2024-10-21 10:51

MILAN, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Italy's government will present a state-backed company that will build advanced nuclear reactors in the country before the end of the year, the industry minister said on Monday. "By the end of the year, we will present an industrial entity that is capable of building next-generation nuclear reactors in our country and perhaps export," Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Milan. The right-wing administration headed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thinks small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors could help decarbonise the country's most polluting sectors, including steel, glass and tilemakers. Nuclear-fired power plants are prohibited in Italy following referendums in 1987 and 2011 but the government plans to draft rules to allow the use of new nuclear-power technologies and lift the ban. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/italy-present-state-backed-newco-produce-nuclear-reactors-before-year-end-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 10:44

Weeks of dry weather accelerate crop maturity, field work Corn harvest progress ahead of average, soy fastest since 2012 Grain piling up outdoors at some Midwest elevators CBOT futures encourage farmers to store until spring CHICAGO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. farmers are harvesting two of the largest corn and soybean crops in history at the fastest pace in years, straining their physical capabilities and their grain storage capacity. The massive influx of crops is testing growers who are already grappling with grain prices near four-year lows, stiff competition for global export sales and farm incomes that are down 23% from a record high just two years ago. Many Midwestern farmers still have grain left in storage from 2023, after they refused to sell a record corn crop due to low prices. Now, dry weather is accelerating this year's harvests and forcing grain handlers in some areas to store corn outside, rather than in storage bins. "It has been fast and furious," Brent Johnson, a corn and soybean farmer in Ashland, Illinois, said of harvesting. Weeks of warm and dry weather across the Corn Belt this autumn sped up crop maturity and enabled combines to keep rolling. As a result, farmers harvested 47% of the country's second biggest corn crop in history by Oct. 13, topping the five-year average of 39%, according to U.S. data. The harvest of the record-large soybean crop was 67% complete by Oct. 13, the fastest pace since 2012, when a major drought limited production. Jeff O'Connor, who grows corn and soybeans near Kankakee, Illinois, said his employees only had a couple of half-days off to rest in the past month due to rapid harvesting. "My people and equipment would like a break," he said. As soy harvesting winds down, farmers are moving on to corn, which typically yields more than three times as much grain per acre than soybeans. At some Midwest elevators, the flow of corn from the fields has been filling up storage, causing long lines of trucks waiting to dump their loads. In Shell Rock, Iowa, ethanol producer POET is storing corn on the ground, local farmer Caleb Hamer said, adding that he dumped some of his harvest on a pile that looked like it held 1.5 million bushels. "We are harvesting a crop too fast for our storage infrastructure. That's the biggest thing," said Chad Henderson, founder of Wisconsin-based Prime Agricultural Consultants. Quick harvesting and localized storage squeezes are forcing farmers to consider selling some crops for less than it cost to produce them. Yet corn futures prices are signaling they should hold the grain for a few months, if possible. On the Chicago Board of Trade, benchmark December corn futures were trading at a roughly 22-cent discount to the May 2025 contract. That means farmers could earn 22 cents a bushel by selling their corn for deferred delivery in May. Still, growers should not store their harvest without booking any sales and risk a deeper market downturn, CoBank economist Tanner Ehmke said. Chris Gibbs, who grows corn and soybeans in Ohio, said he has not made any advance deals to sell his autumn harvests for the first time in 48 years of farming. "My marketing plan is to keep my head down and wait for an opportunity to come along, which is a very poor plan," Gibbs said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/speedy-us-corn-soy-harvests-strain-farmers-storage-capacity-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 10:15

