2024-10-21 19:46

Canadian dollar weakens 0.3% against the greenback Touches its weakest since Aug. 6 at 1.3849 Canada-U.S. 2-year spread trades at 18-year wide 10-year yield jumps 9.7 basis points to 3.224% TORONTO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened to a near 11-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as the gap between U.S. and Canadian bond yields weighed on the currency ahead of an expected outsized interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada this week. The loonie was trading 0.3% lower at 1.3835 to the U.S. dollar, or 72.28 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since Aug. 6 at 1.3849. "Wider spreads remain the primary drag on the CAD, as bond and swap spreads extend recent gains on firmer U.S. yields generally and ahead of the BoC policy decision Wednesday," Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank, said in a note. The gap between the Canadian 2-year yield and its U.S. equivalent was trading at roughly 99 basis points in favor of the U.S. note, the largest spread since August 2006. "Markets have all but fully priced in a 50 bps (basis points) cut now, leaving the door wide open for the Bank to deliver," Osborne said. A half-percentage-point move by the BoC on Wednesday would be the first reduction greater than 25 basis points in 15 years outside of the pandemic era. The central bank has cut rates three times since June, in 25-basis-point steps, lowering the benchmark rate to 4.25%. Speculators have raised their bearish bets on the Canadian dollar, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday. As of Oct. 15, net short positions had increased to 122,393 contracts from 89,151 in the prior week. The U.S. dollar added to recent gains against a basket of major currencies as U.S. bond yields climbed and investors positioned for the Nov. 5 presidential election. Canadian bond yields moved higher across the curve, tracking moves in U.S. Treasuries. The 10-year was up 9.7 basis points at 3.224%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/wider-yield-spreads-push-canadian-dollar-11-week-low-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 19:20

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Two Cambodian solar companies will no longer cooperate with a U.S. trade investigation into allegations they are flooding the market with panels priced below their cost of production, according to documents filed with the Department of Commerce. Solar Long and Hounen Solar, in separate letters dated Oct. 15, said through a U.S. attorney that they were no longer able to dedicate resources to the antidumping probe. Their attorney, Craig Lewis of Hogan Lovells, had no further comment. The latest trade case to roil the U.S. solar market began in April, when several domestic manufacturers asked President Joe Biden's administration to impose tariffs on products from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand -- the largest sources of panels in the United States. Solar Long and Hounen Solar were selected by trade officials in June as so-called mandatory respondents in the investigation because of their large export volumes to the United States. Mandatory respondents serve as proxies for other producers and are eligible for a separate tariff rate than the one Commerce applies country-wide. Solar imports from Cambodia are down about 37% this year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. It was not immediately clear if the companies would continue to participate in the related anti-subsidy investigation. Commerce Department officials were not immediately available for comment. An attorney for the companies behind the trade case, which include Hanwha's (000880.KS) , opens new tab Qcells and First Solar (FSLR.O) , opens new tab, said Commerce would likely penalize the Cambodian producers for withdrawing from the probe. "This is a significant development, because with both Cambodian respondents withdrawing from the antidumping investigation, they are failing to cooperate with the Commerce Department's investigation," Tim Brightbill, an attorney for the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, said in a statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/cambodian-solar-firms-no-longer-cooperating-with-us-tariff-probe-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 18:58

