2023-11-17 02:59

MUMBAI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is likely to open little changed on Friday amid a further decline in oil prices and persistent dollar buying interest. Non-deliverable forwards indicate rupee will open at 83.23-83.24, nearly unchanged from the previous session. Brent crude on Thursday dropped 4.6% to the lowest since July on worries over demand. The benchmark was hovering near $77.50 in Asia hours and is headed for its fourth straight weekly decline. The rupee's rally to near 83 earlier this week faced significant resistance. "This week we have seen more evidence that any sort of dips (on USD/INR) is running into a mountain of bids," a forex trader at a bank said. "Based on that, there is little in pushing the pair lower." The rupee's realised and implied volatility is hovering near multi-year lows. "Net-net, there is no volatility so it (the rupee) will stay in the tight range." another trader said. Most Asian currencies inched up, bolstered by a drop in U.S. yields. The 10-year U.S. treasury yield fell 8 basis points on Thursday, and was at 4.43% in Asia hours, near a 2-month low. U.S. data out on Thursday provided investors reasons to pile into Treasuries. Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 231,000 compared to the 220,000 reading expected by economists polled by Reuters. Meanwhile, industrial production fell 0.6% month-on-month in October, with manufacturing output down 0.7%. "Manufacturing output pointed to ongoing struggles in the sector. The lagged effects of monetary tightening are now feeding through, and we expect further moderation across output, labour and inflation in coming months and quarters," ANZ said in a note. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Thursday that U.S. economic risks were two-sided and a 'soft landing' was possible. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 83.27; onshore one-month forward premium at 5 paisa ** Dollar index down at 104.32 ** Brent crude futures at $77.6 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.43% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors bought a net $183.3 mln worth of Indian shares on Nov. 15 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors bought a net $128.9 mln worth of Indian bonds on Nov. 15 https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-contend-with-slump-oil-prices-persistent-dollar-bids-2023-11-17/

2023-11-16 23:31

Nov 16 (Reuters) - The North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) said on Thursday it has concluded a two-day simulation with power sector entities to stress-test their emergency response and recovery plans for physical and cyber security attacks. Plots against power infrastructure and electric substations have come to light recently in different parts of the country including Maryland, North Carolina, Washington state and South Carolina, with some incidents of vandalism leaving thousands in the dark. "Our adversaries continue to look for ways to exploit our interconnected system. We must continue to be vigilant," said NERC senior vice president Manny Cancel, who leads its Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC). The E-ISAC's GridEx, the biggest grid security exercise in North America, took place on Nov. 14-15 with more than 250 participants, including electric and natural gas companies government agencies. NERC warned of evolving cyber threats to the electric grid, "guided by geopolitical events, new vulnerabilities, changes in technologies, and increasingly bold cyber criminals and hackers." In a report released Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission warned that "a coordinated cyber and/or physical attack on the bulk power system or generation fuel sources, especially in conjunction with a severe cold weather event, could be especially impactful." Data on electric disturbances reported by utilities shows about 95 human-related incidents, including vandalism and cyber events, in the first half of 2023, more compared to the same period in any past year, according to U.S. Department of Energy records dating back to 2000. In an August report, NERC pushed to develop standards for the power sector on mitigating risk from cloud adoption and artificial intelligence technologies, along with cyber security training for the workforce. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/north-american-grid-regulator-tests-physical-cyber-security-preparedness-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 23:24

Cisco falls as it cuts annual forecasts Walmart drops on consumer spending caution Weekly jobless claims higher than expected Indexes: Dow off 0.13%, S&P up 0.12%, Nasdaq up 0.07% Nov 16 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq managed to eke out tiny gains on Thursday while the Dow Industrial Average (.DJI) ended slightly lower with pressure from tech and retail bellwethers Cisco and Walmart after disappointing forecasts. Shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) tumbled 9.8% as the communications and networking technology company cut its full-year revenue and profit forecasts on slowing demand for its networking equipment. Also in technology, Palo Alto Networks (PANW.O) shares fell 5.4% after its forecast late Wednesday for second-quarter billings missed expectations. Walmart (WMT.N) shares sank 8.1% a day after touching a record high. The retail giant said U.S. consumers were spending cautiously because of inflation, even as it raised its annual forecast for sales and profit. This helped send the S&P 500 consumer staples index (.SPLRCS) down 1.2% and weighed on retailers with Dollar General (DG.N) and Dollar Tree both falling 4.2%. Also, Target (TGT.N) fell 0.4%, giving back some gains from the previous session in which it soared 17.8% after providing a bullish strong holiday-quarter outlook. Earlier this week, Wall Street indexes had rallied sharply with data signaling cooling U.S. inflation and fueling hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates. Also, passage this week of a stop-gap bill to avert a government shutdown eased some nerves. Given that Cisco and Walmart are "a backbone of their respective industries", Paul Nolte, senior wealth adviser and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest said their weakness "calls a little bit into question the health of the consumer and maybe the health of the technology sector." But others noted positive counter forces in Thursday's session, with gains in megacaps including Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O). "The major indexes are pretty much flat on the day, but you're still seeing a lot of strength in big-cap tech or growth. It's just a continuation of the positive narrative we've seen in the market recently," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. Specifically, Ghriskey cited investor relief that the Federal Reserve appears to be done with its rate hiking cycle. Earlier, a Labor Department report showed weekly jobless claims had risen more than expected, cementing bets that the Fed will not need to raise rates further. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 45.74 points, or 0.13%, to 34,945.47, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 5.36 points, or 0.12%, to 4,508.24 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 9.84 points, or 0.07%, to 14,113.67. Energy (.SPNY), down 2.1% led declines among the 11 major S&P sectors, hitting a four-month low as crude prices settled down almost 5%. . Communications services (.SPLRCL), up 0.9% was the sector with the strongest advance during the session followed by information technology (.SPLRCT), up 0.7%. "The big driver today is the tug-of-war between those who want to sell on rallies and those who want to buy on dips," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. "Economic data hasn’t been bad enough to trigger too many recession fears, but it hasn’t been good enough to engender too much enthusiasm. We’re entering a period with the holidays where small surprises can have outsized influences on prices." Money markets have fully priced in a probability that the Fed will hold rates steady in December, and see about a 62% chance of a rate cut in May of at least 25 basis points, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Among individual stocks, Macy's (M.N) shares rallied 5.7% after the department store operator's quarterly sales beat analysts' estimates. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.42-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.97-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 40 new highs and 123 new lows. On U.S. exchanges 10.71 billion shares changed hands compared with the 11.09 billion average for the last 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-muted-rate-pause-optimism-wanes-cisco-drops-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 21:49

