2024-07-10 03:37

WELLINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - New Zealand's central bank held the cash rate steady at 5.5% on Wednesday, but opened the door to monetary policy becoming less restrictive over time should inflation slow as expected. The decision was in line with the expectations of all economists polled by Reuters, but the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (RBNZ) accompanying commentary was more dovish than many had anticipated. "The Committee agreed that monetary policy will need to remain restrictive. The extent of this restraint will be tempered over time consistent with the expected decline in inflation pressures," the statement said. At its prior meeting in May, the RBNZ said policy was expected to remain restrictive for a "sustained period" and indicated a rate hike was possible if inflation did not come under control. The New Zealand dollar fell 0.74% to $0.6085 as markets priced an earlier start to rate cuts, and hit a 16-month low against the Australian dollar. Two-year swap rates dropped 11 basis points to a six-month low of 4.6850%. It now implies 25 basis points of cuts in October. "The RBNZ sounded rather dovish in its commentary," said Abhijit Surya, Australia and New Zealand economist at Capital Economics in a note. "The Committee's messaging gives us greater confidence that the Bank will commence its easing cycle in November." The RBNZ said it expected headline inflation to return to within 1% to 3% target range in the second half of this year, down from 4% in the first quarter. While second-quarter inflation data will not be released until next week, components such as food prices are released monthly and have started to soften. Furthermore, inflation expectations are easing and business confidence is weak. "Some domestically generated price pressures remain strong. But there are signs inflation persistence will ease in line with the fall in capacity pressures and business pricing intentions," the central bank said. The rate hikes have sharply slowed the economy, although recent data showed New Zealand moved out of a technical recession in the first quarter of 2024 with growth of 0.2%. Ahead of the rate decision on Wednesday, 22 of 32 economists polled by Reuters forecast interest rates to fall to 5.25% or lower by year-end, while 10 expected no change. Economists now see a growing risk of earlier cuts or more than one. "We highlighted last week that risks are tilting towards the first cut coming in November rather than February as we are forecasting; today's Review tilts things a little further that way. But the data will decide," ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner said in a note. A frontrunner in withdrawing pandemic-era stimulus among its peers, the RBNZ lifted rates by 525 basis points since October 2021 to curb inflation in the most aggressive tightening since the official cash rate was introduced in 1999. New Zealand joins central banks globally that are starting to look at easing rates. The European Central Bank, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland have all cut interest rates recently and U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers are expected to have a more active debate on interest rate cuts when they next meet in late July. New Zealand's neighbour Australia, however, is an exception to the easing trend. The Reserve Bank of Australia last month debated whether to raise interest rates given there were upside risks to inflation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/new-zealand-cbank-maintains-cash-rate-signals-potential-future-easing-2024-07-10/

2024-07-10 03:25

BEIJING, July 10 (Reuters) - More than 130 people including tourists were trapped in Tibet near China's rugged Himalayan border with Nepal on Wednesday after incessant rains unleashed landslides and floods, severing road links, according to Chinese state media. Many sections of a major highway leading to the remote Tibetan town of Zhentang were either washed away by floods or blocked by landslides amid continuous rainfall since Sunday, Chinese state media reported. So far, 342 stranded people have been evacuated to other towns by rescuers. But at least 130 including tourists are still stranded in the vicinity of Zhentang, which lies at an altitude of about 2,000 metres (6,562 feet), due to blocked roads, rains, and "a lack of physical strength" because of the long distances that the stranded would need to traverse, according to state media. Storms in the area through Thursday will create "a degree of difficulty" in rescue work, state media warned. Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in southwest China including parts of Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan, according to national weather forecasters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/storms-trap-more-than-130-near-chinas-border-with-tibet-2024-07-10/

