2024-05-09 10:48

BENGALURU, May 9 (Reuters) - India's state-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) (HPCL.NS) New Tab, opens new tab reported a fall in its fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by higher raw material costs and selling fuel below market prices. India has been buying cheap Russian oil since the war with Ukraine started but discounts have narrowed from $30 per barrel in 2022 to less than $10 this year. Refiners also cut fuel prices at pumps ahead of the country's general elections that started mid-April and will go on until early June. Crude oil prices jumped nearly 14% in January-March. Hindustan Petroleum's standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 31 fell 11.8% from a year earlier to 28.43 billion rupees ($340.6 million), sending its shares down 4.2% on Thursday. Sale of products grew 6% from a year earlier to 1.21 trillion rupees during the quarter. Total expenses rose about 7% to 1.19 trillion rupees due to an 18% jump in raw materials costs. Hindustan Petroleum's average gross refining margin - the profit from making refined products from one barrel of oil - for the year ended March 31 was $9.08 per barrel, compared with $12.09 per barrel a year earlier. Larger state-run peer Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) New Tab, opens new tab also reported a fall in its quarterly profit on inventory losses and lower pump prices. Hindustan Petroleum approved a bonus issue of shares in the ratio of 1:2 and declared a final dividend of 16.5 rupees per share. ($1 = 83.4760 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indian-refiner-hpcls-q4-profit-falls-higher-costs-2024-05-09/

2024-05-09 10:40

TOKYO, May 9 (Reuters) - Japan's top steelmaker, Nippon Steel (5401.T) New Tab, opens new tab, is sticking to its plan to close a deal by year-end to buy U.S. Steel (X.N) New Tab, opens new tab, which it expects to boost output and profits, the company said on Thursday, despite resistance to the transaction in the U.S. In December, Nippon Steel offered nearly $15 billion to take over iconic U.S. Steel, drawing resistance from both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, his likely challenger in the Nov. 5 election, as well as the United Steelworkers (USW) union. "U.S. Steel products will remain mined, melted and made in America and will continue supplying further sophisticated steel products to American industry," Nippon Steel said. It reiterated its latest guidance to close the deal by year-end, pending U.S. approvals. This month, Nippon Steel moved the deadline from end-September after the U.S. Department of Justice sought more details and materials in an antitrust review. The European Commission has already approved the deal. The takeover should bring Nippon Steel's global crude steel capacity to 86 million tons per year, close to its goal of 100 million, and to boost underlying business profit to 1 trillion yen after March 2025 from 935 billion yen last year. To win support from the USW, Nippon Steel has pledged to move its U.S. headquarters to Pittsburgh, where U.S. Steel is based, offering specific commitments on job security and additional investments if the deal goes through. Takahiro Mori, Nippon Steel's vice chairman and key negotiator on the takeover, told a briefing that thanks to the deal, the U.S. company will grow, adding jobs and profits. "Nothing has changed in our strong determination to close the deal at the earliest possible," Mori said, adding that 'politics is apparently affecting' delay in the USW's approval. U.S. Steel is based in the swing state of Pennsylvania, key for both candidates. "It has already become a political issue and will not become a political issue any further," Mori said. As U.S. Steel shareholders have already approved the deal, other contenders cannot buy the company, he added. Last year, U.S. Steel rejected a $7.3-billion offer from rival steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF.N) New Tab, opens new tab, whose chief executive Lourenco Goncalves continued to criticise the deal. PROFIT DOWN Nippon Steel beat estimates on Thursday, but posted a decline of 20.8% in net profit of 549.4 billion yen ($3.53 billion) for the year ended in March, because of losses on inactive facilities at home. Nippon Steel had been expected to post a net profit of 464.6 billion yen, an LSEG poll of analysts showed. Excluding the U.S. Steel deal, Nippon Steel forecasts a net profit of 300 billion yen for the year ending in March 2025, amid continuing losses on inactive facilities, while it expects domestic and overseas steel demand to stay low. To redeem subordinated bonds issued in September 2019 and strengthen its financial position amid the proposed takeover, Nippon Steel plans to raise up to 250 billion yen via subordinated syndicated loans and public subordinated bonds. ($1=155.7000 yen) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/japans-nippon-steel-full-year-profit-down-21-beats-estimates-2024-05-09/

