2025-08-20 07:50

TOKYO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Japan's tourism boom continued in July, with record arrivals for the month despite a steep drop in visitors from Hong Kong due to typhoon-related flight disruption and jitters about possible earthquakes, the tourism board said on Wednesday. Arrivals of foreign visitors for business and leisure reached 3.43 million, a 4.4% increase from the same month last year and the highest number for any July, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) said. Sign up here. During the month, the number of visitors from Hong Kong fell 36.9% and arrivals from South Korea dropped 10.4%, which contributed to the slowest monthly growth in arrivals so far this year, the data showed. Contributing factors included typhoon-related flight disruptions impacting Hong Kong and social media chatter over recent earthquakes, which affected travel sentiment from both markets, according to the JNTO. A persistently weak yen, however, continued to fuel growth from other key markets, offsetting some of the decline. Visitors from mainland China jumped 25.5%, while arrivals from the U.S. rose by 10.3%. For the first seven months of 2025, Japan has welcomed 24.9 million tourists, up 18.4% from the same period in 2024. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-tourism-arrivals-hit-july-record-despite-weather-disruption-quake-fears-2025-08-20/

2025-08-20 07:41

JAKARTA, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's central bank cut interest rates in a surprise move on Wednesday, stepping up support for Southeast Asia's largest economy against a backdrop of global uncertainties. Bank Indonesia (BI) trimmed the benchmark 7-day reverse repurchase rate (IDCBRR=ECI) , opens new tab by 25 basis points to 5.00%, its fifth rate cut since September taking the rate to its lowest level since late 2022. Sign up here. Only five of 29 economists polled by Reuters had expected a cut on Wednesday. The rest expected rates to be held steady. The overnight deposit (IDCBID=ECI) , opens new tab and lending (IDCBIL=ECI) , opens new tab rates were also cut by the same amount to 4.25% and 5.75%, respectively. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesias-central-bank-surprises-with-rate-cut-2025-08-20/

2025-08-20 07:21

Shares track tech-led decline on Wall Street UK consumer price inflation 3.8% in 12 months to July Trump's growing influence over tech companies raises concerns Eyes on Jackson Hole symposium, Powell's speech SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Global share markets came under pressure on Wednesday after a tech-led selloff on Wall Street, while the dollar gained some ground ahead of a key meeting of central bankers later in the week. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) , opens new tab fell 0.26%, with German shares (.GDAXI) , opens new tab sliding 0.7%. Sign up here. In Britain, the FTSE 100 (.FTSE) , opens new tab eased 0.11%, after data on Wednesday showed nationwide inflation hit its highest in 18 months in July. The move lower in European markets mirrored a dim day for their Asian counterparts earlier in the day, with tech-heavy indexes in Taiwan (.TWII) , opens new tab and South Korea (.KS11) , opens new tab among the biggest losers. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab lost 0.74%. While there was no immediate trigger behind the selloff in technology stocks, analysts pointed to a confluence of factors, including President Donald Trump's growing influence over the sector and a general risk-off mood. "What we're seeing is a relatively broad momentum unwind, probably triggered by some de-risking ahead of Powell's remarks at Jackson Hole on Friday," said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the government taking equity stakes in Intel (INTC.O) , opens new tab as well as other chip companies in exchange for grants under the CHIPS Act that was meant to spur factory-building around the country, sources told Reuters. The move comes on the back of other unusual deals Washington has recently struck with U.S. companies, including allowing AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab to sell its H20 chips to China in exchange for the U.S. government receiving 15% of the revenue from those sales. "These developments signal that the U.S. government is heading in a concerning and more interventionist direction," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. In commodities, oil prices trimmed losses from the previous session, as investors awaited the next steps in talks to end Russia's war on Ukraine, with uncertainty over whether oil sanctions might be eased or tightened. While a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a group of European allies over the Russia-Ukraine war concluded without much fanfare, Trump said the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there. He later said on Tuesday that the United States might provide air support to Ukraine, while ruling out putting U.S. troops on the ground. "The U.S. is not categorically underwriting anything, any security for Ukraine, even if they're open to provide some, because we don't know the conditions under which they will. So there's quite a bit of risk left out there," said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho. Brent crude futures were last up 0.8% at $66.32 a barrel, while U.S. crude tacked on 0.72% to $62.80 per barrel. AWAITING JACKSON HOLE All eyes are now on the Kansas City Federal Reserve's August 21-23 Jackson Hole symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework on Friday. Focus will be on what Powell says about the near-term outlook for rates, with traders almost fully pricing in a rate cut next month. "Given the apparent tensions between U.S. CPI and PPI data, (it) does come across as ... premature to declare one way or the other. And most importantly, given this kind of dilemma embedded within the data, it is hard to decipher whether the Fed would take or would emphasise the risks that start to mount on the job side of the equation or (the) need to sit firm," said Mizuho's Varathan. Ahead of the gathering, the dollar firmed slightly, pushing the euro down 0.06% to $1.1639. Sterling rose a touch after the release of the UK inflation data and was last little changed at $1.3494. The New Zealand dollar tumbled more than 1% after its central bank cut rates as expected and flagged further reductions in coming months as policymakers warned of domestic and global headwinds to growth. The kiwi last bought $0.5829. Elsewhere, spot gold rose 0.29% to $3,324.89 an ounce. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-3-2025-08-20/

