2025-11-28 14:57
MUMBAI, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India increased its short dollar positions in the FX market by $4.2 billion in October, data showed on Friday, marking a second consecutive month of expansion and underlining heightened efforts to counter pressure on the rupee. The RBI's short-dollar forward book, which had peaked at $88.7 billion in February, shrank over the next few months, falling to $53.3 billion by August, suggesting that the central bank was content to scale back its forward market footprint. Sign up here. That trend reversed in September, when the book expanded by about $6 billion. Analysts said the pickup points to renewed reliance on the forward market to manage pressure on the rupee, which has been hurt by prolonged U.S.–India trade deal talks, subdued portfolio inflows and a gold-driven surge in the trade deficit. In October, the RBI held the rupee above the 88.80 level through regular intervention, but it slipped to a record low of 89.49 against the dollar on November 21. RBI'S FX FORWARD PLAY The expansion in the RBI's forward book in October indicates that the central bank's spot intervention was being supplemented by forward market activity, which limits volatility and smoothens the impact of FX interventions on rupee liquidity in the local banking system. The liquidity drain from net FX intervention, across both spot and forwards, by the RBI in October surged to 1.5 trillion Indian rupees ($16.77 billion), underscoring a jump in net spot intervention, said Gaura Sen Gupta, economist at IDFC First Bank. However, the liquidity impact from FX operations in November was much lower, which might indicate increased use of interventions in non-deliverable forwards and the continued use of forwards to sterilise the RBI's spot intervention, Sen Gupta said. Selling dollars in the forward market allows the RBI to smooth demand-supply imbalances without an immediate impact on its FX reserves. The currency settled at 89.4575 per dollar on Friday, down 0.6% on the month. ($1 = 89.4700 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-central-banks-fx-forward-book-swells-2nd-month-underscoring-greater-rupee-2025-11-28/
2025-11-28 13:31
OTTAWA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Canada's economy expanded by 2.6% on an annualized basis in the third quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, as exports outpaced imports and capital investment was driven by government spending, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday. September's GDP grew 0.2% compared to August, in line with analysts' expectations, while October GDP was likely to decrease by 0.3%, StatsCan said in a flash estimate. Sign up here. Following are seasonally adjusted figures for gross domestic product, in percent. With the exception of the price index data, they are adjusted for inflation. Q3 Q2 Q1 Annualized change +2.6 -1.8 +2.2 Change from previous quarter +0.6 -0.5 +0.5 Quarterly change in GDP implicit price index +0.8 +0.1 +0.9 NOTE: The median forecast of analysts in a Reuters poll was for a 0.5% annualized increase in the third quarter and for September GDP to be up 0.2%. Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/GDP https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-economy-up-26-annualized-q3-oct-gdp-likely-down-03-2025-11-28/
2025-11-28 13:19
Nov 28 (Reuters) - Exchange operator CME Group (CME.O) , opens new tab said on Friday that its Globex futures and options markets pre-opened at 07:00 Central Time (1300 GMT) and open at 07:30 CT, after an earlier halt caused by a cooling issue at its data centres. The world's biggest exchange operator by market value had paused activity across several markets earlier in the day as it worked to resolve the issue. Sign up here. CME, which offers trading in benchmark products spanning rates, equities, metals, energy, cryptocurrencies and agriculture, first reported the outage at 0240 GMT on its website. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/cme-says-globex-futures-options-markets-open-730-ct-2025-11-28/
2025-11-28 12:53
BOGOTA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Colombian state-run energy firm Ecopetrol (ECO.CN) , opens new tab will invest between 22 trillion and 27 trillion pesos ($5.88 billion-$7.21 billion) next year, it said late on Thursday, roughly in line with 2025 as it pledged "disciplined" capital allocation. Ecopetrol plans to drill between 380 and 430 development wells - 95% in Colombia and 5% in the United States - and eight to 10 exploratory wells, mostly in Colombia, it said in a statement. Sign up here. The energy company expects to produce between 730,000 and 740,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day next year, earmarking about 17.2 trillion pesos of its investments for that, or around 70% of the total. "This plan maintains investment levels compared with projected 2025 year-end figures, under capital discipline criteria for each business line," Ecopetrol added. The investment plan was based on a projected Brent crude price of $60 per barrel and an average exchange rate of about 4,050 pesos per U.S. dollar. ($1 = 3,742.7400 Colombian pesos) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/colombias-ecopetrol-invest-up-72-billion-2026-2025-11-28/
