2025-10-15 04:43
MUMBAI, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India intervened heavily in the currency market on Wednesday to shore up the rupee, traders said, adding the move was straight from the central bank's script defending the local currency back in February. The RBI stepped in forcefully to stem pressure on the rupee, kicking off dollar sales through state-run banks before the usual 9:00 a.m. market open, traders told Reuters, adding that it was a sign of the central bank's intent to draw a firm line under the rupee's slide. Sign up here. Traders described heavy offers hitting the market in a span of just minutes, pushing the dollar-rupee pair significantly lower. "There was heavy activity from them in NDF as well as spot market right from open. Sentiment is expected to change for the rupee," said VRC Reddy, treasury head at Karur Vysya Bank. The rupee opened at 88.26 to the dollar, well past Tuesday's level of 88.7975 — which was only a shade away from its all-time low of 88.80. Momentum quickly built with stop-loss orders on long dollar positions triggered, complementing the RBI's intervention and extending the rally to a high of 87.75 on the interbank order-matching system. There were not any major flows in the market — the pullback on dollar/rupee was entirely RBI-led, with stop-losses amplifying the move, said a FX salesperson at a foreign bank. It looked like the RBI wanted to flush out speculative shorts that had built up against the rupee, the salesperson said, adding that importers were already reaching out following the drop in the pair. The scale and timing of Wednesday's move, traders noted, bore a striking resemblance to the central bank's aggressive defence in February, when it had similarly acted to prop up the rupee. Wednesday's intervention comes after several sessions of the RBI quietly defending the 88.80 level, selling dollars intermittently to cap further weakness in the rupee, according to traders. The RBI's pre-emptive move on Wednesday marked a shift in tactics — from passive defence to an assertive push aimed at resetting market positioning, they said. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/aggressive-central-bank-intervention-helps-rupee-rise-above-88usd-traders-say-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 04:33
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Rae Wee Investors have chosen, at least for now, to look past simmering U.S.-China trade tensions, taking comfort instead from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks hinting at more rate cuts on the horizon. Sign up here. Global shares were once again upbeat on Wednesday, with European futures pointing to a sharply higher open, after a volatile session the previous day owing largely to trade whiplash. Markets may have Powell to thank for the reprieve, after his comments on Tuesday reinforced expectations of further easing this year, alongside a potential end to the Fed's balance sheet drawdown some time soon. That in turn left the dollar down and gold extending its record run once again, with futures now pointing to roughly 48 basis points worth of rate cuts by December. But if anything, the bouts of market volatility over the past few sessions are a reminder of how fragile investor sentiment remains. The U.S. and China continue to trade volleys in their ongoing tariff spat, the latest being Trump's warning that he might terminate some trade ties with Beijing, including in relation to cooking oil. The tariff shock from Friday - when Trump threatened additional levies of 100% on China's U.S.-bound exports - continues to ripple through markets, though each wave has been smaller as investors assume the two sides will keep shoving each other but not come to blows. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday said it depended on China whether the heightened tariffs kick in on November 1 or sooner, but acknowledged it might be hard for Beijing to find an off-ramp. Politics also loom large around the world. Japan's parliamentary scheduling committee could not agree on holding a vote to select the next prime minister on October 21, local media reported on Wednesday, prolonging the uncertainty over Sanae Takaichi's bid to become the nation's first female premier. And in France, eyes will be on what comes next for the government, after French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised to suspend a landmark pension reform until after the 2027 election. Over on Wall Street, earnings from Bank of America (BAC.N) , opens new tab and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) , opens new tab are due later in the day. Expectations are running high after their peers reported a solid set of results on Tuesday. Top U.S. bankers predicted business would continue to boom as equity markets surged over the last quarter and the economy and consumer spending held up despite sweeping tariffs. Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday: - French political developments - Bank of America, Morgan Stanley earnings - Fed's Miran, Bostic, Schmid speak - Release of Fed's Beige Book https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-view-europe-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 03:30
MUMBAI, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (COIN.O) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it had made an investment in CoinDCX, which the Indian crypto exchange said values it at a post-money valuation of $2.45 billion. Coinbase Global's investment follows multiple rounds of investment in the Indian exchange by the firm's venture capital arm, Coinbase Ventures. Sign up here. In April 2022, Coinbase Ventures participated in a $135 million fundraise for CoinDCX, which had valued the firm at $2.15 billion post-money. As of July 2025, CoinDCX's annualized group revenue stood at about $141 million, while its overall assets under custody were at $1.2 billion. "We believe India and its neighbors will help shape the future of the global on-chain economy. This transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions," Shan Aggarwal, chief business officer at Coinbase, said in a statement announcing the investment. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/coinbase-invests-indian-crypto-exchange-coindcx-245-billion-valuation-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 00:05
