2024-10-17 22:03
HOUSTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Pipeline operator Energy Transfer (ET.N) , opens new tab has signed a preliminary contract with a consortium to build its proposed Lake Charles liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, a filing with federal regulators on Thursday shows. The Technip Energies and KBR deal is subject to a final investment decision (FID) for the Lake Charles LNG project in Louisiana, Energy Transfer said in a filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Terms were not disclosed. Energy Transfer has been trying to develop the project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, since 2015 but has not signed enough customers for the proposed 16.5 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) facility to move it ahead. It has two missed its targets for reaching FID. The project also requires a U.S. permit to export the superchilled gas to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States, so called non-FTA countries. In 2023, the U.S Department of Energy denied Energy Transfer's request for a second extension to export to non-FTA countries and the company subsequently filed a request for a new permit. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/energy-transfer-signs-kbr-technip-energies-build-louisiana-lng-plant-2024-10-17/
2024-10-17 21:58
Oct 18 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Anyone hoping for a quiet end to the trading week in Asia will be disappointed, as investors brace for a batch of top-tier economic data on Friday that includes Japanese inflation, Malaysian GDP, and the main event - Chinese GDP. Other Chinese indicators - September's retail sales, house prices, industrial production, unemployment, and investment - will also be released. But all eyes will be on third quarter growth and how close it is to the 5.0% mark. That's Beijing's 2024 target, but most analysts say it will be missed. The wave of fiscal stimulus measures announced recently has come too late to boost growth this year but has prompted some economists to raise their 2025 forecasts. Overall, however, analysts remain pretty glum. Their consensus forecast in a Reuters poll is that gross domestic product expanded 4.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier, slowing from 4.7% in the previous quarter. For 2024 as a whole they forecast growth of 4.8%, undershooting the government's target, and expect a further deceleration next year to 4.5%. Citi's Chinese economic surprises index has been inching higher in recent weeks but remains firmly in negative territory, where it has been since June. Investors are realizing that Beijing's fiscal, monetary and liquidity support, however successful they prove to be, will take time to bear fruit. This is perhaps reflected in Chinese stocks' third decline in a row on Thursday - Shanghai's blue chip index is down 15% from its October 8 peak, although still up around 18% since the first stimulus measures were unveiled last month. Elsewhere in Asia on Friday Japan releases September inflation figures, with economists expecting a marked slowdown in the annual core rate to 2.3% from 2.8% in August. That would be the biggest month-to-month decline since February last year. It would also support the thinking of Bank of Japan officials who favor a more cautious approach to tightening monetary policy. The BOJ will forgo raising interest rates again this year, according to a very slim majority of economists in a Reuters poll published this week, although nearly 90% still expect rates to rise by end-March. Japanese interest rate swaps traders are pricing in a 15 basis points rate hike from the BOJ in January, and only 35 bps of tightening in total next year. The global market picture looks fairly positive though. On Thursday chip-making giant TSMC delivered an upbeat outlook and U.S. economic data was strong, lifting the Dow to a new high. Treasury yields and the dollar also rose on Thursday, which is not so positive for emerging markets, however. The dollar is its strongest in two and a half months and has appreciated in all but two of the last 14 trading days. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday: - China GDP (Q3) - Japan inflation (September) - Malaysia GDP (Q3) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-2024-10-17/
2024-10-17 21:56
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - - Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, said on Thursday it was rebranding to World Network and was ramping up efforts to scan every human's iris using its "orb" devices. Its core offering is its World ID, which the company describes as a "digital passport" to prove that its holder is a real human and tell the difference with AI chatbots online. World Network, which is facing scrutiny over its data collection, introduced a new version of its orb iris-scanning device at an event in San Francisco on Thursday, which it said features 5G connectivity and enhanced privacy and security features. It also unveiled a slew of new ways to make it easier to access the orb, such as purpose-built retail locations and a partnership with Latin American delivery service Rappi to bring orbs to people. To get a World ID, a customer signs up to do an in-person iris scan using World Network's "orb", a silver ball approximately the size of a bowling ball. Once the orb's iris scan verifies the person is a real human, it creates a World ID. As an enticement, those who sign up in certain countries receive a cryptocurrency token called WLD. The company behind World Network is San Francisco and Erlangen, Germany-based Tools for Humanity. Since the project launched in July 2023, over 6.9 million people have signed up to have their irises scanned, according to the company. Privacy campaigners have criticized the project over the collection, storage and use of personal data. Earlier this year, Spain and Portugal issued temporary bans, and Argentina and Britain said they would examine World Network. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/sam-altmans-rebranded-worldcoin-ramps-up-iris-scanning-crypto-project-2024-10-17/
