2025-10-31 07:52

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Spanish steelmaker Acerinox (ACX.MC) , opens new tab reported slightly weaker than expected third-quarter earnings on Friday, citing low demand for stainless steel in the U.S. and Europe. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation came in at 108 million euros ($125.95 million), missing analysts' average estimate of 112 million euros, according to data compiled by LSEG. Sign up here. According to the steelmaker, sales in the U.S. will "undoubtedly" fall in the fourth quarter due to year-end seasonality, and core-profits will therefore be lower than in the third quarter. Though the company said the U.S. 50% tariffs on steel imports were helping its business there, it also pointed to negative aspects of the trade-related uncertainty. "The prevailing mood of reserve and caution has continued, in which major distributors have only replenished what they have sold, awaiting greater clarity on the economic future," Acerinox said in a statement. Even though Acerinox should benefit from a push towards protectionism in both of its main markets, a mix of increased uncertainty, supply-chain disruptions and companies deferring purchases and investments has hit the company's results. The company is set to benefit from the European Commission's recently announced import quotas, as prices in Europe have slumped due to what European steelmakers denounce as global overcapacity and cheap imports from Asia. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/acerinoxs-third-quarter-profits-misses-expectations-due-low-demand-2025-10-31/

2025-10-31 07:36

China positions itself as global trade leader as U.S. withdraws Beijing champions multilateralism, contrasting Trump's America First policies Asian neighbours concerned about China's economic dominance China has deployed rare earths curbs in trade war with U.S. Trump's tariffs raise fears of inward turn as China extends trade push BEIJING, Oct 31 (Reuters) - As Air Force One took off from South Korea's Busan airport after U.S.-China talks on Thursday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping's Hongqi N701 limousine whisked him off to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit some 50 miles (80km) away. The split-screen moment captured a shift in global economic leadership: U.S. President Donald Trump heads home after a 24-hour visit, while China's leader settles in for a festival of multilateral diplomacy that America now sees as an afterthought. Sign up here. This encapsulates a change in the contest for influence across the Asia-Pacific, home to the world's fastest-growing economies and critical supply chains rattled by Trump's tariffs. MULTILATERALISM, VERSUS 'AMERICA FIRST' As Washington embraces barriers and bilateral deal-making, Beijing positions itself as the predictable champion of free and open trade, a role the U.S. has dominated for decades. "We must practice true multilateralism, and enhance the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core," Xi told the leaders gathered for the opening of APEC, referring to the World Trade Organization. Xi called on the gathering of leaders, where U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stood in for Trump, to "update international economic and trade rules to reflect the changing times, so as to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries." However, many Asian nations are wary of China's stated support given its muscular defence posture in the region, dominance in manufacturing, and its own willingness to use export controls and other tools in trade disputes. Trump's decision to skip the APEC summit marks a dramatic reversal in Washington's engagement with an institution the U.S. helped create with Australia in 1989 as part of America's post-Cold War vision of binding the region's economies through trade. The U.S. leader has stunned global markets with his "Liberation Day" tariffs and has forced most economies into tough bilateral talks, hiking levies on their products and forcing them to commit to hundreds of billions of dollars in investment. At the forum, U.S. Senior Official to APEC Casey Mace described America's presence at the event as "very strong and robust," adding that schedules "didn't align perfectly to allow for President Trump to stay for all of the events". Hours after returning to Washington from his Asia tour, Trump hosted the White House's annual Halloween party, along with first lady Melania Trump. China has sought to exploit the uncertainity brought by Trump policies, through diplomacy and by making inroads into markets that are even more crucial for Beijing at a time of sagging growth and Western accusations that it has fuelled global overcapacity through cheap exports. Far more than a tactical ploy, the rewiring of the trading system is a long-term strategy for China. Its forthcoming five-year economic plan outlines ways to "safeguard the multilateral trading system and promote broader international economic flows." Beyond messaging, China has also taken action. During a trip to Malaysia last week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur and signed an upgraded China-ASEAN free trade deal. As was the case at APEC, the contrast with the U.S. was palpable. Trump's six-hour blitz of meetings at the ASEAN forum achieved four trade deals -- but none of them reduced U.S. trade barriers and some included further threats. They stipulated that if a country deepens relations with another that "jeopardizes essential U.S. interests" it would face more levies, in what experts say is a reference to China. "The upgraded free trade agreement only reinforces China's dominant posture in terms of regional economic engagement," Yun Sun, co-director of the East Asia Program at the Stimson Center think-tank, said in reference to the China-ASEAN deal. "In comparison, U.S. bilateral trade deals with individual countries are much more circumstantial and limited in their scope." PRICE OF FREE TRADE Although no policy breakthroughs are expected at APEC, Xi's presence at the summit, along with Li's at ASEAN, sends a powerful message about China investing in relationship-building with regional countries, say analysts. Sun said that compared to China's consistent presence, U.S. "inevitably appears selective and conditional". Xi will hold meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday and both meetings are likely to be difficult, given Takaichi's hardline conservative bent and China's ongoing trade dispute with Canada. But countries in the region are also wary of China's economic dominance, its own willingness to use trade barriers as a weapon, and its export-led model flooding other countries with cheap goods that creates fears of deindustrialisation. China this month said it would dramatically ratchet up its restrictions on rare earths exports, including outside of China's borders, sending shockwaves through already brittle global supply chains. "China is very powerful, a big country in terms of economy, and they try to make use of these U.S. tariff issues in order to pretend as if they are the guardian or champion of the free trade system," said Japanese foreign ministry spokesperson Toshihiro Kitamura on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting. "But for Japan, it's not true. As I said, for example, the rare earths issue, they try to utilise their own resources in order to impose their positions on politics to others. So we don't think that they are champions of the free trade system." Eric Olander of the China Global South Project added that China's strategy was "through expanded trade, infrastructure development, and supply chain logistics to bind this region to the Chinese economy to the point where it eventually becomes totally unfeasible for countries to extricate themselves from their reliance on Chinese economic engagement." https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-skips-apec-chinas-xi-fills-void-with-message-trade-2025-10-31/

