2024-11-15 04:19

Q3 GDP +5.3% y/y, matching analyst and early estimates 2024 year-to-date growth at 5.2%, c.bank says Some analysts warn on inflation risk amid subsidy removals KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Malaysia's economic growth slowed in the third quarter - after reaching an 18-month high in the previous quarter - as a drop in oil and gas output offset a surge in investment activity and resilient household spending. Gross domestic product grew 5.3% in the July-to-September period, slowing from 5.9% in the second quarter, in line with analysts' and early government estimates. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, GDP rose 1.8%, compared with a 2.9% rise in the April-to-June period, data from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Statistics Department showed on Friday. Third quarter growth was driven by strength in investments and exports, as well as household spending, Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said. Malaysia recorded 14.5 billion ringgit ($3.24 billion) in foreign direct investments in the third quarter of this year, up from 9.1 billion ringgit in the previous quarter, the data showed. The expansion was tempered by lower oil and gas output as a result of maintenance at production facilities, he added. The report showed the crude oil and condensate, and natural gas subsectors contracted 7.3% and 2.8% in the third quarter. "Household spending will remain the anchor of growth, driven by expansion in employment and income, as well as continued policy support," BNM Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said, adding that investment activities and higher exports would lend further support. Headline and core inflation have averaged 1.8% year-to-date, and were expected to stay manageable going into 2025, BNM said, even as the government plans further subsidy cuts. It removed subsidies on diesel, electricity, and chicken this year, and a blanket subsidy for a widely used transport fuel is set to end in the middle of 2025. While most analysts expect the central bank to maintain interest rate levels until at least 2026, Capital Economics cautioned the removal of food and fuel subsidies was likely to boost inflation, increasing the risk of a rate hike that could moderate GDP growth. "Given inflation is already set to rise in Malaysia next year, and with risks to import price pressures now skewed firmly to the upside, the central bank could opt to tighten policy," Shivaan Tandon, economist at Capital Economics, said in a note after the GDP data was announced. Earlier this month, BNM held its key interest rate (MYINTR=ECI) , opens new tab unchanged at 3.00%, citing a favourable outlook for growth and inflation. On Friday, the central bank said year-to-date growth remained strong at 5.2%, within its projected forecast of 4.8% to 5.3% for 2024. It forecasts the economy to expand between 4.5% to 5.5% in 2025. The central bank said the ringgit's strength in the third quarter was partly due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's shift to an easing cycle, and that Malaysia's economic outlook and reforms would support the currency over the medium term. The ringgit has weakened more than 3% since Donald Trump's election victory earlier this month, but has still gained about 2.5% against the dollar this year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/malaysias-economy-grows-53-yy-q3-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 02:13

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday the U.S. central bank has time before it needs to adapt its policymaking thinking due to the return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House. "I think it's too early to reach judgments here" and "we don't really know what policies will be put in place," Powell said at a Dallas Fed event. Powell said the Fed will watch to see what elected officials do - Republicans won control of both houses of Congress in the Nov. 5 elections. "I think we have time to make assessments about what the net effects of policy changes will be on the economy before we react with policy," he said. Trump, who defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, has vowed to impose stiff tariffs on imports and a sweeping crackdown on immigration, both of which have the potential to reignite inflation after the Fed had brought it back under control. At the same time, Trump's economic agenda also risks further driving up deficit spending, although his proposed tax cuts could produce higher economic growth for a while. The Republican former president was a regular critic of the Fed during his 2017-2021 term in the White House and broke with long-standing precedents to actively criticize the central bank's monetary policy decisions. Trump and his allies have also weighed the idea of subordinating Fed decision-making to their political authority, a reality many economists fear could erode trust in the Fed and increase the risks of higher inflation. In his remarks on Thursday, Powell said Fed officials simply need more policy clarity before they can start updating economic forecasts and policy expectations, noting that for the central bank's outlook, "the answer isn't obvious until we see the actual policies ... We reserve judgment until we actually know what we are talking about." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-has-time-see-what-trump-policies-mean-economy-powell-says-2024-11-14/

2024-11-15 00:08

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A global standard setter for voluntary carbon projects has approved three new methods for projects that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), aiming to restore confidence in the market. Preserving forests is crucial to meeting international goals to limit global temperature increases to prevent the most extreme consequences of global warming. In the voluntary carbon market, companies can buy credits from projects that avoid emissions such as cleaner cooking fuels or deforestation prevention schemes across the world and use them to meet their internal carbon-cutting targets. REDD+ projects have been under huge scrutiny over the past few years after media reports cast doubt over whether several projects preserved as much forest as they had claimed and that the communities involved did not benefit as much as expected. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), an independent governance body, has sought to address integrity concerns by launching Core Carbon Principle (CCP) standards and is assessing the validity of projects. It said three new REDD+ methodologies, none of which have already issued credits, had met its CCP criteria. “The Governing Board was satisfied that the approved methodologies address the concerns identified in older REDD+ methodologies, and will usher in a new generation of high-integrity projects,” the ICVCM said in a statement. The approved Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology (VM0048) for example will now use baselines set on jurisdictional deforestation data rather than on reference areas selected by project developers. Verra, one of the largest credit issuers has issued more than 400 million VCS REDD+ credits to date to projects using the old methodologies. It did not submit the older REDD+ methodologies for assessment by ICVCM and said all registered VCS projects are required to transition to the new methodology with the timing depending on the status of the projects. The other approved methodologies are (ART) The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) v2.0, TREES Crediting Level and the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) Framework v4.1. ICVCM said the current pipeline of projects with the approved methodologies have the potential to issue more than 400 million carbon credits. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-carbon-offset-standard-setter-okays-three-deforestation-project-types-2024-11-15/