Nov 17 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever, financial markets columnist. Asian markets are poised to round off a positive week on a more subdued note on Friday, with concerns over world growth countering any optimism from another slide in U.S. Treasury yields and global oil prices. The Asia Pacific economic data and policy calendar on Friday is very light, with only Malaysian third quarter GDP and current account reports scheduled for release. Malaysia's economy probably grew at a 3.0% annual rate in the July-September period, according to a Reuters poll, slightly faster than 2.9% in Q2. Ahead of the data the ringgit is trading around 4.6850 per dollar, near last month's 25-year low of 4.79 per dollar. Anyone hoping for market-moving news from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco will have been disappointed. The gathering of APEC leaders has been cordial and cooperative but, viewed through an economic and market lens, lacking any real substance. The same largely applies to the much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Investor worries over the health of China's economy refuse to dissipate. The latest data show house prices fell for a fourth month in October and could fall further, and weak Japanese exports were in part due to soft demand from China. Bucking the wider regional trend, China's CSI 300 blue chip index is poised for a slender decline, its first in four weeks. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan equity index is up 3.5% so far this week, its best week since July and third best of the year, and Japan's Nikkei 225 is set for its third weekly rise in a row, its best run since June. The backdrop to Friday's market activity in Asia is further evidence that disinflationary pressures are spreading in the U.S. economy and beyond. Data on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims rose to a three-month high and industrial production fell at its fastest rate this year. Capacity utilization slid to a two-year low, and global oil prices fell sharply again too - Brent crude futures hit a four-month low and are now down 16% year-on-year. Fading inflation puts downward pressure on interest rates and market borrowing costs, and U.S. Treasury yields fell as much as 10 basis points across the curve. All else equal, this weakens the dollar and supports risk assets like equities and emerging assets. But Wall Street failed to bounce and the dollar stood its ground on Thursday, hinting at a more defensive and cautious stance from many investors. If this filters through to Asia on Friday, the week may peter out with a whimper rather than a bang. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday: - Malaysia current account (Q3) - Malaysia GDP (Q3) - Fed's Barr, Collins, Daly and Goolsbee speak https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphics-pix-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 21:37

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Bitcoin dropped 4.94% to $36,007 at 2117 GMT on Thursday, losing $1,870 from its previous close. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is down 5.2% from the year's high of $37,978 on November 9. Ether , the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, dropped 4.86 % to $1,959.8 on Thursday, losing $100.2 from its previous close. https://www.reuters.com/technology/bitcoin-falls-494-36007-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 21:35

TSX ends down 4.82 points at 20,053.07 Energy falls 1.9%; oil settles down 4.9% Materials group gains 1.1% Industrials add 0.6% Nov 16 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock ended slightly lower on Thursday after five straight days of gains, as investors grew more worried about the economic outlook and a sharp drop in the price of oil weighed on energy shares. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) ended down 4.82 points at 20,053.07. The benchmark index gained 2.7% over the previous five sessions as market sentiment improved on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve was done raising interest rates. Wall Street's major indexes ended mixed after disappointing earnings forecasts from Cisco (CSCO.O) and major retailer Walmart (WMT.N). The problem for investors is that interest rates are peaking "because there's a potential recession coming," said Greg Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments. "The Walmart numbers this morning are (triggering) a little more caution on the overall economy." The energy sector lost 1.9% as oil tumbled to its lowest level since July 7 following weak data from the U.S. and Asia. "It's a sell-off that's accelerating," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. "What we are getting is growing concerns about demand." U.S. crude oil futures settled 4.9% lower at $72.90 a barrel. In contrast, the price of gold rose 1.1% to about $1,980 per ounce. That helped the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies. It advanced 1.1%, while industrials were up 0.6%. https://www.reuters.com/markets/futures-dip-weak-crude-prices-housing-data-tap-2023-11-16/