2025-10-31 07:34

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - British house prices rose in October, lender Nationwide said on Friday outpacing forecasts by economists and adding to signs of demand in the housing market in the run-up to finance minister Rachel Reeves' budget which is likely to include tax increases. Nationwide said its house price index increased by a monthly 0.3% after rising by 0.5% in September. Sign up here. House prices were 2.4% higher than a year earlier, speeding up from an annual increase of 2.2% in September, it said. Economists polled by Reuters had on average forecast no change in prices in monthly terms and a 2.3% annual increase. "Against a backdrop of subdued consumer confidence and signs of weakening in the labour market, this performance indicates resilience, especially since mortgage rates are more than double the level they were before Covid struck and house prices are close to all time highs," Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said. Data published by the Bank of England on Wednesday showed the number of mortgages approved by lenders in September came in higher than expected. However, some other measures of the housing market have suggested a slowing in price growth in recent months which has been attributed to caution among homebuyers ahead of Reeves' budget on November 26. Gardner said housing affordability was likely to improve modestly if income growth continues to outpace house price growth as Nationwide expects. "Borrowing costs are also likely to moderate a little further if Bank Rate is lowered again in the coming quarters," he said, referring to the BoE's benchmark rate. "This should support buyer demand, especially since household balance sheets are strong – indeed, in aggregate the ratio of household debt to disposable income is at its lowest for two decades," Gardner said. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/uk-house-prices-rise-by-03-october-nationwide-says-2025-10-31/

2025-10-31 07:25

Gold set for third monthly gain Investors trim December rate cut bets from above 90% to 67% Trump reduces tariffs on China from 57% to 47% Oct 31 (Reuters) - Gold retreated towards $4,000 an ounce on Friday as uncertainty over another U.S. rate cut in December helped keep the dollar near three-month highs, but held on track for its third straight monthly gain. Spot gold was down 0.4% at $4,009.24 per ounce at 1147 GMT, having gained nearly 4% so far this month. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 0.1% at $4,020.80 per ounce. Sign up here. The dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab held near its highest in three months, making greenback-priced bullion more expensive for other currency holders. "Gold is under pressure as the dollar has been strengthening on the back of those hawkish remarks (by Fed Chair Jerome Powell)," said ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista. Markets had been taking another rate cut in December for granted, he said. On Wednesday, the Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points for the second time this year, taking the benchmark overnight rate to a target range of 3.75%–4.00%. Following the decision, Powell said officials were struggling to reach a consensus about what lies ahead for monetary policy and cautioned that markets should not assume another rate cut in December. Markets now price in a 67% probability of a 25-bp cut compared with a 91.1% chance a week ago, CME Group's FedWatch tool showed, after Chair Powell's remarks. Safe-haven demand has also been dented on trade-related optimism following trade talks between the U.S. and China this week. On Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump said he had agreed to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on illicit fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing. The macro-economic background remains supportive of gold in the medium to long term, with ongoing geopolitical turbulence in Ukraine and the Middle East, and between the U.S. and China, Evangelista added. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.2% to $49.02 per ounce, platinum lost 0.9% to $1,596.60, and palladium gained 1.1% at $1,460.95. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-slips-fed-rate-caution-boosts-dollar-set-3rd-monthly-rise-2025-10-31/