2024-10-17 21:48
SANTIAGO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Chile's central bank on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%, extending an easing cycle since the middle of last year, and predicted further cuts ahead if the copper-producing country's economic picture remains stable. The cut, a unanimous decision in line with forecasts, comes as inflation cools, but as the world's top producer of red metal copper faces a challenge to rev up growth. Copper output has been stalling in recent years. The bank said that if the economic scenario continued as expected, then the Andean country's interest rate "will see further reductions to meet its neutral level." Pantheon Macroeconomics' Chief Latin America Economist Andres Abadia said that he expected more cuts ahead, though greater external risks and shifting domestic conditions meant a pause in the easing cycle could not be ruled out. "For now, we expect further rate cuts in upcoming meetings, targeting at least 4.0% by the late second quarter of 2025," he said. "A pause in the normalization cycle cannot be ruled out if external conditions deteriorate sharply." Analysts polled by the bank this month had predicted the 25-basis-point cut, pointing to lower risk of more medium-term persistency in inflation as related to shocks. They predicted the rate will hit 4.75% within five months. The bank said global financial markets had registered fluctuations in oil and copper prices, fueled by the conflict in the Middle East and Chinese stimulus packages. China is the top buyer of Chile's copper exports. Domestic activity and demand indicators are so far consistent with forecasts, it said, pointing to a positive mining performance and "relatively stable" consumption and investment. Inflation forecasts for the coming year have edged down, it added, after inflation slowed to 4.1% in September, from 4.7% the previous month. The bank also reaffirmed its commitment to a flexible policy to bring inflation towards 3% within the next two years. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/chile-central-bank-cuts-interest-rate-525-2024-10-17/
2024-10-17 21:31
SAO PAULO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian food retailer Assai (ASAI3.SA) , opens new tab said on Thursday it now forecasts it will open some 10 new stores next year, half the prior estimate of about 20, according to a securities filing. Assai, which operates a chain of stores in a hybrid wholesale format, has started last year to slow down its expected store openings as its management works to financially deleverage the company after an aggressive expansion. It went from opening 60 stores in 2022 to 27 in 2023 and a target of about 15 this year. The firm said on Thursday it expects to resume expansion only in 2026 with an estimate of some 20 store openings. Assai added it sees its financial leverage - as measured by net debt/EBITDA - at about 2.6 times by the end of 2025, while also affirmed its target to reach less than 3.2 times this year. Assai said the projections, which also include investments in cash terms between 1 billion reais ($176.92 million) and 1.2 billion reais for 2025, were based mainly on a recent interest rate hike in Brazil and changes in local yield curve. ($1 = 5.6522 reais) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/brazils-assai-cuts-estimate-2025-new-store-openings-2024-10-17/
2024-10-17 20:36
Oct 17 (Reuters) - A senior Ukrainian official called on Thursday for intensified efforts to uphold nuclear safety in view of Russia's occupation of Europe's largest nuclear power station and its repeated strikes on the energy grid. Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said the capture of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, which no longer produces power, underscored Moscow's "large-scale militarisation of nuclear power". "Seizing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station...has become an unprecedented violation of international law and the norms of nuclear safety," Yermak said on the presidential website after speaking online to a meeting in France on nuclear safety. "The station has been transformed into a military base and its personnel work under constant pressure and threats." French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who hosted the meeting, said the talks were important to deal with continuing security risks at the plant, made up of six reactors. "There is a risk and that is the reason why, with the Ukrainians, we wanted to convene this conference in Paris, in order to discuss the situation in terms of nuclear security and safety today in Ukraine," he told LCI television. France, he said, supported actions to uphold the actions of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, in order to "discuss conditions under which this power plant can reopen at the time of peace because it will be decisive for the reconstruction of Ukraine". Russia and Ukraine regularly accuse each other of attacking the Zaporizhzhia station. The IAEA has stationed observers at the plant and called on both sides to show restraint. Yermak said 70 countries and international organisations attended the meeting, one of several follow-up gatherings after June's Swiss-organised "world peace summit" -- to consider points of Zelenskiy's peace plan, first proposed in late 2022 Russian attacks have intensified since March in what appears to be a campaign to degrade the system ahead of winter. Speaking separately on television, Yermak said Ukraine wanted to hold meetings on all points of the president's plan by the end of October in order to draft an implementation plan. Zelenskiy, who presented his follow-up "victory plan" to the EU and NATO on Thursday, wants to hold a second summit with Russia in attendance by the end of the year. Moscow, uninvited to the first meeting, has said it will attend no such gathering. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-stresses-nuclear-energy-safety-summit-meeting-2024-10-17/
