2024-04-15 18:36
SAO PAULO, April 15 (Reuters) - Three companies have submitted offers to participate in the privatization auction of Brazilian power generator EMAE (EMAE4.SA) New Tab, opens new tab, which is scheduled to happen on Friday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. EMAE is currently controlled by the state of Sao Paulo, which owns 97.6% of its ordinary shares and plans to raise at least 779.8 million reais ($150.26 million) by selling its stake in the firm. O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported earlier in the day that French power giant EDF, Matrix Energia and investment fund Phoenix had all presented bids for the auction. A second source told Reuters that Matrix, a joint venture between asset manager Prisma Capital and a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Duferco Group, would indeed participate in the privatization auction. EMAE owns and operates a hydraulic and energy generating system that stretches across Sao Paulo state. Its main asset is the Henry Borden hydroelectric plant, with 889 megawatts (MW) of power. EMAE also has Latin America's largest utility Eletrobras (ELET6.SA) New Tab, opens new tab as a relevant shareholder with 64.8% of its preferred shares. The Brazilian power giant, however, has expressed interest in divesting the asset in the future. ($1 = 5.1895 reais) The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/three-firms-bid-brazils-emae-privatization-auction-source-says-2024-04-15/
2024-04-15 18:22
April 15 (Reuters) - The main electric utility for the U.S. state of Hawaii said it was prepared to initiate rolling blackouts on Monday due to decreased wind and solar power and the temporary loss of several large generators. The outages may start as early as 6 a.m. to prevent widespread power loss, Hawaiian Electric said in a notice posted to its website. The Honolulu-based electric utility said 21,557 customers around the island experienced a 30-minute outage on Sunday night starting at 8:54 p.m (0654 GMT on Monday) and ending at 9:59 p.m. "Hawaiian Electric's Hill 5 steam unit tripped offline yesterday. Puna steam unit and CT-1 combustion turbine unit also are under repair," the company said. Hawaiian Electric urged Hawaii Island's residential and business customers to conserve electricity. The company did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment. Last month, Hawaiian Electric asked its customers on Hawaii Island to reduce or shift their electricity use through April after the utility's largest generator went offline due to mechanical issues. Hawaiian Electric is facing multiple lawsuits over a wildfire that tore through the island of Maui last year, killing at least 100 people. A spokesperson for the company said in September it does not comment on pending litigation. In November, the company said it was unable to submit its quarterly filing with U.S. securities regulators on time due to financial contributions it made towards victims of the wildfire. The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/hawaiian-electric-urges-hawaii-island-customers-conserve-power-2024-04-15/
2024-04-15 15:46
JERUSALEM, April 15 (Reuters) - Israeli inflation accelerated in March, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, in data that could delay further interest rate reductions. The annual inflation rate rose by a higher-than-expected 2.7% in March from 2.5% in February. The rate was forecast to edge up to 2.6%, according to a Reuters poll. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.6% in March from February, versus an expected 0.5%, bolstered by higher costs of clothing and footwear, housing, healthcare and transportation. After cutting its benchmark interest rate in January, the Bank of Israel left the rate unchanged at subsequent meetings in February and April, citing geopolitical tensions, rising price pressures and looser fiscal policy due to Israel's war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-inflation-rate-accelerates-27-march-above-consensus-2024-04-15/
2024-04-15 14:52
MOSCOW, April 15 (Reuters) - Price growth remains high for a wide range of goods and services, Russia's central bank said on Monday, little more than a week before its next rate-setting meeting, reiterating that tight monetary policy would remain in place for a long time. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the bank to hold its key rate at 16% on April 26, as it did in February and March after five rate hikes in a row. High domestic demand is the main pro-inflationary factor, the bank said in a report on Monday. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/price-growth-russia-remains-high-says-central-bank-2024-04-15/
2024-04-15 14:28