2024-11-14 23:53

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A New York technology entrepreneur was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty last year to laundering funds stolen from Bitfinex one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with the help of his wife. Ilya Lichtenstein, 35, hacked into Bitfinex's network in 2016, using advanced hacking tools and techniques, and stole about 120,000 bitcoin, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. He and his wife Heather Morgan, who used the hip-hop alias "Razzklekhan" to promote her music, were arrested in February 2022. The bitcoin was worth $71 million at the time of the theft, but had appreciated to more than $4.5 billion by the time of their arrests. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at the time that the $3.6 billion in assets that prosecutors recovered from the couple was the biggest financial seizure in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice. Morgan had also pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Morgan is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18. In addition to his term of imprisonment, Lichtenstein was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, the U.S. Justice Department said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-man-sentenced-5-years-over-laundering-crypto-stolen-bitfinex-hack-2024-11-14/

2024-11-14 22:24

Nov 14 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. A warm reading on U.S. producer price inflation in October and hawkish comments by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell weighed on Wall Street and shouldn't distract Asian investors much from focusing on the incoming Trump administration. Markets were muted ahead of an afternoon speech by Powell. Investors were right to be guarded, since he leaned more hawkish than in recent months, saying the central bank does not need to rush to lower rates and can carefully deliberate over the solid economy and job market and inflation that has yet to come back down to its 2% target. After Powell's remarks, rate-futures contracts priced in about a 60% chance of another quarter-point policy rate cut next month. Those odds had already come down to 75% after the data, from about 80% prior to that. On Wall Street, stocks (.SPX) , opens new tab, (.IXIC) , opens new tab, (.DJI) , opens new tab fell a bit more than they had after the Producer Price Index news, while the dollar index moved back up a bit but not enough to clear its overnight highest level in about a year. Bitcoin hovered on either side of $90,000 after Wednesday's surge above $93,000 as the election of Donald Trump spurred bets that friendlier U.S. regulation could usher in a new boom for all corners of the cryptocurrency sector. Traders are not hanging as much on U.S. indicators due on Friday, and so spent most of the day digesting the Labor Department's report showing PPI for final demand rose 0.2% last month, after an upwardly revised 0.1% gain in September. That was in line with forecasts. In the 12 months through October, the PPI increased 2.4% after advancing 1.9% in September. Data also showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week, a slightly better labor market than expected and than last week. At the same time the Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week, slightly below expectations of economists polled by Reuters calling for 223,000 claims, suggesting a weak October government payrolls report was an anomaly. Powell followed other Fed speakers on Thursday. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said the Fed needs to keep building on its great progress and that the current level of unemployment is fine. Whether it is normalizing or weakening is still to be determined, he said Fed governor Adriana Kugler said the central bank has made considerable progress toward achieving its job and inflation goals, but stopped short of offering firm guidance for the near-term monetary policy outlook. Worries about U.S.-China relations were already weighing on stocks in China, where the Shanghai Composite index (.SSEC) , opens new tab and China's blue-chip CSI300 index (.CSI300) , opens new tab both suffered their biggest retreats in nearly a month. President-elect Trump has signaled with his choice of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State that policy toward Beijing could go beyond tariffs and trade to a more hawkish stance on China as the United States' main strategic rival. Republicans have criticized the outgoing Biden administration's approach of "managing competition" with Beijing as too conciliatory. Other cabinet picks awaiting Senate confirmation might also upset China, such as Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser and John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. Concerns about U.S. alliances and trade policy are widespread and affecting international markets. The greenback climbed above 156 yen for the first time since July, ending at 156.31, while the euro EUR=EBS was at $1.0513 after slumping to its weakest since October 2023. Euro/yen went up a smidge to 164.42. The offshore Chinese yuan was still trading at its weakest levels since August at 7.2554 per dollar. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday: - Japan GDP (Q3) - China industrial output (Oct) - U.S. retail sales (Oct) - U.S. industrial production (Oct) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-2024-11-14/

2024-11-14 22:20

Nov 14 (Reuters) - California-based Maxeon Solar (MAXN.O) , opens new tab said on Thursday it has filed a request for further review with the U.S. Customs & Border Protection over the federal agency's continued detention of its solar panels from Mexico, citing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The agency did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Maxeon's shares fell 13.6% in afternoon trading. The detention of Maxeon's modules began in July and resulted in the company withdrawing its 2024 forecast in September due to the uncertainty surrounding imports to its largest market. Numerous companies have been included in the UFLPA Entity List, which restricts the import of goods tied to what the U.S. government has characterized as an ongoing genocide of minorities in China's western Xinjiang region. U.S. officials believe Chinese authorities have established labor camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in China's western Xinjiang region. Beijing denies any abuses. "None of our supply chains involve entities on the UFLPA list, two of our supply chains do not even enter China, and yet the reviewers have declined to make the appropriate determination that UFLPA does not apply," Maxeon's outgoing CEO Bill Mulligan said. He said that the company remains optimistic that new reviewers would clear its products for imports. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/maxeon-solar-seeks-further-review-detention-mexico-assembled-solar-panels-2024-11-14/