2026-02-03 12:17
BEIJING, Feb 3 (Reuters) - China will stabilise grain and oilseed output, diversify agricultural imports and increase support for farmers, state media reported on Tuesday, citing a government rural policy blueprint aimed at ensuring food security. The State Council's "No. 1 document" comes as China prepares its next five-year plan amid trade friction with major food suppliers such as the U.S. and Canada, as well as a domestic economic slowdown and climate challenges. Sign up here. Although China recorded record grain output last year, it remains heavily reliant on imports. Trade tensions, particularly with the U.S., have accelerated efforts toward self-sufficiency, including investments in machinery and seed technology. "The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial stage for laying a solid foundation and making full-scale efforts to basically achieve socialist modernization," the document said. "It is necessary to address prominent gaps in the agricultural and rural sectors and accelerate the building of a strong agricultural nation," it added. China plans to foster internationally competitive agricultural enterprises, support the expansion of key and specialty agricultural exports, crack down on agricultural product smuggling, and actively engage in global agricultural and food governance, the document said. It also outlines measures to boost agricultural innovation, including strengthening research platforms, backing leading agri-tech firms, advancing industrialized biotech cultivation, integrating AI with farming, and cultivating specialized agricultural talent. It will boost support for farmers through price, subsidy, and insurance policies, strengthen market monitoring, and keep grain and other key food prices stable. China aims to stabilize pork, beef, and dairy production, promote balanced supply and demand, boost dairy consumption, and support the cultivation of key forage crops like silage corn and alfalfa, it said. The meat sector has been hit by oversupply and low prices, squeezing producers' margins. The government has rolled out measures to stabilize the industry, including a quota system on beef imports and tariffs on EU dairy products. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinas-no-1-document-pushes-grain-security-agri-tech-innovation-2026-02-03/
2026-02-03 12:10
Agreement strengthens Qatar's position in Japanese LNG market amid rising competition Jera diversifies supply to meet demand from data centres, AI Feb 3 (Reuters) - QatarEnergy, one of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers, signed an agreement on Tuesday with Japan's biggest power generator Jera to supply 3 million tons per year of LNG for 27 years. The agreement, which took place on the sidelines of LNG2026 industry conference in Doha, Qatar, would help to stengthen Qatar's position in the Japanese market, as competition intensifies from the United States and from neighbouring Gulf suppliers, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, which offer more flexible contract terms. Sign up here. It follows months of protracted talks between the two firms. Reuters first reported the talks in May 2025. Qatar dominated the Japanese market in the past and was among Japan's top three LNG suppliers a decade ago, shipping over 15-16 mtpa to the East Asian country between 2012-2014. In 2025, Qatari LNG exports to Japan stood at 3.59 million tons. Exports declined as buyers showed preference for supplies from the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. These suppliers all offer shorter-term contracts and unlike Qatar do not restrict the cargoes' final destination. Jera has been working on diversifying its supply sources to meet demand growth spurred by data centres and AI. Handling between 30-35 million metric tons (mt) of LNG annually, Japan's largest utility currently sources nearly half of this from the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/qatarenergy-signs-27-year-lng-supply-agreement-with-japans-jera-2026-02-03/
2026-02-03 12:08
MILAN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab and Q8 Italy have agreed to jointly build and operate a new biorefinery at Priolo, in Sicily, a major step in the conversion of the site's former chemical facilities, the two companies said on Tuesday. The move is part of Eni's strategy to overhaul its loss-making chemical business as the European petrochemical sector struggles with overcapacity. Sign up here. Eni closed its Priolo steam cracker last year and plans to shift part of its workforce to the new biorefinery and a possible new mixed plastic recycle plant. Investment in the biorefinery follows a binding offer from Q8 and approval from the boards of both Eni and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, the parent of Q8. The Priolo plant will convert waste, residue and vegetable oils into advanced biofuels. It will be able to process 500,000 tonnes a year and produce sustainable aviation fuel as well. The plant's output will cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% compared with fossil fuels, the companies said, in line with EU rules. Engineering work on the project has been finished, with completion of approvals and finalisation of contracts expected by the end of 2028. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/italys-eni-teams-up-with-q8-build-biorefinery-sicily-2026-02-03/
2026-02-03 11:47
BRASILIA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank signaled on Tuesday it will begin cutting interest rates in March, but stressed borrowing costs must remain restrictive and that the size and duration of the easing cycle will be set over time, in line with incoming data. In minutes from its latest policy meeting, where it kept the benchmark Selic rate at 15% for the fifth consecutive time, the bank said improving current inflation and market expectations "less distant" from the 3% target offered clearer evidence that monetary policy is transmitting as expected. Sign up here. That, it said, allowed policymakers to signal the start of an easing cycle at their next meeting. "At the same time, the committee unanimously reaffirms the need to maintain interest rates at restrictive levels until not only the disinflation process is consolidated but also expectations are anchored to the target," the minutes said. The bank mentioned the resilience of factors pressuring both current and expected prices, particularly the dynamism in the labor market. Economists surveyed weekly by the central bank most recently projected inflation at 3.99% this year, 3.80% in 2027, and 3.50% in both 2028 and 2029. The bank reiterated that the pace and length of rate cuts will depend on new data, saying such an approach is consistent with the current environment, in which mixed signals on the slowdown in economic activity and its effect on prices continue to blur clear trend-setting. The message comes amid split market bets over whether the easing cycle will begin with a 25- or 50-basis-point cut. The central bank halted in July an aggressive tightening cycle that had added 450 basis points to the benchmark rate, holding it steady since then as it sought to cool activity in Latin America's largest economy. That cooling has been slow to materialize amid government stimulus under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-central-bank-signals-rate-cut-cycle-vows-keep-policy-tight-2026-02-03/
