2024-11-04 21:55

Nov 5 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. As investors make last-minute position adjustments ahead of the U.S. presidential election, a flood of top-tier economic indicators and a major policy decision could kick trading activity in Asian markets up a couple of gears on Tuesday. Inflation numbers from South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand, third-quarter GDP from Indonesia, a services purchasing managers index report from China, and an interest rate decision from Australia all land before polling stations open across the U.S. Japanese markets are open after Monday's Cultural Day holiday, which should boost yen trading volume. The dollar slipped as low as 151.50 yen on Monday as U.S. yields retraced some of last week's steep rise, and as investors unwound some of their so-called 'Trump trades' of recent weeks. There was an eerie sense of a calm before the storm on Monday - world stocks were flat, Wall Street gave back some of Friday's gains, Treasury yields dipped, and U.S. bond market volatility likely eased off Friday's one-year high. The weekend produced a flurry of polls that both Republicans and Democrats could point to as evidence they are on track to win the White House, the most notable perhaps being the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll which showed Kamala Harris has a surprise 3-point lead over Trump in the typically Republican-leaning state. Even if that is the case, it still shows a very tight race. As Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid highlights, RealClearPolitics data shows polling averages put Trump at 48.5% and Harris at 48.4%. On this measure, the two candidates have been within two percentage points of each other since mid-August. In terms of the popular vote, this could be the closest election on record, Reid notes. Before that, however, Tuesday's Asia & Pacific calendar is brimming with key releases, chief among them the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy decision. The RBA is widely expected to leave its cash rate on hold at 4.35%, where it has been since November last year, in the face of solid economic growth and sticky core inflation. Traders reckon the RBA will be one of the most hawkish G10 central banks, cutting rates by little more than 50 basis points by the end of next year. That compares with cumulative cuts of 100 bps or more from their counterparts in the U.S., Euro zone, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. Annual inflation in South Korea is expected to have cooled to 1.4% in October, which would be the lowest since February 2021, while Indonesia's economy expanded at an annual rate of 5% in the July-October period, according to a Reuters poll. If China's manufacturing PMI figures are any guide, the Caixin services PMI on Tuesday could show the sector recorded modest growth in October. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - U.S. presidential election - Australia central bank decision - China Caixin services PMI (October) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-pix-graphic-2024-11-04/

2024-11-04 21:34

Rejects 13 applications for wind farms in Baltic Sea Says they would make responding to missile attack harder Approves one wind farm off west coast STOCKHOLM, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Sweden has rejected applications to build 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea due to defence concerns, while giving the go-ahead to one on its west coast, the government said on Monday. Defence Minister Pal Jonson told a press conference that building wind farms in the Baltic Sea would pose defence risks, not least by making it harder to detect and shoot down missiles using Sweden's Patriot batteries in case of a conflict. Jonson said Baltic wind farms could halve the time Sweden had to react to a missile attack to just one minute. Sweden's capital is just 500 kilometres (311 miles) from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. "In the current, very serious international security climate with Sweden where it is and with Kaliningrad where it is ... the Swedish armed forces judge it would bring unacceptable risks and the government also has that view," Jonson told reporters. The decision raises questions over how Sweden can meet its plans to double annual electricity production to around 300 terawatt-hours (TWh) over the next two decades. Demand is expected to soar as industry and the transport sector phase out using fossil fuels. Plans for "green" production of steel, batteries and fertilisers in the Arctic north also depend on plentiful cheap, clean electricity. The government's plan is to build out nuclear power. It aims to have an additional 2,500 megawatts of nuclear power by 2035 and 10 new reactors a decade later, but critics say demand is expected to rise faster than new reactors can be built. The government did give the go-ahead on Monday to the Poseidon wind farm off the west coast, which should produce around 5.5 TWh of electricity a year, if it is built. State-owned utility Vattenfall said in September it was halting development of its planned Kriegers Flak project - also off the west coast - after the government scrapped subsidies for coupling offshore wind to the electricity grid. Poseidon is the third offshore wind project to get the green light since the government took power in 2022. A further 10 applications are still waiting for a government decision. Wind power, almost exclusively land-based, accounted for 21% of Sweden's electricity generation in 2023. Hydro power provides around 40% and nuclear 29%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/sweden-rejects-baltic-sea-wind-farms-citing-defence-concerns-2024-11-04/

2024-11-04 21:31

BRASILIA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian authorities are preparing to remove illegal gold miners from an Indigenous reservation in the Amazon rainforest that has been criss-crossed with informal airstrips and contaminated with mercury, an official said. The Munduruku territory covers nearly 24,000 square km (9,000 square miles), about the size of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, and is home to 61 villages of Munduruku, Apiacas and other Indigenous groups in an area known for violent land disputes. The Munduruku reservation has the second-most illegal mining in Brazil, according to a report seen by Reuters from government agency Censipam, which manages operations protecting the Amazon. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed to fight illegal mining on Indigenous lands after a surge under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. Illegal gold miners have poisoned rivers and triggered public health crises on Indigenous reservations, which are the responsibility of the federal government. The planned operation will involve federal bodies from the Defense Ministry to Indigenous affairs agency Funai, Nilton Tubino, who has been coordinating similar efforts in the Yanomami territory in far northern Brazil, told Reuters. The Yanomani territory, where illegal miners have also been vectors for malaria and other contagious disease, has seen the most illegal mining, Censipam says. Authorities have identified 21 informal airstrips in the Munduruku territory providing supplies for mining activity, the Censipam report showed. Turbino said the operation would aim to cut supplies for illegal activities in partnership with Brazil's fuel and aviation regulators. The Censipam report showed that 388 new illegal mining spots opened in the Munduruku territory in 2022, the last year of the Bolsonaro administration, falling to 128 last year and 23 so far this year. Tubino said the government would avoid inflaming any conflicts with the operation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-prepares-remove-illegal-amazon-gold-miners-munduruku-land-2024-11-04/

