2024-07-15 23:54

July 16 (Reuters) - Global mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) New Tab, opens new tab, on Tuesday posted second-quarter iron ore shipments below analyst estimates, reflecting impacts to production from a train derailment in mid-May. The world's largest producer of iron ore shipped 80.3 million tons (Mt) of the steel-making commodity from its Pilbara operations in the three months ended June 30, which though missed Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 82.1 Mt, was 3% higher compared to 78 Mt in the first quarter. Rio had in May said that a train had derailed at its Western Australia iron ore operations which had then led to around six days of lost rail capacity. The firm's report comes as hopes for more stimulus from China has helped iron ore prices rebound recently after weak construction sector demand from the country led to a dull first half. "The (Chinese) government has provided additional measures for the property market to destock the large inventory overhang," Rio said on Tuesday. Signalling weak domestic demand, China's steel exports in the first half of the year jumped 24% from a year earlier, pointing to a faltering construction sector, which is a heavy user of the metal. Jefferies analysts do not expect Chinese steel exports to remain at multi-year highs. However, they see Chinese steel production to continue to remain resilient, which could bode well for the iron ore miner's shipments and production in the upcoming quarters. Rio Tinto reaffirmed its annual iron ore shipments forecast of between 323 and 338 Mt. Rio said economic conditions in China, the top consumer of iron ore, are still being supported by a recovery in manufacturing operations. Rio flagged possible delays at its greater Nammuldi project, part of its next tranche of mine replacements. Mined copper production on a consolidated basis for the quarter came in at 171 thousand tons (Kt), a 10% jump compared to the previous quarter as the miner continued to ramp up operations at its Oyu Tolgoi underground mine in Mongolia. The company, however, lowered its annual alumina production estimates to a range of 7.0-7.3 Mt from 7.6-7.9 Mt, reflecting reduced operation rates at its Gladstone operations. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/rio-tintos-second-quarter-iron-ore-shipments-miss-after-may-train-derailment-2024-07-15/

2024-07-15 21:50

July 16 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Asia's economic calendar is remarkably light on Tuesday, allowing markets to take their cue from broader drivers such as China's deepening economic malaise, the shifting outlook for U.S. monetary policy, and the Q2 earnings season on Wall Street. Investors also continue to digest the fallout from the attempted assassination on Saturday of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is favorite to win the White House in November and who on Monday nominated his vice presidential running mate. So far, the most visible 'Trump trades' appear to be rising stocks, gold and bitcoin, higher long-dated Treasury yields and a steeper yield curve, as investors price in the prospect of wider budget deficits and stronger inflation down the line. That's a mixed bag for Asian assets. Higher U.S. yields and a buoyant dollar will likely weigh on Asian and emerging sentiment, but this is countered by the growing likelihood U.S. interest rates will be cut earlier and further than expected. Wall Street's big three indices closed between 0.3% and 0.5% higher on Monday, and U.S. stock futures are pointing to a similar-sized rise at the open on Tuesday. Japan's markets reopen on Tuesday after Monday's holiday, with the yen's direction likely to set the tone for the day across all assets following last week's apparent yen-buying intervention. The dark cloud over Asian markets, however, refuses to lift, and if anything it is getting darker: China. The batch of top-tier economic data from Beijing on Monday was hugely underwhelming, especially second quarter GDP growth of only 4.7%, which was well below expectations of 5.1% and Beijing's broader goal of around 5%. The need for greater fiscal or monetary support - or both - is intensifying, and investors will be hoping for positive signals from the ruling Communist Party's third plenum, which opened on Monday. This is the major closed-door meeting held roughly once every five years to map out the general direction of the country's long-term social and economic policies. Monday's data prompted many economists to cut their growth forecasts. Barclays reckon growth in the second half of the year will average only 4.5%, while JP Morgan cut their full-year outlook to 4.7% from 5.2%. Some of the language used in SocGen's analysis was striking: the economy is showing "severe imbalances", domestic demand is "very depressed", and Beijing's overall policy mix right now is "highly deflationary". As they summed up: "the imbalance of the Chinese economy is increasingly dangerous, given rising trade tensions from all directions and a very likely Trump return. A course correction will be inevitable at some point." China's economic surprises index on Monday slumped to its lowest since September, registering its steepest fall in over a year. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - China's third plenum - South Korea import, export prices (June) - Japan tankan non-manufacturing index (July) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-pix-2024-07-15/

