2024-11-21 21:51

Nov 22 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Risk assets in Asia are set to open positively on Friday after a show of fortitude on Wall Street saw U.S. stocks end a choppy session in the green, as local attention turns to the latest inflation figures from Japan. Japanese consumer prices top the regional calendar, and investors also will be looking out for purchasing managers index data from Japan, Australia and India for the first glimpse into how these economies performed in November. Annual core consumer price inflation in Japan is expected to have slowed to 2.2% in October from 2.4% in September, cooling for a second consecutive month on slower growth in energy prices, according to a Reuters poll. The release comes a day after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank will "seriously" take into account the yen's impact on growth and prices, remarks investors took as a sign the BOJ could soon raise interest rates. The ultra low-yielding yen is one of the world's worst-performing currencies against the dollar this year, putting upward pressure on the price of imports. The dollar has risen 10% against the yen since the Fed cut rates in September, a counter-intuitive move explained by the surprising - and surprisingly steep - rise in U.S. bond yields. But the yen is ripe for a rebound. It has been sold off heavily, speculators are holding their biggest short position in four months, and the BOJ could be taking a more hawkish turn. The Japanese currency rose on Thursday for only the second time in nine days, and another rise of around 0.3% on Friday would seal its best week in two months. Asian stocks are also consolidating, after getting slammed last week. On the whole, the global backdrop as Asia opens on Friday is still reasonably positive. The upward momentum behind the so-called 'Trump trades' that gathered steam before and immediately after the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election has fizzled, but most of these bets still appear to be in play. Some more than others. Tesla shares are up 7% this week and bitcoin is up 9%, within reach of breaking above $100,000 for the first time. This could easily happen in Asia on Friday, after U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler confirmed he will leave his post in January. Gensler is widely seen as a hard-liner on cryptocurrency regulation. Indian assets, meanwhile, are under heavy pressure on the news that Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted for fraud by U.S. prosecutors and arrest warrants issued for him for his alleged role in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials. Stocks are the lowest in five months, and the rupee has never been weaker. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday: - Japan inflation (October) - Malaysia inflation (October) - Japan, Australia, India PMIs (November) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-2024-11-21/

