2025-10-24 02:20

Low rates, weak dollar helped Asia weather tariff shock so far Rise in dollar, yields could push up debt costs in Asia Governments must avoid burdening central banks with too many goals Oct 24 (Reuters) - Asia may see its resilience to U.S. tariffs challenged if a rally in the dollar and a rebound in low interest rates lead to tighter financial conditions, a senior International Monetary Fund official told Reuters. If the U.S. Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates, a subsequent dollar decline could allow Asian central banks to loosen monetary policy and support their economies without worrying about the risk of capital outflows, said Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department. Sign up here. Low interest rates and declining long-term yields have also helped Asian governments and companies borrow cheaply and weather the hit from higher U.S. tariffs, he said. But Srinivasan warned such favourable financial conditions could change. "If interest rates start rising, especially the longer-term rates, that could have a significant impact on Asia, where debt servicing costs as a share of revenue has been pretty high. That's a problem," Srinivasan said in an interview conducted in Washington last week. "If the dollar appreciates, it could affect Asia too," he said. "Financial conditions have been very supportive, but they could change. That is a big risk for Asia." The interview was embargoed until the release on Friday of the IMF's regional economic outlook report for Asia. The IMF expects Asia's economy to expand 4.5% in 2025, slowing from 4.6% last year but up 0.6 percentage point from its estimate in April, due to strong exports driven in part by front-loading of shipments ahead of higher U.S. tariffs. But the report warned risks were tilted to the downside, and projected growth to slow to 4.1% in 2026. Additional monetary easing may be expected in many countries to bring inflation back to target and ensure inflation expectations are well anchored, the report said. Inflation in Asia has been more modest than in other parts of the world, even when a rebound in demand after the pandemic and surging raw material prices from Russia's war in Ukraine drove up prices. This showed how Asian central banks were able to anchor inflation expectations and bring inflation down because of public trust they were independent from government interference, Srinivasan said. "It's important for central banks to have independence so that they can meet their objectives, notably price stability," Srinivasan said. "But when you talk about independence, they should also be accountable to the public at large. It's also important that they are not burdened with multiple mandates," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/reversal-weak-dollar-may-test-asias-resilience-tariffs-imf-says-2025-10-24/

2025-10-24 01:09

Indexes up: Dow 0.31%, S&P 500 0.58%, Nasdaq 0.89% White House confirms Trump-Xi meeting as part of next week's Asia trip IBM slumps on cloud slowdown Crude jumps, energy stocks rise after US sanctions Russian oil Quantum computing firms gain on report of US govt stake talks NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street advanced on Thursday as investors mulled a mixed batch of corporate earnings and shifting geopolitical concerns. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, with tech strength nudging the Nasdaq into the lead. But the small-cap Russell 2000 (.RUT) , opens new tab was the clear outperformer. Sign up here. The indexes gained some momentum after the White House confirmed U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week as part of his trip through Asia. Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have been escalating in recent days, marked by tit-for-tat retaliatory measures announced by both sides. Confirmation that the two leaders would meet next week appeared to ease those tensions. Trump announced sanctions against Russian oil companies, marking a sharp policy shift in ramping up the pressure on Moscow over its war against Ukraine, ratcheting up geopolitical strife and sending world oil prices jumping. "The Trump-Xi confirmation is clearly positive," said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. "That's a good checkpoint for sentiment, which has been really up-and-down on trade and that's obviously playing a role today." "Additionally, earnings have been really strong in general," Hill added. "And that's supporting the market from a fundamental perspective." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 144.20 points, or 0.31%, to 46,734.61, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 39.03 points, or 0.58%, to 6,738.43 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 201.40 points, or 0.89%, to 22,941.80. Third-quarter reporting season has hit full stride. Tesla shares (TSLA.O) , opens new tab rebounded, gaining 2.3% following its third-quarter profit miss. The electric-vehicle maker was the first of the "Magnificent Seven" group of megacap momentum stocks that account for more than a third of the S&P 500's market cap. IBM (IBM.N) , opens new tab dropped 0.9% after reporting a slowdown in its key cloud software segment, eclipsing its earnings beat. So far, just over a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported third-quarter results. Of those, 86% have beaten consensus expectations, according to LSEG data. In aggregate, analysts currently expect S&P 500 third-quarter earnings growth of 9.9% year-on-year, up from their 8.8% growth estimate as of October 1, per LSEG. In other earnings, health insurer Molina Healthcare (MOH.N) , opens new tab plunged 17.5% after slashing its annual profit forecast. Honeywell (HON.O) , opens new tab raised its annual profit forecast on strong aerospace demand, sending its shares up 6.8%. American Airlines (AAL.O) , opens new tab shares advanced 5.6% after the carrier raised its annual profit forecast, while Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) , opens new tab slipped 6.3% despite posting a surprise quarterly profit and record current-quarter sales. T-Mobile (TMUS.O) , opens new tab dipped 3.3% even after the telecom's wireless subscriber adds surpassed analyst expectations. Dow (DOW.N) , opens new tab reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as cost cuts and higher volumes helped offset weakness in chemical prices. Its stock jumped 13.0%. Quantum computing firms jumped after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was in talks with several of them to take equity stakes in exchange for federal funding. IonQ (IONQ.N) , opens new tab, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS.N) , opens new tab, Quantum Computing (QUBT.O) , opens new tab and Rigetti Computing (RGTI.O) , opens new tab added between 7.1% and 13.8%. Energy companies (.SPNY) , opens new tab, buoyed by spiking crude prices in the wake of Trump's sanctions on Russian oil, enjoyed the biggest percentage gain among the 11 main sectors of the S&P 500, rising 1.3%. Oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab and Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab advanced 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively. Independent oil refiner Valero Energy (VLO.N) , opens new tab, which reported better-than-expected third-quarter profits, rose 7.0%. Rising geopolitical turmoil has benefited aerospace and defense stocks over the past year. The S&P 500 Aerospace and Defense index (.SPCOMAED) , opens new tab advanced 2.2%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.05-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 259 new highs and 55 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 3,009 stocks rose and 1,618 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.86-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 70 new highs and 75 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 19.07 billion shares, compared with the 20.62 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-street-futures-subdued-after-tesla-ibm-results-2025-10-23/

