2024-07-28 23:56

July 29 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected on Sunday flooded areas near the country's border with China after 5,000 people were affected, state media KCNA said on Monday. Record torrential rain on Saturday in North Korea's Sinuiju and nearby areas bordering China isolated around 5,000 people, KCNA said. The military organised around 10 planes to make roughly 20 trips each to rescue 4,200 people within about a half-day, KCNA said. Kim praised the military for its rescue efforts, which he said saved 5,000 lives, but he rebuked officials for insufficient preparation of crisis response measures to prevent damage caused by heavy rain, floods and typhoons, KCNA said. The region has been hit by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Gaemi in recent days, with a rain-triggered landslide killing 12 people in southern China and causing flash floods elsewhere. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-inspects-flooded-areas-near-china-border-kcna-says-2024-07-28/

2024-07-28 23:41

July 28 (Reuters) - Former Rockwell Collins chief Kelly Ortberg has joined the list of contenders under serious consideration by Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab as the planemaker's next chief executive officer, The Air Current reported on Sunday, citing industry officials. Ortberg, Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N) , opens new tab CEO Pat Shanahan and Boeing Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope are among candidates for the Boeing job, the trade publication said. Reuters has reported Shanahan and Pope as contenders along with Boeing board Chair Steve Mollenkopf. Earlier in July, Boeing said it would buy back Spirit, its former subsidiary, in a stock deal worth $4.7 billion. RTX's (RTX.N) , opens new tab Rockwell Collins produces aircraft communications, electronics and aviation systems for commercial and military customers. Ortberg retired in 2021 as an adviser to the CEO of RTX after heading Rockwell Collins and its successor entities for about eight years as it went through mergers, acquisitions and restructuring. Boeing did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment outside regular business hours. Boeing has been looking for a new head after Dave Calhoun said in March he would step down by year-end, in a broad management shakeup following a January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/former-rockwell-collins-chief-being-considered-boeing-ceo-report-says-2024-07-28/

2024-07-28 23:36

NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - Vital Energy (VTLE.N) , opens new tab and Northern Oil and Gas (NOG.N) , opens new tab will jointly acquire U.S. shale assets from private equity-owned Point Energy Partners for $1.1 billion, the companies said on Sunday. Vital will buy an 80% stake in the Point Energy assets, located in the Delaware patch of the Permian Basin, the heart of the U.S. shale industry that stretches across Texas and New Mexico. Northern will buy the remaining 20%, the companies said. Reuters reported earlier on Sunday that Vital was in talks to buy Point Energy, in partnership with another company. U.S. energy producers have been on a buying spree in recent years as they aim to take advantage of higher commodity prices and lock up the best drilling sites on a bet demand for oil and gas will remain robust in the medium to long-term. The assets Vital will buy in the Point deal cover around 16,300 net acres and produced about 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) as of April, the company said. It expects to slow development after the deal closes and to reduce production to roughly half that level next quarter, it said. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this quarter, Vital said. Northern said it will buy Point's assets that include 4,000 net acres primarily in Ward County, Texas, with recent production of over 4,500 boepd. Vital will operate these assets and Northern will contribute to developing them, the company said. Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Vital Energy operates 266,000 net acres in both the Delaware and Midland portions of the Permian. In September, Vital announced the acquisition of three smaller oil and gas producers for $1.17 billion. Prior to that in May last year, Vital and Northern partnered to buy Forge Energy in the Midland portion of the Permian Basin. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/vital-energy-nearing-deal-buy-point-energy-11-billion-sources-say-2024-07-28/

2024-07-28 22:20

LIMA, July 28 (Reuters) - Peru's President Dina Boluarte was upbeat about the country's economy in an independence day speech to Congress, predicting higher-than-expected economic growth and saying she would formally call elections planned for 2026 by next April. Boluarte, who faces accusations of corruption and abuse of power, took office late 2022 after the ouster and arrest of predecessor Pedro Castillo who tried to dissolve Congress, but protests in the first few months of her administration left at least 50 people dead and slowed the key mining sector. The economy contracted some 0.6% last year, hit by extreme weather fueled by the El Nino weather phenomenon and lower private investment, but this year Boluarte predicted it will surge above the 3.1% predicted by the country's central bank. "This solid performance reflects the resilience of the Peruvian economy. We committed to recovering our growth capacity and we are on that path," Boluarte told Congress. Boluarte's government has spent millions of dollars to boost mining after investment in the sector fell 10% last year. She also announced plans to allocate 17 infrastructure projects worth $3.2 billion in the rest of 2024, along with plans to create a new infrastructure ministry to boost investment. 'IDEOLOGICAL SECTORS' Boluarte also spoke of the recent relaunch of development of Grupo Mexico's (GMEXICOB.MX) , opens new tab Tia Maria copper mine after the project was paused for over a decade as communities protested environmental impacts. Protests left six people dead between 2011 and 2015. "The project has a vital importance in restimulating mining investment," Boluarte said. "Tia Maria is not a project we are imposing. That is a false narrative by ideological sectors that refuse to admit that mining strengthens our economic growth." Grupo Mexico said this week it would revise its planned $1.4 billion investment by the end of the year. Peruvian prosecutors accused Boluarte in May of bribery and illicit enrichment involving Rolex watches, and she is also being investigated over the deaths in the protests as she took office. Boluarte, 62, denies the accusations and maintains security forces responded proportionally to violence from protesters who opposed Castillo's ouster. Boluarte, Castillo's former vice-president who was sworn in hours after his arrest, said she would call general elections next April as required by the constitution. "Our duty as a government will be to ensure order, peace and freedom in this fundamental process," she said. In May, newspaper La Republica reported that Boluarte hit her lowest-ever approval ratings at 5%, while the right-wing dominated Congress - which supports Boluarte - had an approval rate of just 6%. Peru's left has long called for Boluarte to step down. Peru has had six presidents since 2018. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/peru-2024-gdp-growth-should-surpass-31-president-says-2024-07-28/