2024-11-21 21:39

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Bitcoin broke above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday as the election of Republican Donald Trump as president fuelled bets that his administration will create a friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies. The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency has more than doubled from this year's low of $38,505 and is up over 50% since Trump's sweeping election win in early November. Here are key events in bitcoin's journey towards $100,000 and beyond: 2008: Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym used by the cryptocurrency's presumed developer, introduces the concept of bitcoin 2010: The first retail transaction takes place when a user pays 10,000 bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas 2013: As bitcoin's popularity grows, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of crypto exchange Gemini, file their first application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to create a spot bitcoin ETF. Grayscale Investments launches the Bitcoin Investment Trust, an open-ended private bitcoin trust. 2016: The Winklevoss brothers adjust their application numerous times, such as the exchange on which the product would be traded. They also file amendments naming State Street as administrator. Grayscale files with the SEC to convert its bitcoin trust into a spot bitcoin ETF. 2017: The SEC rejects the Winklevoss application on the grounds bitcoin markets were not mature enough. Grayscale withdraws its first attempt to convert its trust into an ETF, saying the regulatory environment was not developed enough. 2018: The SEC rejects the Winklevoss twins' second application to launch a spot bitcoin ETF, saying cryptocurrency exchanges do not have the necessary controls to prevent manipulation. 2020: Grayscale transforms its trust into an SEC-reporting entity, and its shares begin trading on the pink sheets, for stocks that trade over the counter. Although not an ETF, it is the first publicly traded bitcoin fund in the U.S. 2021: The first spot bitcoin ETF launches in Canada. Gary Gensler replaces Jay Clayton as SEC chair in April. In October, the SEC approves the ProShares Bitcoin Trust listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, noting the CME has a satisfactory mechanism for surveilling abuse in the futures market. It is the first U.S.-listed futures-based bitcoin ETF, accumulating $1 billion in assets within its first days of trading - faster than any other ETF. Also in October, Grayscale again submits an application to the SEC to convert its trust into a spot bitcoin ETF. 2022: The SEC rejects several applications from would-be spot bitcoin ETF issuers, including SkyBridge, Fidelity and Bitwise. The SEC also rejects Grayscale's application, prompting the company to sue the agency. Amid crashing crypto prices, multiple crypto companies file for bankruptcy, including Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network and FTX, whose founder Sam Bankman-Fried is also charged with fraud. 2023: May: Cathie Woods' ARK Investments and CBOE Global Markets (CBOE.Z) , opens new tab file for a spot bitcoin ETF, giving the SEC a maximum of 240 days to approve or reject the application. June: BlackRock (BLK.N) , opens new tab files a spot bitcoin ETF application with the SEC, raising industry hopes the agency may approve the product and sending the price of bitcoin to a one-year high. A flurry of other issuers and exchanges, including Fidelity and Invesco, file bitcoin ETF applications in the subsequent weeks and months. August: A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. rules in favour of Grayscale, saying the SEC did not justify why it had rejected its proposal. Europe's first spot bitcoin ETF begins trading on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. October: The SEC opts not to appeal the court's ruling in the Grayscale case and is required to reexamine the application. 2024: Jan. 10: The SEC approves 11 proposals from issuers including BlackRock, Fidelity and VanEck, among others, to launch spot bitcoin ETFs. February: Net inflows into the 10 largest ETFs hit $4 billion in the first month, according to LSEG data. March: Bitcoin tops $70,000 for the first time to hit a record high, having doubled in value in the five months. June: Trump pitches himself as a champion for cryptocurrency and slammed Democrats' attempts to regulate the sector during a San Francisco fundraiser. July: Trump tells a bitcoin conference that, if elected, he will create a strategic national bitcoin stockpile and will ensure the United States is the "crypto capital of the planet." October: The SEC grants "accelerated approval" to U.S. exchanges to list and trade options tied to 11 spot bitcoin ETFs. Nov 6: Trump is declared winner of the presidential election, sparking a huge rally in a range of assets, with bitcoin being the standout gainer. Nov 12: Total crypto market cap tops $3 trillion. Year-to-date ETF net inflows hit $25.8 billion, according to LSEG data. Nov 21: Bitcoin nears $100,000 for the first time in history, driven by a swell of buying from investors in anticipation of Trump dismantling a lot of the regulation around crypto investment. Dec. 5: Bitcoin soars past $100,000 for the first time, taking its gains for the year to over 140%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/bitcoins-wild-ride-toward-100000-2024-11-21/