2025-11-28 12:45
LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Russia failed on Friday to win enough votes to rejoin the U.N. shipping agency's governing council despite urging countries to back its nomination for a seat it lost in 2023. The outcome is another blow for Russia which also failed to secure enough support in September to get elected to the United Nations aviation agency's governing council , opens new tab, seen as a rebuke of Moscow over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Sign up here. The London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) is responsible for regulating the safety and security of international shipping and preventing pollution, and comprises 176 member states. Moscow has been an IMO member since 1958 and consistently re-elected to the IMO Council before 2023. Russia's transport ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Russia was among 48 countries seeking 40 spots for a two-year term on the council which supervises the work of the body. It was the only candidate rejected in the category of 10 "states with the largest interest in providing international shipping services", which included the United States and China. Russia had written in a note to the IMO countries prior to the election that it "openly and actively participates in the work of all IMO bodies". "The IMO has begun to deviate from its ... impartial role in international affairs, devoting greater attention to political matters largely outside its clearly defined mandate," Russia said in an IMO submission. Ukraine, which has been vocal in its opposition to Russian efforts at various U.N. agencies and was not standing for election for the IMO Council, urged IMO member states not to support the candidacy , opens new tab saying Moscow "undermines global shipping safety and ... cannot claim a leading role in global maritime governance". https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-fails-win-back-seat-un-shipping-agencys-governing-council-2025-11-28/
2025-11-28 11:54
FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 flat CME Group outage halts trade on US currency, futures Mitchells & Butlers jumps on profit beat Nov 28 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 inched higher on Friday, led by energy stocks as oil prices rose, though the index was set to snap a four-month winning streak despite a budget-driven boost earlier this week. The globally focused FTSE 100 (.FTSE) , opens new tab was up 0.1% by 1125 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) , opens new tab was flat, on pace for a small monthly drop. Sign up here. Oil & Gas (.FTNMX601010) , opens new tab added 0.7%, tracking a gain in oil prices on uncertainty over Russia-Ukraine peace talks. Investors await the outcome of an OPEC+ meeting on Sunday. Chemicals (.FTNMX552010) , opens new tab climbed 0.9% with shares of Johnson Matthey (JMAT.L) , opens new tab up 1.8% after J.P.Morgan upgraded its rating on the company to "overweight" from "neutral." Both FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 are on track for firm weekly gains after finance minister Rachel Reeves earlier this week announced a big tax-raising budget that created greater room for her to meet her deficit-reduction targets. Traders ramping up bets for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut in December, following dovish remarks from policymakers, also boosted UK stocks in the last two weeks of November. Long-dated gilt yields were flat after dropping earlier this week, while the pound lost some ground against the dollar. Precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030) , opens new tab are on pace to be the best performing sector this month as gold prices rallied, while the aerospace and defence (.FTNMX502010) , opens new tab sector is among the laggards as prospects of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine grew. Among other moving stocks, Burberry (BRBY.L) , opens new tab fell 2.3% after J.P.Morgan downgraded the luxury firm's rating to "underweight". Mitchells & Butlers (MAB.L) , opens new tab jumped 11.5% after the pub and restaurant operator reported annual profit above expectations. Meanwhile, investors were on the lookout for updates on an outage at the world's biggest exchange operator, CME Group, which hit trading on currency and futures in the U.S. on Friday. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-ftse-100-set-first-monthly-drop-five-despite-recent-gains-2025-11-28/
