2023-11-13 22:06
BUENOS AIRES, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Analysts polled by Argentina's central bank raised their estimate for annual inflation for this year (ARCPIN=ECI) to 185.0%, the bank said on Monday, up from last month's estimate of 180.7%. The Market Expectations Survey (REM), conducted between Oct. 27 to 31 among 38 participants from consulting firms, financial entities and local and international research centers, estimated monthly inflation will reach 11.5% in November. Annualized inflation hit 142.7% in October, the country's statistics office said on Monday, with the monthly rise landing at 8.3%, although that was down from peaks in August and September and below analyst forecasts. https://www.reuters.com/markets/emerging/argentina-2023-inflation-seen-185-cenbank-poll-2023-11-13/
2023-11-13 21:49
Nov 14 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever, financial markets columnist. The spotlight currently shining on Japan's yen, and speculation around whether Tokyo will intervene to prevent further depreciation, will likely intensify on Tuesday with traders poised to push the currency to a fresh 33-year low. Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to San Francisco on Tuesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit - where he will meet U.S. President Joe Biden the next day - will grab much of the news headlines, but probably won't move markets much. Before those face-to-face talks, and absent major Asian economic data releases or policy events, the greatest potential for market-moving action on Tuesday could be in currencies. The yen hit its lowest level in more than a year on Monday, near the key psychological level of 152.00 per dollar, but rallied sharply amid a flurry of options-related trading. Market participants say there has been no sight of Japanese authorities in the market - not yet, anyway - and Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki reiterated that the government will keep monitoring the FX market and respond appropriately. Currency traders may be tempted to test Tokyo's resolve again on Tuesday. The policy pressures facing Japanese authorities are intense, and the potential risks to financial markets if policymakers misstep are growing. After battling against deflation for decades, the Bank of Japan is moving away from ultra-loose policy. It's a delicate and complicated path to navigate though. Bond yields are the highest in a decade and rising, the yen is the weakest in decades, stocks are near their highest in more than three decades, and according to Goldman Sachs, financial conditions are the loosest in more than three decades. As Deutsche Bank's George Saravelos put it on Monday, normalizing policy and unwinding the world's biggest carry trade - which he pegs at $20 trillion - will not be easy or pain free. More broadly, investors in Asia go into Tuesday's session on a reasonably strong footing following Monday's gains, but with little impetus to add to them. The MSCI emerging market and Asia ex-Japan indexes both snapped four-day losing streaks on Monday, rising 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, but trading on Wall Street was listless. It was also listless in U.S. Treasuries, although this is perhaps a good thing given that Moody's cut the U.S. credit ratings outlook on Friday. In corporate news, the major earnings releases on Tuesday include Japanese financial giants Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, while figures are expected to show that India's annual wholesale price inflation rate, which has been negative since April, was -0.2% in October. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - India wholesale price inflation (October) - Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the U.S. - Fed's Jefferson, Barr, Mester and Goolsbee all speak https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphics-pix-2023-11-13/
2023-11-13 21:31
SAO PAULO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - JBS SA, the world's biggest meatpacker, reported an 86% drop in third-quarter net income compared to a year ago on Monday, sliding to around 573 million reais ($116.63 million). Net income was under the LSEG consensus forecast of 724 million reais, and far below the whopping 4 billion real gain in the third quarter of 2022. In a financial statement, the company said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a measure of operating income known as EBITDA, came in at 5.40 billion reais, above consensus estimates of 5.15 billion reais. JBS felt pain across key business divisions and posted net revenues of 91.4 billion reais, down 7.6% year-on-year. In the U.S., the company's biggest market by sales revenue, beef margins fell sharply as reduced cattle herds limited the availability of animals for slaughter and raised costs, a situation also affecting rival Tyson Foods (TSN.N). Citing the USDA, JBS said U.S. beef exports were down 19% year-on-year through end-September, mainly due to supply restrictions combined with lower Asian demand, which hurt the firm. The three main destinations of U.S. beef exports remain South Korea, Japan and China, it added. Also in the U.S., wholesale pork prices fell about 7% in the quarter from a year ago, as companies made an effort to reduce stock levels, according to JBS. The silver lining for pork was the international market, as JBS cited data from the USDA showing an 12% increase in pork exports, especially to Mexico and Canada, from January to September. In its local Seara processed foods divisions, revenues dropped 13.3% year-on-year to 10.2 billion reais as export sales plunged on a persistent global chicken oversupply. Seara's exports in dollars slid 14% from the year-ago quarter to $1 billion on lower export prices in the currency. This was partially offset by a rise in the volumes sold by the division, JBS noted. ($1 = 4.9129 reais) https://www.reuters.com/business/brazil-meatpacker-jbss-profit-plunges-q3-missing-estimates-2023-11-13/
2023-11-13 21:30
