2024-01-08 10:49

BRUSSELS, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt on Monday secured EU approval for 902-million-euro ($986.43 million) in German state aid to build an electric vehicle battery production plant in the north of Germany. The European Commission said the plant would accelerate the 27-country bloc's green transition and reduce fuel dependencies, and that the German aid was necessary as without it, Northvolt would build the plant in the United States with support from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. The German aid consists of a 700-million-euro direct grant and a 202-million-euro guarantee. The plant, to be located in the city of Heide, will have an annual capacity of 60 GWh which translates to 800,000 to 1 million electric vehicles per year, depending on the size of the battery. Production will start in 2026 and will reach full capacity in 2029. ($1 = 0.9144 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/northvolt-gains-eu-nod-986-mln-german-aid-build-ev-battery-plant-2024-01-08/

2024-01-08 10:17

MUMBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee ended little changed on Monday as dollar demand from importers, including local oil companies, eroded early gains from inflows. The rupee ended at 83.1375 against the U.S. dollar, barely changed from its previous close at 83.15. While the local unit had risen to a three-week high of 83.0550 earlier in the session, strong dip-buying appetite on the dollar-rupee pair eroded early gains, a foreign exchange trader at a state-run bank said. "We keep seeing importers moving in to capture lower levels on spot (on USD/INR)," the trader said, adding that local oil companies were also seen bidding for dollars. Most Asian currencies were rangebound, save for the Thai baht, which weakened by about 0.8%. The dollar index was little changed at 102.46. While stronger than expected non-farm payrolls data had initially lifted the dollar on Friday, the greenback shed gains after data signalled considerable slowing in the services sector of the world's largest economy. The Institute for Supply Management said that its non-manufacturing PMI fell to 50.6 last month from 52.7 in November, marking its lowest reading since May. The mixed data did little to alter expectations surrounding a potential rate cut in the world's biggest economy. Investors are currently pricing in a slightly above 68% chance of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in March, according to CME FedWatch tool. While the overall bias remains positive for the rupee, the market is likely to "stay choppy," heading into U.S. inflation data due later this week, said Arnob Biswas, head of foreign exchange research at SMC Global Securities. Month-on-month core consumer price inflation (CPI) is forecast to come in at 0.2% in December, down from 0.3% in the previous month, according to a Reuters poll of economists. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-ends-little-changed-wedged-between-inflows-oil-cos-dollar-buys-2024-01-08/

2024-01-08 10:08

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Global hedge funds last week sold tech stocks for a third week running as managers chased falls in the S&P 500 index and cut exposure to big tech stocks, a Goldman Sachs note said. U.S. tech stocks were the most net sold sector in the week to Jan. 6 with hedge funds shedding these stocks at the highest level in 11 weeks, the Goldman note to clients on Friday said. Hedge funds not only cut long positions but piled into short bets that the prices on these equities would fall, the note added. Apart from communications devices, all kinds of tech shares were sold, said the bank, including software companies, semi conductors, tech hardware and storage companies related to the technology industry. European tech stocks (.SX8P) fell 4.24% last week, their biggest weekly drop since July, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock index tumbled just over 3% (.IXIC) and the S&P (.SPX) kicked off 2024 with its worst weekly showing in months. Goldman's prime brokerage department, which serves hedge funds, saw stockpickers' performances fall 1.07% in the week between Dec. 29 and Jan. 4, the note said. Elsewhere, hedge funds also ditched consumer discretionary companies making products that shoppers typically like to buy but don't necessarily need, Goldman added. Speculators fled these positions at the fastest pace since September 2023, Goldman said, adding that traders were net sold globally in hotels and restaurants, retail stores, and auto companies. Hedge funds that were already short in the consumer discretionary sector saw a 3.5% bump in performance, said the bank. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/hedgeflow-hedge-funds-dump-tech-consumer-stocks-start-year-goldman-2024-01-08/

2024-01-08 09:39

FRANKFURT, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Investor morale in the euro zone improved for the third consecutive month in January to its highest level since May, but a turnaround for the 20-country currency bloc is not a done deal, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix's index for the euro zone rose to -15.8 points in January from -16.8 in December, below a reading of -15.5 estimated in a Reuters poll of analysts. Sentix pointed to Germany - the region's largest economy - as a pocket of particular weakness, with a decline in sentiment. "This is unlikely to be a turnaround" for the euro zone, Sentix said. "This is partly due to Germany, whose economy is still in recession and therefore in crisis." For the euro zone, the expectations index rose to -8.8 points from -9.8 in December, a fourth consecutive month of rises and the highest value since February. The index on the current situation in the euro zone also rose, increasing to -22.5 in January from -23.5 the previous month, the third monthly increase in a row. The poll of 1,282 investors was conducted between Jan. 4 and Jan. 6. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/euro-zone-investor-morale-gains-january-survey-2024-01-08/

2024-01-08 07:01

ABUJA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank has paid nearly $2 billion in outstanding foreign exchange forwards in the last three months in a bid to clear a backlog of dollars, a spokesperson has said, but forex shortages continue to hobble the country's naira currency. Africa's biggest economy has nearly $7 billion in forex forwards that have matured, a major concern for investors, but the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to pay up to boost confidence in the foreign exchange market. "In the past three months, the CBN has also redeemed outstanding forward liabilities amounting to almost USD 2 billion," acting spokesperson Hakama Sadi Ali said in a statement late on Sunday. "This underscores the Bank's commitment to the resolution of pending obligations and a functional foreign exchange market." Nigeria's foreign currency shortages have been worsened by declining oil production, which is the country's largest export, accounting for more than 90% of dollar inflows. Ali said the CBN had recently paid $61.64 million to foreign airlines, who sold tickets in the local naira currency but have not been able to get their money out of the country. Foreign airlines were owed more than $700 million at the end of November. "These payments signify the CBN's ongoing efforts to settle all remaining valid forward transactions, with the aim of alleviating the current pressure on the country's exchange rate," Ali said. President Bola Tinubu has promised to boost foreign currency inflows into Nigeria by attracting new investment, ramping up oil production and reforming the foreign exchange market. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/nigeria-central-bank-pays-nearly-2-billion-towards-fx-backlog-2024-01-08/

2024-01-08 06:30

NEW DELHI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Japan restated the importance for early completion of signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sri Lanka and creditor nations on debt restructuring, after an agreement was reached in principle late last year. It also emphasised the need to ensure transparency and comparability in agreements with creditors outside the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), according to a statement dated Friday. Japan, along with France and India, co-chair the committee of 15 creditor nations. Battling its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948, the South Asian island nation is trying to restructure deals with creditors after soaring inflation, currency depreciation and low foreign reserves sent its economy into free fall, forcing it to default on foreign debt in May 2022. Sri Lanka and its creditors said in November they reached an agreement in principle on debt restructuring that would cover approximately $5.9 billion of outstanding public debt and consisted of a mix of long-term maturity extension and reduction in interest rates. China, Sri Lanka's largest bilateral creditor, has struck its own deal with the island nation, but has not joined OCC as a formal member. Sri Lanka's total external debt is estimated at $36.4 billion, which includes $10.81 billion of bilateral debt, according to data released by its finance ministry in September. Sri Lanka needs to secure debt restructuring agreements with both bilateral creditors and bondholders, possibly by March, to complete the second review of a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-urges-early-signing-debt-mou-between-sri-lanka-creditors-2024-01-08/