2025-12-17 11:15

NEW DELHI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Authorities in India's capital Delhi rolled out strict measures on Wednesday in an attempt to curb pollution, including a ban on vehicles not compliant with latest emission control norms and regulating attendance in private and government offices. The air quality index in the Delhi region, home to 30 million people, has been in the "severe" category for the past few days, often crossing the 450-mark. In addition, shallow fog in parts of the city worsened visibility that affected flights and trains. Sign up here. This prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management to invoke stage four, the highest level, of the graded response action plan for Delhi and surrounding areas on Saturday. The curbs ban the entry of older diesel trucks into the city, suspend construction, including on public projects, and impose hybrid schooling. Kapil Mishra, a minister in the local government, announced on Wednesday that all private and government offices in the city would operate with 50% attendance, with the remainder working from home, apart from some exceptions. Additionally, all registered construction workers, many of them earning daily wages, would be given compensation of 10,000 rupees ($110) because of the ban, Mishra said at a press conference in Delhi. India's Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav directed authorities to ensure construction and demolition activities in Delhi and its suburbs were permitted only if proper waste handling infrastructure was available. To better regulate traffic, the minister directed the removal of illegal encroachments and creation of corridors for smooth movement during peak traffic hours. On Tuesday, the government enforced strict anti-pollution measures for vehicles in the city, banning vehicles that are not compliant with the latest emission control standards. "Our government is committed to providing clean air in Delhi. We will take strict steps to ensure this in the coming days," Delhi's Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said late on Tuesday. Pollution is an annual winter problem in Delhi and its suburbs, when cold, dense air traps emissions from vehicles, construction sites and crop burning in neighbouring states, pushing pollution levels to among the highest in the world and exposing residents to severe respiratory risks. The area gets covered in a thick layer of smog with the AQI touching levels in the high 450s. Readings below 50 are considered good. ($1 = 90.3180 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/delhi-restricts-vehicles-office-attendance-bid-curb-pollution-2025-12-17/

2025-12-17 11:09

Crypto downturn hits most popular sectors Bitcoin mining firms pivoting to AI data centers Active management strategies gain traction Dec 17 (Reuters) - The recent crypto market bust has left some investors more cautious, after hitting some of the hottest and most-hyped corners of the industry the hardest. It may also provide a boon to emerging strategies that seek to more actively manage risks. The universe of crypto investment alternatives has expanded dramatically in just a few years and now includes direct cryptocurrency purchases, spot ETFs, derivatives like put and call options and futures, shares in mining and treasury companies, crypto exchanges and infrastructure providers. Sign up here. But that is also bringing different investment results, with leverage, high valuations and funding concerns among the factors that have hurt various corners of the crypto markets. "Investment vehicles for bitcoin have exploded across both retail and institutional markets, fundamentally expanding access,” said John D’Agostino, head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional. However, “the nuances matter in terms of how people want to express leverage and to what degree they want to hedge their exposure.” BUYING TOO HIGH Bitcoin tumbled as much as 36% from a record $126,223 on October 6, and remains around 30% below its high. Bitcoin treasury companies, led by Strategy Inc (MSTR.O) , opens new tab, have suffered even more. These companies hold a significant portion of their corporate assets in cryptocurrencies as a treasury reserve and often raise capital through stock or debt to acquire more digital assets. For years, their share prices traded at a premium to the value of the bitcoin they owned and many investors assumed that premium would keep growing forever. But when bitcoin’s price fell, those premiums collapsed. Strategy’s stock has dropped 54% from bitcoin’s October peak and is down 63% from its mid-July level. Japan’s Metaplanet (3350.T) , opens new tab and a long list of smaller imitators were hit just as hard. It became “a localized bubble,” said Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy. “Investors are now a lot more cautious of overpaying for those.” MINING COMPANIES UNDERGO PIVOT PAINS Mining companies like IREN (IREN.O) , opens new tab, CleanSpark (CLSK.O) , opens new tab, Riot (RIOT.O) , opens new tab, and MARA Holdings (MARA.O) , opens new tab, which have been investor favorites, have also faced setbacks. These firms, which secured cheap electricity under long-term contracts, are now pivoting to AI data centers for tech giants. "Those stocks have been the best performers of the year because they combine two powerful themes: digital assets via their bitcoin exposure and AI," said Matthew Sigel, portfolio manager of VanEck Onchain Economy ETF, which invests in the crypto ecosystem. But many saw weakness on concerns about some of these companies’ profitability as they carry heavy debt and constantly need fresh cash to pay for the switch. “The macro environment turned a little bit and those companies got punished,” Sigel said. ENERGY KEY TO GROWTH Over the next few years, crypto and AI investments are expected to be increasingly intertwined, with crypto infrastructure seen as crucial for addressing power needs. Morgan Stanley estimates U.S. data centers are facing a power shortfall of 47 gigawatts through 2028, but notes that converting crypto miners could alleviate a significant portion, potentially 10-15 GW or more. "If you want to get a company with exposure to crypto, but also with exposure to an important growth story for the next five or ten years with the development of AI data centers, you've got to look at a lot of these miners," said Brian Dobson, managing director of disruptive technology equity research at Clear Street. THE NEXT WAVE For some companies, a solution to poor performance rests with offering actively managed and/or hedged strategies that can outperform during drawdowns. Sigel’s VanEck Onchain Economy ETF has seen a 32% return since the fund launched in May this year by deliberately underweighting over-leveraged names, he said. "Our conviction is that active management is the way to go in this space because it's still an immature asset class." Activist investor Eric Jackson's EMJ Crypto Technologies (EMJX) has developed the first actively hedged digital-asset treasury holding bitcoin, ethereum and selective alts, which also generates yield by selling options instead of repeatedly issuing equity or debt. The company is now live, after SRx Health Solutions announced on Tuesday that it will purchase EMJX, with the combined company to be headed by Jackson. The ticker will switch to EMJX from SRXH after closing, which is expected in the first quarter of 2026. Through all the noise, bitcoin itself has strengthened its position as the clear leader among currencies, bolstered by strong institutional backing. Harvard University's endowment now holds BlackRock's (BLK.N) , opens new tab iShares Bitcoin Trust as its largest publicly disclosed stock position. Sovereign wealth funds in Luxembourg, Abu Dhabi and the Czech Republic are building stakes. It is also a favorite currency among crypto miners. As more investment choices appear, Coinbase’s D'Agostino argues that the overall market is starting to look like traditional commodities or stocks with regulated exchanges, safe custody options, and precise tools to bet on price direction, volatility, or steady income. “If you’re comfortable owning commodities, real estate, art, or gold, but crypto still scares you — you’re simply misinformed.” https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/crypto-investors-show-caution-shift-new-strategies-after-crash-2025-12-17/

