2024-07-18 00:42

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - The euro fell on Thursday after the European Central Bank kept rates steady, as was widely expected, while the dollar index climbed after stronger-than-expected data on the U.S. labor market and manufacturing. The ECB gave no insight into its next move, arguing that domestic price pressures remain high and inflation will be above its target well into next year, leaving the market to decipher comments from President Christine Lagarde for clues on the central bank's next move. "Compared to the Fed, the ECB may have been the first to cut, but they won't be the fastest. When the ECB cut last it was a cautious cut, now every meeting is going to be a live meeting where the data will dictate every move," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. "When the Fed cuts, it will be a confident cut where even a month or two of bad data won't take them off their cutting path. It's annoying that the Fed is waiting so long to cut, but ultimately it will make for a clearer path." The euro was down 0.37% at $1.0897, a day after hitting a four-month high of $1.0947. It was poised for its biggest daily percentage drop in a month. On the U.S. front, weekly initial jobless claims jumped by 20,000 to 243,000, above the 230,000 estimate of economists polled by Reuters, although it is not considered to be a notable shift in the labor market due to seasonal factors. In addition, a gauge of manufacturing activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region expanded more than expected in July, boosted by a surge in new orders. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, gained 0.49% at 104.18 a day after touching a four-month low of 103.64, and was on track for its biggest daily percentage gain since June 13. The Federal Reserve is scheduled for its next policy announcement at the end of July. Markets expect only a slight chance for a cut of at least 25 basis points (bps), while almost completely pricing in a cut at its September meeting, according to CME's FedWatch Tool , opens new tab. Fed officials expected to speak on Thursday include Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly and Governor Michelle Bowman. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar strengthened 0.7% to 157.26, rebounding from a drop in the prior session that sparked speculation of intervention by the Bank of Japan. Analysts also attributed the weakness to comments from U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump about the dollar's strength. Sterling weakened 0.5% at $1.2945 after British data showed wages grew at a slower pace, but was still strong enough to keep doubts about an upcoming rate cut from the Bank of England afloat. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 1.70% to $63,428.00. Ethereum declined 0.62% to $3,394.90. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/yen-spikes-spectre-intervention-spooks-investors-2024-07-18/

2024-07-18 00:35

Canadian dollar falls 0.1% against the greenback Trades in a range of 1.3657 to 1.3701 10-year yield hits a 3-week low at 3.331% TORONTO, July 17 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as risk appetite faded and after Canadian inflation data the previous day raised prospects of the Bank of Canada cutting interest rates further next week. The loonie was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3690 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.05 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.3657 to 1.3701. "CAD is weaker on some equity weakness and lingering concerns about a rate cut next week after yesterday's CPI data," said Erik Bregar, director, FX & precious metals risk management at Silver Gold Bull. Some major U.S. stock indexes, including the Nasdaq, tumbled as the prospect of tighter China-focused U.S. trade curbs weighed on megacap chip and tech stocks. Canada is a major producer of commodities so the currency tends to be sensitive to shifts in investor sentiment. Money markets are pricing in a near 90% chance the BoC will cut rates for a second straight meeting at a policy announcement on July 24 after data on Tuesday showed Canada's annual inflation rate cooling to 2.7% in June from 2.9% in May. Canadian retail sales data for May, due on Friday, could offer further clues on prospects for additional easing. Economists expect a monthly decline of 0.6%. The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, was up 2.5% at $82.79 a barrel but some other commodities, such as copper , headed lower. Canadian bond yields were mixed across a flatter curve. The 10-year eased 1.5 basis points to 3.340%, after earlier touching its lowest level since June 25 at 3.331%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-weakens-us-tech-stocks-slide-2024-07-18/