2024-05-09 10:35

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan As Wall Street stalls its recent rally, world markets switched attention to China's on-off recovery and whether the Bank of England's latest policy decision on Thursday may signal that it is ready to ease credit as early as next month. U.S. stock futures as well as Asian and European equities have turned more subdued generally. But Chinese stocks (.CSI300) New Tab, opens new tab clearly outperformed overnight after news the country's exports and imports returned to growth in April - stirring hopes that government stimulus measures there may be starting to kick in. Shipments from China grew 1.5% in the year through last month, while imports for April increased by 8.4%, beating an expected 4.8% rise. Both imports and exports reversed March declines. The trade numbers add a spur to the global demand outlook at the margin at a tricky time for central banks - nudging oil prices higher again on Thursday alongside data showing a surprise draw on U.S. stockpiles. But they also likely mask significant upheaval in bilateral trade flows. Reuters' calculations based on official data from the German statistics office, for example, showed the United States overtook China as Germany's most important trading partner in the first quarter of this year. Adding to the Chinese market cheer on Thursday, however, was some loosening of property market curbs. China's eastern metropolis of Hangzhou said it would lift all home purchase restrictions to shore up its real estate market, raising the prospect of other cities following suit. The latest development also comes against an intensified tech sector standoff between Washington and Beijing. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and seizure of chips producer TSMC (2330.TW) New Tab, opens new tab would be "absolutely devastating" to the American economy. Declining to comment on how or whether it would happen, she told a U.S. House hearing that the United States buys 92% of its leading edge chips from TSMC. Intel (INTC.O) New Tab, opens new tab, meanwhile, fell more than 2% on Wednesday after warning of a sales hit from the U.S. revoking some of the chipmaker's export licences for China. It has been a bumpy week within the tech sector more generally. Arm Holdings dropped 10% in out-of-hours trade overnight after a full-year revenue forecast missed expectations. Wall St stock futures were off slightly ahead of Thursday's open, Treasury yields were a touch higher and the dollar (.DXY) New Tab, opens new tab was firmer too. Wednesday's 10-year Treasury auction was a little tepid and bond investors now await $25 billion of new 30-year bonds later on Thursday. Fed officials continue to sound cautious - though downplaying any need to raise interest rates again. Boston Fed President Susan Collins said the current setting of monetary policy would slow the economy in the way she said was necessary to get inflation back to the Fed's 2% target. Back in Europe, the Bank of England decision is in focus and sterling is on the backfoot amid speculation that steady rates today may be accompanied by signals that the Bank is prepared to ease alongside the European Central Bank as soon as next month. And in deals, Spanish bank Sabadell (SABE.MC) New Tab, opens new tab jumped 6% after rival BBVA (BBVA.MC) New Tab, opens new tab presented a 12.23 billion euro takeover bid directly to shareholders, even though the former's board already rejected the proposal. BBVA shares were down 5.4%. Key diary items that may provide direction to U.S. markets later on Thursday: * Bank of England policy decision, meeting minutes, monetary policy report and press briefing; Central Bank of Mexico releases Monetary policy statement * US weekly jobless claims, Mexico April inflation * San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly speaks; European Central Bank board member Luis de Guindos speaks * US corporate earnings: Warner Bros Discovery, Tapestry, Constellation Energy, Evergy, Viatris, Gen Digital, Insulet, Epam Systems, Akamai Technologies, Mettler-Toledo, Charles River Laboratories * Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan visits the United States * US Treasury auctions $25 billion of 30-year bonds Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-2024-05-09/