2025-12-17 11:05

Repo year-end "turn" falls, suggesting improving liquidity Fed T-bill purchases to stabilize overnight funding rates Markets are more prepared for year-end flows -analyst NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. bond market is heading into the year-end with less anxiety than usual, sanguine that the Federal Reserve's latest funding plans will cushion the seasonal cash crunch that occurs as banks pull back from short-term lending. Short-term money market rates typically spike at the "turn" of each quarter and year as banks withhold lending and conserve cash to better manage their capital and shore up balance sheets. Sign up here. Rates on repurchase agreements, or repos, which allow hedge funds and banks to borrow money cheaply using Treasuries and other debt securities as collateral, were higher than average in 2023, and volatile in the final days of 2024. In September 2019, there was a big spike in repo rates due to a large drop in bank reserves as corporations tried to meet a tax deadline and make payments for debt settlements. But market pricing for repos at the turn of this year - the period from December 31 to January 2 - has turned sharply lower after the Fed said last week it will purchase short-dated Treasury bills to help manage cash levels and ensure that it retains control over its interest rate target range. Such Fed buying, also called reserve management purchases (RMPs), will total around $40 billion in Treasury bills per month over the near term. "The Fed wants to be able to maintain overnight rates without spikes during tax days or year-end," said Bob Savage, head of markets macro strategy, at BNY in New York. "So I don't see a massive move on December 31 that gets people's focus like in 2019. I think the Fed has the right tools." The Fed's latest measure was announced at the conclusion of its policy meeting last week when it reduced the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.50%-3.75%. The $40 billion bills purchase is on top of the $15 billion that the Fed will be reinvesting in T-bills from the proceeds of its maturing mortgage-backed securities (MBS), a move announced by the U.S. central bank at the October meeting. Those purchases by the Fed should provide relief to funding pressures typically seen over the year-end, analysts said. The Fed's increased buying of Treasury bills should also significantly reduce the amounts private investors buy in 2026, possibly driving bill prices higher and yields lower. This should help reduce debt supply pressures that have caused repo rates to spike, analysts said. YEAR-END "TURN" FALLS The general collateral repo rate for the year-end "turn" fell last Friday to 4.10%, from 4.25% two weeks earlier, analysts said. That is still about 46 basis points above the fed funds rate, currently at 3.64%. "Sometimes the psychology of actually seeing lower rates helps, but the Fed's commitment to buy Treasury bills also helped," said Scott Skyrm, executive vice president at Curvature Securities in New York. "There's a lot more collateral and volatility in the repo market this year so a wider spread at this date is fair. I believe the spread will narrow as we move closer to the end of the month." Money markets have been fickle during turns. The intraday repo rates hit 10% in September 2019, forcing the Fed to inject hundreds of billions of dollars through daily operations to bring them down closer to the policy rate of 1.55% by the end of that year. In 2020 and 2021, year-end repo rates stayed below 1% as the Fed maintained an easing bias during the pandemic. The repo rate was only about 20 basis points above the average level for the year at the end of 2023, whereas in 2024, overnight funding costs swung from 50 basis points above the Fed funds rate to as low as 40 basis points below the year’s average by the last day. This year's decline in repo rates for the year-end suggests cash conditions are improving and that market participants anticipate less strain on balance sheets compared to prior years. The general collateral repo rate on Tuesday, however, was at 3.72%, a little higher than the Interest Rate on Reserve Balances (IORB) of 3.65%. That has been a persistent concern for the Fed. High overnight rates - above the IORB - increase banks' motivation to lend their cash in the repo market instead of holding it as reserves at the Fed. In general, more bank reserves mean less funding stress, and suggest that financial firms have ample cash to meet payments, margin calls, and withdrawals. "So far, I think repo markets are still orderly even if price action is still trading at an elevated range," said Teresa Ho, head of short-duration strategy at J.P. Morgan in Boston. "We're also seeing just more activity in terms of people trying to prepare over the year-end. So the more people prepare for it, the more the year-end becomes a non-event." https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/fed-liquidity-measures-calm-year-end-funding-jitters-2025-12-17/

