2024-10-10 20:06

STOCKHOLM, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Swedish battery maker Northvolt will be able to pay its taxes that fall due on Oct. 14, it told Reuters on Thursday, answering speculation as to whether the struggling company would be able to do so. Cash-strapped Northvolt announced in September that it would slim down and cut jobs, sparking fears that Europe's best shot at a homegrown electric-vehicle battery champion may stall due to production problems, sluggish demand and competition from China. While the company has rapidly expanded over the past few years, one of Europe's best-funded startups with more than $10 billion in funding started showing signs of deep trouble when German carmaker BMW cancelled a $2 billion order in June There had been wide speculation in media that crunch time for the company could arrive when it faced its next tax payment. "On the question of whether we will pay our taxes when they fall due on the 14th of October, the answer is the same as for other companies and is a simple 'yes'," a company spokesperson told Reuters late on Thursday evening. Northvolt is due to pay a total of 287 million Swedish crowns ($27.59 million) on Monday, the Swedish Tax Authority told Reuters. Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that the company was seeking to sell redundant battery materials to raise cash, earlier in the week a unit of Northvolt filed for bankruptcy and the head of its battery cell factory in Northern Sweden was replaced on Wednesday. $1 = 10.40 Swedish crowns Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/battery-maker-northvolt-says-it-will-be-able-pay-its-upcoming-taxes-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 20:01

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Hurricane Milton could cause up to $50 billion in insured losses for Florida property owners, pushing insurers' estimated losses in the state over $100 billion in 2024 alone, Fitch Ratings said in a report published on Thursday. On Thursday morning, the Category 3 storm cut a destructive path across the Sunshine State, killing at least 10 people and leaving millions without power. But the state appears to have avoided the "worst-case scenario" outlined by analysts, which on Wednesday forecast as much as $100 billion in insured losses from Milton alone. Now Fitch analysts are estimating Milton will lead to between $30 billion and $50 billion in insured losses, according to their report published Thursday, which noted it would be the largest insured loss since Hurricane Ian in 2022. Coming on the heels of Hurricane Helene two weeks prior, Milton would further push total insured losses for insurers in the state over $100 billion for the fifth straight year, the Fitch analysts wrote. Ultimate losses will depend in part on the level of demand for the supplies needed to repair and rebuild damaged properties following the storm, which historically can increase insured losses by 20% or more, according to Fitch. Milton is unlikely to affect the credit of well-capitalized large rated property & casualty insurers and global reinsurers, the report noted. Domestic insurers are also likely to absorb the expected losses through their reinsurance programs, the Fitch analysts wrote. They warned, however, that these state specialists will be exposed should another storm hit the state this hurricane season. "The Florida homeowners’ insurance market’s precarious position will weaken further with the destruction generated by Milton." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/fitch-says-hurricane-milton-will-push-2024-insured-losses-over-100-billion-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 19:58

