2024-06-05 20:42

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - A recently launched U.S. Treasuries buyback program should improve liquidity in the U.S. government bond market while other initiatives will boost transparency on prices and visibility on the use of leverage, a Treasury official said on Wednesday. The Treasury launched a buyback program last month to provide market participants a regular opportunity to sell back to Treasury off-the-run securities, which are older and less liquid, across the yield curve. The last time it executed regular buyback operations was in 2000 for about two years. Buybacks are expected to encourage dealers to make markets for off-the-run securities, "as they will have Treasury as a regular and predictable buyer," said Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Joshua Frost in prepared remarks for the ISDA/SIFMA Treasury Forum in New York. They are also expected to prompt more trading and allow bond dealers to free up balance sheets, he said. The first buyback took place last week and while Treasury expects to hold weekly purchases, with caps that in coming months will go up to $30 billion per quarter, the outcome of the operations will depend on prices, said Frost. "Let me be clear: Treasury aims to be a price sensitive buyer. We may buy back less than the stated maximum, or nothing at all, in any operation depending upon the quality of offers that we receive," he said. Buybacks are part of a slate of initiatives launched by the Treasury and other institutions to improve liquidity and avoid trading disruptions in the world's biggest bond market, the bedrock of the global financial system. In December, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a key reform to boost the use of central clearing for U.S. Treasuries which will apply to the cash Treasury and repo markets, where banks and funds trade loans backed by Treasuries. Earlier this year the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) began publishing data New Tab, opens new tab on certain individual Treasury securities transactions at the end of each day. More recently, the Treasury's Office of Financial Research (OFR) said it will soon start to collect data on transactions in the non-centrally cleared bilateral repo market, an opaque corner of Wall Street largely used by hedge funds to finance their trades. "This market represents one of the largest remaining data gaps for the official sector on Treasury market activity," said Frost. "Filling this gap will provide data on dealers’ counterparties and the terms of the trades, which should help the official sector to better assess the vulnerabilities in this market," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/debt-buyback-program-set-improve-liquidity-says-us-treasury-official-2024-06-05/

2024-06-05 20:39

Private payrolls data slows in May CrowdStrike gains after strong Q2 forecast HPE climbs after upbeat revenue forecasts Indexes up: Dow 0.25%, S&P 1.18%, Nasdaq 1.96% NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes hit record closing highs on Wednesday, powered mainly by technology stocks as markets digested economic data that could support a much-expected start to the Federal Reserve's policy easing cycle. Technology stocks (.SPLRCT) New Tab, opens new tab led advances among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, followed by equities in communications (.SPLRCL) New Tab, opens new tab and industrials (.SPLRCI) New Tab, opens new tab sectors. Consumer staples (.SPLRCS) New Tab, opens new tab stocks were the biggest losers. The May private payrolls report on Wednesday was the latest data to suggest an easing in labor market tightness that could propel the Fed to begin cutting rates this year. A report on Tuesday showed job openings fell in April to the fewest in more than three years. "We're seeing the economic data starting to ease up a little bit and the repercussions for that is that you're seeing the pressure on rates come off the boil a little bit mixed in with the potential for weaker economic data, which is a pretty good recipe for the bond market," said Jack Janasiewicz, a portfolio manager at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston. Traders now see a nearly 69% chance of a September rate reduction, according to the CME's FedWatch tool. Expectations had hovered around 50% last week. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields fell to a two-month low on Wednesday after a report pointed to weaker-than-expected job growth ahead of Friday's highly anticipated government employment report for May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab rose 96.04 points, or 0.25%, to 38,807.33, the S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab gained 62.69 points, or 1.18%, to 5,354.03 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab gained 330.86 points, or 1.96%, to 17,187.91. The S&P 500's previous record-high close was 5,321.41 on May 21, and the Nasdaq's previous record close was 17,019.88 on May 28. Chip stocks (.SOX) New Tab, opens new tab leapt 4.5%, buoyed by gains to Nvidia (NVDA.O) New Tab, opens new tab and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing . Nvidia's market valuation hit the $3 trillion mark for the first time as the chipmaker overtook Apple (AAPL.O) New Tab, opens new tab to become the world's second-most valuable company. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE.N) New Tab, opens new tab rose 10.7% after forecasting third-quarter revenue above Street expectations, helped by upbeat demand for its AI servers. Dollar Tree (DLTR.O) New Tab, opens new tab slipped 4.9% after a disappointing quarterly profit forecast. The budget retailer said it would explore options that include a potential sale or spinoff of Family Dollar. Intel (INTC.O) New Tab, opens new tab gained 2.5% after buyout firm Apollo Global Management (APO.N) New Tab, opens new tab agreed to purchase a 49% equity interest for $11 billion in a joint venture related to the chipmaker's Ireland manufacturing unit. CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD.O) New Tab, opens new tab jumped 11.9% after forecasting second-quarter revenue above estimates when markets closed on Tuesday. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.39-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,759 stocks rose and 1,492 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.85-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 62 new highs and 116 new lows. Total volume of shares traded across U.S. exchanges was about 10.8 billion, compared with the 12.6 billion average over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/wall-street-futures-inch-up-rate-cut-bets-2024-06-05/