2024-11-21 21:05

Text proposed by Britain, France, Germany and U.S. Iran tried to prevent resolution with uranium concession Western powers dismissed Iran's move, pressed ahead Tehran could now react, reverse course on uranium VIENNA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The U.N. atomic watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday again ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the agency and requesting a "comprehensive" report aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks. Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which proposed the resolution, dismissed as insufficient and insincere a last-minute Iranian move to cap its stock of uranium that is close to weapons-grade. Diplomats said Iran's move was conditional on scrapping the resolution. Iran tends to bristle at such resolutions and has said it would respond in kind to this one. After previous criticism at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board, it has stepped up its nuclear activities and reduced IAEA oversight. China, Russia and Burkina Faso voted against the text, diplomats in the meeting said. Nineteen countries voted in favour and 12 abstained. The IAEA and Iran have long been locked in standoffs on a range of issues including Tehran's failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites, its barring last year of most of the agency's top uranium-enrichment experts on the Iran inspection team, and its refusal to expand IAEA monitoring. The resolution seen by Reuters repeated wording from a November 2022 resolution that it was "essential and urgent" for Iran to explain the uranium traces and let the IAEA take samples as necessary. The resolution in June of this year did the same. The new text asked the IAEA to issue "a comprehensive and updated assessment on the possible presence or use of undeclared nuclear material in connection with past and present outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear programme, including a full account of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA on these issues". Western powers hope that report, due by spring 2025, will pressure Iran into negotiations on fresh restrictions on its nuclear activities, albeit less far-reaching ones than in a 2015 deal with major powers that unravelled after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018. With Trump due to return to office in January and Iran having taken its uranium enrichment far beyond the deal's limits, it is far from clear whether Trump would back negotiations aimed at setting new limits before the 2015 deal's ones are lifted on "termination day" in October of next year. If no new limits are agreed before then, the report could be used to strengthen the case for so-called "snapback", a process under the 2015 deal where the issue is sent to the U.N. Security Council and sanctions lifted under the deal can be re-imposed. Last week IAEA chief Rafael Grossi visited Tehran, hoping to convince new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is seen as relatively moderate, to improve Iran's cooperation with the agency. IRANIAN REACTION Grossi formally reported to member states on Tuesday that "the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 was discussed" in his meetings with Iranian officials, and that the IAEA had verified Iran had "begun implementation of preparatory measures". Iran already has enough material enriched to that level, close to the roughly 90% purity that is weapons grade, for four nuclear weapons if enriched further, according to an IAEA yardstick. It has enough material enriched to lower levels for more bombs, but Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. Grossi said on Wednesday he had asked Iran to cap that stock of 60% material and Iran had accepted his request. He told a news conference that day that it was "a concrete step in the right direction", suggesting that he felt a resolution could undermine that progress. With the resolution passed, Iran is likely to respond. Moments after the vote, Iranian state media cited a joint statement by the foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran saying Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami has issued orders for measures like activating various new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium. "If there is a resolution, it (Iran) will either increase its activities or reduce the agency's access," a senior diplomat said before the vote. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-nuclear-watchdogs-35-nation-board-passes-resolution-against-iran-2024-11-21/

2024-11-21 21:03

Amazon drops after report on EU investigation next year Alphabet slips after Justice Department pushes for Chrome sale Deere shares up after Q4 profit beats estimates Indexes up: Dow 1.06%, S&P 0.53%, Nasdaq 0.03% Nov 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes closed higher after choppy trading on Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 hitting one-week tops. Dow Jones Industrial Average gains were aided by cloud company Salesforce's (CRM.N) , opens new tab 3.1% advance after three brokerages lifted their price targets on the stock. Shares of Wall Street's biggest company, Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, added 0.5% after teetering following its earnings release on Wednesday. The chip company surpassed expectations for quarterly results, and projected fourth-quarter revenue above estimates. "(Nvidia's) earnings report was really, really good. Some of the whisper numbers were higher and they disappointed there, but the fundamentals of AI and Nvidia continue to fire on all cylinders and the outlook for next year is positive," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial. Some investors were unimpressed that the forecast was its slowest in seven quarters. The broader Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX) , opens new tab climbed 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 461.88 points, or 1.06%, to 43,870.35, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 31.60 points, or 0.53%, to 5,948.71 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 6.28 points, or 0.03%, to 18,972.42. Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab slid 4.7% to touch a four-week low after the Justice Department argued to a judge that Google must sell its Chrome browser and take other measures to end its monopoly on online search. The stock's losses weighed on the communication services sector (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab, which was the biggest sectoral decliner, falling 1.73%. Utilities (.SPLRCU) , opens new tab stocks led the S&P higher. Amazon.com (AMZN.O) , opens new tab fell 2.2% after a report said it will likely face an EU investigation next year into whether it favors its own brand products on its online marketplace. On the data front, a weekly report on jobless claims showed they fell unexpectedly last week, suggesting a rebound in job growth in November. Investors will be closely monitoring commentary from Federal Reserve officials before the mid-December FOMC meeting. Money-market bets favor a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the Fed in December, according to the CME Group's FedWatch. "We’ve moved on from the election a bit, we got the Nvidia report, so the next thing markets will look for is the Fed meeting, and some policy speak from Fed officials this week have pointed to maybe a pause in the making for December," Saglimbene said. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said the United States is more vulnerable to inflationary shocks than in the past, according to a media report. Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said on Thursday he supports further interest rate cuts and is open to doing them more slowly. Traders also monitored geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia that sent crude prices higher and aided a 0.8% gain in the energy sector (.SPNY) , opens new tab. Shares of machinery manufacturer Deere (DE.N) , opens new tab gained 8% after reporting an upbeat fourth-quarter profit, while AI company Snowflake (SNOW.N) , opens new tab jumped 32.7% after raising its annual product revenue forecast. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.17-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 380 new highs and 88 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,875 stocks rose and 1,444 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.99-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 67 new 52-week highs and four new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 138 new highs and 149 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 15.32 billion shares, compared with the 14.55-billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/nasdaq-futures-lead-declines-after-nvidias-forecast-disappoints-2024-11-21/