2025-10-24 00:21

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Alaska Air Group (ALK.N) , opens new tab lowered its 2025 profit forecast on Thursday as higher fuel costs and operational challenges, including adverse weather, weighed on its margins. The carrier also forecast its fourth-quarter profit well below analysts' expectations. Sign up here. Refinery outages on the U.S. West Coast have significantly tightened fuel supplies, sending prices sharply higher and adding pressure to airlines already grappling with rising operational costs. "Fuel, it's volatile, and that's one of the things that we're having to manage through in terms of making an estimate for earnings in the fourth quarter," Alaska Air CFO Shane Tackett told Reuters. Operational disruptions have increasingly pressured U.S. carriers this year, with storms and strained air traffic control capacity leading to costly disruptions across the industry. The company now expects its annual adjusted profit per share to be at least $2.40, compared with its previous forecast of more than $3.25. It also expects fourth-quarter adjusted profit of at least 40 cents a share, compared with analysts' estimate of 88 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG. A major IT outage also hit Alaska Air in July, disrupting hundreds of flights and stranding thousands of passengers during the peak summer travel season. However, the industry's efforts to curb seat supply and counter discounting pressures following a demand slump in the first half of the year have started to bear some fruit. "We expect to have positive unit revenues in the fourth quarter," Tackett said. The company's yields, a key gauge for pricing power, rose about 1.4% in the quarter through September, while its unit costs excluding fuel were up about 8.6%. "Costs will meaningfully improve sequentially on a unit cost basis from Q3," he added. The carrier posted quarterly adjusted profit of $1.05 per share, falling short of analysts' average estimate of $1.13 apiece. Total third-quarter operating revenue rose 23% to $3.77 billion from a year ago, compared with expectations of $3.76 billion. https://www.reuters.com/business/alaska-air-cuts-annual-profit-forecast-higher-fuel-costs-2025-10-24/

2025-10-23 23:48

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Australia's Sunrise Energy Metals (SRL.AX) , opens new tab said on Friday it has granted U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) , opens new tab an option to purchase up to 15 tonnes of scandium oxide produced over five years from its onshore Syerston Scandium Project. Shares of Sunrise were up as much as 15.6% to A$5.49 by 2333 GMT, set for their strongest trading session since early October. Sign up here. Under the agreement, the Australian diversified miner said the option to purchase will be subject to the conclusion of binding offtake agreements between the two parties, with full exercise of the option representing about 25% of the project's annual production capacity. Earlier, rare earths miner NioCorp (NB.O) , opens new tab said it is working with Lockheed to develop a scandium and aluminum alloy for use in military equipment as part of a Pentagon‑funded program. Scandium is already used widely for defence, aerospace and energy applications, but nearly all supply comes from China, Russia and Ukraine. The U.S. has not mined scandium since 1969. "We are pleased to be working with Lockheed Martin on this important initiative, one which underscores the importance of the U.S.-Australia critical minerals pact, signed by President Trump and Prime Minister Albanese at the White House only a few days ago," said Robert Friedland, co-chair of Sunrise Energy Metals. Testing and qualification work will seek to accelerate adoption of scandium-containing components in Lockheed Martin product platforms, Sunrise added in its statement. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-sunrise-energy-signs-five-year-scandium-option-with-lockheed-martin-2025-10-23/

2025-10-23 22:41

CANBERRA/SYDNEY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Australia said on Friday that scientists had seen symptoms consistent with the destructive H5 bird flu strain on its sub-Antarctic Heard Island in the Southern Ocean, after unusual levels of deaths of elephant seals. "At this stage it is not a confirmed detection ... seeing signs consistent with H5 bird flu in wildlife on Heard Island is not unexpected," the Agriculture Department said in a statement. Sign up here. H5 bird flu has spread widely in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers. Australia remains the only continent free of the highly contagious viral flu, somewhat protected by its geography as it is off the migration routes of big birds such as geese that spread infection. The virus has reached neighbouring Indonesia in 2022 and Antarctica in 2023. Some other strains of bird flu were reported in poultry farms in Australia last year but none were the H5N1 variant. Australian officials said its Antarctic program scientists on a visit to Heard Island, more than 4,000 km (2,486 miles) southwest of Perth and 1,700 km (1,056 miles) north of Antarctica, found more deaths among elephant seals than penguins and other seabirds. But authorities said a confirmed case of bird flu there would not substantially increase the risk to Australia. The H5 virus has previously been found on the French Kerguelen and Crozet sub-Antarctic islands, which are less than 450 km (280 miles) from Heard and McDonald Islands. Samples collected will be tested once the scientists return to Australia in the middle of November. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/australia-says-h5-bird-flu-suspected-sub-antarctic-island-2025-10-23/

2025-10-23 22:41

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy late on Thursday warned that the department could soon force a Pennsylvania transit agency to stop using a fleet of railcars due to fire risks as he raised broad safety and financial concerns. The Federal Railroad Administration on October 1 issued an emergency order requiring the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to address fire risks from its Silverliner IV railcars after an urgent safety recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board following a series of five fires. "SEPTA has not demonstrated sufficient capacity on its own to mitigate these significant safety and fiscal concerns," Duffy wrote Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-warns-it-could-force-some-pennsylvania-rail-cars-out-service-2025-10-23/