2024-06-05 20:37

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - Crypto exchange Binance on Wednesday sought to throw out the vast majority of a London lawsuit worth up to 10 billion pounds ($12.8 billion) over claims it and other exchanges colluded to "delist" the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) cryptocurrency. Binance and exchanges including Kraken are being sued at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in a case brought on behalf of over 200,000 BSV owners. Lawyers representing BSV Claims, a vehicle set up to pursue the case, say the exchanges engaged in anti-competitive behaviour to delist BSV in 2019. They argue the move caused the value of BSV to plummet and prevented it becoming a "top tier" cryptocurrency, valuing that part of the claim at up to 9 billion pounds. BSV Claims' lawyers said the exchanges were not opposing the case being certified under the UK's collective proceedings regime, which is roughly equivalent to the U.S. class action regime. Such certification would be just the first step in the lawsuit. But Binance has asked the CAT to throw out the part of the case about BSV's alleged potential to become a major cryptocurrency, which is being brought on behalf of people who kept BSV after it was delisted. Binance's lawyer Brian Kennelly said people who kept BSV had made "an entirely voluntary decision". They "could reasonably have sold it and reinvested it in comparable cryptocurrency", Kennelly added. BSV Claims' lawyers argued in court documents that the issue should proceed to trial with the rest of the case. Binance declined to comment on ongoing litigation. A spokesperson for Kraken said the lawsuit was "baseless". Binance, Kraken and other exchanges delisted BSV in 2019, partly in response to claims by Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who was associated with BSV, that he was the pseudonymous inventor of bitcoin known as "Satoshi Nakamoto". Earlier this year, Wright was found in separate litigation to have lied and forged documents to support his false claim to be Satoshi. Wright has said he will appeal against that ruling. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-exchange-binance-seeks-slash-size-13-bln-uk-lawsuit-2024-06-05/

2024-06-05 20:34

TSX rises 0.8% to 22,145.02 Two-year yield falls to 4-month low Loonie touches its weakest since May 23 BoC cuts its policy rate to 4.75% TORONTO, June 5 (Reuters) - Canadian stocks and bonds rallied on Wednesday, while the loonie touched a near two-week low against its U.S. counterpart, after the Bank of Canada became the first central bank among G7 countries to cut interest rates, raising prospects for Canada's economy. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) New Tab, opens new tab ended up 166.84 points, or 0.8%, at 22,145.02, clawing back much of its losses since the start of the week. The Canadian central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75%, its first cut in four years, in a move that will ease pressure on highly indebted consumers. "It was clearly a positive development for equity markets and bonds," said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, Missouri. "It is consistent with a soft landing scenario that the Bank of Canada is willing to start (to) normalize policy while economic growth still is holding up." The Canadian services economy grew in May for the first time in a year as firms saw an increase in new business and hired workers at a faster pace, data from S&P Global showed. All 10 major sectors on the Toronto market moved higher, including the interest rate-sensitive real estate sector and resource stocks, as commodity prices climbed. Wall Street also rallied, led by technology shares. The Canadian 2-year yield fell as much as 12.7 basis points to 3.929%, its lowest level since Feb. 1, as investors bet that the BoC would ease rates further in the coming months. Swap market data shows that the central bank is expected to cut 77 basis points in total this year, compared with 49 basis points of easing that is priced in for the Federal Reserve. That prospect of interest rate divergence weighed on the Canadian dollar . The currency was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3690 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.05 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since May 23 at 1.3741 "We think the BoC will cut rates at least once more before the Fed meets on Sept. 18, leaving CAD vulnerable to a further widening in rate differentials," said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis for Monex Europe and Monex Canada. The Federal Reserve's next policy meeting is June 11-12, when it is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. The Fed will also hold a policy meeting in late July, followed by its meeting on Sept. 17-18. A majority of forecasters in a Reuters poll expect the Fed to cut its key interest rate in September, followed by one more cut this year. The loonie is set to strengthen less than previously expected over the coming year as the BoC leads the Fed on rate cuts and if the U.S. election in November raises global trade uncertainty, a Reuters poll found. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/c-hits-two-week-low-investors-expect-more-rate-cuts-2024-06-05/