2025-10-31 07:24

Oct 31 (Reuters) - India's markets regulator is likely to penalise Multi Commodity Exchange (MCEI.NS) , opens new tab for a four-hour outage on Tuesday that was caused by a trading spike, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. The disruption was a result of a "capacity breach", with the exchange unable to handle the number of clients trading on that day, according to the sources. Sign up here. They did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to media. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) did not respond to an emailed query. MCX on Friday said its systems had predefined parameters that limit the number of so-called 'unique client codes', "which led to constraints beyond the threshold." Its trading systems remain stable, the exchange added. SEBI is concerned about the delay in identifying the cause for the trading halt and could direct MCX to improve its system capacity, the sources said. "Had MCX early on Tuesday identified that it was facing a capacity breach, trading could have resumed much faster," the first source said. SEBI requires shifting trading to a disaster recovery site when trading halts on the main exchange. However, this option did not help the exchange, the source said. "Since the root cause was capacity breach, it continued to persist in disaster recovery site as well due to the volume spike," the source said. MCX said it has taken steps to prevent similar issues in the future. TRADERS TO APPROACH SEBI The trading halt led to many bullion traders reporting losses, prompting them to approach the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd (IBJA), a lobby body, to take up their case with the regulator. Trading delays and halts on MCX have become increasingly frequent this year, causing losses for traders, an IBJA official, who declined to be named, said. A Mumbai-based bullion dealer said that he was forced to book larger losses due to the delay in resuming operations. "Gold and silver prices were correcting in the global market. Everyone, including us, who held long positions wanted to exit quickly, but we couldn’t," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-regulator-likely-penalise-mcx-four-hour-trading-halt-sources-say-2025-10-31/

2025-10-31 06:53

SNB makes 14.33 billion franc profit from gold valuation gain Gold prices have risen by more than 50% in 2025 Gold seen as ultimate safe haven, hedge against uncertainty ZURICH, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank reported on Friday a third-quarter profit of 27.93 billion Swiss francs ($35 billion), helped by the booming value of its gold reserves. The central bank posted a valuation gain of 14.33 billion francs on its gold holdings between June and September, up from the 4.41 billion franc gain on the precious metal last year. Sign up here. It is a record gold profit since the SNB started using the market value of the metal in its profit calculations in 2000. It was also significantly more than the average quarterly profit the central bank has made from its gold holdings over the last 10 years, which was less than 2 billion francs, according to UBS calculations. GOLD GAINS FROM SAFE-HAVEN DEMAND The SNB, with unchanged gold holdings of 1,040 metric tons, has benefited from gold prices, which have risen by 53% this year as investors hedged against increased political and geopolitical uncertainties. The weakening U.S. dollar has also made gold cheaper for holders of other currencies, boosting demand, while rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have reduced the yield from other less risky assets like U.S. Treasuries, making gold more attractive. "It's very unusual for the SNB to make so much profit from gold, but the gains reflect the big price gains gold has had this year," said UBS economist Florian Germanier. "The profit is purely a nice side effect of having an asset which is considered the ultimate safe haven and which the SNB is required to hold to diversify its holdings and to carry out monetary policy," he added. During the third quarter, the SNB also reported a gain of 13.63 billion francs from its foreign currency positions, the bonds and stocks it has bought with foreign currencies it has purchased. As a result, the central bank improved its third-quarter profit to 27.93 billion francs, up from a 5.67 million franc profit a year earlier. ($1 = 0.7931 Swiss francs) https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/gold-price-surge-pushes-swiss-national-bank-profit-higher-2025-10-31/