2024-05-09 10:34

May 9 (Reuters) - Robinhood Markets (HOOD.O) New Tab, opens new tab rose in morning trade on Thursday after reporting record first-quarter revenue and profit thanks to mom-and-pop investors returning to its commission-free platform to trade cryptocurrencies. Retail trading has been on the road to recovery since bitcoin and U.S. stocks scaled all-time highs earlier this year, helped by bets of a soft landing for the economy and expectations of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. The approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. in January has also powered sentiment. Robinhood crushed Wall Street expectations on Wednesday with a 40% surge in revenue and a profit of 18 cents per share, compared with a loss of 57 cents a year ago. Its cryptocurrency revenue more than tripled to $126 million. Monthly active users also hit a near two-year high. "Crypto was a primary driver of the difference between reported numbers and our estimates, with an exceptionally strong March," analysts at J.P.Morgan said. "It looks like the unusual March is not repeating in April, suggesting it was more one-time than indicative of market share gains." Robinhood was at the center of the 2021 retail trading frenzy, when people used the platform to pump money into so-called "meme stocks" during lockdowns. Its fortunes later turned as household budgets came under pressure from decades-high inflation and rising borrowing costs. Clouding some optimism around the earnings report was the company's disclosure from earlier this week that its crypto trading arm had received a so-called Wells notice from the U.S. SEC over tokens traded on its platform, indicating potential enforcement action against the company. "Timeline or scenarios are difficult to estimate but we will wait to see what the enforcement action looks like," BofA analysts said. Robinhood shares pared premarket gains and were last up 2% in morning trading amid muted broader U.S. market sentiment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/robinhood-jumps-retail-trading-rebound-powers-record-quarter-2024-05-09/

2024-05-09 10:22

MOSCOW, May 9 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that there was nothing unusual in a planned exercise involving the practice deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in southern Russia along with ally Belarus. Russia said on Monday it would practise the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what the Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States. "There is nothing unusual here, this is planned work," Putin said, state news agency TASS reported. "It is training." Russia's defence ministry, in its announcement on Monday, explicitly linked the nuclear exercise to "provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation". Putin said last year that Moscow had transferred some tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, Russia's first move of such warheads outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. Putin said that he had suggested to Belarus that it take part in one of the parts of the nuclear exercise announced on Monday. "We hold them regularly," Putin said. "This time they are held in three stages. At the second stage, Belarusian colleagues will join our joint actions." Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, speaking alongside Putin, said that this was the third such training exercise. "There were probably dozens in Russia, so we synchronized. And the general staffs, as the Russian defence minister told me, have already begun to execute these instructions," Lukashenko said. Russia and the United States are by far the world's biggest nuclear powers, holding more than 10,600 of the world's 12,100 nuclear warheads. China has the third-largest nuclear arsenal, followed by France and Britain. Russia has about 1,558 non-strategic nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists New Tab, opens new tab, though there is uncertainty about exact figures for such weapons due to a lack of transparency. There is still much uncertainty among arms controls experts about what weapons Russia has supplied to Belarus and the nature of their storage. Typically, it would take some time to create the storage, security and barracks for such a deployment - and Russian nuclear weapons are controlled by the Russian defence ministry's 12th Main Directorate (known as 12th GUMO). It is unclear if 12th GUMO is in Belarus, according to Western experts. No power has used nuclear weapons in war since the United States unleashed the first atomic bomb attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Pentagon said on Monday that it had not seen a change to Russia's disposition of its strategic nuclear forces, despite what it called "irresponsible rhetoric" from Moscow detailing plans for exercises involving the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-there-is-nothing-unusual-about-tactical-nuclear-weapons-drill-2024-05-09/