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Strengthening Lebanon's army will be crucial to implementing a key United Nations Security Council resolution that aims to keep peace on the country's border with Israel, the United States and France said on Thursday. Deputy U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood told a meeting of the 15-member Security Council that the international community must focus its efforts on strengthening Lebanese state institutions. "The solution to this crisis is a not a weaker Lebanon. It's a strong and truly sovereign Lebanon, protected by a legitimate security force, embodied in the Lebanese Armed Forces," he said. A U.N. peacekeeping mission - known as UNIFIL - is mandated by resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, to help the Lebanese army keep its southern border area with Israel free of weapons or armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese state. That has sparked friction with the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah. A year ago Hezbollah began firing at Israel in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. The conflict has escalated in recent weeks as Israel carried out air strikes and launched a ground incursion in Lebanon's south. French U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said an immediate ceasefire was needed and that a proposal for a 21-day truce - put forward by France and the U.S. last month - still stands. Wood said the U.S. was working toward a diplomatic solution, but made no mention of a ceasefire. Lebanon's acting U.N. Ambassador Hadi Hachem told the council that "only diplomatic solutions and the implementation of international resolutions, the commitment to international law and international humanitarian law is the means to end this war and this aggression." 'DO THE JOB' Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told the council that resolution 1701 must be enforced, along with resolution 1559, which was adopted in 2004, and "calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias." "We are fulfilling our obligations to ensure this, and the council must support us in our efforts," he said. De Riviere told the council that one of the goals of a conference that France plans to hold on Lebanon on Oct. 24 was to guarantee Lebanon's sovereignty. "We want heightened support for Lebanese institutions, in particular, the Lebanese Armed Forces," he said, later telling reporters: "We need the Lebanese Armed Forces to be deployed to the south and do the job ... What we need to do is to make sure that the Lebanese Armed Forces are properly equipped and trained." U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that UNIFIL was ready to support all efforts towards a diplomatic solution. "UNIFIL is mandated to support the implementation of resolution 1701, but we must insist that it is for the parties themselves to implement the provisions of this resolution," he told the Security Council. The resolution bans all parties from crossing the Blue Line - a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - by ground or air. U.N. officials have for years reported violations by both sides. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-says-its-lebanon-peacekeepers-increasingly-jeopardy-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 18:32

Canadian dollar weakens 0.3% against the greenback Touches its weakest since Aug. 7 at 1.3775 Price of US oil jumps 3.8% 2-year yield eases 7.3 basis points TORONTO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar fell for a seventh-straight day against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as investors weighed prospects of the Federal Reserve pausing its rate cuts and awaited domestic jobs data that could guide bets on the Bank of Canada outlook. The loonie was trading 0.3% lower at 1.3750 to the U.S. dollar, or 72.73 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest level since Aug. 7 at 1.3775. "This Canadian-dollar selloff is getting nuts, all on the heels of growing speculation that the Fed won't cut rates at all in November," said Erik Bregar, director, FX & precious metals risk management at Silver Gold Bull. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said the "choppiness" in recent data on employment and inflation may warrant leaving rates on hold next month. U.S. consumer prices rose slightly more than expected in September amid higher food costs. Still, the annual increase of 2.4% was the smallest in more than 3-1/2 years. "This reaction (in markets) is way overdone ... I think the Canadian dollar is a steal here and should be bought," Bregar said. Canada's monthly employment report, due on Friday, is expected to show the economy adding 27,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate rising to 6.7%. Investors expect the Bank of Canada to ease interest rates for a fourth-straight meeting on Oct. 23, with the market pricing in a roughly one-third chance the bank steps up the pace of easing to 50 basis points from 25 basis points. The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, jumped 3.8% to $76.01 a barrel, supported by a spike in U.S. fuel use before Hurricane Milton barreled across Florida. Canadian bond yields eased across the curve, with the 2-year down 7.3 basis points at 3.203%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-hits-2-month-low-fed-pause-speculation-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 18:09

