2024-11-11 14:52

MEXICO CITY, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that she would renew an agreement with food producers and retailers to keep the price of a set of basic groceries affordable for consumers. The measure had been rolled out by her predecessor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in 2022 as inflation was the highest it had been in two decades. "We want prices to come down for consumers, especially for those who don't have much," Sheinbaum, who took office at the beginning of October, said in her morning press conference. The new accord will be signed on Wednesday or Thursday, she added. Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum's mentor, launched the price controls in collaboration with the private sector on a set of groceries including corn tortillas, rice, soap, tomatoes and toilet paper. Inflation has come down sharply since the agreement went into place, according to data from national statistics agency INEGI. In October, the annual inflation rate for food, drinks and tobacco was 3.81%, compared to the 13.95% rate two years earlier. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-renew-food-price-control-measures-2024-11-11/

2024-11-11 14:29

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Short sellers of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks have suffered heavy losses since Nov. 6, after bitcoin surged to record highs, on optimism U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would implement a more favorable regulatory framework. Crypto short trades looked set for a further hammering on Monday as most cryptocurrency-related stocks jumped in U.S. premarket trading. Among them, Coinbase was last up close to 16%, tracking the surge in bitcoin prices. Traders who bet against MicroStrategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab, one of bitcoin's biggest corporate backers, lost more than $1.2 billion between Nov. 6 and Nov. 8, according to data analytics firm Ortex, and are down more than $6 billion so far this year. Combined short-selling losses on crypto-exchange operator Coinbase Global (COIN.O) , opens new tab, crypto miners Riot Platforms (RIOT.O) , opens new tab and MARA Holdings (MARA.O) , opens new tab, and blockchain-farm operator Bitfarms were about $1.2 billion, as of the Nov. 8 close. Bitcoin , the world's largest cryptocurrency, soared to a record high above $82,000 on Monday, with a nearly 19% jump since Nov. 6, when Republican candidate Trump reclaimed the presidency after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris. "Bitcoin speculators are betting on a more clement regulatory environment and have expectations that the authorities may build up a reserve crypto fund, helping lift ongoing demand," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. Investors betting against iShares Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded funds (IBIT.O) , opens new tab, the world's largest ETF in terms of assets under management, lost close to $37 million since Nov. 6. Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin and make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet". Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/bitcoin-surge-triggers-billions-losses-crypto-short-traders-after-trump-win-2024-11-11/

2024-11-11 12:47

MADRID, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday announced 3.76 billion euros ($4.01 billion) in additional measures to reconstruct the Valencia area after the deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history. More than 220 people died after torrential rains on Oct. 29 triggered floods that swept through the suburbs south of the regional capital Valencia. The measures are on top of the 10.6 billion euros in aid announced last week. "There are still streets to be cleaned, there are garages to be drained, there are many infrastructures to be repaired and, above all, many lives, many homes and many businesses to be restored to normal," Sanchez told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting. The package, with 110 measures, extends aid to rental households and includes a 500 million-euro package to remove mud in the affected area and 200 million euros in aid to farmers. Sanchez said it includes an additional 12-months of mortgage relief for vulnerable households, in addition to the one-year moratorium announced last week. Sanchez also said the government will assign 150 houses or flats in or near the damaged areas to affected families and will earmark 25 million euros for buying houses. ($1 = 0.9380 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-announces-376-bln-euros-new-aid-valencia-after-floods-2024-11-11/

2024-11-11 12:41

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp's (IOC.NS) , opens new tab Gujarat refinery operations were unaffected after a benzene storage tank caught fire, India's top refiner said in a statement. The fire occurred around 3:30 p.m IST on Monday and the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, IOC said. IOC runs a 13.7 million metric tonnes per annum integrated refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Gujarat. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indian-oil-corp-says-gujarat-refinery-ops-normal-after-benzene-tank-fire-2024-11-11/

2024-11-11 12:23

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Hedge funds snapped up bank stocks at the quickest clip in three years while taking bets against renewable electricity producers last week, a Goldman Sachs note showed, as investors reacted to Donald Trump's win in the U.S. presidential election. Financial stocks, such as banks and trading companies, were the most popular and most net bought sector on Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage trading desk last week, the note from Friday and seen by Reuters on Monday showed. While the note did not specify which region's banks attracted the most attention, a second note also sent from Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage the same day said U.S. banks would benefit. Financial stocks are expected to get a boost from a lighter regulatory touch which many believe will come with the new Trump term, the second note said. Finance companies were also seen benefiting from expected tax reform, it added. "There is scope for U.S. Financials positioning to rise further," the second Goldman note said, adding that current hedge fund positioning in this stock sector remained on the lower side, historically. U.S. bank stocks (.DJUSBK) , opens new tab rose as much as 11.1% on Nov. 6, from the previous day's close after the news of Trump's election win. Prime brokerage desks lend to and arrange trades for hedge funds. Long stock bets, expecting rising prices, were led by banks as well as companies offering consumer finance, capital markets and financial services, the first note said. Bullish bets centered on U.S. stocks but included equities in developing markets in Asia. In Europe, hedge funds exited short positions and added long ones. A short bet anticipates the value of an asset price will fall. Utilities companies were net sold for the first time in four weeks, "driven almost entirely by short sales," Goldman Sachs' first note said. Independent power and renewable electricity producers were the most sold, with hedge fund bets against U.S. utilities companies numbered at two shorts for every long position, the bank said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/hedge-flow-hedge-funds-pile-into-banks-dump-green-energy-post-us-election-2024-11-11/

2024-11-11 12:23

FRANKFURT, Nov 8 (Reuters) - (This Nov. 8 story has been corrected to remove reference to equity, and change wording on EIB involvement to 'could contribute,' not 'has promised,' in paragraph 6) Start-up Vulcan Energy (VUL.AX) , opens new tab will begin large-scale industrial production of lithium hydroxide in Germany in 2027, two years later than originally planned, the company said on Friday as it started operations at a demonstration plant. Vulcan started producing lithium chloride, an important component in producing lithium hydroxide, at its upstream extraction plant in Landau, Germany, in April. It is currently raising funds for its first large-scale industrial plant with an aim of delivering an expected 24,000 tons of lithium hydroxide a year, equivalent to 500,000 electric vehicles, from 2027. "The financing process has taken longer than expected," Christian Freitag, the Vulcan CEO responsible for supply chain management, told Reuters. Vulcan's financial requirements now amount to 1.9 billion euros ($2.04 billion), including financing costs, with the required funds expected to be secured in the first quarter. The company will raise more than 600 million euros from investors, Freitag said, and the remaining 1.3 billion euros via loans from banks, including the European development bank EIB, which could contribute half a billion euros. Vulcan's production of the battery raw material will help Germany cut dependency on lithium producers China and South America. The energy it will use to extract lithium from brine in underground reserves is simultaneously generated CO2-free using geothermal power plants. Lithium demand is forecast to surge later this decade from growth in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Vulcan, which is listed both in Australia and Frankfurt, has already sold its first 10 years of production through purchase deals with carmakers including Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) , opens new tab, Stellantis (STLAM.MI) , opens new tab and Renault (RENA.PA) , opens new tab. The company has already once postponed the start date for large-scale production at its plant by a year to 2026, citing supply chain delays. ($1 = 0.9292 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/vulcan-pushes-back-large-scale-production-date-german-lithium-plant-2027-2024-11-08/