2025-10-15 20:46

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Caputo said he hopes to "very soon" execute a framework that will contain the terms of a $20 billion currency swap the U.S. recently agreed with Argentina's central bank, ideally before this month's midterm election. President Javier Milei is seeking to expand his minority presence in Argentina's legislature in the October 26 vote, and U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled his support of Argentina is conditional on the success of ideological ally Milei. Sign up here. "Hopefully we'll very soon be able to execute the framework and agreement that will contain the terms of the swap," Caputo said during an Atlantic Council panel discussion alongside central bank president Santiago Bausili. Caputo said the idea was to activate the framework within the next two weeks, ideally before the midterm vote. Despite Trump's support for Milei, who has campaigned to solve Argentina's economic woes through a tough austerity program and dramatically shrinking the size of government, a key local election in Buenos Aires recently handed a resounding victory to his socially-focused opposition. Trump's announcement that financial support depended on the outcome of the upcoming vote shook Argentina's market this week. Caputo said that regardless of the outcome of the vote, the policies of his administration would remain the same. He added that the administration was working on additional financial options it could not yet disclose, and that some U.S. businesses had informally pledged billions of dollars in investment during recent meetings. The swap line was blasted as a "bailout" by some critics in the U.S. concerned by Argentine competition selling soy to China. Bausili said U.S. Treasury Scott Bessent had been clear that the swap line was independent of any agreements with China. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/argentina-hopes-finalize-us-20-billion-swap-line-before-midterm-vote-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 20:45

US repo rates hit high of 4.36% on Wednesday Liquidity is declining, should be monitored, analyst says US Treasury settlements are one factor for funding rate rise NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. banks borrowed $6.5 billion from the Federal Reserve's Standing Repo Facility (SRF) on Wednesday, central bank data showed, and repurchase rates rose, suggesting tightness in meeting funding obligations with a large net Treasuries settlement due this week. That was the biggest daily borrowing from the Fed since the COVID-19 pandemic, excluding end-of-quarter periods. Sign up here. The SRF acts as a liquidity backstop for potential funding shortfalls. Introduced in July 2021 in response to the pandemic, the Fed's facility provides twice-daily overnight cash loans in exchange for eligible collateral such as U.S. Treasuries. The general collateral or GC repo rate, which is the cost of borrowing short-term cash using Treasuries or other debt securities as collateral, hit a high of 4.36% on Wednesday, according to Curvature Securities. It closed the session at 4.12%. On Tuesday, the GC rate touched a peak of 4.32%, up from Friday's 4.20%. The rise in the repo was unusual, traders said, given that it is not a month-end or quarter-end, when repo rates tend to jump as banks pull away from acting as middlemen due to higher balance sheet costs required at those times for reporting purposes. "This is just more signs that liquidity is slowly, but surely, decreasing. Nothing alarming yet, but if SRF is continuously tapped the Fed should pay even more attention," said Jan Nevruzi, U.S. rates strategist at TD Securities in New York. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that quantitative tightening "is likely to be done soon and this emphasizes the possible need to announce the end as early as the October meeting," Nevruzi said. Powell said on Tuesday the end could be approaching for the central bank's long-running quantitative tightening, aimed at shrinking the size of its holdings. "Some signs have begun to emerge that liquidity conditions are gradually tightening, including a general firming of repo rates along with more noticeable but temporary pressures on selected dates," Powell said at a gathering held by the National Association for Business Economics in Philadelphia. Analysts also said there is a large volume of Treasury settlements that need to be paid. On Wednesday, $40 billion in bills and coupons were due for payment, data on Treasury financing flows from Wrightson ICAP showed. On Thursday, there will be another $23 billion. The U.S. Treasury has been aggressively issuing shorter-term debt, hitting record levels in the last few weeks, as it tries to reduce borrowing of longer-term debt and bring down yields on that part of the curve. When new Treasuries are issued, investors such as dealers, banks and money market funds must pay cash to the U.S. Treasury on settlement day. This payment drains reserves and cash from the private sector and moves them to the Treasury General Account, which is the Treasury's account at the Fed. Fewer available reserves make it more expensive to borrow cash in the repo market, pushing rates higher. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-banks-tap-fed-repo-facility-overnight-rates-climb-signaling-funding-strain-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 20:39