2024-05-09 09:26

Dow Industrials extends winning streak to seven days FTSE hits record high as BoE edges toward cut Europe's STOXX 600, Germany's DAX hit record peaks U.S. jobless claims rise more than expected Graphic: World FX rates NEW YORK/LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - World stocks rallied on Thursday, led by surging European shares and a larger-than-expected rise in U.S. weekly jobless claims that buoyed interest rate cut hopes, while the dollar eased as the market awaits key inflation data next week. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) New Tab, opens new tab and Britain's FTSE 100 (.FTSE) New Tab, opens new tab rose 0.19% and 0.33%, respectively, to scale new record highs, after the Bank of England kept rates unchanged but suggested a cut is imminent. Germany's DAX (.GDAXI) New Tab, opens new tab also hit a peak. Following a sluggish open, the major U.S. indices pulled higher with the Dow industrials rising for a seventh straight session. New signs of a softening labor market provided hope the Federal Reserve might cut rates as soon as September. U.S. initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased more than expected by 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 231,000 for the week ended May 4, the Labor Department said. "It's a relatively quiet week, but initial jobless claims came in weaker. We're still clearly in that 'bad news is good news' macro regime," said Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management in Boston. "We'll have to see if that's the beginning of a trend. That is one of the biggest jumps we've seen in quite a while." The combination of earnings coming in better than expected and interest rates falling is propelling U.S. stocks, said James Ragan, director of Wealth Management Research at D.A. Davidson in Seattle. "There's a feeling that aggressive earnings estimates for the year are more achievable after having a pretty good first quarter season," Ragan said. "The Fed has made it very clear that the next move is going to be lower, it's just a matter of the timing on that." MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) New Tab, opens new tab closed up 0.38%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab advanced 0.85% for its seventh straight day of gains. The S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab gained 0.51% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab 0.27%. In Britain, investors cheered indications more policymakers are warming to cutting rates. Two of BoE's nine rate setters, one more than in April, voted for a cut and Governor Andrew Bailey said more could be on the way than investors expect. The BoE sent a message that bets on the first cut being in August might be too conservative as it lowered its inflation forecasts for two and three years' time to 1.9% and 1.6% - below its 2% target - from its February projections of 2.3% and 1.9%. The dollar index , a measure of the U.S. currency against a basket of six others, including the yen and the euro, fell 0.28% to 105.22. The euro rose 0.34% to $1.0781 and the yen fell 0.09% to 155.420 per dollar. Sterling rebounded to strengthen 0.2% at $1.2521. Benchmark Treasury yields retreated on relief that all $125 billion in new note and bond supply this week was absorbed smoothly. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 2.4 basis points to 4.459%, while the two-year note's yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 3 basis points to 4.8133%. BULLS IN THE CHINA SHOP Overnight in Asia, Chinese trade data and some property market developments had helped Chinese stocks continue their recent outperformance. MSCI's dollar-denominated China index has jumped more than 13% over the past two months. Customs figures showed that China's imports jumped 8.4% in April from a year earlier, beating expectations for a rise of 4.8%, while exports returned to growth, meeting forecasts, in a boost to economic growth. That helped Chinese shares build on earlier gains, with blue-chip stocks (.CSI300) New Tab, opens new tab ending up almost 1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HIS) New Tab, opens new tab increasing 1.2%. News that China's eastern metropolis Hangzhou will lift all home purchase restrictions in the ailing property sector, a key pillar of domestic demand, also boosted sentiment. Property shares (.CSI00095) New Tab, opens new tab surged 2.5% as a result. In other markets, Japan's Nikkei (.N225) New Tab, opens new tab reversed earlier gains to finish down 0.3%. Australia's resources-heavy share market (.AXJO) New Tab, opens new tab lost 1.1% while South Korea (.KS11) New Tab, opens new tab also retreated 1.2%. U.S. crude settled up 27 cents at $79.26 a barrel and Brent rose 30 cents to $83.88 a barrel. Gold prices rose more than 1% after the new unemployment claims data reinforced rate cut bets. U.S. gold futures for June delivery settled 0.8% higher at $2,340.30 per ounce. Bitcoin gained 1.59% at $62,555.92. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-05-09/