2024-08-08 12:28

BENGALURU, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Bayer CropScience (BAYE.NS) , opens new tab, the Indian unit of German drug and pesticide maker Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE) , opens new tab, reported a 22.6% fall in its first-quarter profit on Thursday due to sluggish demand for its crop-protection products. The company's profit for the April-June quarter declined to 2.54 billion rupees ($30.3 million), while revenue dropped by 6.2% to 16.31 billion rupees from 17.4 billion rupees a year earlier. For further results highlights, click. KEY CONTEXT Agrochemical and fertilizer companies experienced a lackluster performance in the first quarter due to factors such as excessive inventory in the domestic market, leading to continuous pressure on volume and margins. Peer UPL (UPLL.NS) , opens new tab posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as it took a hit from rising input costs. PEER COMPARISON * Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell ** Ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE -- All data from LSEG IBES -- $1 = 83.9280 rupees Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indias-bayer-cropscience-q1-profit-falls-sluggish-demand-2024-08-08/

2024-08-08 12:10

TOKYO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit southwestern Japan on Thursday, triggering tsunami advisories, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, but there were no immediate signs of major damage. There have been no reports of abnormalities at nuclear power plants following the quake, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. The government has not heard of any damage to key infrastructure such as power and water supplies, Hayashi said. The quake occurred at around 4:43 p.m. (0743 GMT) off Miyazaki prefecture on the western major island of Kyushu, the JMA said. Some of the tsunami advisories, originally issued for the Pacific coast of the major western islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, have been lifted, except for Miyazaki. A JMA panel, convened after the quake, believes there is now a "relatively higher chance" of another major earthquake occurring near western Japan's Pacific coast, Hayashi added. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he intended look into whether to follow through with his travel plan over the next few days. Kishida is scheduled to visit Nagasaki on Friday to mark the 79th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, followed by visits to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. More than 15,000 people were killed in a magnitude 9 quake in 2011 that triggered a devastating tsunami and triple reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/quake-with-69-magnitude-hits-western-japan-tsunami-alerts-issued-nhk-2024-08-08/

2024-08-08 12:06

NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Non-residents poured $36.5 billion into their emerging market stock and debt portfolios in July, a banking trade group's data showed on Thursday, the largest inflows since January. The Institute of International Finance (IIF) also said prospects for lower interest rates in the United States further brightened the outlook for EM assets. Debt issuance accounted for the bulk of the net inflows to EM portfolios last month, a total of $29.4 billion, according to IIF data. A further $7.1 billion went to stock portfolios. The combined total is more than double June's $17.2 billion inflow and $4.6 billion above July 2023. "The driver for the strong debt performance this month has been the fresh issuance of debt, with Korea, Turkey and Mexico at the forefront," Jonathan Fortun, economist at the IIF, said in a statement. He noted that a contraction in carry trade operations likely weighed on the performance of local currency debt as the Japanese yen, a key funding currency, rallied. Yet the prospect of lower yields in the United States is a tailwind for EM assets, according to Fortun. "Looser monetary policy in the U.S. will provide a boost to emerging markets," he wrote. "As inflation trends downward across the globe, many EM central banks may find the leeway to loosen their monetary stances as well. This potential shift could help stabilize EM currencies and support economic growth." Futures traders have priced in a 7-in-10 chance of a 50 basis point rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve at its September meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool. A month ago that probability was at 5%. Revised IIF data showed a small net outflow in April, leaving July as the eighth month of inflows since November. Chinese portfolios posted a $4.7 billion outflow in July, with stocks shedding $0.9 billion and debt $3.8 billion. Still, Asia led regionally with a net $21 billion inflow. Emerging Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Latin America posted inflows of $6.2 billion, $5.3 billion and $4.0 billion respectively. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/foreigners-added-365-bln-em-portfolios-july-iif-says-2024-08-08/

