2024-07-31 06:48

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - The pound held steady versus the dollar on Wednesday but headed for its biggest one-day drop against the yen in nearly three months after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised interest rates in an unexpectedly hawkish move. Investors were mainly focused on the Bank of England's interest rate decision on Thursday, with greater uncertainty than usual as policymakers have not spoken publicly for more than two months due to rules in the run-up to July 4's election. The pound was trading steadily, at $1.2832 and was on course for a 1.5% monthly gain against the dollar. Sterling options volatility, meanwhile, exploded to its highest in almost a year, reflecting the degree of trader nervousness ahead of the decision. Bank of America strategists called the decision "super close", but said they believed the central bank would cut rates by 25 basis points. "The question is: has the data since June changed the minds of the dovish members, who were close to cutting in June, enough. The lack of BoE-speak makes it difficult to gauge, but we suspect, for the dovish members, it doesn't," they said. Implied overnight options volatility - a measure of demand for protection from big near-term price swings - hit 12.13%, the most since August last year and marking its biggest one-day rise since last June, according to LSEG data . Market pricing around the outcome of the BoE meeting has swung wildly in the past few days, and by Wednesday morning was showing around a 63% chance of a cut . The pound, however, dropped as much as 1.8% against the yen after the BOJ raised interest rates by more than expected and left the door open to more rate hikes, which sent the yen scorching higher against a range of currencies. Later in the day, the Federal Reserve is expected to hold U.S. borrowing costs steady, but open the door to rate cuts as soon as September after recent data showed U.S. price pressures were easing broadly. The euro edged slightly higher against the pound on Wednesday but looked set for a fifth consecutive month of declines. Euro/sterling was last up 0.17% at 84.385 pence. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-options-vol-hits-highest-year-ahead-boe-2024-07-31/

2024-07-31 06:38

JAKARTA, July 31 (Reuters) - Indonesian government aims to accelerate development of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry to help fight climate change and is confident the next administration will continue the push, a senior official said on Wednesday. Indonesia is keen to use hundreds of gigatonnes of storage capacity in saline aquifers and depleted oil and gas reservoirs to store carbon dioxide, tapping demand from countries in eastern Asia looking to curb carbon emissions. "The government of Indonesia wants to move very quickly on this carbon capture and storage," Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan told a CCS forum. He said the government will issue simple rules of implementation to ensure that investors will be able to quickly execute investments in CCS projects. Earlier this year, the government issued a regulation allowing CCS operators to set aside 30% of their capacity to store carbon dioxide originating from abroad. Indonesia has signed a letter of intent with Singapore on cross-border CCS collaboration and is courting countries like Japan and South Korea for similar partnership. So far Indonesia has approved three development plans for gas projects that each include CCS infrastructure, Dwi Soetjipto, chairman of upstream oil and gas regulator SKK Migas told reporters on the sideline of the forum. They are BP's (BP.L) , opens new tab Tangguh project, the Abadi project run by Japan's INPEX (1605.T) , opens new tab, and the Sakakemang project run by Spain's Repsol (REP.MC) , opens new tab, he said. Luhut said the next government, which will take office in October, is expected to continue the efforts to develop the CCS industry. "Whoever the president is, this will be very beneficial for the republic and I think president-elect Prabowo agrees with that and we have also briefed him on that," said Luhut. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/indonesia-aims-accelerate-carbon-storage-sector-development-2024-07-31/

2024-07-31 06:25

PARIS, July 31 (Reuters) - France's Cassandre Beaugrand won gold in the women's triathlon at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, cheered on by a delighted crowd as the hosts' gamble to hold the swim stage of the race in the Seine paid off after days of uncertainty. The triathlon, a central showpiece of the Paris Games, started and finished at the Alexandre III bridge at the heart of the French capital, taking athletes along a section of the Champs-Elysees and past more Parisian landmarks including the Musee d'Orsay. The men's triathlon had been scheduled to take place on Tuesday but, after the river failed water quality tests, it was postponed to 10:45 a.m. (0845 GMT) on Wednesday, immediately after the women's race. The women began their competition at 8 a.m., just as overnight rain was easing, with the triathlon offering spectacular views as they swam in the Seine before racing their bikes and running into central Paris. A handful of athletes crashed off their bicycles after slipping on the wet cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees. World number one Beaugrand broke away on the last lap of the run stage and was fuelled to the finish line by ecstatic cheers from crowds lining the streets. Switzerland's Julie Derron won silver and Britain's Beth Potter took bronze. The races going ahead will have come as a relief for teams and athletes, as well as for Paris authorities who have promised residents a swimmable Seine as a long-term legacy of the Games, with the triathlon a very public test. "We have achieved in four years what has been impossible for a century: the Seine is swimmable," President Emmanuel Macron tweeted after the race. The gamble that the river would be clean enough for the triathlon was never guaranteed to pay off as water quality varies widely day-to-day, with rainfall causing concentrations of infection-causing bacteria such as E. coli to rise. "I have no doubts about the quality of the Seine, we've swum in worse water," Beaugrand said after her victory, adding that scrapping the swim and holding a duathlon -- the organisers' last resort if the river had been too dirty -- would have been "shameful" for the sport. South Africa's Jamie Riddle was less diplomatic about the water quality. "I’m definitely going to be visiting the bathroom later, I swallowed gallons and gallons of water, so that's gonna be a fun post-race party," he told reporters after the men's race. GREEN LIGHT Wednesday's races were given the green light despite rain overnight. Organisers make the call based on analysis of river samples taken the previous day at 5 a.m. and after discussions with experts on weather, according to Paris 2024. Showers started again around 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday, making racing conditions more difficult for the bike stage which features some sharp turns and a quarter of the course on cobbled roads. Fifty-five women representing 34 countries kicked off the contest at 8 a.m., with Beaugrand and Potter diving into the river side by side from a floating pontoon next to the bridge. "The results of the latest water analyses, received at 3.20 a.m., have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon allowing for the triathlon competitions to take place," Paris 2024 and World Triathlon said in a statement. Paris has spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.52 billion) of public money on wastewater infrastructure to contain sewage and minimise spillage into the river, and Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip earlier this month in a bid to convince doubters that the water would not make them ill. ($1 = 0.9240 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/triathlon-races-go-ahead-wednesday-seine-passes-water-quality-tests-2024-07-31/