2025-12-17 10:44

Spot silver hits record high of $66.88/oz Spot platinum touches over 17-year high CPI, PCE data set to release later this week Dec 17 (Reuters) - Silver prices surpassed $66 an ounce to a record high on Wednesday, while gold firmed as hopes of rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve renewed after signs of a weak labor market, and as escalating U.S.-Venezuela tensions boosted safe-haven demand. Spot silver rose nearly 4% to $66.22 an ounce, after touching an all-time high of $66.88 earlier in the session. Sign up here. "Silver is pulling gold up with it... there is some rotational money going out of gold and into silver, platinum and palladium," said Marex analyst Edward Meir. "$70/oz (for silver) looks to be the next logical target in the short-term." Spot gold gained 0.7% to $4,334.01 an ounce by 01:56 p.m ET (18:56 GMT), after rising over 1% earlier in the day. U.S. gold futures settled 1% higher at $4,373.9. Silver is up 129% this year, outpacing gold, which has notched a 65% annual rise. On Tuesday, data showed a stronger-than-expected increase of 64,000 jobs in the U.S. last month, but the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, its highest level since September 2021. Weakness in the labor market could increase the likelihood of rate cuts, and in turn benefit non-yielding assets like gold. "Markets continue to see the Federal Reserve cutting its interest rates two times during the first part of 2026, which could continue to support gold over that period," said Bas Kooijman, CEO and asset manager of DHF Capital S.A. Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered its third and final quarter-point rate cut of the year. Investors are now pricing in two 25-basis-point cuts in 2026. Market now awaits November's Consumer Price Index due on Thursday, and Personal Consumption Expenditures price index on Friday. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government, adding to safe-haven demand. Platinum was up 2.2% at $1,890.60, its highest in more than 17 years, while palladium added 2% to $1,635.61. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/silver-climbs-65-first-time-gold-rises-us-unemployment-rate-rises-2025-12-17/

2025-12-17 09:48

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - British house prices in October were 1.7% higher than a year earlier, the smallest annual rise since September 2024 and down from a downwardly revised increase of 2.0% in September, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Wednesday. Private-sector rental growth slowed to 4.4% in the 12 months to November from 5.0% in October, the ONS added, and the smallest annual increase since June 2022. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/growth-uk-house-prices-private-rents-slows-2025-12-17/

2025-12-17 09:34

MOSCOW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A Moscow court will hold a preliminary hearing on January 16 on the Russian central bank’s lawsuit against Belgian depository Euroclear, the court’s press service said on Wednesday. The central bank has filed a lawsuit in Moscow this week seeking $230 billion in damages from Euroclear, marking the first step in what the Kremlin has warned will be a legal nightmare for the EU over plans to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. Sign up here. The EU, searching for a way to finance Ukraine's defence and budget needs in 2026 and 2027, plans to use up to 165 billion euros ($193.84 billion) of Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe. Euroclear, the Belgian Central Securities Depository, was holding bonds for the Russian central bank at the onset of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The bonds have since matured, but the cash remains in Euroclear because of EU sanctions against the Kremlin. Ratings agency Fitch placed Euroclear Bank on "rating watch negative", citing the potential for increased legal and liquidity risks. Euroclear said that Fitch's decision signalled a need for greater clarity on the EU loan plans. Lawyers told Reuters that although Euroclear does not have assets in Russia that could be seized, following the court’s widely expected decision in favour of the central bank’s claim, Russia could seek to enforce it in jurisdictions it considers ‘friendly.’ https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/russian-court-will-hear-central-banks-lawsuit-against-euroclear-january-16-2025-12-17/