liberal democracy, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis. The dollar slipped versus the yen to 149.55 yen , while the euro traded flat against the Japanese unit at 157.12 yen . Traders are growing increasingly confident that Japan may hike interest rates this month. The won sank to its lowest since May 2023 against the yen, and was last down 0.9% at 1,052 . The Chinese yuan, another currency to watch with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump in the United States, hit a 13-month low on tariff risks and weakness in China's economy. The yuan had already sold off in anticipation of more tariffs from Trump and improving U.S. manufacturing data, and a dive in Chinese bond yields to record lows has pulled the currency toward 7.3 per dollar for the first time since last November. China fixed the yuan's trading band at its weakest in more than a year and traders ran with it to sell the currency at 7.2996 per dollar. The Chinese unit last traded at 7.2850 per dollar, slightly down 0.2%. It traded at 7.24 on Friday. The U.S. dollar index was little changed to slightly down on the day at 106.33 . It trimmed losses after data showed job openings, a measure of labor demand, had risen 372,000 to 7.744 million by the last day of October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report. U.S. fed funds futures priced in a 70% chance of a 25 basis-point cut this month, and 30% odds of a pause, according to LSEG calculations, little changed from late Monday. Three Fed officials spoke on Wednesday and said they all saw inflation progressing toward their 2% target but none pushed strongly for or against doing so when they next meet to set rates in two weeks. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/dollar-rides-high-flagging-euro-yuan-2024-12-03/

2024-12-03 06:38

JOLTS report confirms measured labor market cooldown South Korea's won tumbles against the dollar Crude rises ahead of OPEC+ meeting Yuan drops amid Trump tariff threats NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A surprise declaration of martial law in Korea that had sent the won plummeting and gave U.S. Treasuries a brief safe-haven boost was lifted on Tuesday, removing one source of geopolitical jitters for world markets to contend with. The move gave a modest boost to U.S. stocks, which were otherwise muted and range-bound for much of the session. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq managed to reach new record closing highs. "These developments, combined with those in France and the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, all are creating uncertainty as investors think about how to position themselves moving into 2025," said Greg Bassuk, CEO at AXS Investments in New York. South Korea's won had tumbled to a two-year low against the dollar after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in what he said was an effort to block efforts by opposition parties to hijack the parliamentary process. He later reversed the decision, honoring a parliamentary vote against the measure. Crude prices gained amid supply concerns related to OPEC+ output cuts and simmering tensions in the Middle East. The Labor Department released its closely monitored Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which showed job openings on the rise and layoffs on the wane, supporting the notion that the labor market continues its gradual cooldown. On Friday, the Labor Department is due to unveil its much-anticipated November employment report, which will be parsed for clues regarding the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decisions in December and beyond. "There’s a host of economic data on this week’s calendar, so investors are taking a wait-and-see as this week’s data will likely impact the Fed’s December rate decision," Bassuk added. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 76.59 points, or 0.17%, to 44,705.41; the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab rose 2.73 points, or 0.05%, to 6,049.88; and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab rose 76.96 points, or 0.40%, to 19,480.91. European shares nabbed a one-month high even as political turmoil in France, which has pushed the French government to the verge of collapsing, kept investors on edge. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab rose 3.16 points, or 0.37%, to 867.80. The STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index rose 0.37%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) , opens new tab rose 8.89 points, or 0.44% Emerging market stocks (.MSCIEF) , opens new tab rose 9.83 points, or 0.90%, to 1,096.22. The dollar closed nominally lower against a basket of world currencies as financial markets cemented expectations that the Fed will make another interest rate cut at this month's policy meeting. But its losses were held in check by France's unfolding political crisis, and lingering tariff threats from President-elect Donald Trump. China's onshore yuan touched its weakest level since the 2008 financial crisis in the face of tariff worries. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.03% to 106.34, with the euro up 0.1% at $1.0508. The Korean won weakened 0.97% against the dollar to 1,418.35 per dollar. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar weakened 0.08% to 149.47. Bitcoin was uncharacteristically subdued, prolonging its flirtation with the elusive and closely watched $100,000 mark. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 0.29% to $95,686.00. Ethereum declined 0.17% to $3,608.46. Yields on 10-year Treasuries edged higher in the wake of the JOLTS report as investors cement their expectations for a 25 basis point rate cut at the conclusion of the Fed's Dec. 17-18 policy meeting. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 4 basis points to 4.234%, from 4.194% late on Monday. The 30-year bond yield rose 5.5 basis points to 4.4129% from 4.358% late on Monday. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with rate expectations for the Fed, fell 2.3 basis points to 4.175%, from 4.198% late on Monday. Crude oil prices gained ground ahead of an expected decision by OPEC+ to approve continued output cuts. Oil's advance was also supported by a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. U.S. crude rose 2.70% to $69.94 per barrel, while Brent rose to $73.62 per barrel, up 2.49% on the day. Gold held firm amid firming expectations for a December rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Spot gold rose 0.13% to $2,642.25 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.26% to $2,641.70 an ounce. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-12-03/