Four accounts with large bets on Polymarket owned by non-Americans Trump's odds of winning on Polymarket at 63% vs. Harris' 37% CFTC Chairman Behnam calls for Congress to weigh in on election betting NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - One of the four accounts on Polymarket that have fueled speculation over their large bets on a Trump election victory has taken even bigger wagers, increasing the collective potential payout if Trump wins from $30 million on Friday to nearly $43 million Monday morning, according to Polymarket's activity tracker. The four accounts on the cryptocurrency-prediction exchange are owned by non-Americans or a single non-American, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The bets, coming with the rise in Trump's odds on Polymarket, have drawn scrutiny because they diverge sharply from opinion polls. Polls have indicated a neck-and-neck race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. On Polymarket , opens new tab, however, Trump's chances have soared to 63% versus Harris's 37%. Odds on other prediction markets, such as Kalshi and PredictIt, have followed suit. That has raised questions by social media users and prediction-market experts about whether large bets were swaying the markets or whether prediction markets were simply a better leading indicator. On Monday, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam said betting on the election "puts us in a very difficult place. It makes us an election cop.” Speaking to a Wall Street trade group, Behnam said Congress should weigh in on the permissibility of election-related betting, noting that "we don't want to put democracy and elections in jeopardy." Polymarket shares are priced on the probability of the outcome. If Trump's chances of winning the election are trading at 60 cents, for example, it means that the market thinks there is a 60% chance of a Trump win, according to the website. If Trump wins, the buyer gets $1 per share. If Trump loses, the shares become worthless. Social-media users had questioned whether high-profile Americans could be behind the moves. The source confirmed to Reuters on Friday that Polymarket verifies its largest traders and the accounts were based overseas. Reuters could not immediately determine if the four accounts - named Fredi9999, Theo4, PrincessCaro, and Michie - represent a single trader or many. Those accounts added up to holding nearly $43 million in shares in total on Monday, compared with $30 million on Friday. One share equals one dollar. Bettors on Polymarket have wagered $1.1 billion on the presidential race. Polymarket, based in New York, did not respond to a request for comment on Monday regarding the increased size of the accounts. Americans have faced steep restrictions on betting on U.S. elections online. The CFTC has previously rejected applications to offer contracts or derivatives that allow Americans to bet on elections. The CFTC did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mystery-overseas-account-increases-its-trump-bids-polymarket-betting-site-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 18:57

Middle East conflict raises supply concerns China's economic slowdown weakens oil demand US crude production hits record high HOUSTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled nearly 2% higher on Monday, recouping some of last week's more than 7% decline, with no letup of fighting in the Middle East and expected Israeli retaliation on Iran worrying markets about supply from the region. Brent crude futures were up $1.23, or 1.68%, at $74.29 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were $1.34, or 1.94% higher, at $70.56 a barrel. Brent settled more than 7% lower last week, while WTI lost around 8%. Those were the contracts' biggest weekly declines since Sept. 2, due to slowing economic growth in China and falling risk premiums in the Middle East. Israeli forces besieged hospitals and shelters for displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, medics said, as they stepped up operations against Palestinian militants. Israel also carried out targeted strikes on sites belonging to Hezbollah's financial arm in Lebanon. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make another push for a ceasefire when he heads to the Middle East on Monday, the State Department said, seeking to kick-start negotiations to end the Gaza war and also defuse the spillover conflict in Lebanon. U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein will hold talks with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Monday on conditions for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, two sources told Reuters. "Crude futures getting a lift this morning as escalated fighting continues in Middle East... Israel is also preparing for more retaliatory attacks likely into Iran," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. "The sell-off in crude over the past two weeks was mostly on long liquidation as the crude market continues to search for an equilibrium between slowing demand and continued unrest in the Middle East," he added. China on Monday cut benchmark lending rates as anticipated, part of a broader package of stimulus measures to revive the economy. Data on Friday showed China's economy grew at the slowest pace since early 2023 in the third quarter, fuelling growing concerns about oil demand. China's oil-demand growth is expected to remain weak in 2025 despite recent stimulus measures from Beijing as the world's No. 2 economy electrifies its car fleet and grows at a slower pace, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Monday. Saudi Aramco's CEO told an energy conference in Singapore on Monday that he was still "fairly bullish" on China's oil demand in light of stepped-up policy support aimed at boosting growth, and on rising demand for jet fuel and liquid-to-chemicals. Meanwhile, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on Monday repeated that he expects "modest" interest-rate cuts over the coming quarters, though a sharp weakening of labor markets could move him to advocate for faster rate cuts. Lower interest rates cut the cost of borrowing, which can spur economic activity and boost demand for oil. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week that weekly oilfield production rose by 100,000 barrels per day to a record 13.5 million bpd during the week ended Oct. 11. U.S. crude oil stockpiles likely rose by about 100,000 barrels last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories were seen down, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-regain-some-ground-after-7-loss-last-week-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 17:51