QUITO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Ecuador state oil company Petroecuador said on Monday it plans to shut down a large drilling project in the Yasuni ecological reserve in the Amazon rainforest next August, following a referendum to end it to protect nature and indigenous people. Petroecuador CEO Reinaldo Armijos told reporters the company has a plan for the gradual closure of the 43-ITT block, which currently pumps around 57,000 barrels per day (bpd). In a vote hailed by both environmental and indigenous activists, voters in August opted to shutter production at the 43-ITT block in an effort to better protect the Yasuni reserve, a national park located in the Amazon in northeastern Ecuador. Flora and fauna affected by oil production in the reserve will take many years to recover, Environment Minister Jose Davalos said in September. Armijos said the initial cost to shut down the project is estimated at $600 million. He also noted that lost revenue from the project due to the looming suspension will likely total about $680 million next year. The state-run producer's crude output currently stands at about 400,000 bpd. Ecuador is one of Latin America's mid-range oil producers, behind regional heavyweights Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Armijos said output will likely end next August at around 41,000 bpd before the project, which entered into production in 2016, is closed down. He emphasized that incoming President Daniel Noboa, who will take office in late November, will have the last word on the block's status. Noboa has previously said he will respect the will of voters to end the project. Drilling contracts at 43-ITT will remain in place through the end of this year, and then from January Petroecuador will not seek to maintain its output, added Armijos. The project's closure is also seen impacting the OCP oil pipeline, which will come under government control come next year. Environmental groups and local indigenous communities have described the vote to close the oil project as a historic step toward reducing the harmful effects of climate change. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/petroecuador-close-amazon-oil-block-after-referendum-2023-11-13/
2023-11-13 21:28
TSX up 0.3% Energy shares gain on high oil prices Dye and Durham up on strategic review Nov 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed higher on Monday helped by a boost in energy stocks as oil prices jumped, while software firm Dye and Durham surged on a strategic review of its non-core assets. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) closed up 54.68 points, or 0.28%, at 19,709.15. The energy sector (.SPTTEN) was among the big gainers, adding 0.6% as oil prices ticked upwards. In corporate news, Dye and Durham (DND.TO) closed at its best day since December 2022, up 12.5% at the top of the TSX, after the cloud-based software firm announced a strategic review of non-core assets, contemplating a potential sale of all or part of non-core assets. "It is a company that was one of the highfliers a few years ago and then it had fallen on some hard times... We're seeing a pretty big bounce back as the company is now looking at selling off some assets it had bought in the last few years," said Greg Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments. Investors await U.S. inflation data, due on Tuesday, for clues to the trajectory of interest rates in the world's biggest economy after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refused to rule out more interest rate hikes last week. Despite Powell's comments, an analyst at Unicredit commented in a note, "U.S. CPI inflation figures tomorrow are unlikely to challenge the market conviction that there is no more need for further tightening by the Fed." Definity Financial (DFY.TO) was up 2% as multiple brokerages raised their price target on the insurer's stock, pushing the broader financials index (.SPTTFS) higher. The materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, fell 0.2% on subdued gold prices. Meanwhile, Panama's top court is likely to rule against First Quantum (FM.TO) when it decides on the fate of a key copper mine contract in the coming weeks, a majority of lawyers in a Reuters survey said. The Canadian miner was down 3.9%. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-start-week-flat-us-inflation-data-tap-2023-11-13/
2023-11-13 21:01
WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Joe Manchin urged the U.S. Treasury on Monday to adopt the "strictest possible standards" to prevent Chinese-produced minerals or Chinese battery companies from winning electric vehicle tax credits. Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, raised concerns in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about reports Chinese battery companies are actively pursuing business opportunities to take advantage of the credits, adding U.S. tax credits "cannot be allowed to be hijacked by adversaries engaging in mineral laundering." In 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act barring $7,500 in future consumer EV tax credits if any battery components are manufactured or assembled by a "foreign entity of concern." The rules were aimed at weaning U.S. battery supply chains away from China, which Manchin noted is currently responsible for 74% of the world’s cathode production, 92% of anode production, and 76% of lithium-ion battery cell production. The auto industry awaiting detailed guidance from the Treasury on what is considered a "foreign entity of concern" as they make investment decisions on producing batteries for their transition to electric vehicles. The foreign entity of concern rules come into effect in 2024 for completed batteries and 2025 for critical minerals used to produce them. The Treasury did not immediately comment. Manchin said the law does not allow for a "value added test" exception and it "would be unconscionable to reward bad actors through a loose or deliberately weak interpretation." A key decision in the guidance is whether Ford Motor Co's (F.N) deal to license the technology of Chinese battery manufacturer CATL (300750.SZ) for use in Ford-owned U.S. battery plants will meet the Treasury's standards to access the tax credits. The arrangement has raised concerns among U.S. lawmakers. Ford put its planned $3.5 billion Michigan battery plant on hold in September and said it was awaiting "final language" from the Treasury on whether batteries made using Chinese technology will qualify for tax credits. Manchin said Yellen should "use the strictest metrics possible to ensure there are no loopholes that will lead to the laundering of minerals and materials from China or other nations of concern." https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/senator-asks-treasury-bar-chinese-battery-firms-minerals-us-ev-tax-credits-2023-11-13/