Indian embassy in Washington has not yet confirmed agreement Lower global oil prices could mute economic impact for India Trump says India cannot halt Russian shipments 'immediately' WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, and Trump said he would next try to get China to do the same as Washington intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues. India and China are the two top buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports, taking advantage of the discounted prices Russia has been forced to accept after European buyers shunned purchases and the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Sign up here. Trump has recently targeted India for its Russian oil purchases, imposing tariffs on Indian exports to the U.S. to discourage the country's crude buying as he seeks to choke off Russia's oil revenues and pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine. “So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters during a White House event. “That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing.” The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Modi had made such a commitment to Trump. Russia is India's top oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels per day to India in September, roughly one third of the country's oil imports. For months, Modi resisted U.S. pressure, with Indian officials defending the purchases as vital to national energy security. While imports from other producers would likely cost India more, lower oil prices would temper the impact. Benchmark Brent crude futures hit a five-month low on Wednesday on concerns about a growing surplus in the market. A move by India to stop imports would signal a major shift by one of Moscow’s top energy customers and could reshape the calculus for other nations still importing Russian crude. Trump wants to leverage bilateral relationships to enforce economic isolation on Russia, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions. The announcement comes just days after Trump’s new pick for Indian ambassador, Sergio Gor, met with Modi. The two discussed defense, trade and technology issues. The appointment of Gor, a close confidant to Trump, was widely seen as a positive move for the U.S.-India bilateral relationship. During his comments to reporters, Trump added that India could not "immediately" halt shipments, calling it "a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon." Despite his push on India, Trump has largely avoided placing similar pressure on China. The U.S. trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts, with Trump reluctant to risk further escalation by demanding a halt to Chinese energy imports from Russia. Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on India this summer after the two countries failed to reach an initial trade agreement. He followed up with an additional 25 percent because of the country’s purchases of Russian oil. India chafed at the move because no other top purchasers of Russian oil, like China or Turkey, were hit with similar tariffs. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/trump-says-modi-has-assured-him-india-will-not-buy-russian-oil-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 20:26

SAO PAULO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Abra Group, which controls Brazilian airline Gol (GOLL54.SA) , opens new tab and Colombia's Avianca, intends to confidentially submit a draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering in the United States, it said on Wednesday. Abra Group said that the draft registration statement is for an offer of ordinary shares, but added the deal is subject to market conditions and conclusion of the review process. Sign up here. Gol recently announced plans to go private as part of a corporate reorganization process. The Brazilian airline said it intends to delist shares from Sao Paulo-based stock exchange B3. Abra was created in 2022, when Gol and Avianca announced they were combining under the roof of a common holding company. ($1 = 5.4574 reais) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/airline-group-abra-submit-draft-registration-statement-us-ipo-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 20:03

Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Bancorp (USB.N) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it had formed a new unit focused on digital assets and money movement to speed up development as well as grow the revenue from emerging digital products and services. Jamie Walker, a U.S. Bancorp veteran of more than 20 years, will lead the new unit. Sign up here. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The goal of the new organization is to develop digital products and make more money from the growing areas in finance such as stablecoin issuance, cryptocurrency custody, asset tokenization and digital money movement. KEY QUOTE "Clients increasingly want to understand how digital assets can help them safely move money, store deposits and use tokenized assets, among other potential use cases," said Dominic Venturo, chief digital officer at U.S. Bancorp. CONTEXT More companies have been trying to cash in on better crypto prices and U.S. President Donald Trump's support for the crypto industry. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-bancorp-forms-dedicated-unit-digital-assets-money-movement-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 20:02

