2025-12-10 06:35
US central bankers split, with median seeing one rate cut in 2026 Fed's Powell says rate policy well positioned Silver hits record high of $61.85/oz Dec 10 (Reuters) - Gold prices reversed course to rise on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve’s rate cut, though uncertainty over next year’s policy outlook persisted, while silver hit an all-time peak. Spot gold rose 0.7% at $4,236.57 per ounce at 3:17 p.m. ET (2017 GMT). U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled 0.3% lower at $4,224.70. Sign up here. The Fed cut interest rates in another divided vote, but signalled it will likely pause further reductions in borrowing costs as officials look for clearer signals about the direction of the job market and inflation. "Gold traders like the result today, it's trading at day's highs after surviving a bout of profit-taking," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader. Lower interest rates raise the appeal of non-yielding assets to investors. A majority of U.S. central bankers believe they will need to cut short-term interest rates next year, but are widely split over how much. A large group are opposed to any cuts at all, while three pencilled in a rate hike. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank rate policy is well positioned to respond to what lies ahead for the economy, declining to provide further guidance whether another cut lies in the near future. "Powell has danced around raindrops, coaxing another rate cut from a divided committee with just three dissents, and major markets are rallying through his press conference. It remains unclear if gold can make new highs again," added Wong. Spot silver rose to a record peak of $61.85. Prices have surged 113% so far this year, supported by rising industrial demand, falling inventories, and its designation as a critical mineral by the U.S. "In our view, the outperformance from silver reflects speculative money flowing into a more levered play following gold’s pullback," analysts at SP Angel wrote in a note. "Alongside speculative flows, silver is benefiting from a tight physical market, having seen a supply squeeze in October." Platinum dropped 2.4% to $1,654.55, while palladium lost 2% to $1,475.94. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-inches-up-ahead-fed-verdict-silver-powers-fresh-records-above-60-2025-12-10/
2025-12-10 06:34
SEOUL, Dec 10 (Reuters) - South Korea's biggest online retailer Coupang said on Wednesday that CEO Park Dae-jun has resigned, taking responsibility for a huge data breach at the company that has triggered a growing backlash in Asia's fourth-largest economy. Coupang "deeply apologises for causing concerns to the public," the company said in a statement, adding that it will work to restore customer trust and tighten security measures to prevent another data leak. Sign up here. The company said Harold Rogers, the chief administrative officer of its parent company in the United States, will take over as interim chief executive. The retail giant suffered one of South Korea's worst data breaches, with personal data of more than 33 million customers leaked in a breach believed to have started in June. Coupang, which is backed by Japan's SoftBank Group (9984.T) , opens new tab, has said the breach exposed customers' names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses and certain order histories, but not payment details or login credentials. Park's resignation was announced after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said earlier on Wednesday that the government will launch a thorough investigation and take stern action against any legal violations committed by the company. Earlier this week, South Korean police launched a raid on the company's office in Seoul as part of an investigation. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/coupang-ceo-resigns-after-online-retailer-hit-by-massive-data-breach-2025-12-10/
2025-12-10 06:33
SEOUL, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A board member of South Korea's central bank said on Wednesday foreign exchange authorities need to take action to curb the won's decline against the dollar, as it may reignite inflationary pressure and weaken retail purchasing power. "As forex authorities, we can't sit and do nothing about this high FX rate and we need to think of measures in terms of (adjusting) supply and demand," Kim Jong-hwa, one of the seven voting members at the Bank of Korea's monetary policy board, said in a news conference. Sign up here. "With a rising FX rate, exporters with insufficient currency hedging capacity or small-to-medium-sized companies which cannot pass on the higher costs of intermediate goods (to consumers) will struggle," said Kim. "A rising FX rate also leads to higher inflation and a decline in purchasing power," he said. Kim's comments come as policymakers have been increasingly voicing their concerns in a bid to reverse some of the currency's recent slide against the dollar, amid fears that the end of South Korea's policy-easing cycle could coincide with fewer-than-expected U.S. interest rate cuts, keeping the rate differential between the economies wide. The BOK has left rates unchanged at recent policy meetings, keeping the gap with the U.S. at two percentage points, the highest since 1999. The won, which is down about 5% against the dollar this quarter, recently traded near a 16-year low amid outflows stemming from domestic investors boosting holdings of overseas equities. Kim did not elaborate on possible policy measures that could be taken to curb the won's decline. The BOK, the finance ministry, the welfare ministry and the National Pension Service recently kicked off a four-party consultative group to build a "new framework" for the fund to balance returns and foreign exchange stability. On Tuesday, South Korea said the NPS was studying ways to raise dollars, including by issuing dollar bonds in the offshore market. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bank-korea-board-member-says-cant-sit-do-nothing-about-weaker-won-2025-12-10/
2025-12-10 06:23
WINDHOEK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Swakop Uranium, a subsidiary of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group, has signed a joint venture deal with Namibia's water utility, NamWater, to construct the country's second desalination plant close to Swakopmund. The new plant, only the second of its type in one of Africa's driest countries, will help bolster water supplies to the country's largest uranium mine, Husab, and support communities in the Erongo region of Namibia, close to the Atlantic Ocean. Sign up here. In a statement on Tuesday, the joint venture partners said negotiations had ended successfully and the project's implementation phase would now start. Swakop Uranium holds a 70% stake and NamWater the remainder. "The next steps include the registration of the Erongo Sunam Desalination Project Joint Venture Company, the detailed engineering, environmental assessments, financing arrangements and construction planning," according to the statement. The new 20 million cubic-meter facility, on the cards since 1998, is expected to provide stable and cost-effective water supply to Swakop Uranium's Husab mine, as well as neighbouring mines and communities. Husab mine is the world's largest open-pit uranium mine and the largest consumer of water in the Erongo region and the second-largest single consumer of water in the country after the City of Windhoek, officials said. NamWater's spokesperson, Lot Ndamanomhata, declined to disclose how much the project would cost, although local newspapers reported an estimated 3 billion Namibian dollar ($176 million) cost. ($1 = 17.0364 Namibian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinese-uranium-miner-help-build-namibias-second-desalination-plant-2025-12-10/