2024-08-08 11:54

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Heavy fighting near the Russian town of Sudzha, where Russian gas flows into Ukraine, has raised concerns over a sudden stop to transit flows via Ukraine before a five-year deal with Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab expires. The Ukraine gas transit route enables Russia to export gas to Europe via Ukraine. The transit deal is set to expire at the end of the year. Kyiv has previously said it has no plans to renew or extend it. According to Ukraine’s gas pipelines operator, Russian gas transit via Ukraine to Europe fell by 28.5% to 14.65 billion cubic metres (bcm) last year in from 20.5 bcm in 2022. WHY COULD TRANSIT STOP EARLY? Russia said it was fighting intense battles against Ukrainian forces that had penetrated its southern border near a major natural gas transmission hub of Sudzha. Two Russian military blogs said, without providing evidence, that Ukrainian forces had captured a gas measuring facility at Sudzha, through which Russian natural gas passes. The latter increases the risk for a more sudden stop in Russian pipeline flows via Ukraine, analysts at ING said. For now, Gazprom said it will continue to ship gas through Ukraine on Thursday and Ukraine's gas transit operator also said operations continue as normal. But there is a risk that Gazprom uses the fighting as an excuse to cut flows, said James Waddell, head of European gas and LNG at consultancy Energy Aspects. Ukraine's gas system operator declared force majeure , opens new tab through the other entry point of the transit route, Sokhranivka, and halted flows in 2022, citing "the interference of the occupying forces in technical processes." "This is a more likely reason for stopping flows than collateral or intended damage to the pipelines," he said. WHICH COUNTRIES RECEIVE GAS VIA THE ROUTE? Most EU nations have lessened their dependence on Russian gas due to the Ukraine invasion. Former main recipients of gas via Ukraine include Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, and Moldova. Austria still receives most of its gas via Ukraine, while others have diversified their sources and taken steps to reduce demand. Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, last year sourced all its gas from European markets, leaving available gas from Gazprom for its breakaway eastern region, Transdniestria. Croatia's imports are now minimal and Slovenia's have dropped to near zero after its main gas supplier Geoplin's contract with Gazprom ended last year, a study by the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University said. HOW CAN GAS VIA UKRAINE BE REPLACED? The previous European Commission said earlier this year that alternative supply sources exist. Austria can import from Italy and Germany, and its utilities have said they have taken precautionary measures if Russian gas supply stops. Hungary has been relying on Russian gas from an alternative route: the TurkStream pipeline, and Slovenia gets its gas from Algeria and other sources. Italy receives most of its gas through a route which facilitates Azeri gas imports and from Algeria. ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS FOR UKRAINE TRANSIT? Slovak gas supplier SPP said a consortium of European gas buyers could take over the gas on the Russia-Ukraine border when the transit contract expires, but it is unclear how this might work. Another option is for Gazprom to supply some of the gas via another route, for example via TurkStream, Bulgaria, Serbia or Hungary. However, capacity via these routes is limited, SPP told Reuters. The EU and Ukraine have also asked Azerbaijan to facilitate discussions with Russia regarding the gas transit deal, an Azeri presidential advisor told Reuters, who declined to give further details. The EU has been trying to diversify its imports of gas and signed a deal to double imports of Azeri gas to at least 20 bcm a year by 2027 but the advisor said the infrastructure and financing were still not in place to facilitate this expansion. However, with Azeri domestic consumption set to rise, analysts at Energy Aspects said they see only around 1.7 bcm available for incremental exports, and there is also little spare capacity to get the gas into Europe. HOW MUCH REVENUE WILL GAZPROM LOSE? Russia could lose around $4.5 billion annually if exports halt, based on an expected average gas price to Europe of $320 per 1,000 cubic metres in 2025. Its daily exports via Ukraine to Europe currently stand at more than 40 million cubic metres, according to Gazprom's data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/what-happens-if-russian-gas-transit-via-ukraine-stops-2024-08-08/

2024-08-08 11:53

ROME, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The Italian parliament has approved a law to improve conditions in the country's overcrowded prisons amid a spike in suicides among inmates. Chronic overcrowding and understaffing have combined with stifling summer heat to create prison conditions in which 65 inmates have taken their own lives so far this year, with the most recent suicide on Wednesday, compared with 70 in the whole of 2023. Italy is not the only European Union country with a prison problem. With economies weak and budgets tight, penal systems often struggle for funding even as more and more people find themselves incarcerated. Jails in France, Greece, Romania and Cyprus all have more inmates than their official capacity, Eurostat data shows. The Italian government's decree hires more prison personnel, allows inmates to make more phone calls, simplifies procedures for them to obtain early release and boosts community care facilities once they are outside. It was passed in the Chamber of Deputies by 153 votes to 89 late on Wednesday. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told reporters the aim of the legislation was "what we could call prison humanisation". Patrizio Gonnella, president of the prisoners' welfare organisation Antigone, said the legislation was "minimalist" and did far too little to address the key problem of overcrowding. Italy's prisons housed about 61,000 inmates at the end of June, some 10,000 more than the official capacity, according to data from Antigone. At the same time there is a consistent shortfall of almost 7,000, or 16%, in the prescribed workforce of guards, exacerbated in the summer due to staff holidays. The problems have been compounded by a heatwave which has seen temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) in many Italian cities in recent weeks, leading to a spate of prison protests. "We haven't seen tensions like this since the COVID-19 epidemic," said Claudia Clementi, director of Rome's Regina Coeli jail which has housed over 1,100 prisoners since 2023 against a capacity of 628 and, like many other Italian jails, has no air conditioning. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italy-moves-improve-jail-conditions-inmate-suicides-surge-2024-08-08/

2024-08-08 11:50

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Robinhood's entry into futures trading this year could be met with some caution by retail traders if it charges a fee, J.P. Morgan analysts said on Thursday. The company has not yet disclosed its plans, but orders for futures and options are often costlier to execute than stocks, which could result in it charging a fee to cover additional costs. The product is a crucial step in Robinhood's effort to grow into a full-fledged financial services provider for retail investors looking to dabble in more complex products. Robinhood declined to comment. It already charges , opens new tab 3 cents per contract for options trading tied to stocks and exchange-traded funds. J. P. Morgan analysts said charging a fee for futures trading would mark a "structural" difference for the company known for pioneering commission-free trades. "We are skeptical of success when considering the new economics of the (index options and futures) offerings," J.P. Morgan said. "Given Robinhood's value proposition has been 'commission-free' trading, we see this structural difference that will necessitate a change in client behavior presenting potential adoption risk." GAINING MARKET SHARE Robinhood CFO Jason Warnick said on Wednesday the company has been gaining market share in options trading. Options revenue surged 43% to $182 million in the three months ended June 30, while the number of options contracts traded jumped 38%. "We have several major advantages relative to what you see elsewhere in the options market," CEO Vlad Tenev said. Compared to its 3-cents-per-contract charge for option products, Tenev said, "Most of our competitors charge $0.65 a contract, which can add up if you're an active trader." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/robinhoods-push-into-futures-may-not-be-easy-if-not-free-jp-morgan-says-2024-08-08/