2024-07-18 00:22

CANBERRA, July 18 (Reuters) - Australia's Wilmar Sugar and Renewables is closing its eight sugar mills for up to 16 hours due to a strike on Thursday by unionised workers asking for a better pay deal, the company said. Wilmar, owned by Singapore's Wilmar International (WLIL.SI) , opens new tab, said the shutdowns would cost sugar cane growers revenue of around $2.3 million. Another strike was planned for July 24, it added. Wilmar is Australia's largest sugar producer and makes more than 2 million metric tons of sugar worth around $1 billion a year, most of which is exported. Industrial action beginning in May disrupted the start Wilmar's June-to-November cane crushing season, threatening sugar production, but strikes became less frequent from June. Thursday's strike follows a successful appeal by unions against a government labour tribunal order to suspend industrial action, Wilmar said. While the strike itself is only one hour long, Wilmar said the safe shutdown and restart of boilers and turbines took much longer. Wilmar's mills form the economic centre of communities on the country's hot and humid northeast coast, where sugar is a major industry. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/australias-largest-sugar-maker-shuts-mills-workers-strike-2024-07-18/

2024-07-17 23:43

Quarterly sales revenue down 6% QoQ Flagship Barossa project now 77% complete Barossa will likely comfortably meet Q3 FY25 first gas - Citi July 18 (Reuters) - Santos (STO.AX) , opens new tab said on Thursday growth projects were making good progress, with flagship Barossa natural gas development now 77% complete as Australia's second-largest fossil fuel producer makes attempts to speed up its ambitious forward strategy. Barossa in offshore Australia has faced criticism and opposition, with the company having to fight regulators and litigations which might potentially delay the project's start in 2025. Santos cannot resume production at Darwin LNG operations, which shut down in 2023, without the Barossa development. "The Barossa gas and condensate project to backfill Darwin LNG is 77% complete," Santos said in a statement, adding that the offshore development remains on target to begin production in the third quarter of 2025. Santos, with assets stretching across Australia to Alaska and Papua New Guinea (PNG), has been eyed by suitors for its liquefied natural gas business, especially its stake in PNG LNG. Other developments, including the Pikka oil project in Alaska and Moomba phase one Carbon Capture and Storage project had also progressed from the previous quarter, Santos said. "Barossa... will comfortably meet 3Q25 first gas, and may possibly move forward to late 2Q in our view," analysts at Citi said in a note. The energy giant, which is seen as a potential buyout target, reported second-quarter sales revenue of $1.31 billion, down from $1.40 billion in the previous quarter. Oil prices saw volatility in the reported quarter ended June 30, as a price rise due to OPEC+ curbing supplies offset a downtrend due to poor Chinese demand. The company's update comes even as spot prices of LNG rebounded, as heatwaves across the northern hemisphere kept demand elevated for electricity used for cooling purposes. Average realised price for the company's LNG product was $11.47 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down from last quarter's $12.68 per mmBtu. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-santos-second-quarter-revenue-falls-6-sequentially-2024-07-17/