2024-06-05 20:30

June 5 (Reuters) - A person with prior health complications who had contracted bird flu died in Mexico in April and the source of exposure to the virus was unknown, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. WHO said the current risk of bird flu virus to the general population is low. The 59-year-old resident of the State of Mexico had been hospitalized in Mexico City and died on April 24 after developing a fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea and general discomfort, WHO said. "Although the source of exposure to the virus in this case is currently unknown, A(H5N2) viruses have been reported in poultry in Mexico," WHO said in a statement. It was the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus globally and the first avian H5 virus reported in a person in Mexico, according to the WHO. Scientists said the case is unrelated to the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in the United States that has so far infected three dairy farm workers. Mexico's Health Ministry also said in a statement the source of infection had not been identified. The victim had no history of exposure to poultry or other animals but had multiple underlying medical conditions and had been bedridden for three weeks, for other reasons, prior to the onset of acute symptoms, the WHO said. Mexico's health ministry said the person had chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes. "That immediately puts a person at risk of more severe influenza, even with seasonal flu," said Andrew Pekosz, an influenza expert at Johns Hopkins University. But how this individual got infected "is a big question mark that at least this initial report doesn't really address thoroughly." In March, Mexico's government reported an outbreak of A(H5N2) in an isolated family unit in the country's western Michoacan state. The government said the cases did not represent a risk to distant commercial farms, nor to human health. After the April death, Mexican authorities confirmed the presence of the virus and reported the case to the WHO, the agency said. Mexico's Health Ministry said there was no evidence of person-to-person transmission in the case and farms near the victim's home were monitored. Other people in contact with the person tested negative for bird flu, the health ministry and the WHO said. Bird flu has infected mammals such as seals, raccoons, bears and cattle, primarily due to contact with infected birds. Scientists are on alert for changes in the virus that could signal it is adapting to spread more easily among humans. The United States has reported three cases of H5N1 human infection after exposure to cows since an outbreak was detected in dairy cattle in March. Two had symptoms of conjunctivitis, while the third also had respiratory symptoms. Although the death in Mexico was not the same strain as the one that is currently infecting cattle in the United States, they are both H5 avian viruses. Pekosz said that since 1997, H5 viruses have continuously shown a propensity to infect mammals more than any other avian influenza virus. "So it continues to ring that warning bell that we should be very vigilant about monitoring for these infections, because every spillover is an opportunity for that virus to try to accumulate those mutations that make it better infect humans," Pekosz said. Australia reported its first human case of A(H5N1) infection in May, noting there were no signs of transmission. It has however found more poultry cases of H7 bird flu on farms in Victoria state. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/who-confirms-first-human-case-avian-influenza-ah5n2-mexico-2024-06-05/

2024-06-05 20:22

MOSCOW, June 5 (Reuters) - Sibur Holding, Russia's top liquefied petroleum gas producer and exporter, will boost LPG loadings from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga by a quarter this month after securing more gas carriers, two people familiar with the company's plans told Reuters. They said the company would increase LPG loadings to 52,000 metric tons from 43,000 tons in May. LSEG data showed Sibur's LPG export volumes fell by 48% in January-May from last year. The drop reflected a shortage of tankers after a time-charter contract with a shipping company Navigator Gas expired in December, the sources said. From June, Sibur has chartered two new gas carriers - Falcon and Negmar Min - capable of carrying 20,000 metric tons each and may increase its exports, they said. "An LPG cargo (about 20,000 tons) is planned for loading on Falcon early in June," one of the sources said. "The volume of supplies (LPG) through Ust-Luga will be determined by various factors, the logistics component is only one of them. The volumes are more influenced by the domestic demand and our own supply plans to the company’s petrochemical plants," a Sibur spokesperson said. According to LSEG, Falcon is owned by Dubai-based Delta Overseas Shipping, and Negmar Min by Turkey's Negmar Denizcilik. Negmar Denizcilik declined to comment while Reuters was unable to reach Delta Overseas Shipping for comment. By chartering more carriers Sibur could further increase its exports from Ust-Luga. According to the sources, Russian Railways confirmed an ability to ship 86,000 metric tons of Sibur LPG to the port this month. Sibur needs more tankers because voyages to end users take longer as the company increasingly ships to Turkey and the Middle East while European demand for Russian LPG remains low because of sanctions. Ust-Luga is the main Russian port for LPG exports. It accounted for a quarter of all exports last year, with all the volumes supplied by Sibur. LPG is widely used in the petrochemical industry as an alternative to naphtha and as a raw material. It is also used for heating and cooking and as an auto gas fuel. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/russias-sibur-increase-ust-luga-lpg-exports-by-25-june-2024-06-05/