2023-12-27 22:32

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR.O) said on Wednesday it had bought bitcoin worth about $615.7 million in cash, amid growing expectations that the top U.S. markets regulator will soon approve a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF). The company and its subsidiaries purchased about 14,620 bitcoins at an average price of roughly $42,110 between Nov. 30 and Dec. 26, according to a regulatory filing. Shares of the Virginia-based company jumped 8% in afternoon trading. MicroStrategy has surged over 350% this year, while bitcoin has gained nearly 160%. MicroStrategy's move to buy bitcoin to protect the value of its reserve assets has helped strengthen the appeal of the firm's stock, which tends to move in tandem with the digital asset. "This is not a short-term trading strategy but rather reflects a belief that bitcoin will ultimately prove a superior store of value," said analysts at TD Cowen. "The company remains an attractive vehicle for investors looking to gain bitcoin exposure," the brokerage added. In recent months, a spate of filings, including from traditional finance heavyweights like BlackRock (BLK.N) have revived the crypto markets which had been crushed after several high-profile firms such as Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX collapsed. A spot crypto ETF would track the market price of the underlying crypto asset, giving investors exposure to the token without having to buy the currency. MicroStrategy, which began buying the cryptocurrency in 2020, said it together with subsidiaries now holds about 189,150 bitcoins bought for about $5.9 billion. The company has said its bitcoin investments are intended as long-term holdings and that it expects to continue to accumulate the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency. "Due to its limited supply, bitcoin offers the opportunity for appreciation in value if its adoption increases and has the potential to serve as a hedge against inflation in the long-term," the company said in its latest quarterly report. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/microstrategy-buys-bitcoin-worth-6157-mln-ahead-secs-spot-etf-decision-2023-12-27/

2023-12-27 22:25

HOUSTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Chatterjee Fund Management has increased its stake in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Tellurian Inc (TELL.A) to 7.3%, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed on Wednesday, up from 5.2% previously. The Marshall Islands investment firm described the latest purchases of the Tellurian shares as an investment and not an attempt to control the company. Chatterjee bought almost 13 million shares between Dec. 13 and Dec. 22, days after Tellurian ousted its chairman and co-founder Charif Souki. The purchases brought the company's total holdings to 46.1 million shares. Tellurian shares rose 7.5% to 0.9485 cents on Wednesday. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some of the purchases took place weeks after auditors raised doubts about Tellurian's ability to cover future expenses. Souki helped create the U.S. LNG export market in 1996 after seizing on discoveries of vast amounts of shale gas. He turned his former company Cheniere Energy (LNG.A) from an LNG importer into a major exporter, but was unable to repeat the same success at Tellurian. Souki was replaced as Tellurian's chairman by fellow co-founder Martin Houston and has parted ways with the company following a settlement of more than $8 million. Chatterjee was founded in 1989 by Purnendu Chatterjee, a former investment adviser to entities in the Quantum Group of Funds. The private equity firm invests in petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotech, financial services and real estate, according to the company's website. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/chatterjee-fund-management-boosts-stake-lng-developer-tellurian-73-2023-12-27/

2023-12-27 20:28

NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - A measure of the cost of borrowing short-term funds backed by U.S. Treasuries spiked this week to its highest since 2019, a move some market participants attributed to dealers closing their balance sheets for the year. The DTCC GCF Treasury Repo Index , which tracks the average daily interest rate paid for the most-traded General Collateral Finance (GFC) Repo contracts for U.S. Treasuries, jumped to 5.452% on Tuesday from 5.395% last week. That is the highest level since September 2019, when dwindling bank reserves sent the cost of overnight loans as high as 10%, forcing the Federal Reserve to intervene. The spike resulted from dealers closing their books for the year, which meant borrowers had to pay more to fund their collateral, several market participants said. "It looks like there was a need for cash which drove up the overnight fund rates," said Tom di Galoma, managing director and co-head of global rates trading at BTIG. "There is a lot volatility in overnight rates due to year-end." A spike in the price for repurchase agreements, or repos, in which investors borrow against Treasury and other collateral, can be a sign that cash is getting scarce in a key funding market for Wall Street. A three-day jump in the Treasury GCF Repo Index from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 raised concerns on whether cash levels were sufficiently healthy. This week's GFC repo price increase is not worrying, said Steven Zeng, U.S. rates strategist at Deutsche Bank. "The GCF market is dealer to dealer lending, so a much more limited amount of cash (is) being moved around, resulting in higher rates." Because large dealer banks are offering less intermediation at year-end, cash in money market funds could not make its way to hedge funds and other cash borrowers. Increased usage of the Fed's reverse repo facility, through which money market funds lend to the Fed, was evidence of money market funds wanting to invest cash but lacking private counterparties, Zeng said. Cash flowing into the Fed's reverse repo (RRP) facility jumped to $793.9 billion on Dec. 26 from $772.3 billion as of the end of last week. "It's year-end coming and bank balance sheets and window-dressing are preventing the money market funds from taking cash to banks," said Scott Skyrm, executive vice president of Curvature Securities. "If it wasn't year end ... a lot more of that RRP cash would be flowing into the repo market." https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-short-term-financing-rate-spikes-dealers-close-books-2023-2023-12-27/