2024-07-17 23:27

Chips tumble on China trade worries Dow extends string of all-time closing highs Russell 2000 snaps five-day winning streak Indexes: Dow up 0.59%, S&P down 1.39%, Nasdaq down 2.77% July 17 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq tumbled on Wednesday as plunging microchip shares, in the face of potential escalation of U.S. trade conflicts with China, exacerbated the ongoing rotation out of megacap tech-related stocks. A report that the Biden administration is considering severe trade restrictions against China sent microchip stocks down 6.8%, marking the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index's (.SOX) , opens new tab biggest one-day drop since March 2020. A pullback in the "Magnificent 7" group of momentum stocks, led by Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab, dragged the Nasdaq 2.8% lower, while the benchmark S&P 500 slid 1.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has until recent days underperformed the other two indexes this year, held onto a modest gain and logged its third straight record closing high. The blue-chip average got a boost from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) , opens new tab, UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) , opens new tab and, in defiance of the swooning chip sector, Intel Corp (INTC.O) , opens new tab. "(The sell-off) is being driven by pressure in the chip area, and the first time, we're actually seeing it extend into small caps," said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia. "The U.S. is increasingly talking about cracking down (on China), which has exacerbated the unwind that had already started," Green added. "Many of the areas (of the equities market) that had been neglected are experiencing discriminatory buying." The smallcap Russell 2000 (.RUT) , opens new tab which surged 11.5% in the previous five sessions, snapped its longest winning streak in over four years, driven by renewed interest in more undervalued stocks and sectors within the equities market. Signaling growing investor anxiety, the CBOE Market Volatility index (.VIX) , opens new tab briefly hit its highest level in six weeks. Here is a look at the extent to which megacap momentum stocks (.NYFANG) , opens new tab and chips have outperformed the broader market this year: On the economic front, housing starts and building permits surprised to the upside, as strength in multiple-unit projects offsets a dip in single-family homebuilding. In a separate report, industrial output rose at double the expected rate in June. The data fell in lockstep with recent reports suggesting that despite signs of softening, U.S. economic resiliency will help the Federal Reserve bring inflation down to its 2% target without tipping the economy into contraction. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, which showed U.S. economic activity expanded at a modest pace from late May through early July, but reported signs the jobs market continues to soften. "The narrative has shifted a little bit," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "The economy looks like (it is) on a course for soft landing, and thus let's buy the economically sensitive stocks." Financial markets have priced in a 93.5% probability that the Fed will begin cutting rates in September, according to CME's FedWatch tool. But some monetary policy makers, while acknowledging the central bank is getting closer to cutting rates, would prefer to see more data confirming that inflation is on a sustainable downward path. Second-quarter earnings season is gathering steam, with Johnson & Johnson posting better-than-expected profit and revenue driven by strong drug sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 243.6 points, or 0.59%, to 41,198.08, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 78.93 points, or 1.39%, to 5,588.27 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab dropped 512.42 points, or 2.77%, to 17,996.93. Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, technology (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab and communication services (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab suffered the biggest percentage drops, while consumer staples (.SPLRCS) , opens new tab led the gainers. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.39-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.66-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 82 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 251 new highs and 37 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.47 billion shares, compared with the 11.74-billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/wall-st-futures-slump-after-rally-tech-stocks-slide-2024-07-17/

2024-07-17 23:09

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - The new Labour government will have to act fast to get Britain back on track to meet its 2030 climate target, with just a third of the required emission reductions covered by a credible plan, the country’s climate advisers said on Thursday. As part of efforts to reach net zero emissions by 2050, Britain has a target to cut emissions by 68% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Progress towards meeting this goal is off track after the previous Conservative government rowed back on some environmental policies, the Climate Change Committee said in an annual progress report. “The country’s 2030 emissions reduction target is at risk. The new government has an opportunity to course-correct, but it will need to be done as a matter of urgency,” said Piers Forster, the committee's interim chair. The report outlined 10 recommendations including removing some levies from electricity bills to encourage the electrification of other sectors such as heat and transport and restoring the 2030 phase-out of new fossil fuel car and van sales which was pushed out to 2035 by the former government. It said annual offshore wind installations must at least treble, onshore wind installations double and solar installations increase five-fold by 2030. The market share of new electric cars needs to rise to almost 100% compared with 16.5% today, while 10% of homes will need a heat pump by 2030 up from 1% today, the report said. It welcomed the government’s recent decision to lift the effective ban on new onshore wind projects but said more effort was needed outside of the electricity sector. “We need to see that level of ambition applied to heat pumps, EVs (electric vehicles) and tree planting,” James Richardson, acting chief executive said in a briefing with journalists. Britain's Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said in just one week the new government had scrapped the 9-year onshore wind ban, approved new solar projects and established a National Wealth Fund to help pay for green investments and infrastructure. "This action will accelerate us towards meeting our targets, as we drive forward in our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower," he said in an emailed statement. Britain has halved its emissions since 1990, with most of this progress coming from phasing out coal in the electricity sector. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/britains-new-government-must-act-fast-meet-2030-climate-target-say-advisers-2024-07-17/