2024-07-08 10:16

MUMBAI, July 8 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee closed little changed on Monday after lingering in a tight band, unable to capitalise on a broadly weaker dollar in the midst of heightened odds of a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The rupee closed at 83.4925 against the U.S. dollar, barely changed from its close of 83.4850 in the previous session. The currency hovered between 83.44 and 83.50 throughout the session. Both dollar bids and offers from state-run banks contributed to keeping the rupee in a tight band, traders said. "Bids from state-run banks capped the rupee's gains around 83.44 and they were also on offer near 83.48 in the second half (of the session)," a foreign exchange trader at a foreign bank said. The dollar index was at 104.9 while Asian currencies were mixed after modestly rising against the U.S. dollar earlier in the session. "Buying on dips between 83.20-83.10 and selling on upticks between 83.50-83.70 is suggested (on the dollar-rupee pair)," Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex said. Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums ticked up, with the 1-year implied yield touching a one-month peak of 1.66% aided by a decline in U.S. bond yields. The 1-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 5% on Friday, its lowest since April, before nudging up in Asia trading. Odds of a September rate cut by the Fed have risen to nearly three-in-four, after data on Friday signalled cooling in the U.S. labour market, weighing on the dollar and U.S. bond yields. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's semi-annual monetary policy testimony to U.S. lawmakers will be in focus on Tuesday and Wednesday for additional cues on the future path of U.S. policy rates. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-ends-little-changed-forward-premiums-nudge-higher-2024-07-08/

2024-07-08 10:08

July 8 (Reuters) - Similac baby formula maker Abbott (ABT.N) New Tab, opens new tab is expected to face a trial on Monday over claims that its formula for preterm infants used in neonatal intensive care units causes a potentially deadly bowel disease, the second trial out of hundreds of similar lawsuits in the United States. Lawyers for the company and for Illinois resident Margo Gill will make their opening statements to jurors in St. Louis, Missouri, and the trial is expected to last most of the rest of the month. Gill alleges in the lawsuit New Tab, opens new tab that her premature infant child developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) as a result of being fed Abbott's products for premature babies. NEC, which causes the death of bowel tissue, mostly affects newborns and has a fatality rate of between 15% and 40%. Gill's child survived, but suffers long-term health problems, according to the lawsuit. Like all of the lawsuits over NEC, the case involves formula and products for fortifying mother's milk given to infants in hospital settings, not ordinary formula available to consumers in stores. "Specialized formulas and fortifiers, like the one in this case, are considered part of the standard of care by the medical community and, along with human milk, are the only available options to feed premature infants," Abbott said in a statement. The company said that Gill's child "suffered from a traumatic brain injury in utero and at birth, long before she was fed any Abbott products," and that "no one is to blame" for her condition. Close to 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against Abbott, Enfamil formula maker Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L) New Tab, opens new tab or both in federal or state courts alleging that cow's milk-based formula products for premature infants caused NEC. More than 500 are centralized in an Illinois federal court, with others pending in Illinois, Missouri and Pennsylvania. The lawsuits claim that the companies failed to warn that infants given their products are at greater risk of NEC compared to infants who are breast-fed or given donor milk or human milk-derived formula. Reckitt and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately comment. The first lawsuit to go to trial, against Reckitt in Illinois, ended with a $60 million jury verdict in March. Reckitt is appealing that verdict and has argued that the plaintiff's case relied on unsound expert testimony. The litigation has concerned investors. Reckitt's share price fell about 15% after the verdict, and Abbott's about 4%. Both stocks have remained depressed, although analysts at JPMorgan and Barclays have said they believe the companies' ultimate liability is likely to be small. The NEC Society, a patient-led non-profit organization working to combat the disease, has criticized the lawsuits New Tab, opens new tab, saying that "feeding decisions should be made at patients' bedsides, not in courtrooms." The group has no financial or other relationship with Abbott or Reckitt, according to a spokesperson. The NEC lawsuits are separate from ongoing litigation against Abbott over the shutdown of its Sturgis, Michigan, plant and subsequent recall of batches of baby formula for possible contamination, which contributed to a nationwide formula shortage in 2022. There have been no trials in those cases. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/abbott-faces-trial-over-claims-that-preterm-infant-formula-caused-dangerous-2024-07-08/