MEXICO CITY, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Mexican telecoms giant America Movil (AMXB.MX) , opens new tab on Tuesday reported a more than threefold jump in third-quarter profit, in line with analysts' expectations, helped by a sharp drop in financing costs and increased mobile revenues. America Movil, controlled by the family of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, cited a reduction of around half its financing costs compared to the same quarter last year after it booked a foreign-exchange gain versus an exchange loss. Sign up here. The group, which operates across Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe, reported a net profit of 22.7 billion Mexican pesos ($1.24 billion) from revenues that rose 4.2% year-on-year to 232.92 billion Mexican pesos - in line with forecasts of analysts polled by LSEG. The firm logged earnings per share of $0.40, also in line with analysts' forecasts. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also performed broadly as expected, landing at 93.8 billion Mexican pesos. Mexico's peso strengthened 7% in the 12 months through the end of September, and just over 2% in the quarter. America Movil added just over 3 million postpaid mobile clients and logged its strongest mobile service revenue growth in more than a year, up 7%. Its fixed segment added some 526,000 connections, largely in its home market of Mexico. "We expect markets to receive the results well," JPMorgan said in a note, citing gains in Mexico's prepaid business and margin expansion in Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. The broker said the positive view was driven by strength in Mexican mobile, a key contributor to free cash flow. America Movil has signaled expansion plans this quarter, including a potential acquisition of Telefonica’s Chilean assets in partnership with local telecom firm Entel, and possibly buying Brazilian internet provider Desktop DESK3.SA. ($1 = 18.3147 Mexican pesos at end-September) https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/america-movil-posts-threefold-jump-q3-profit-2025-10-14/
2025-10-15 00:01
NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - A California judge on Tuesday sided with the state government and tentatively ruled against Houston-based oil company Sable Offshore's (SOC.N) , opens new tab request to restart a pipeline that pulls crude from the Santa Ynez offshore oil project. The tentative ruling from Judge Thomas Anderle in the Superior Court for Santa Barbara County marks a major setback for Sable, whose business is entirely focused on the Santa Ynez project. Its shares fell over 20% to about $14 each in extended trading. Sign up here. The company in May restarted production from one of the three offshore platforms in that project, nearly a decade after it was shut due to an oil spill under previous owner Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab. Sable also repaired the Las Flores subsea pipeline that pulls crude from the offshore platform, in the hopes of selling the oil to refiners in the state, but the California Coastal Commission blocked its restart citing issues with Sable's permits. Sable petitioned the Santa Barbara Superior Court and argued the Coastal Commission did not have the authority to issue the cease and desist order. However, the company failed to meet its burden to prove the commission had abused its discretion, Anderle wrote in his tentative ruling. Anderle will hold a hearing on Wednesday before finalizing the decision. Meanwhile, Sable is expected to change strategies for marketing the crude oil from the Santa Ynez platform. The company last week said delays in the restart of the Las Flores pipeline system will make it fully pivot to using tankers to shuttle crude from Santa Ynez instead of the pipeline. Sable has sought support from the federal government for the tanker pathway and last week submitted an updated development and production plan for Santa Ynez detailing that route to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the company said in its filing. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/california-judge-blocks-efforts-restart-santa-ynez-oil-pipeline-2025-10-14/
2025-10-14 23:44
IMF's Georgieva says world is continuing to trade Agile firms, lower effective US tariff rates boost growth Georgieva says AI 'very big bet', could pay off in productivity gains WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Decisions by most countries to not retaliate against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs are among the top factors bolstering the global economy's resilience, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday. "The world, so far, and I cannot stress enough, so far, has opted not to retaliate and to continue to trade pretty much on the rules that have existed," Georgieva said during an event at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, noting that this avoided debilitating tariff escalation. Sign up here. Earlier on Tuesday, the fund had edged up its 2025 global GDP growth forecast in its World Economic Outlook to 3.2% from a 3.0% forecast in July, but warned that a renewed U.S.-China trade war threatened by Trump could slow output significantly. Also supporting global growth is that the effective U.S. tariff rate has come down from prior estimates, Georgieva told the Bretton Woods Committee event. After calculating that Trump's tariffs announced in April would average 23%, the rate was reduced by U.S. trade deals with the European Union, Japan and other major partners to about 17.5%, she said. "The effective tariff, though, what is being collected when you get exceptions to accommodate the need for the economy to function well, we calculate them somewhere between 9% and 10% so the burden is more than twice less than we thought it would be," she added. Other factors propping up the global economy have been better policies by countries to boost private sector development and more efficient allocation of resources, as well as agility by companies to avoid the worst effects of the tariffs, by front-loading imports and quickly rearranging supply chains. However, she said the resilience could also be tested by the stretched valuations in global markets - especially the tech sector, which has fueled a stellar market rally this year. "This is a bet, very big bet," she said. "If it pays back, fantastic, then our problem with low growth is gone, because we will see increase in productivity and we will see an increase in growth. What if it is either slow to come true or doesn't quite materialize. What then?" IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told Reuters earlier that the AI investment boom could lead to a bust similar to the dotcom crash in 2000 that burns equity investors, but that it would not likely result in a systemic crisis because it has not been heavily funded by debt. https://www.reuters.com/business/imf-chief-says-lack-retaliation-against-trump-tariffs-aiding-global-growth-2025-10-14/