2025-12-10 06:09
Red tape is a burden to industry, says Rinehart Australia passed environmental reforms last month Reforms do not go far enough, says mining lobby group MELBOURNE, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Mining tycoon Gina Rinehart said on Wednesday the burden of excessive regulation on the Australian mining industry had put its global competitiveness at risk. Rinehart is executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting, Australia's fourth-largest iron ore miner, whose revenues have fuelled her rise to the top of the nation's rich list for much of the past 15 years. Sign up here. The comments, in a speech to mark the 10th anniversary of Hancock's first shipments of iron ore, echo those made by BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab executives and are in line with her previous views, but are her first since Australia passed environmental law reform last month partly to streamline bureaucracy. Rinehart pointed to a 2024 report by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) that estimated 80% of potential mining projects are abandoned, for which the lobby group blamed "poor policy settings" that had raised costs for miners. "This is what bad government policies have caused. The reality of a major risk to the mining industry's future in Australia and with high government burdens, is risking our international competitiveness," Rinehart said. Hancock had said in its annual report it was waiting for final approvals to develop two iron ore projects, an issue Rinehart emphasised as part of her experience getting the flagship Roy Hill mine started. "Roy is a mega project which at times we thought might not happen. But we persevered through the onerous burden of thousands of government approvals and permits, endless regulatory hoops, layers of government tape, plus roadblocks for our port berth and then rail route which would have stranded and stopped our project," she said. "These roadblocks after HPPL (Hancock) had already spent around $100 million." In October, BHP's head of Australia Geraldine Slattery said the country must speed up environmental approvals and boost access to cheap power if it hopes to compete for mining investment capital with other nations. Rinehart flagged the contribution of mining to the nation's wealth, pointing out her Roy Hill mine delivered A$12 billion ($8 billion) in taxes and royalties and awarded A$15.4 billion of contracts to Western Australian firms in the past 10 years. She has previously called for Australia to follow the U.S. by embarking on Donald Trump-style leadership to cut government largesse while boosting defence spending and energy security. Australia agreed to overhaul its environment laws in long-awaited reforms last month after reaching agreement with the Greens party. The MCA called the bill an "inferior and disappointing outcome" for Australian companies which currently face "a laborious, lengthy and complex double-track assessment and approval process on issues which are mostly identical." ($1 = 1.5078 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/australias-mining-competitiveness-risk-excessive-regulation-says-rinehart-2025-12-10/
2025-12-10 06:08
Industries warn high energy bills make Europe uncompetitive EU to cut permit times, environmental checks for grid projects Aims to rapidly upgrade ageing energy networks Strengthens checks on cybersecurity, foreign ownership of grids BRUSSELS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The European Union is set to slash permit wait-times and introduce top-down planning of electricity grid infrastructure across Europe, as it scrambles to curb high energy prices that industry executives have warned make Europe uncompetitive. Industrial energy prices in Europe are more than double those in the United States and China. Domestic energy-intensive manufacturers say they deter investments in the continent. Sign up here. The European Commission on Wednesday published legal proposals to slash deadlines for authorities across the EU to approve permits for energy projects, in a bid to speed up the modernisation of power networks, confirming draft plans previously reported by Reuters. For grid projects, the deadline would be two years, down from current wait times of up to a decade. If authorities fail to respond within the new timeframes, permits would be automatically approved. EU countries and lawmakers will negotiate and approve the proposals, before they pass into law. A severe blackout in Iberia this year highlighted a lack of interconnectors between countries to allow power to flow to areas of greatest need. Brussels will also develop centralised EU plans for cross-border electricity infrastructure and trigger a “gap filling” process to request project proposals if none exist. The EU has earmarked 30 billion euros from its 2028-2034 budget for cross-border energy projects. Years of lagging investments have resulted in ageing grids that cannot absorb Europe's growing supplies of fluctuating renewable power. Wind and solar generators are often switched off to avoid overloading networks, wasting low-cost renewable electricity and boosting costs. Wind power projects with more than 500 gigawatts of potential capacity are in queues for permits to connect to Europe's grid, industry data show. Brussels also plans to drop requirements for grid projects to undergo environmental assessments, hoping to expedite construction. Campaigners have criticised this plan. SECURITY CONCERNS Recent instances of Russian-linked ships damaging European energy cables and pipelines have heightened concerns among governments about the security of their energy networks. The proposals require EU-funded cross-border energy projects to be assessed for physical and cybersecurity risks. They would also be screened by regional groups of EU governments, regulators and companies for ownership or involvement by foreign companies, to flag potential security concerns. Foreign investments can "increase the Union’s exposure to energy-security related risks such as disruptions or reduced reliability of cross-border flows, in particular where such foreign investments originate from third countries with diverging geopolitical interests from the Union," the Commission said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/eu-fast-track-power-grids-projects-race-curb-energy-prices-2025-12-10/