2024-07-15 21:38

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Construction and engineering firms are bearing the brunt of Britain's shortage of workers, according to a survey that underscores the challenge for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to meet his plans to boost home-building and infrastructure. The British Chambers of Commerce's (BCC) quarterly recruitment survey showed 82% of construction and engineering businesses reported recruitment difficulties, up from 69% in the first three months of this year. The problem - which is not unique to Britain - was almost as severe in other sectors with nearly 80% of transport and logistics firms and production and manufacturing companies facing similar problems, all up from early 2024. "It's alarming that recruitment difficulties have increased in recent months across all sectors," said Jane Gratton, the BCC's public policy director. "The very sharp rise in the construction industry is particularly worrying." Starmer has promised to increase house building and infrastructure investment by clearing away obstacles in Britain's planning system. However, he has also promised to bring down net migration despite warnings from some business leaders that such a move will compound hiring problems. The BCC survey was based on responses from 4,761 firms - 91% of them small and medium-sized businesses - received between May 13 and June 10. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-building-firms-face-worst-recruitment-problems-survey-shows-2024-07-15/

2024-07-15 21:34

July 15 (Reuters) - Federal and state investigators in Colorado are investigating an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu on a poultry farm that has resulted in four confirmed human cases and a suspected case. The infections are the first reported cases in poultry workers in the United States since 2022. They follow an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in U.S. dairy cattle that has infected an additional four farm workers since March. The poultry workers were culling chickens at a commercial egg facility with a bird flu outbreak in northeast Colorado, the state said, without naming the facility. The cases are part of an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu that has been spreading globally in wild birds, infecting poultry and various species of mammals. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a July 14 statement it deployed a nine-member field team comprised of epidemiologists, veterinarians, clinicians and an industrial hygienist was working to support Colorado's assessment of the outbreak and the human cases. The CDC said the risk to the general public remains low, but noted that could change. Genetic sequencing of the virus is underway looking for mutations that could signal the virus is adapting to humans. The CDC said the workers reported symptoms after being exposed to H5N1 virus-infected poultry. All those who tested positive reported mild illness, including conjunctivitis and eye tearing, as well as more typical flu symptoms of fever, chills, coughing and sore throat/runny nose. Additional cases may be reported and subsequently confirmed as monitoring and testing is ongoing, CDC said. Bird flu experts said the cases among poultry workers were somewhat less concerning than the outbreak in dairy cows. Andrew Pekosz, an influenza expert at Johns Hopkins University, said the five new human cases all appear to be linked with the culling and cleaning of a poultry farm that had an outbreak of H5N1 - one of the more common ways that humans have been infected with H5N1 in the past. "Because this is most likely direct avian-to-human transmission, it’s a little less concerning to me than dairy cow-to-human transmission, because the latter involves transmission between mammals of a virus that has been replicating in mammals for a longer time," he said. Pekosz said it will be important for investigators to collect DNA from the virus from the infected poultry workers and birds on the farm, and look to see how closely related it is to the viruses infecting dairy cows. Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said he was not surprised by the cases. "Depopulation by its very definition is a dirty business," he said, noting that the virus gets kicked up in dust and becomes easy to inhale. He said workers need to be wearing tight fitting face protection, including over the eyes. "Conjunctivitis is just when you get the virus in the eye, and that's not hard to do in an environment like that," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-colorado-probe-additional-h5n1-bird-flu-cases-poultry-farm-2024-07-15/

2024-07-15 21:22

BUENOS AIRES, July 15 (Reuters) - The Argentine parallel market peso appreciated against the U.S. dollar on Monday while the local stock market suffered, after new economic measures introduced by President Javier Milei's government over the weekend took effect. Argentina's economy minister outlined on Saturday a plan to stop expanding the monetary base in an effort to combat inflation. The following day he announced a $1.5 billion purchase from the central bank to pay bond interest due in January. The peso extended its gains to 6.01% at 1,415 pesos per dollar, after strengthening around 2% in early trading. The gap between the black market "blue" exchange rate and the official rate narrowed slightly, and stood at 53%, after hitting some 60% last week. "The announced measures can be taken as a positive, only if the gap falls significantly in the coming days and inflation plummets in the coming months," said local settlement and clearing agent Neix. The benchmark Merval (.MERV) New Tab, opens new tab plummeted over 12% while over-the-counter bonds fell 3%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/argentinas-parallel-peso-strengthens-new-economic-measures-stock-index-plummets-2024-07-15/

2024-07-15 20:55

July 15 (Reuters) - Data from Walt Disney's (DIS.N) New Tab, opens new tab internal Slack workplace collaboration system have been leaked online, including those related to ad campaigns, studio technology and interview candidates, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Hacking group NullBulge published data from thousands of Slack channels at the entertainment giant including computer code and details about unreleased projects, the report said, citing the group's blog post. The hacker group said in a post on Friday that it had released over 1 terabyte of data from Disney. The leaked information includes talks on managing Disney's corporate website, software development, job applicant evaluations among others, with the data spanning back to at least 2019, the WSJ report added. "Disney is investigating this matter," a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/internal-disney-communications-leaked-online-after-hack-wsj-reports-2024-07-15/