2024-07-08 09:05

JAKARTA, July 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia's central bank governor said on Monday there could be room for an interest rate cut in the fourth quarter as the rupiah is expected to be more stable, but will focus its efforts to maintain currency stability for now. The rupiah hit a four-year low at 16,475 per U.S. dollar last month due to a strong dollar and on concern about the spending plans of the incoming government. The rupiah is stabilising after bouts of weakness in recent weeks and there should be a tendency to strengthen later this year due to an expected rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo said. BI expects the rupiah to trade at an average of between 15,700 to 16,100 per dollar this year, he told parliament. It was trading at 16,250 a dollar as of 0821 GMT. "We will see if there is any room for easing in the fourth quarter," he said. "For now our focus is maintaining currency stability." (This story has been refiled to fix the spelling of 'stabilises' in the headline) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/indonesia-cbank-sees-room-q4-rate-cut-if-rupiah-stablises-2024-07-08/

2024-07-08 08:43

FRANKFURT, July 8 (Reuters) - Investor morale in the euro zone broke an eight-month streak of improvements with a bigger-than-expected decline in July, a survey showed on Monday, describing the results as a "bitter setback". Sentix's index for the euro zone fell to -7.3 points for July from 0.3 in June, putting the barometer firmly back in the red. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected it to drop more moderately to 0.0 this month. The index on expectations also saw a drop, falling to 1.5 in July from 10.0 in June, a move that Sentix said was "likely to worry forecasters". "The recent recovery of the European economy has come to an abrupt end," Sentix said. The survey said that investors were concerned about French elections, upcoming German state elections and uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election later this year. Germany's economy, Europe's largest, also saw a fall in morale in July, with the index on the current situation declining to -32.3 from -26.3 in June. The drop follows three consecutive months of gains. The poll of 1,140 investors was conducted between July 4-6, Sentix said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/euro-zone-investor-morale-drops-breaking-streak-gains-setback-2024-07-08/

2024-07-08 07:48

MOSCOW, July 8 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan will compensate for oil output exceeding its OPEC+ quota in the first half of this year by September 2025, its energy ministry said on Monday, adding that it has prepared a detailed plan for gradual compensation. The country is among eight OPEC+ countries that had pledged extra voluntary output cuts. It did not provide any output figures. "Kazakhstan will make every effort to comply with its obligations and compensate for overproduction in accordance with the intended compensation plan," the ministry said in a statement. Kazakhstan raised oil and gas condensate production in June by 4% from May on a daily basis to 7.24 million metric tons, exceeding its quota within the OPEC+ group of oil producers, according to two sources and Reuters calculations. OPEC+ said last month that it would gradually phase out the production cuts over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/kazakhstan-has-prepared-plan-compensate-oil-overproduction-2024-07-08/

2024-07-08 07:40

FTSE 100 down 0.2%, FTSE 250 down 0.1% Resources shares lead declines Britvic surges after agreeing to Carlsberg's sweetened bid July 8 (Reuters) - London stocks slipped on Monday, weighed down by resources shares tracking a downtick in commodity prices, while investors awaited more clues on the monetary policy paths of major central banks. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) New Tab, opens new tab was down 0.2% while the mid-cap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) New Tab, opens new tab was off 0.1% at 0717 GMT. The midcap index had hit a more than two-year high in the previous session on optimism that the Labour Party's win will boost the economy. Precious (.FTNMX551030) New Tab, opens new tab and industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) New Tab, opens new tab fell 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively, tracking lower prices of gold and copper on profit-booking and lacklustre physical consumption in China respectively. Energy shares (.FTNMX601010) New Tab, opens new tab fell 0.8% on a dip in oil prices as the prospect of a Gaza ceasefire deal eased geopolitical tensions, while investors assessed potential disruption to U.S. energy supplies from Tropical Storm Beryl. On the radar this week are crucial consumer prices index figures in the U.S. and gross domestic product numbers (GDP) at home, which could shed some more light on the future trajectories of interest rate cuts in the economies. U.S. data on Friday showed a marginal slowing in June job growth and a rise in the unemployment rate, fuelling September rate cut hopes from the Federal Reserve. With the UK election now behind, investor focus will return to data to gauge the Bank of England's decision at its next meeting in August. In corporate news, Britvic (BVIC.L) New Tab, opens new tab jumped 4.5% after the soft drinks maker said it has agreed to be taken over by Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) New Tab, opens new tab for a sweetened bid of 3.3 billion pounds ($4.23 billion). The Danish brewer's stock rose 3.9%, and the UK's beverages sector (.FTNMX451010) New Tab, opens new tab rose 0.6%. Ocado (OCDO.L) New Tab, opens new tab topped the FTSE 250 with a 5.3% gain after the online supermarket boosted its partnership with Japan's Aeon (8267.T) New Tab, opens new tab with plans to build a third robotic warehouse. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/london-stocks-weighed-down-by-commodity-linked-stocks-britvic-gains-2024-07-08/