2024-07-09 23:56

SAO PAULO, July 9 (Reuters) - A consulting firm hired by Brazilian mining company Vale (VALE3.SA) New Tab, opens new tab to help with its chief executive succession process has presented its board of directors with 15 potential candidates, local newspaper O Globo reported on Tuesday. Among those suggested by the Russell Reynolds consultancy for Vale's top job are the heads of large Brazilian firms, including Embraer's (EMBR3.SA) New Tab, opens new tab Francisco Gomes Neto, Gerdau's (GGBR4.SA) New Tab, opens new tab Gustavo Werneck and Klabin's (KLBN4.SA) New Tab, opens new tab Cristiano Teixeira. Vale, one of the world's largest iron ore miners, expects to announce by early December its new chief executive to replace Eduardo Bartolomeo, whose term ends this year. In a securities filing on Tuesday evening, Vale said Russell Reynolds' advice regarding its chief executive succession plans are ongoing. The filing added the miner's board of directors has not yet decided on a list of candidates for the role. Russell Reynolds' list also includes Pedro Parente, according to the O Globo report. Parente led Brazil's state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA) New Tab, opens new tab from 2016 to 2018 and served as former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's chief of staff. Other names listed in the newspaper report were Volkswagen America (VOWG_p.DE) New Tab, opens new tab head Pablo Di Si, Anglo American's (AAL.L) New Tab, opens new tab Ruben Fernandes, Equatorial's (EQTL3.SA) New Tab, opens new tab Carlos Piani and Engie Brasil's (ENGIE.PA) New Tab, opens new tab Mauricio Bahr. Last week, Vale pledged to "proceed swiftly" to replace two independent board members who resigned in the last few months, one of them citing allegations of political influence in the CEO succession plan. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/consultancy-recommends-vale-15-candidates-ceo-position-newspaper-says-2024-07-09/

2024-07-09 23:02

WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - The Biden administration had anticipated a Supreme Court decision that limits federal regulatory powers to interpret ambiguous laws when crafting and reviewing major vehicle and power plant emissions rules, its climate adviser said on Tuesday. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT White House climate adviser John Podesta said the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision on June 28 to overturn a 1984 precedent known as "Chevron deference," which required judges to defer to reasonable federal agency interpretations of U.S. laws like the Clean Air Act, "was not shocking." The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ensured that recently issued vehicle and power plant rules factored this in, he said. Legal experts have said the ruling from the nation's highest court would make it harder for federal agencies to defend stringent regulations around a variety of environmental, healthcare and other laws, including Biden's efforts to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and mobile sources. KEY QUOTE "One of the things that we have tried to do at the agency level - with the knowledge that this decision may be forthcoming - and with the leadership of Ricky Revesz ... at OMB is to try to create very, very strong records to ensure that the regulations that have been issued... with or without Chevron, are going to be upheld by the Supreme Court," Podesta told Reuters on the sidelines of an event at the Canadian embassy in Washington. CONTEXT Revesz heads the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB, which reviews all federal regulations before they are issued to ensure they are legally and economically sound. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/key-climate-rules-issued-with-supreme-court-decision-mind-podesta-says-2024-07-09/