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan A relatively quiet start to the week for world markets leaves Wall Street pondering the sustainability of the recent record highs as corporate earnings updates pour in, the S&P500 index (.SPX) , opens new tab nears 6,000 and the election looms. The peculiar sight of a risk-loving rally in U.S. equity markets and corporate high yield debt alongside new records for the traditional safe haven of gold XAU= may speak something of the hedged outlook, with geopolitical and electoral risks coloring the booming domestic economy. And with neither candidate for the White House proposing any fiscal retrenchment ahead, trepidation about rising budget deficits during a period of such brisk growth is also adding investor anxiety. The U.S. budget deficit grew 8% to $1.833 trillion for fiscal 2024, the highest outside of the COVID era, as interest on the federal debt exceeded $1 trillion for the first time, the Treasury said on Friday. The shortfall amounted to 6.4% of gross domestic product, up from 6.2% a year earlier. A fiscal think-tank, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, recently estimated that Republican Donald Trump's plans would pile up $7.5 trillion in new debt, more than twice the $3.5 trillion envisaged in Democrat Kamala Harris's proposals. Shifting odds on post-election Congressional math, however, may have much to do with how any of those fiscal plans pan out. At 4.12%, U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hovered close to 2-1/2 month highs on Monday even with another quarter-point Federal Reserve interest rate cut still near fully priced for next month. With the Atlanta Fed's real-rime "GDPNow" model indicating growth in excess of 3.4% and U.S. economic surprise index at its most positive in six months, the early Q3 earnings season is impressing again with 83% of the 71 S&P500 firms reported beating forecasts. While the blended annual profit growth estimate for the 500 has dipped to 4% from the 5% expected pre-season, according to LSEG data, revenue growth is holding to expectations and a return to brisk double-digit earnings expansions is still forecast for next quarter and right through next year. A heavy diary of updates this week spans industrial, defence, energy and financial sectors but Tesla's quarterly (TSLA.O) , opens new tab likely grabs many headlines mid-week. Overseas, attention was back on China on Monday as the latest official lending rate cuts there were mostly expected and met with a shrug by markets. The one-year loan prime rate was lowered by 25 basis points to 3.10% from 3.35%, while the five-year LPR was cut by the same margin to 3.6% from 3.85% previously. Even though Chinese GDP and industrial data released on Friday were marginally ahead of forecasts, the historic slowdown remains in train and the property bust continues. China's new home prices fell at the fastest pace since May, 2015. China's mainland shares (.CSI300) , opens new tab eked out a small gain on Monday, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng (.HSI) , opens new tab lost more than 1%. The offshore yuan was slightly easier after the rate cuts. More broadly, the dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab was a touch firmer again though shy of last week's 10-week high set following the European Central Bank's latest rate cut. The prospect of further ECB cuts remains high as headline inflation undershoots its target. German producer prices fell more than expected in September, declining 1.4% year on year, due mainly to lower energy prices. Although they tried to retain a toehold on $70 per barrel on Monday, U.S. crude prices remain remarkably subdued and continue to clock annual losses of 22%. European stocks (.STOXXE) , opens new tab were marginally weaker on Monday, with investors awaiting a key earnings update from German software behemoth SAP (SAPG.DE) , opens new tab, which comprises 15% of the country's benchmark DAX index (.GDAXI) , opens new tab. Over the rest of the week, finance officials head to Washington for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group and the Fund's latest World Economic Outlook is due for release. Flash business surveys from around the world for October will also be closely watched. Key developments that should provide more direction to U.S. markets later on Monday: * US corporate earnings: Nucor, WR Berkley, Alexandria Real Estate Equities * US September leading indicator * San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Kansas City Fed chief Jeffrey Schmid and Minneapolis Fed boss Neel Kashkari all speak * IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings get underway in Washington, with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaking * US Treasury sells 3-, 6-month bills Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-pix-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 10:09

MUMBAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee declined to its weakest closing level on record on Monday but avoided sharper losses as likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) blunted the pressure from weakness in regional peers and persistent dollar outflows. The rupee closed at 84.0725 against the U.S. dollar, a tad lower than its close at 84.0650 in the previous session. Foreign banks were spotted bidding for dollars, likely on behalf of custodial clients, a trader at a private bank said. But "pretty consistent" dollar offers from state-run banks helped limit weakness in the local currency, the trader said. Foreign investors have pulled out more than $9 billion from local stocks so far this month on a net basis, surpassing the previous peak of $8.35 billion in March 2020. Benchmark Indian equity indices ended the day slightly in the red and are down about 4% each over October so far. Asian currencies were down between 0.1% to nearly 1% while the dollar index ticked up to 103.7. The dollar index has risen nearly 3% in October, boosted by expectations of shallower rate cuts by the Federal Reserve alongside rising odds of a victory for Donald Trump in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. "FX markets seem to be positioning for a Trump victory in next month's U.S. presidential election," ING Bank said in a note. Investors await remarks from Federal Reserve policymakers later in the day for cues on the future path of policy rates. Dollar-rupee forward premiums rose with the 1-year implied yield rising 5 basis points to 2.24% after RBI chief Shaktikanta Das's comments prompted traders to reassess the likelihood of a December rate cut. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-slips-record-closing-low-outflows-weak-asia-fx-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 07:58

VILNIUS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is likely to cut its key interest rate down to its "natural" level between 2% and 3% but it may need to reduce it even further if a fall in inflation becomes entrenched, ECB policymaker Gediminas Simkus said on Monday. "If the disinflation processes get entrenched... it's possible that rates will be lower than the natural level," Simkus, the Lithuanian central bank governor, told reporters in Vilnius. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/ecbs-simkus-says-rates-may-need-go-below-natural-level-2024-10-21/

2024-10-21 07:53

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Long Beach Yacht Club has confirmed plans for the 60th edition of its flagship event, the Congressional Cup, scheduled to take place from April 30 to May 4 2025. Since its debut in 1965, the Congressional Cup has been a cornerstone of match racing, earning its status as America’s longest-running event of its kind. Since 2000, it has been a fixture of the World Match Racing Tour, one of the sport’s premier international series. Past champions of the Congressional Cup include some of the biggest names in sailing, such as Ted Turner, Dennis Conner and Francesco Bruni. All have earned the event's signature prize, the Crimson Blazer, awarded to the winner. Incoming 2025 Long Beach Yacht Club Commodore Lisa Meier summed up the event’s significance. "The Congressional Cup not only attracts the best talent from around the world but also serves as a vital stepping stone for emerging sailors," she said. "It’s an incredible environment, full of camaraderie and passion, where connections are made that can drive the future of match racing." This year's event saw Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing team capture their second consecutive Congressional Cup title, defeating British five-times winner Ian Williams in the final, the opening competition of the 2024 World Match Racing Tour. Poole leads the skipper standings with two of the 15 events remaining - the Bermuda Gold Cup later this month, and the season-ending tour final in Shenzhen from Dec. 10-15. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sports/60th-congressional-cup-set-make-waves-long-beach-2024-10-21/