ORLANDO, Florida, April 15 (Reuters) - Hedge funds have built up their biggest bet against the yen in 17 years, raising the prospect that when Japan's embattled currency does rebound from its 34-year low against the dollar, the short-covering rally could be a powerful one. The latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show that speculators' net short yen position is the largest since June 2007, and one of the biggest since yen futures contracts were launched in 1986. The yen is down nearly 9% against the dollar since Jan. 1, making it the worst-performing G10 currency this year. The Swiss franc is down almost as much, but the Swiss National Bank has cut interest rates whereas the Bank of Japan has raised them. With yen positions so stretched, it might not take much to prompt funds to trim them back and cash in. As the threat of yen-buying intervention from Tokyo rises the higher dollar/yen goes, and with the potential for safe-haven demand following the latest flare-up in Middle East tensions suddenly in the mix too, traders short of yen will be on edge. But right now yen-selling momentum is strong and if you're on the right side of the trade, the trend is very much your friend. "The leveraged community has the bit between the teeth, is earning carry and capturing gains, in the face of a finance minister who is big on watching the FX market and short on action," Societe Generale's Kit Juckes wrote on Monday. "We think the yen is very oversold here, but decades of overshoots tell us to be patient," he added. In the week through April 9, CFTC funds increased their net short yen position to 162,151 contracts, the biggest net short in 17 years. In dollar terms it is a $13.4 billion leveraged bet against the yen, the largest since February 2018. A long position is essentially a bet that an asset will rise in value, and a short position is a wager its price will fall. Funds have increased their net short yen position in 11 of the last 13 weeks, the two outliers being in the run-up to the BOJ's historic interest rate hike in March. The value of CFTC funds' yen position accounts for 60% of their aggregate $21.9 billion long dollar position against G10 currencies, the most bullish bet on the greenback since late 2021. Given the dramatic repricing of the U.S. interest rate outlook recently and sharp rebound in U.S. bond yields, the migration to the dollar is unsurprising. The Fed's relative hawkishness is making the dollar the only game in town. But Steve Barrow at Standard Bank in London cautions against over-optimism, and suggests Japanese intervention would not only send the dollar spiraling lower against the yen, but more broadly too. "It is worth remembering that intervention by the BOJ back in September/October 2022 appeared to spark a more general decline in the dollar against other currencies. This is another reason why we have not lifted our forecasts for the dollar materially," he wrote in a note on Monday. (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters) Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/funds-make-biggest-bet-against-yen-since-2007-mcgeever-2024-04-15/
2024-04-15 13:19
DUBAI, April 15 (Reuters) - A Portuguese-flagged container ship, the MSC Aries, was seized by Iran on April 13 for "violating maritime laws", Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday, adding that there was no doubt the vessel was linked to Israel. Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route. "The vessel was diverted into Iran's territorial waters as a result of violating maritime laws and not answering calls made by Iranian authorities," spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said. Iran launched a barrage of missiles and explosive drones on Saturday in its first direct attack on Israeli territory, a strike that Tehran said was self-defence after the bombing of the consulate. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that a Guards helicopter had boarded the MSC Aries and taken it into Iranian waters. MSC, which operates the Aries, confirmed Iran had seized the ship and said it was working "with the relevant authorities" for its safe return and the wellbeing of its 25 crew. MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, Zodiac said in a statement, adding that MSC is responsible for all the vessel's activities. Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. Tensions have soared across the Middle East since the start of Israel's campaign in Gaza in October, with Israel or its ally the United States clashing repeatedly with Iranian-aligned groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. In response to reports of the seizure, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Iran of piracy. Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation, the leading seafarers' union, said that "innocent seafarers must be protected from escalating conflicts they have no role in instigating, nor power to resolve". The International Chamber of Shipping called the seizure a "flagrant breach of international law and an assault on freedom of navigation". Recent attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have also affected the global maritime transport chain, as well as trade and port activities in and around the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Patrick Verhoeven, managing director of the International Association of Ports and Harbors, said the seizure of the MSC Aries "has the potential to further disrupt cargo transits in and out of the region, which will impact all of our member ports, one way or another". The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-msc-aries-vessel-seized-violating-maritime-laws-2024-04-15/