2026-02-03 11:46
Feb 3 (Reuters) - India's Bajaj Finance (BJFN.NS) , opens new tab reported a surprise fall in quarterly profit on Tuesday after the lender set aside sharply higher provisions to strengthen its balance sheet amid global economic uncertainty. The non-banking financial company reported a 6% year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit to 39.78 billion rupees ($440.83 million) for the quarter ended December 31. Sign up here. Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 51.28 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG. During the quarter, the company said it had increased provisions to strengthen its balance sheet amid global economic uncertainty and introduced a minimum loss-given-default threshold across businesses. This resulted in additional provisions of about 14.06 billion rupees. Including the impact, total provisions against bad loans rose 77% to 36.25 billion rupees. In November, the diversified lender trimmed its growth forecast for asset under management (AUM) for the current financial year to 22-23% from 24-25% a year earlier, citing bad loans in its MSME segment and strong competition in mortgage lending. Despite the weaker outlook, Bajaj Finance reported a 22% year-on-year rise in AUM for the third quarter, with new loan bookings rising 15%, it said in January. ($1 = 90.2390 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-bajaj-finance-profit-drops-higher-provisions-2026-02-03/
2026-02-03 11:44
Feb 3 - What matters in U.S. and global markets today By Mike Dolan , opens new tab, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets Sign up here. Amid the dramatic twists and turns of the year so far, U.S. manufacturing seems to have rebounded sharply - with ISM survey showing factory activity expanding in January for the first time in a year. That’s sure to throw another curve ball into the macro and interest rate picture, keeping a lid on Fed easing expectations. I'll get into all that and more below. But first, check out my latest column on why we should all be focusing on the dollar risk premium. And listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily podcast. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists discuss the biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week. DEALS AND DELAYS Equities were unfazed on Monday by the recent commodities selloff as the already upbeat earnings season continued, with all major Wall Street indexes in the green. The S&P 500 closed higher, led by tech and AI companies, with Alphabet up 1.9% and Amazon up 1.5%. Both companies are set to report later this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. European equities followed suit, with the pan-European STOXX 600 closing 1% higher, notching a new record high, thanks to strong gains in financial and healthcare stocks. In tech news, Elon Musk announced Monday that SpaceX has acquired his AI startup xAI. The ambitious tie-up consolidates Musk’s space and AI ambitions and could boost SpaceX’s planned expansion into the data center business as it seeks to compete with AI heavyweights. Investors will get a further taste of how the AI economy is faring when AMD and Supermicro Computer report today, alongside updates from consumer and pharma names including PepsiCo and Pfizer. But they will have to wait longer for the JOLTS data originally slated for today, thanks to the partial government shutdown that began last Friday. January’s employment report, originally due Friday, will also be delayed until government funding resumes. Happily, the shutdown is likely to be brief, with lawmakers expected to vote today on legislation to end it. In commodities, volatile precious metals seemed to find their level on Tuesday after the withering shakeout of recent days, with gold surging more than 5%, putting it on track for its biggest one-day gain since 2008. Despite the recent selloff, analysts say the precious metals bull run still has plenty of space to continue. Oil continued to edge down on Tuesday as the geopolitical risk premium dissipated, due to the possibility of de-escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions. The two sides are gearing up for nuclear talks in Turkey on Friday. Oil fell more than 4% on Monday. Meantime, President Trump on Monday announced a trade deal with India that would see New Delhi cease Russian oil purchases in return for a reduction in tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50%. Trump said India will instead buy oil from the U.S. and possibly Venezuela - alongside American arms and aircraft. The dollar weakened a touch, but China's yuan reached its highest level in almost three years ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. Australia's dollar and bond yields all climbed after its central bank hiked rates for the first time in two years, with the Reserve Bank warning that inflation was likely to stay above target for some time. Chart of the day India's rupee got its biggest one-day boost in seven years and India's stock indexes jumped more than 2% after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a trade deal that slashes U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50% in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers. Today's events to watch * Richmond Fed's Thomas Barkin speaks * U.S. corporate earnings: AMD, Amgen, Merck, Mondelez, PayPal, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Super Micro Computer Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. You can find ROI on the Reuters website , opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2026-02-03/