2023-12-27 19:55

Some major shippers return to Red Sea routes Middle East tensions persist Israel predicts many months of conflict API data shows US crude inventories rise - market sources NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped nearly 2% on Wednesday, eating into the previous day's gains as investors monitored developments in the Red Sea, where shippers are returning despite further attacks on Tuesday. Brent crude futures settled down $1.42, or 1.8%, at $79.65 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.46, or 1.9%, to $74.11. Danish shipping company Maersk said it has scheduled several dozen container vessels to travel via the Suez Canal and Red Sea in the coming weeks after calling a temporary halt to those routes this month after attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia. France's CMA CGM also said it was resuming passage through the Red Sea after deployment of a multinational task force to the region. "I think we have to wait and see whether the increased naval patrols and rerouting of ships lead to a decline in attacks," said Callum Macpherson, head of commodities at Investec. Both the Brent and WTI benchmarks settled more than 2% higher in the previous session as the latest attacks on ships in the Red Sea prompted fears of shipping disruption. The prospect of a prolonged Israeli military campaign in Gaza remained a major driver of market sentiment. Israeli forces pummelled central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday, a day after Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told reporters the war would go on "for many months". Elsewhere, oil loadings at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk were suspended because of a storm. However, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near the port was open, Kazakhstan's energy ministry said. U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week by 1.84 million barrels, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday. U.S. government data on stockpiles is due on Thursday. Oil output in Russia, the third largest producer in the world after the United States and Saudi Arabia, is expected to be steady or even to increase next year as Moscow has largely overcome Western sanctions, analysts said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-fall-major-shipping-firms-return-red-sea-2023-12-27/

2023-12-27 19:27

NAIROBI, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Kenyan police said on Wednesday they were investigating suspected killings of four men on a Del Monte pineapple farm near Nairobi, months after a media report said security guards on the same farm had killed and assaulted trespassing villagers. Friends and relatives of the latest victims urged the government to intervene to explain how the four ended up in a river, around 40 km (25 miles) from Nairobi. Multinational food company Del Monte said its local unit was cooperating with the authorities and alleged there was rampant organised crime around pineapple theft in the region. "Our security footage from when the men attempted to steal pineapple shows no foul play on Del Monte's part and instead shows the thieves running away towards the river... as they tried to run away from security guards," it said. Earlier this year a joint investigation by Britain's Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Guardian newspaper found evidence that they said showed security guards working for Del Monte had killed and brutally assaulted villagers suspected of trespassing on the Kenyan pineapple farm. Del Monte said at the time it had initiated investigations, supported by an independent review by a specialist human rights consultancy. "Kenyan police have launched investigations into the killings of people inside the Del Monte pineapple farm," said David Kainga Mathiu, Muranga county police commander. "We have not yet arrested any suspects," he told Reuters. After five days of searching, two bodies were found in the river on Sunday, and another two on Monday, independent broadcaster Citizen TV reported. "When we found the first body, we started screaming," Rhoda Wayua told Citizen TV. "After a while, the second body washed up. It was that of my son." Another relative, Peter Kamanzi, claimed at least one of the victims had sustained injuries that may have contributed to his death. "It's quite visible that this boy was seriously beaten up," Kamanzi said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenya-police-probe-suspected-killings-del-monte-pineapple-farm-2023-12-27/

2023-12-27 19:27

Dec 27 (Reuters) - NextDecade (NEXT.O) has filed for a shelf registration that would allow TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) to sell its 17.5% stake in the U.S. liquefied natural gas company over time. A unit of French oil major TotalEnergies currently holds 44.9 million shares of NextDecade, bought for $219 million in June as part of a broader deal to develop NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG export project in south Texas that has faced repeated delays. NextDecade, which signed a contract to supply 5.4 million tons of LNG per year to TotalEnergies, said in a filing dated Dec. 22 it would not receive any proceeds from any such future offerings. The prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registers the shares owned by TotalEnergies and enables them to sell them in the future, said NextDecade spokesperson Susan Richardson. "There is no current offering of shares. While we cannot control the actions of our shareholders...we view them as a long-term strategic partner," Richardson said. TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. TotalEnergies' decision is likely a reflection that, having helped get the LNG facility to a final investment decision, an equity position was no longer required, said Rapidan Energy Group Research Director Alex Munton. "The equity investment in Next Decade may have been needed to help Rio Grande being financed, and that now the project the under construction TotalEnergies may have decided that there is little value in holding onto its position, as the overriding interest is in the offtake volumes, which it was able to secure at low cost", Munton said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/totalenergies-sell-shares-lng-developer-nextdecade-2023-12-27/