2025-08-06 13:42
PRAGUE, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Central Europe's currencies will mostly find support from a weaker U.S. dollar over the next six months, although the Hungarian forint is set to retreat from around 10-month highs, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. The region's currencies have been on a stronger footing in recent weeks, with the Czech crown touching an 18-month high, as global trade uncertainties ease after the European Union and U.S. reached a deal on U.S. tariffs and the dollar softens. Sign up here. Hawkish central bank stances in Hungary and the Czech Republic have also supported the forint and crown, respectively. But analysts in the poll expect the forint to lose some shine later this year as inflation starts to weaken and economies feel the - mainly indirect - impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy. In the poll, the median forecast had the forint losing 1.7% to trade at 405.00 versus the euro in six months' time. "The forint remains supported by favourable positioning and carry appeal, but softening inflation and a weak macro backdrop could push EUR/HUF back toward 405-410 by year-end," said Peter Virovacz, an ING economist. Investors in Hungary will be watching a potential return to central bank interest rate cuts, and will also have an eye on parliamentary elections due next year, with worries of fiscal slippage in the run-up. Romania's leu is also expected to fade over the next six months, with the poll's median forecast putting it at 5.12 to the euro, down 0.9% from Tuesday's close. The new government in Bucharest faces a lengthy task of bringing down the EU's largest fiscal gap, a process that could weigh on the currency. The crown and the Polish zloty are expected to fare better, with both likely to trade mostly unchanged in six months. Analysts forecast the crown to hover around 24.60 per euro over the next half-year. Meanwhile, the Czech central bank (CNB) is taking a cautious stance on further rate cuts in its easing cycle, although many analysts expect another reduction later this year. "A decline in CNB rates could lead to renewed depreciation pressures in the fall," Komercni Banka said in a report. "The negative factors could be partially offset by the CNB's high foreign exchange reserves, the Czech economy's positive growth differential vis-à-vis the euro area, and the global weakening of the U.S. dollar." Similarly, Poland has launched interest rate cuts in recent months, after a long pause, but the zloty is expected to keep within a recent range of 4.25-4.30 per euro in the coming months and is forecast at 4.27 in six months, or 0.4% stronger than Tuesday's closing price. (Other stories from the Reuters August foreign exchange poll) https://www.reuters.com/business/central-europes-fx-get-dollar-boost-forint-likely-fall-highs-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:47
Indian PM to visit China for SCO summit, source says Modi China visit first in over 7 years - source India's national security adviser visiting Russia to discuss oil, weapons issues India braces for $64 bln export hit due to Trump's tariffs NEW DELHI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China for the first time in over seven years, a government source said on Wednesday, in a further sign of a diplomatic thaw with Beijing as tensions with the United States rise. Modi will go to China for a summit of the multilateral Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that begins on Aug. 31, the government source, with direct knowledge of the matter, told Reuters. India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. His trip will come at a time when India's relationship with the U.S. faces its most serious crisis in years after President Donald Trump imposed the highest tariffs among Asian peers on goods imported from India, and has threatened an unspecified further penalty for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil. Modi's visit to the Chinese city of Tianjin for the summit of the SCO, a Eurasian political and security grouping that includes Russia, will be his first since June 2018. Subsequently, Sino-Indian ties deteriorated sharply after a military clash along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in Russia in October that led to a thaw. The giant Asian neighbours are now slowly defusing tensions that have hampered business relations and travel between the two countries. Trump has threatened to charge an additional 10% tariff on imports from members - which include India - of the BRICS group of major emerging economies for "aligning themselves with Anti-American policies." Trump said on Wednesday his administration would decide on the penalty for buying Russian oil after the outcome of U.S. efforts to seek a last-minute breakthrough that would bring about a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. Trump's top diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow, two days before the expiry of a deadline the president set for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions. Meanwhile, India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is in Russia on a scheduled visit and is expected to discuss India's purchases of Russian oil in the wake of Trump's pressure on India to stop buying Russian crude, according to another government source, who also did not want to be named. Doval is likely to address India's defence cooperation with Russia, including obtaining faster access to pending exports to India of Moscow's S400 air defence system, and a possible visit by President Vladimir Putin to India. Doval's trip will be followed by Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in the weeks to come. EXPORT IMPACT U.S. and Indian officials told Reuters , opens new tab a mix of political misjudgement, missed signals and bitterness scuttled trade deal negotiations between the world's biggest and fifth-largest economies, whose bilateral trade is worth over $190 billion. India expects Trump's crackdown could cost it a competitive advantage in about $64 billion worth of goods sent to the U.S. that account for 80% of its total exports, four separate sources told Reuters, citing an internal government assessment. However, the relatively low share of exports in India's $4 trillion economy is expected to limit the direct impact on economic growth. On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India left its GDP growth forecast for the current April-March financial year unchanged at 6.5% and held rates steady despite the tariff uncertainties. India's government assessment report has assumed a 10% penalty for buying Russian oil, which would take the total U.S. tariff to 35%, the sources said. India's trade ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The internal assessment report is the government's initial estimate and will change as the quantum of tariffs imposed by Trump becomes clear, all four sources said. India exported goods estimated at around $81 billion in 2024 to the U.S. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-modi-visit-china-first-time-7-years-tensions-with-us-rise-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:24