Fed's Goolsbee says rates need to drop 'fair amount' NY Fed chief says timing, pace of cuts depend on data Markets bet on quarter-point rate cuts, see chance of Nov. pause Oct 10 (Reuters) - Slowly cooling inflation and a U.S. job market that remains strong but at risk of deteriorating give a green light for more interest-rate cuts in coming months, Federal Reserve policymakers indicated in remarks on Thursday, even as one suggested that skipping a move in November may be in order. Data showed consumer price inflation edged down to 2.4% in September from a 2.5% pace the prior month, and weekly claims for unemployment insurance surged in a development that economists attributed in part to a temporary blow from Hurricane Helene. With inflation now near the Fed's 2% goal, and the unemployment rate now at 4.1%, "we're trying to freeze the dual-mandate performance basically exactly where it is right now," Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC, referring to the Fed's two mandates of price stability and full employment. "The vast majority (of Fed policymakers) believes that over the next 12 to 18 months, conditions continue to slowly and gradually improve to something like target, and rates gradually come down a fair amount to something well below where they are today," he said. At an event at Binghamton University, New York Fed President John Williams said the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on the data, but "based on my current forecast for the economy, I expect that it will be appropriate to continue the process of moving the stance of monetary policy to a more neutral setting over time." Financial markets reflected heavy bets the Fed would deliver a quarter-point rate cut at next month's policy meeting and at each meeting through the first half of next year, with the policy rate likely going no lower than 3.5% by year's end. At midday, rate-futures pricing put about a 17% chance on no rate cut at all in November. "I’m definitely open to that,” Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic told the Wall Street Journal, referring to a potential November rate-cut pause. He said that last month he had penciled in just one 25 basis-point rate cut over the Fed's two final meetings of the year, a view also reflected in the projections of a half dozen of his fellow policymakers. There are 19 Fed policymakers in total, and a slight majority had written down projections that pointed to quarter-point cuts at each of the remaining 2024 meetings. The Fed last month cut its policy rate by a bigger-than-expected half-of-a-percentage point. Policymakers have said that was a "recalibration" of policy to better align borrowing costs with a big drop in inflation and bit of slowing in the job market since the central bank stopped raising rates back in July 2023, and should not be seen as suggesting the future pace of rate cuts. Minutes of the Fed's meeting released on Wednesday showed the decision had been a close call, and Goolsbee on Thursday said he expected more close-call meetings ahead. The short-term benchmark rate is now in the 4.75%-5.00% range. On Thursday, futures contracts that settle to the Fed's policy rate were pricing in a better-than-even chance of a policy rate in the 3.5%-3.75% range by June of 2025, with a small chance of it going lower. Economists had expected annual inflation to slow to 2.3% in September. From a month earlier, the CPI rose 0.2%, more than the 0.1% forecast by economists, boosted by shelter and food costs. "The larger-than-anticipated gain in the September consumer price index doesn’t signal a reacceleration in inflation, nor will it deter the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates by 25 basis points at its November meeting," wrote Oxford Economics' Chief U.S. Economist Ryan Sweet. "The Fed needs to continue to normalize interest rates to keep the economy on the path toward a soft landing." San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly late on Wednesday said that without a large reduction in rates she had been worried tight monetary policy could injure the labor market or break the economy. She now feels that smaller rate cuts ahead will likely be appropriate, with one or two reductions to come over the Fed's last two meetings of the year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/fed-seen-delivering-25-bps-cut-next-month-after-inflation-data-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 17:39

ZURICH, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank could cut interest rates again this year, Vice Chairman Antoine Martin said on Thursday, citing the current moderate economic growth in the country and low inflation. "With inflation being reasonably low in Switzerland and with an economy that could grow faster, that tends in the direction of a lower policy rate," Martin told an event organised by the Swiss Financial Analysts Association in Zurich. Martin referred to comments by other SNB officials, who said last month there could be another rate cut. Martin added "there are never any promises." The SNB has been at the forefront of central banks cutting interest rates, lowering them three times this year to 1.0%. It has been able to cut rates after Swiss inflation has stayed within the bank's 0-2% target range over the last 15 months, while prices rose by 0.8% in September, the lowest level in more than three years. Martin said the SNB could eventually consider taking interest rates into negative territory, echoing comments by SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel last week. The SNB has previously used negative rates to cool the franc, exiting the policy in September 2022 as it raised rates to combat inflation. Martin said maintaining a differential in the interest rate to other central banks was an important influence on the exchange rate, which in turn affected inflation. Still, with current inflation "firmly" within its target range, the SNB was in a comfortable position, Martin said. "There are imaginable scenarios where this is a tool that we would use because it's a particularly useful tool," Martin said, referring to negative rates. "But we're not today in a situation that this is something that we're considering." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/swiss-national-bank-vice-chairman-hints-further-rate-cuts-2024-10-10/