2024-11-04 21:17

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Diamondback Energy (FANG.O) , opens new tab missed estimates for third-quarter profit on Monday as it took a hit from lower prices, although the oil and gas firm's forecast for current-year production got a boost from its $26 billion acquisition of Endeavor Energy. Oil prices fell in the quarter after a larger-than-expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut sparked concerns about the U.S. economy as well as on concerns tied to global demand. Last month, the company signaled lower prices for its third-quarter oil and gas production, making it the third U.S. shale producer to do so in just a week after Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) , opens new tab and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab. The company said quarterly average prices for oil was down to $73.13 per barrel from $81.57 per barrel a year earlier. However, the Midland, Texas-based firm raised its net production forecast for the current year to between 587,000 and 590,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from between 462,000 and 470,000 boepd. The Texas-based company completed its acquisition of Endeavor Energy in September, making it the third-largest oil and gas producer in the top U.S. shale region, the Permian Basin, putting it just behind industry giants Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab and Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab. The company reported an adjusted profit of $3.38 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of $3.98 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/diamondback-energy-misses-estimates-third-quarter-profit-lower-prices-2024-11-04/

2024-11-04 21:06

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - French oil major TotalEnergies does not anticipate that Donald Trump would pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on climate change or undo Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) legislation if he became U.S. president again, the company's strategy director said on Monday. Aurelien Hamelle made the comments while presenting Total's energy outlook forecasting global demand scenarios to 2050. The company's current trends scenario also does not project a lifting of the current U.S. ban on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Ahead of Tuesday's election, former president Trump has campaigned on a platform involving a rollback of climate regulations passed under President Joe Biden designed to curb the release of greenhouse gases from the oil and gas industry. That includes leaving the Paris Agreement, under which countries pledge to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, and potentially undoing Biden's flagship IRA, which provides massive subsidies and incentives to clean energy technologies. CONTEXT TotalEnergies is a major buyer of U.S. natural gas for export, with 10 million metric tons a year under contract, several upstream U.S. shale field holdings, and a pipeline of future projects. The company also has a 25 gigawatt portfolio of solar, wind and battery projects in the U.S., and is considering several production sites for renewable fuels. KEY QUOTES "We take into account existing legislation in our current trends scenario, and for the IRA to be called into question you would need a Republican-controlled Congress, which the polls say is unlikely," Hamelle said. "What we also see with the IRA, which has offered a framework of support for private finance in all low-carbon technologies, is that Republican states and districts have also benefited from the job creation ... "What is clear is that the United States will set the pace of the global energy transition ... We have not forecast a 'worse than current trends' scenario." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-unlikely-undo-bidens-ira-climate-legislation-totalenergies-executive-says-2024-11-04/

2024-11-04 21:02

NEW YORK, Nov 4(Reuters) - Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N) , opens new tab and the Teamsters union, which represents hundreds of refinery workers, will resume labor contract negotiations this week as a strike at the refiner's Detroit facility enters a second month. A new round of contract negotiations between Marathon and the union is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7, said Steve Hicks, President of Teamsters Local 283, following weeks of a standstill. The local represents 273 workers at the Detroit refinery, 95% of whom authorized the strike. More than 200 Teamsters at Marathon's Detroit refinery called for the strike on Sept. 4 after months of pay- and safety-related negotiations and mediations with the refiner yielded no results. The prior contract expired in January 2024. "We remain committed to stay out here as long as it takes Marathon to make a fair offer," a union member told Reuters. "We are coming to realize the company does not really respect or appreciate the work we do safely on a daily basis that helps this company make billions of dollars each year." Marathon representatives and the Teamsters had several negotiating sessions under a federal mediator since workers walked off the job in September. "The company and the union have engaged in collective bargaining since Dec 4, 2023, and Marathon has negotiated in good faith throughout the bargaining process," a Marathon spokesperson said. Marathon began planned turnaround activities at the Detroit refinery in early September. The refiner brought in workers from outside Detroit to replace the workers on strike, something union representatives criticized as jeopardizing safety. "The Marathon employees currently running the refinery and supporting our turnaround have a combined average of more than 15 years of experience, which exceeds the average experience of the employees currently on strike," a Marathon spokesperson said, adding the Detroit refinery’s trained emergency response teams continue to be staffed and equipped to address any issues. The 140,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Detroit refinery is one of Marathon's 13 refineries with approximately 2.9 million bpd of crude oil refining capacity Marathon is set to report its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/marathon-teamsters-resume-contract-talks-detroit-refinery-strike-enters-second-2024-11-04/