2024-07-31 06:24

MUMBAI, July 31 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee dropped to a record low against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, pressured by month-end dollar demand by importers, traders said. The rupee declined to 83.7425 to the dollar, inching past the previous lifetime low of 83.74. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/india-rupee-drops-record-low-hit-by-importers-dollar-demand-2024-07-31/

2024-07-31 06:22

NEW YORK July 31 (Reuters) - MSCI'S global equities index registered its biggest daily gain in over five months on Wednesday and the dollar slightly pared losses after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but opened the door to interest rate cuts as soon as September. The central bank, in line with investor expectations, in its statement noted further progress towards its 2% inflation and said the economy "continued to expand at a solid pace," while job gains moderated and the unemployment rate "remains low." Chair Jerome Powell told reporters "there is a growing sense of confidence that you could move at the next meeting" as long as inflation data affirms its recent softening trend. Investors had priced in unchanged rates and a strong signal that rate cuts could begin in September from the Fed, which has kept its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range for the past year. “It was the worst kept secret on the planet that the Fed was not going to cut in July," said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "The Fed is going to have its day in the sun in September with a 25 or 50 basis point cut, but I would not be surprised if that is already priced into stocks." Citing the Fed's reference to easing inflation and unemployment ticking up, Don Calcagni, chief investment officer at Mercer Advisors in Denver, Colorado. said "if you were going to make a case to cut rates, those are the data points you better cite in order to manage market expectations." On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 99.46 points, or 0.24%, to 40,842.79, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 85.86 points, or 1.58%, to 5,522.30 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 451.98 points, or 2.64%, to 17,599.40. It was the biggest one-day percentage gain for the S&P and the Nasdaq since Feb. 22. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab rose 13.12 points, or 1.64%, to 814.55 also showing its biggest one-day percentage gain since Feb. 22. Earlier Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index had closed up 0.8%. In U.S. Treasuries, yields were mostly lower with the benchmark 10-year note yield on track for its biggest drop in two weeks, after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at their current levels, as was widely expected. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 9.6 basis points to 4.045%, from 4.141% late on Tuesday. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 8.7 basis points to 4.276%, hitting its lowest level since Feb. 2. In currencies, the dollar added to losses after the Fed statement and comments from Powell. "The Fed wants to let the data play out a little bit longer, even at the risk of falling behind the curve," said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive in Toronto. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.37% to 104.06. The euro was up 0.09% at $1.0825. But against the Japanese yen , the dollar weakened 1.75% to 150.08 after the Bank of Japan raised rates. In energy, oil prices rebounded from seven-week lows after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East and a sharp drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles. U.S. crude settled up 4.26% at $77.91 a barrel and Brent rose to $80.72 per barrel, up 2.66% on the day. Gold prices extended gains after Powell's rate cut hint rising well over 1% on the day. Spot gold was last up 1.63% at $2,447.69 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 1.77% to $2,447.60 an ounce. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-07-31/

2024-07-31 06:09

BEIJING, July 31 (Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party has expelled Wang Yilin, former chairman and party secretary of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), for discipline violations, state media said on Wednesday. According to the report by state-run CCTV, Wang had illegally accepted high value assets and goods and took advantage of his position to help others seek benefits in project contracting and business operations. He also accepted travel arranged by private entrepreneurs on multiple occasions, the report said. Wang's case will be transferred to prosecutors for investigation in accordance with the law, state media said. Reuters was unable to immediately contact Wang for a comment. CNPC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. State television reported in February that Wang was under investigation for a suspected "serious violation of law and discipline". Wang stepped down from his role at CNPC in January 2020 having reached retirement age, according to state-run news website The Paper. However, he stayed on in his role as deputy director of the economic committee of the China People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a top advisory body to the Communist Party, according to that report. Wang is not currently listed as a member of the economic committee on the organisation's website, nor was he listed as a CPPCC delegate in a 2023 list. The CPPCC could not be reached for comment. Prior to his role as CNPC chairman, Wang was at the helm of China National Offshore Oil Corp, or CNOOC, the parent of CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) , opens new tab. CNPC is the parent of PetroChina . Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-communist-party-expels-former-cnpc-chairman-party-secretary-2024-07-31/