Aug 6 (Reuters) - NRG Energy (NRG.N) , opens new tab beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the utility got a boost from surging power demand and improved retail margins in its Texas unit. The company also entered into a 295 megawatt long-term retail deal to power data centers constructed on two NRG-owned sites in Texas, with a potential to expand to about 1 gigawatt across additional sites. Sign up here. NRG is positioned to benefit from surging electricity demand in Texas, driven in part by a boom in data centers, which require steady, large-scale power supplies to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing operations. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in April that power consumption in the country is expected to reach record highs in 2025 and 2026. NRG added that it plans to return $1.3 billion to shareholders and about $345 million in common stock dividends in 2025 as part of its previously announced 2025 capital allocation plan. The company's Texas unit posted an adjusted core profit of $512 million, up form last year's $452 million. NRG's operating expenses rose to $6.74 billion in the quarter ended June 30, from $5.25 billion a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a profit of $1.73 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.56, according to data compiled by LSEG. NRG reaffirmed its current-year adjusted profit forecast of $6.75 to $7.75 per share. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nrg-energy-beats-quarterly-profit-estimates-inks-295-mw-deal-power-data-centers-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:16
Aug 6 (Reuters) - India's Jindal Stainless (JIST.NS) , opens new tab said on Wednesday that the launch of an anti-dumping investigation by the government into cheap stainless steel imports has been delayed due to trade uncertainty stemming from fresh U.S. tariffs on Indian goods. The Indian Stainless Steel Development Association - a domestic trade body of which the company is a member - filed a petition with the federal trade ministry's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in late July, Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal said in a post-earnings call. Sign up here. India faces the imposition of a 25% tariff on its shipments to the U.S. from Friday, and President Donald Trump has warned of "very substantial" additional levies because of New Delhi's oil imports from Russia. The DGTR will likely take two to three more months to start the probe, Jindal said. Indian mills have been grappling with higher imports of cheaper stainless steel from countries, including China and Vietnam. Local demand for the finished product - used in logistics, the automotive industry, home appliances and the industrial sector - stayed strong in the April-June quarter, supported by strong manufacturing activity and government spending. Jindal Stainless posted an 11% rise in first-quarter profit to 7.15 billion rupees (about $82 million) earlier in the day. Its domestic sales accounted for 91% of total sales, with consolidated net revenue rising 8.2% to 102.07 billion rupees. ($1 = 87.6430 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/jindal-stainless-says-governments-anti-dumping-probe-delayed-amid-us-tariffs-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:10
CAIRO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, said on Wednesday that oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline will resume later on Wednesday or Thursday after a two-year hiatus, Iraqi state news agency INA reported. Abdel-Ghani said an agreement had been concluded with the Kurdistan Regional Government to resume the oil exports via the pipeline. Sign up here. He said that "80,000 barrels per day will be exported via Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline through SOMO," INA quoted him as saying, referring to Iraq's state-owned oil marketer. There was no sign of an imminent restart to oil exports through the pipeline, four industry sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has been offline since 2023, after an arbitration court ruled that Turkey should pay $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorised exports between 2014 and 2018. Turkey is appealing the ruling. The pipeline was transporting around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iraqi oil, including 370,000 bpd of KRG crude. Baghdad said that SOMO was the only party authorised to manage crude exports via the Turkish port. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraqi-minister-expects-oil-exports-via-turkey-pipeline-resume-shortly-state-news-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:09
Rescuers hampered by heavy rain, blocked roads Army, disaster teams use machinery and ziplines for rescue Tally of 200 brought to safety over Tuesday and Wednesday RISHIKESH, India, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Rescuers battled heavy rain and blocked roads in India's Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on Wednesday, after four deaths in sudden flooding and landslides the previous day left dozens missing and an entire village submerged under sludge. Teams of army and disaster force rescuers used heavy machinery to shift boulders in the struggle to reach the village of Dharali, where homes and roads were submerged by a flood of water, mud and rocks, media and authorities said. Sign up here. The Indian Army said 70 people were brought to safety on Wednesday, while the state's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told news agency ANI about 130 were rescued the previous night. Rescuers used a makeshift zipline to cross a violently gushing river, while others moved rocks and mud with their hands in the hunt for those buried under the sludge, television images showed. "The number of missing persons is unknown. However the relief efforts have continued through the night," rescue leader Colonel Harshavardhan said in a post on X from the Indian Army. "We are trying to rescue people and take them to safety." Dharali, a hamlet of about 200 in the state's Uttarkashi district standing more than 1,150 m (3,775 ft) above sea level, is a tourist spot and pit-stop for Hindu pilgrims climbing to the temple town of Gangotri. WALL OF WATER Residents of nearby villages heard a loud rumble on Tuesday afternoon before a wall of water crashed into Dharali, media said. "I heard a deafening sound like boulders grinding," Sunita Devi, from the village of Mukha, told , opens new tab the Hindustan Times newspaper. "And then we saw the Kheer Ganga river turn into a monster." Roads to the area have crumbled or been blocked by boulders, making it tough to bring in rescue teams from elsewhere in the state, district administrator Prashant Arya told Reuters. The floods also washed away mobile and electricity towers, disrupting connectivity, and forcing rescue workers to turn to satellite phones. Eleven personnel were missing from an army camp in Harsil, 4 km (2.5 miles) from Dharali, after it was also hit by flash floods, the NDTV news channel said. More troops, accompanied by tracker dogs, drones, and earthmoving equipment are being mobilised for the rescue effort, the army's central command said on X. Uttarakhand is prone to floods and landslides, which some experts blame on climate change. Weather experts and geologists told media the cause of the havoc needed to be investigated in the absence of heavy rain in the area on Tuesday, adding that they suspected the cause could be a glacial lake outburst flood. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/landslides-blocked-roads-hamper-indian-flood-rescue-effort-2025-08-06/