2025-08-20 07:19

OSLO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Norway's combined oil and gas production exceeded an official forecast by 3.9% in July, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on Wednesday. Norway is Europe's largest supplier of natural gas and a major producer of oil, but output varies from month to month depending on maintenance needs and other stoppages at more than 90 offshore fields. Sign up here. Overall oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and gas output stood at 0.672 million standard cubic metres per day, equivalent to 4.23 million barrels of oil equivalent, a decrease of 2.9% year-on-year. Natural gas production in July fell to 328.3 million cubic metres (mcm) per day from 360.7 mcm a year earlier, but exceeded a forecast of 321.2 mcm by 2.2%, the regulator said on its website. Crude oil output rose to 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd) in July from 1.83 million bpd in the same month last year, and came in above a forecast of 1.81 million bpd, NOD's preliminary data showed. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/norway-pumped-more-oil-gas-than-forecast-july-2025-08-20/

2025-08-20 07:12

Trump criticizes Powell ahead of Jackson Hole symposium Fed has held rates steady despite Trump's calls for cuts Investors will watch Powell's speech Friday for any hints on next moves WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is "hurting" the housing industry "very badly" and repeated his call for a big cut to U.S. interest rates. "Could somebody please inform Jerome "Too Late" Powell that he is hurting the Housing Industry, very badly? People can't get a Mortgage because of him. There is no Inflation, and every sign is pointing to a major Rate Cut," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Sign up here. Inflation is well off the highs seen during the pandemic, but some recent data has given a mixed picture and inflation continues to track above the Fed's 2% target range. Trump's latest salvo against Powell comes ahead of the Fed chair's Friday speech at the annual Jackson Hole central banking symposium, where investors will cleave to his every word for hints on his economic outlook and the likelihood of a coming reduction to short-term borrowing costs. The Fed's next policy meeting will be held on September 16-17. Investors and economists are betting the Fed will cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point next month with perhaps another reduction of similar size to come later in the year, far less than the several percentage points that Trump has called for. Trump's Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has promoted the idea of a half-point rate cut in September. The U.S. central bank cut its policy rate half a percentage point last September, just before the presidential election, and trimmed it another half of a percentage point in the two months immediately following Trump's electoral victory, but has held it steady in the 4.25%-4.50% range for all of this year. Fed policymakers have worried that Trump's tariffs could reignite inflation and also felt the labor market was strong enough not to require a boost from lower borrowing costs. MIXED INFLATION PICTURE The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in July, with the 12-month rate through July at 2.7%, unchanged from June. Core CPI, which strips out the volatile food and energy components, increased 3.1% year-over-year in July. Based in part on that data, economists estimated the core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 0.3% in July. That would raise the year-on-year increase to 3% in July. The PCE is a key measure tracked by the Fed against its own 2% inflation target. And despite a moderate rise in overall consumer prices in July, producer and import prices jumped, a suggestion that higher consumer prices could be coming as sellers pass higher costs onto households. The inflation picture comes amid a picture of a possible cooling in the labor market, with declines in monthly job gains, although the unemployment rate, at 4.2%, remains low by historical standards. Trump's online attacks on the Fed and Powell more typically focus on the cost that higher interest rates mean for U.S. government borrowing. High mortgage rates are a key pain point for potential homebuyers who are also facing high and rising home prices due to a dearth of housing supply. Mortgage rates can be loosely tied to the Fed's overnight benchmark rate but more closely track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which typically rises and falls based on investors' expectations for economic growth and inflation. A Fed rate cut does not always mean lower long-term rates -- indeed after the Fed cut rates last September, mortgage rates -- which had been on the decline -- rose sharply. In recent weeks the most popular rate - the 30-year fixed mortgage rate -- has drifted downward but -- at around 6.7% most recently -- is still much higher than it had been before inflation took off after the pandemic shock and the Fed began its rate-hike campaign in 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-again-attacks-fed-chair-says-powell-hurting-housing-industry-2025-08-19/

2025-08-20 07:07

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Ithaca Energy (ITH.L) , opens new tab, a North Sea-focused oil and gas company, raised its 2025 production forecast on Wednesday for the second time in three months, after first-half production more than doubled, sending its shares 7% higher. The London-listed producer has been expanding its portfolio through acquisitions in the past year, including its purchase of Eni's (ENI.MI) , opens new tab UK oil and gas assets and a stake increase in Cygnus gas field. Sign up here. Production rose to 123,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the six-month period ended June 30, up from 53,000 boepd last year, driven by record first-quarter output due to its expanded portfolio. Ithaca posted adjusted EBITDAX (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization and Exploration Expense) of $1.1 billion for the first half, compared with $533 million a year earlier. Ithaca now expects 2025 production levels between 119,000 and 125,000 boepd, from an initial forecast of 109,000-119,000 boepd. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/uks-ithaca-energy-lifts-annual-production-forecast-second-time-this-year-2025-08-20/