USTR's Greer says China's actions were repudiation of trade agreements Treasury Secretary Bessent suggests longer US-China truce extension is possible US will act if China proves to be 'unreliable partner,' Bessent says WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Top U.S. officials on Wednesday blasted China's major expansion of rare earth export controls as a threat to global supply chains, but said Beijing could still change course and avoid steps by Washington to decouple from the world's second-largest economy. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a press conference that China's new export restrictions were a "global supply-chain power grab" and the U.S. and its allies would not accept the restrictions. However, Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also stressed that Washington did not want to escalate the conflict, which has roiled financial markets and sent U.S.-China relations into a tailspin. Sign up here. As of Tuesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump was still expecting to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month, Bessent said. Greer said China has not yet implemented the revised regulatory system for rare earths and could still back away, just as the U.S. had not implemented a retaliatory 100% increase in tariffs on Chinese imports. "These are drafted, or in draft, so it's quite real, but our expectation is that they won't implement this and that we'll be able to be back to where we were a week ago where we had the tariff levels we've agreed to and we have the flow of rare earths that we agreed to," Greer said. Neither official would discuss possible outcomes for negotiations aimed at averting the restrictions and U.S. retaliation, which includes a threat by Trump to increase tariffs on Chinese imports by an additional 100%. The two sides have maintained lower tariffs and continued Chinese rare earth flows under a delicate, six-month truce that has been repeatedly extended for 90 days at a time. Bessent suggested a longer extension was possible. "We are currently in a 90-day roll on the tariffs, so is it possible that we could go for a longer roll in return for a delay? Perhaps, but all that's going to be negotiated in the coming weeks before the leaders meet in Korea," he said. TRADE WAR CLOUDS OUTLOOK Their comments came hours after the U.S. and China rolled out tit-for-tat port fees , opens new tab on each other's ships, opening a new front in their bitter trade fight. Escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions overshadowed the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington. In its World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday, the IMF had upgraded its global growth forecast in part due to the superpowers' recent detente. Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said he expressed "strong concern" over China's expansion of rare earth export controls in a meeting with his G7 counterparts in Washington on Wednesday. "I told my counterparts the G7 must work together and respond strongly against China," Kato told reporters after the meeting. "I also said if our response leads to a spiral of retaliatory measures, that could have an adverse impact on global markets," he added. Kato said he was not aware of any G7 plan to issue a joint communique. He said the group did discuss China's export curbs and a possible response, but did not reveal details. Bessent said U.S. and Chinese officials were meeting on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank gathering to arrange the Trump-Xi meeting, adding that it was the level of trust between the two leaders that had prevented escalation of the tariffs in the past. Greer and Bessent, who have met personally with senior Chinese officials four times in four different European cities in recent months, called China's actions a "clear repudiation" of prior U.S.-China agreements. UNRELIABLE SUPPLIER? The U.S. does not want to economically decouple from China, but would have to take action if Beijing proved to be an unreliable supplier, Bessent said, noting that Chinese officials recently told U.S. auto companies that a slowdown in shipments of rare earth magnets was "probably something" to do with a holiday. "Not only is China fueling Russia's war (in Ukraine), but China's actions have once again demonstrated the risk of being dependent on them, on rare earths and for that matter, anything," Bessent said, adding, "If China wants to be an unreliable partner to the world, then the world will have to decouple." He said Washington had further measures it could deploy, including export controls, if Beijing proceeded, and was also ready to tariff China over its purchases of Russian oil, as long as European partners joined in. The U.S. has slapped additional tariffs on India over its smaller purchases of Russian oil, but has refrained for now from taking action against China. "While there are substantial actions we can take, we'd rather not. I believe China's open to discussion and I am optimistic that this can be de-escalated," Bessent said. The U.S. would also produce photographs supplied by the Ukrainian government that showed Chinese parts were used in Russian drones operating in Ukraine, Bessent said through a spokesperson. Earlier on Wednesday, he told a CNBC event that China had clearly intended to take action "all along," rejecting Beijing's claim that the actions were a response to U.S. actions, including the new U.S. port fees. Bessent said a senior Chinese trade official had threatened as early as August to "unleash chaos on the global system" if the U.S. went ahead with the port fee increases. He named the official as Li Chenggang, China's chief trade negotiator and a subordinate of Vice Premier He Lifeng, who has participated in all the U.S.-China talks. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-officials-blast-chinas-actions-rare-earths-urge-beijing-back-down-2025-10-15/