2024-11-21 20:55

SAO PAULO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Brazil is close to finalizing protocols for exporting pork offal and fish to China, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday, in the wake of a historic visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the South American nation. The agreements were not signed during Xi's visit as details pertaining to the protocols are still pending, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because talks were private. The sources said negotiations for both protocols were advanced and should be completed soon. They declined to give a time frame for an announcement. "It should not take long," one of the persons said. The negotiation of the protocols comes amid a trade dispute involving China and European pork suppliers, whom China has accused of dumping. China's total pork imports, including offal, totaled about $6 billion in 2023, with Spain accounting for about $1.5 billion. The Netherlands and Denmark each exported the equivalent of more than $500 million to China, according to Chinese customs data. "Offal is something that China values highly and Brazil does not have the habit of consuming," one of the persons said, citing items such as heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, brains and tongue, which are appreciated by Chinese consumers. Finalizing protocols for pork offal exports would be "disruptive" for the Brazilian pork industry, the source said. Brazil, the fourth-largest global exporter of pork, exported around 1.2 million tons of the meat in 2023, but the volume of offal totaled just over 100,000 metric tons to all destinations, according to official trade data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/brazil-china-close-signing-pork-offal-export-protocols-sources-say-2024-11-21/

2024-11-21 20:44

Some 260,000 homes and businesses remain without power Storm parked over Northern California Expected to bring up to 16-to-20 inches of rain by Saturday At least two people have died in the storms Treacherous flooding, rock and mudslides possible Nov 21 (Reuters) - A second powerful wind storm, called a "bomb cyclone," will hit the U.S. Pacific Northwest by Thursday evening, even as hundreds of thousands of people remain without power from the torrential rain and snow still falling from the first one. The first bout of winds had eased across the region of southwest Washington and Oregon by midday on Wednesday in a system pushed into the U.S. by the first "atmospheric river" storm of the season. But images of cars and houses crushed by fallen trees in Washington filled social media. Two women died in separate incidents of tree falls near Seattle and others were injured. About 260,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Washington, Oregon and Northern California on Thursday afternoon, down from 600,000 earlier. The windstorm and heavy rain also damaged the power system in Canada's Pacific coast province of British Columbia and cut power to some 225,000 customers on Tuesday night, according to provincial electricity provider BC Hydro. By Wednesday evening, about 64,000 customers, mostly on Vancouver Island, remained without power. About 11 inches of rain had already fallen on Wednesday and overnight into Thursday in Northern California, bringing several feet of snow in higher elevations, said Rich Otto, a forecaster with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. Otto said the storm was stalled over northern California and was going to bring another 5-to-10 inches of rain. The worst of the rain covers a coastal strip from southwest Oregon, through Northern California to the North Bay region near San Francisco. Wind gusts of 65 mph (105 kph) were expected on Thursday evening, and risks of life-threatening flooding, mud and rock slides remained throughout the region, the NWS warned. About a dozen small landslides had struck in northern California late on Wednesday into early Thursday, the National Weather Service said. The Sierra Nevada peaks near Lake Tahoe could receive as much as 5 feet of snow this weekend, the NWS said. The wind storms, called bomb cyclones, occur when they rapidly intensify in 24 hours or fewer when a cold air mass from the polar region collides with warm tropical air in a process that meteorologists call bombogenesis. The rain will continue over Northern California and southwestern Oregon in the next few days, Otto said, not easing until Saturday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/second-wind-storm-pummel-us-pacific-northwest-heavy-rains-through-saturday-2024-11-21/