2024-07-09 22:37

July 9 (Reuters) - Millions of Americans in southeast Texas endured brutally hot conditions on Tuesday without the relief of air conditioning after deadly Tropical Storm Beryl knocked out power to a large portion of the region. Scorching heat also baked much of the Western U.S. and Canada, raising the risk of wildfires. About 2 million Texas homes and businesses were without electricity, according to Poweroutage.us, as temperatures were reaching above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C) at midday on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. "Without power across much of Southeast Texas in the wake of Beryl, no air conditioning could make for dangerous conditions," the service said. Tropical Storm Beryl barreled into Texas on Monday, flooding highways, damaging homes and downing power lines in its path. Seven people were killed in the storm in Texas, including two people who were killed by fallen trees, the Houston Chronicle reported. Beryl killed 11 people in the Caribbean before reaching Texas. Downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Tuesday, the storm weakened as it moved through the Midwest but still posed a risk for flash flooding and tornadoes through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. Houston resident Raymond Miller, 46, has been without power since 6 a.m. on Monday, leaving the food in his refrigerator inedible and his dog panting. "I had trouble sleeping and the humidity makes it very hard to breathe in my apartment. Opening the windows last night didn't do anything, it kind of made it worse," said Miller, who works for a higher education institution. Miller said he planned to sit with his dog in his air conditioned vehicle, which had only a quarter tank of gas left. "There is no gas available. Everyone is out of gas," he said. In all, some 128 million people across the U.S. were under heat advisories on Tuesday. Most of the West - from Seattle down through California and into Arizona - was expected to see record high temperatures. The national high of 129 F (54 C) was recorded near Tecopa, California, in the Mojave Desert, the weather service said. Las Vegas reached 117 F (47 C), Phoenix hit 116 F (47 C) and Tucson 111 F (44 C). The heat wave has also sent temperatures soaring across much of western Canada, increasing the risk of wildfires, said Armel Castellan, a meteorologist at Environment Canada. The federal weather agency issued heat warnings on Tuesday for parts of the Pacific coast province of British Columbia, the main oil-producing province of Alberta, and Saskatchewan in the Canadian prairies. As the heat wave moves east, temperatures will drop but the accompanying pressure instability could trigger dry lightning, raising the threat of wildfires, Castellan said. "The secondary impacts - not just to humans but to the environment - namely, the wildfire concerns are accelerating," Castellan said. There were 59 forest fires burning in Alberta and 97 in British Columbia as of Tuesday. The British Columbia village of Lytton, where 90% of structures burned down in a wildfire in 2021, was the hottest place in Canada at about 2 p.m. (2100 GMT) at 39 C (102 F). Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/brutal-heat-grips-millions-southeast-texas-who-remain-without-power-2024-07-09/

2024-07-09 21:57

July 10 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Is a U.S. interest rate cut coming? If so, when? Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. is "no longer an overheated economy," remarks that suggested the case for rate cuts is strengthening. Some investors had anticipated the Fed chair, in his testimony to a Senate banking panel, might do more than he did to telegraph that a cut was on track for the central bank's September meeting. Yet, as of late Tuesday, that still appeared to be the market's broad expectation: Fed Funds futures were pricing in a nearly 75% chance of a cut in September, according to CME FedWatch. More insight may come on Wednesday, when Powell returns to Capitol Hill to testify before a House of Representatives committee. And Thursday's consumer price index report is sure to be closely watched to see if inflation is, in fact, moderating to the central bank's liking. A surprise spike could throw the case for rate cuts into doubt. Markets took Powell's testimony largely in stride. The benchmark U.S. S&P 500 index (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab and MSCI all-country equity index (.MIWD00000PUS) New Tab, opens new tab were both little changed. The dollar moved slightly higher, indicating that some investors were looking for more dovish talk from the Fed chief. There was sharper stock action in Europe, where indexes were weighed down by weakness in French stocks as political uncertainties lingered. Europe's STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) New Tab, opens new tab fell 0.9%, its biggest one-day drop in nearly a month. France's benchmark CAC 40 index (.FCHI) New Tab, opens new tab sank 1.6%, as investors assessed the political situation following Sunday's legislative election. Politics threatened to cast a shadow over markets more broadly, as U.S. President Joe Biden faced some pressure to drop his re-election bid after his shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the debate over rates was also set to extend to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which meets on Wednesday. The RBNZ is expected to hold its key cash rate for an eighth straight meeting and cut rates just once before year-end, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Also on Wednesday, producer and consumer price inflation figures are due in China, which could sway markets. On Tuesday, China's blue-chip CSI300 index (.CSI300) New Tab, opens new tab rose 1.2%, lifted by tech shares. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Wednesday: - Reserve Bank of New Zealand meeting - China PPI/CPI (June) - Fed Chair Powell testifies for second day at Congress Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-pix-2024-07-09/