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) , opens new tab is taking over more space on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline from a unit of PetroChina (601857.SS) , opens new tab, boosting its ability to ship crude to markets after buying assets from Chevron, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter. Earlier this month, Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab agreed to sell its assets in the Athabasca oil sands and Duvernay shale formation to Canadian Natural Resources for $6.5 billion. The 20-year contract will boost Canadian Natural Resources' space on the pipeline by about 75% to roughly 164,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to the report. The recently expanded Trans Mountain pipeline has capacity to ship 890,000 bpd of crude from Alberta's oil sands to the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia. Earlier this month, in a letter filed with the Canada Energy Regulator, PetroChina Canada said it would no longer be a committed shipper on the Trans Mountain oil pipeline after assigning its contracts to another party. Canadian Natural Resources and PetroChina did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/canadian-natural-resources-take-over-more-space-trans-mountain-pipeline-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 17:36

Investor demand for IPO could be 'litmus test' for AI appetite -analyst Company notched a valuation of $21 billion in 2021 fundraise Backers include PE giants Permira, Hellman & Friedman Oct 21 (Reuters) - Genesys said on Monday it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the United States, becoming the latest tech firm to bet on the booming AI market to attract investors. The move comes as the IPO market recovers with investors once again turning warmer towards tech startups that they had shunned for over two years due to concerns around lofty valuations. Genesys, an AI-driven developer of call center software, did not reveal any details about its IPO or a timeline for going public, but a September report , opens new tab from Bloomberg News citing sources said the company could raise as much as $2 billion in the offering. In December 2021, Genesys raised $580 million in a funding round led by Salesforce Ventures, valuing it at $21 billion. Other investors in the round had included Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O) , opens new tab, D1 Capital Partners and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock (BLK.N) , opens new tab. Genesys was acquired by private equity firm Permira Holdings from Alcatel-Lucent in 2012, valuing the company then at about $1.5 billion. Hellman & Friedman invested about $900 million in the company in 2016 for an equity stake. The company's cloud platform fetched over $1.6 billion in revenue in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2025, more than 35% higher than last year driven by AI demand, it said in September. Genesys added that accelerated customer adoption of standalone AI products contributed to more than 10% of the bookings of its cloud business during the first half of the fiscal year. AI PLAY Analysts expect companies catering to the artificial intelligence market to lead the charge for tech sector listings, amid heightened expectations of multi-fold growth over the next few years as corporates increasingly find more generative AI use cases. "While there's always a risk of a down-round IPO, companies that have leveraged AI effectively, as Genesys has done, might have a chance to exceed or at least match their previous valuation," said Joe Endoso, CEO of private investment platform Linqto. "The fact that they filed confidentially might also suggest they're testing the waters to gauge investor appetite, making this a litmus test for broader market sentiment toward AI-driven businesses and the tech sector as a whole." Genesys operates in over 100 countries with more than 6,000 employees, according to its website. Its partners include tech giants Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab and Adobe (ADBE.O) , opens new tab. Its customers span across the technology, retail and industrial sector, and include British airlines Virgin Atlantic, India's Axis Bank (AXBK.NS) , opens new tab and consumer electronics giant Lenovo (0992.HK) , opens new tab. Cerebras Systems, a startup competing with industry leader Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab for a slice of the lucrative AI chip market, also filed for a U.S. IPO late last month. "If these listings perform well, it would signal that the market has a strong appetite for AI-driven growth, encouraging other companies in the sector to accelerate their plans for going public," Endoso added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/enterprise-software-maker-genesys-confidentially-files-us-ipo-2024-10-21/