2023-11-16 11:39

BRUSSELS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday said it is suing Poland over measures imposing additional costs in cross-border trade of natural gas. "Poland's national gas storage legislation requires undertakings using storage facilities outside Poland to book firm transport capacities and prohibits such undertakings to trade those capacities in case of non-use, except for the case of a gas supply crisis," the EU Commission said in a statement. Gas suppliers using storage facilities in Poland are not subject to such restrictions, which risk distorting and hampering the functioning of the internal market, as well risking security of gas supply, according to the Commission. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-sues-poland-over-restrictions-cross-border-trade-natural-gas-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 11:31

MUMBAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee closed lower on Thursday, weighed down by a recovery in U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar which clawed back some lost ground supported by stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data. The rupee closed at 83.2325 against the U.S. dollar, lower by 0.11% compared with its previous close at 83.1425. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield last quoted at 4.50%, while the dollar index was higher at 104.42, well above the week's low of 103.98 hit on Tuesday. U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% month-on-month in October, compared with a Reuters poll estimate of 0.3%. The rupee is "again stuck in a range", a foreign exchange trader at a foreign bank said. While the routine dollar demand is keeping up the pressure, directional momentum since last Friday's move has "fizzled out", the trader added. The domestic currency had plunged to its lifetime low of 83.42 on Friday. While investors continue to maintain bearish bets on most Asian currencies, short bets on the Indian rupee appear to have eased to their lowest in more than two months, according to a Reuters poll. Analysts broadly expect the rupee to underperform its Asian peers when the dollar's strength recedes. The rupee "is already arguably stronger than justified relative to most of its peer currencies in the region ... we would anticipate a more modest appreciation during 2024 than its peers as a result," ING Bank said in a note. Currently, the market is in a wait-and-watch mode and the rupee is likely to stay range-bound till the dollar changes course decisively, said Arnob Biswas, head of foreign exchange research at SMC Global Securities. Investors now await U.S. jobless claims data and Federal Reserve officials' speeches, both scheduled later in the day. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-ends-lower-pressured-by-recovery-us-yields-greenback-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 11:23

KYIV, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Falling debris injured one person and damaged food warehouses in Ukraine's western Khmelnytskyi region after the air force destroyed 16 Russian drones and one missile over the country, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday. Russia launched 18 drones and an unspecified number of missiles in overnight and early morning attacks, the Ukrainian military said, though the precise number of projectiles targeting the region was unclear. It was also not immediately clear where the two drones that slipped through Ukraine's air defences came down. A driver was injured as debris fell on his truck, the first deputy head of the regional administration said. "On the premises of food warehouses, debris damaged the roof and windows of a workshop and a three-storey building and seven containers for storing vegetable oil," Sehriy Tiurin, the first deputy, added on Telegram messenger. During the morning attack, residents of Starokostyantyniv, site of an air base targeted repeatedly by Russian air strikes, were also told to take shelter. Separately, Ukrainian authorities said unspecified civilian infrastructure in the eastern region of Kharkiv that borders Russia had been damaged by S-300 missiles, but that no deaths or injuries had been reported. Ukraine's energy ministry said Russian shelling had also targeted a power station in the eastern Donetsk region and had damaged equipment. Ukrainians fear Russia plans to conduct a second winter of air strikes targeting the power grid and energy system, causing sweeping blackouts and other outages. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-shoots-down-16-drones-one-missile-latest-russian-attacks-air-force-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 11:17

DUBAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - COP28 summit host the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may update its plans to tackle its own contribution to climate change next year after an independent research group ranked them "insufficient", the oil-producing country's climate minister said on Thursday. The UAE strengthened its climate pledge in the summer to be more ambitious, and its COP28 leadership has called on other countries to do the same ahead of the Nov. 30-Dec. 12 summit. But the country's new pledge would still see its CO2 emissions rise through to 2030, at odds with the sharp fall needed to curb climate change, according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) research consortium, which ranked the previous pledge "highly insufficient". "So going from highly insufficient to insufficient was, let's say, a step in the right direction, but we're still striving for more," UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment Mariam Almheiri told reporters, referring to the UAE's national climate plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions. "Who knows, probably next year, we might be announcing another NDC," she added. "Don't forget, we are in a desert. And when you think of the high temperatures we get exposed to - living and adapting to the environment we're in is also not easy. So you take that into consideration plus the targets we want to reach," she said, explaining that the cost of living was also a factor. Sarah Heck of Climate Analytics, one of the research institutes that make up CAT, said in July that while the UAE plans to spend $54 billion on renewable energy were good, they were dwarfed by the national oil company ADNOC's plans to invest three times that amount on oil and gas expansion. Investments in nuclear energy and solar power mean the UAE is well on track to meet its target to have 30% of energy from clean sources by 2030. But this will not prevent the UAE from busting its overall climate goals, if fossil fuel use does not decrease, CAT said. The climate change ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Almheiri said. "And actually, to be honest with you, the big players are feeling the heat. For them, they want to push this agenda as much as possible," she added, pointing to ADNOC's goal of net zero by 2045. The UAE seeks to reach net zero by 2050. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/cop28-host-uae-may-update-climate-plans-next-year-after-insufficient-ranking-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 11:17

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - British train drivers plan to hold a fresh round of strikes next month in a prolonged dispute over pay and working conditions, the ASLEF trade union said on Thursday. The union said drivers would hold a rolling programme of one-day strikes across 16 train companies between Dec. 2 and Dec. 8, as well as a nine-day overtime ban. "We are determined to win this dispute and get a significant pay rise for train drivers who have not had an increase since 2019 while the cost of living, in that time, has soared," ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said in a statement. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents Britain's train operators, said a "fair and affordable" offer had been made which would take average driver base salaries for a 4-day week to 65,000 pounds ($80,607), from 60,000 pounds. "We urge the ASLEF leadership to put it to its members, give Christmas back to our passengers, and end this damaging industrial dispute," an RDG spokesperson said. Last week a separate rail union, the RMT, agreed to put its long-running programme of industrial action on hold if its members vote to accept the offer of a way forward aimed at resolving the dispute. A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: "It is disappointing that ASLEF are targeting the public and hospitality businesses at the beginning of the festive period ... ASLEF should be following in the footsteps of the other rail unions and giving their members a vote on this fair pay deal." ($1 = 0.8064 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-train-drivers-stage-further-strikes-next-month-over-pay-dispute-pa-media-2023-11-16/

2023-11-16 11:14

April 5 (Reuters) - Global growth will likely slow this year, but a dovish tilt in the Federal Reserve's stance has raised hopes for the U.S. economy and brightened the outlook for riskier assets, according to big banks. Following are forecasts from some major banks on economic growth, inflation, Fed policy and how they expect certain asset classes to perform. ---- U.S. inflation and Fed forecasts: The latest data showed that in the 12 months through February, U.S. consumer prices edged 3.2% higher after increasing 3.1% in January. The pace of price rises, however, has slowed from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022. The Fed targets an inflation rate of 2%. The U.S. central bank's policy rate currently stands in the 5.25%-5.50% range after 525 basis points of hike since March 2022. Rate cuts are now seen coming in June. ----- Forecasts for stocks, currencies and bonds: 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/what-expect-2024-fed-pivot-cooling-inflation-easing-growth-2024-01-15/