2024-07-28 21:47

July 29 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Asia on Monday kicks off a pivotal week for world markets which includes policy decisions from the Bank of Japan and Federal Reserve, U.S. employment data, inflation numbers from Australia and South Korea, and purchasing managers index reports from around the world. Coming on the heels of the previous week's volatility, investors' nerves will be taut. Will the scramble to reduce risk continue, or has last week's selling opened a window of opportunity to rebuild risk exposure and carry trades? Financial conditions have tightened thanks in large part to the widespread equity selloff, but they are coming from a low base - according to Goldman Sachs. U.S. financial conditions earlier this month were the loosest in two years. Emerging market financial conditions are also tightening, even though U.S. yields and the dollar have slipped, and implied volatility in stocks, bonds and currencies are higher too. Monday may be too soon for animal spirits to fully return, with the BOJ and Fed decisions looming on Wednesday. On the other hand, Friday's relief rally soothed some of the pain from what was a grueling week as Big Tech dragged stocks lower. Asian stocks, however, didn't see any rebound on Friday as the MSCI Asia & Pacific ex-Japan index fell to a near-two month low. The index has lost 5% in the last two weeks and has risen only once in the last 10 trading sessions. Chinese equities rebounded on Friday but not enough to prevent the eighth weekly decline in 10 weeks. The 3.7% fall was the biggest weekly loss since January. But China bulls do have a rare bit of good news to enjoy as official data on Saturday showed that industrial profits grew at a faster clip in June. A 3.6% year-on-year rise in profits last month followed a 0.7% gain in May, accelerating first-half gains to 3.5%. This should lift China's economic surprises index, which is languishing around its lowest level in 10 months. Japanese stocks, meanwhile, will again be at the mercy of the exchange rate, which could be in for another rocky ride. The Nikkei has lost 10% in the last two weeks as the yen has rallied some 10 'big figures' to a four-month high of 152 per dollar. Japanese money markets are attaching a 70% probability on a 10 basis point rate hike from the BOJ on Wednesday, and U.S. rate futures suggest it's a near certainty that the Fed stays on hold. Can the yen break through 150 per dollar? Asia's economic calendar is light on Monday but brimming with top-tier events and releases later in the week. The same goes for the corporate calendar, with major earnings releases from Japan rolling out as the week progresses. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Monday: - Indonesia FDI growth (Q2) - U.S. earnings - U.S. secretaries of State, defense meet Japanese counterparts Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-pix-2024-07-28/

2024-07-28 18:59

Ola Electric IPO drawing bids from several foreign investors India's first EV maker IPO to open this week for bidding Ola Electric IPO one of biggest in India this year NEW DELHI, July 29 (Reuters) - SoftBank-backed Indian e-scooter maker Ola Electric's (OLAE.NS) , opens new tab IPO is set to draw investor bids from Fidelity, Nomura and Norway's Norges Bank, as well as several Indian mutual funds, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters. Ola Electric's roughly $740 million IPO will open this week and will be the first by an Indian electric vehicle maker. The company is the biggest player in the e-scooter market in a country where adoption of clean vehicles is still low but rising rapidly. Fidelity will place bids of around $75 million while Nomura and Norges will bid $100 million each in Ola's so-called IPO anchor book, where high-profile institutional investors are allotted shares before the subscription opens for other investors, said the first source with direct knowledge of the bid amounts. At least four Indian mutual funds including SBI, HDFC, UTI and Nippon India will place bids, the two sources said, with the first source estimating their collective bid amounts at more than $700 million. Ola Electric did not respond to a request for comment. None of the investors named above immediately responded on Sunday outside regular business hours. Ola's IPO, one of biggest in India this year, will see the company issue new shares to raise $660 million and also see its existing investors, including founder Bhavish Aggarwal, offload their stake of about $80 million to IPO investors. Quota for anchor investors in the IPO is about $330 million, the first source said. Sources had earlier said the IPO is expected to value the company at around $4.2-4.4 billion, but the sources on Sunday said the final valuation is lower at around $4 billion to $4.2 billion. That valuation is about 22% to 26% lower than in Ola's last funding round in September, which was led by Singapore's investment firm Temasek and valued the country's largest e-scooter maker at $5.4 billion. The lower valuation for the IPO is because of a correction in valuation of global tech companies globally and as Ola wants to ensure high participation in the stock offering, sources have said. The IPO comes amid heightened capital markets activity in India, where stock markets are trading near a record high. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/fidelity-nomura-line-up-bids-ola-electrics-india-ipo-sources-say-2024-07-28/