2025-07-22 00:58

Currencies trading in tight range Yen holds to gains following Japan's upper house election outcome Investors look for progress in more trade talks SINGAPORE, July 22 (Reuters) - The dollar traded in a tight range on Tuesday after a brief fall at the start of the week, as investors watched out for any progress on trade talks ahead of an August 1 deadline for countries to strike deals with the U.S. or face steep tariffs. The yen mostly held to gains from the previous session following results from a weekend upper house election in Japan that proved no worse than what had already been priced in, as focus now turns to how quickly Tokyo can strike a trade deal with Washington and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's future at the helm. Sign up here. The Japanese currency was last a touch weaker at 147.65 in early Asia trade, after rising 1% on Monday in the wake of the election outcome. The bruising defeat suffered by Ishiba and his ruling coalition also drew just a modest response in the broader Japanese market, which returned from a holiday in the previous session. "The initial relief for the yen that the ruling coalition did not lose even more seats and that Prime Minister Ishiba plans to hang on to power is likely to prove short-lived," said MUFG senior currency analyst Lee Hardman. "The pick-up in political uncertainty in Japan could complicate reaching a timely trade deal with the U.S., posing downside risks for Japan's economy and the yen." With just slightly over a week to go before an August 1 deadline on tariffs, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that the administration is more concerned with the quality of trade agreements than their timing. Asked whether the deadline could be extended for countries engaged in productive talks with Washington, Bessent said President Donald Trump would make that decision. Uncertainty over the eventual state of tariffs globally has been a huge overhang for the foreign exchange market, leaving currencies trading in a tight range for the most part, even as stocks on Wall Street have scaled fresh highs. "Nothing that happens on August 1 is necessarily permanent, so long as the U.S. administration remains willing to talk, as was indicated in Trump's letters from two weeks ago," said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group. The dollar was last steady after slipping in the previous session due in part to the yen's rise and a dip in U.S. Treasury yields, leaving sterling trading 0.03% lower at $1.3488. The euro fell 0.12% to $1.1684, with focus also on a rate decision by the European Central Bank later this week, where expectations are for policymakers to stand pat on rates. The European Union is exploring a broader set of possible counter measures against the United States as prospects for an acceptable trade agreement with Washington fade, according to EU diplomats. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose slightly to 97.94, after having fallen 0.6% on Monday. Also weighing on investors' minds has been worries about the Federal Reserve's independence, given Trump has railed repeatedly against Chair Jerome Powell and urged him to resign because of the central bank's reluctance to cut interest rates. "Our base case remains that solid U.S. data and a tariff driven rebound in inflation will keep the FOMC on hold into 2026, and that the resulting shift in interest rate differentials will drive a continued rebound in the dollar in the next few months," said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics. "But that view is clearly at the mercy of the White House's whims." Elsewhere, the Australian dollar eased 0.05% to $0.6522, while the New Zealand dollar fell 0.14% to $0.5960. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/dollar-indecisive-investors-await-more-tariff-clarity-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 00:46

July 22 (Reuters) - Australia's Champion Iron Ltd (CIA.AX) , opens new tab said on Tuesday Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T) , opens new tab and Sojitz Corp (2768.T) , opens new tab will invest an initial C$245 million ($179.11 million) in its Kami iron ore project in Canada for an aggregate 49% interest. The investment follows an agreement that the three companies entered into in December 2024 for the project, which Champion Iron acquired in 2021. Sign up here. Following the initial closing, Champion will hold a 51% interest in the project, while Nippon Steel and Sojitz will have 30% and 19% stakes, respectively. Nippon Steel, Japan's largest steelmaker, recently closed its $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel after an 18-month-long pursuit. Champion expects the initial closing of the deal to occur in the second half of 2025. Shares of Champion Iron rose as much as 4.6% to A$5.04 in early trade. ($1 = 1.3679 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/australias-champion-iron-secures-1791-million-nippon-steel-sojitz-canada-project-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 00:30

BEIJING, July 22 (Reuters) - China needs to cut steel output from the coal-powered blast furnace process by more than 90 million metric tons from 2024's level to achieve its green steel target this year, researchers said in a report published on Tuesday. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The global steel industry is responsible for around 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions and China accounts for more than half of global steel output. Sign up here. If China could meet its target of producing 15% of steel from electric arc furnace facilities this year, it could cut CO2 emissions by more than 160 million tons, nearly equivalent to the European Union steel sector's carbon footprint, analysts at the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said. BY THE NUMBERS China has lagged far behind its global peers in terms of electric arc-furnace steel share. The average share is around 30% globally, 71.8% in the United States, 58.8% in India and 26.2% in Japan, the centre said. From 2021 to the first half of 2025, China's blast furnace capacity utilisation rose from 85.6% to 88.6%, while electric-arc furnace utilisation fell from 58.9% to 48.6%, it added. KEY QUOTE "A credible strategy to curb emission-intensive production and rein in excess capacity would not only tackle the sector's structural issues but also ease global tensions," said Belinda Schaepe, an analyst at the Helsinki-based centre. CONTEXT China produced 1.005 billion tons of crude steel in 2024, with around 90% from blast furnace facilities. China's steel sector has been plagued by overcapacity, which has depressed prices and sparked growing protectionist backlash from global trade partners amid its burgeoning steel exports. The cleaner electric arc facilities have faced headwinds of high power costs, unstable scrap supply and growing losses. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/china-needs-cut-2025-steel-output-meet-decarbonisation-target-report-says-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 00:08

TAIPEI, July 22 (Reuters) - Taiwan's state-owned energy company CPC Corp said it is not in talks for "specific" shale gas fields in the United States, but it does not rule out any prospective partners and will make the most favourable decision based on its own evaluations. CPC (CHIP.UL) is in early stage discussions to buy shale-gas producing assets in the United States, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month, in a bid to secure natural gas supplies to fuel Taiwan's economy. Sign up here. In a statement late on Monday, CPC said U.S. shale gas has long been an important target area for the company because of its high quality, mature extraction technology and favourable investment environment. "CPC will not rule out any prospective partners and will make the most favourable decision based on the evaluation results," it said. "As for reports that CPC is in the process of discussing the acquisition of specific shale gas fields in the United States, that is not true," the company added, without elaboration. Taiwan has pledged to increase its purchase of energy from the United States as a way of reducing its yawning trade surplus and head off tariffs. In March, CPC signed an agreement with Alaska Gasline Development Corp to buy LNG and invest in the Alaska LNG project which will transport gas south from Alaska's remote north via pipeline, to be shipped as LNG to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/taiwans-cpc-denies-specific-us-shale-gas-acquisition-talks-2025-07-22/

2025-07-22 00:03

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - Global fusion energy investment grew by $2.64 billion in the year since last July, an industry group said in an annual industry survey on Monday, but companies said they need much more money to take the industry commercial. The investment rise took place in places including the United States, the EU, Japan, China and Britain and was the highest since 2022. Sign up here. Total funding since 2021 for the 53 fusion companies in the survey by the Washington-based Fusion Industry Association, is now nearly $9.77 billion, a five-fold increase. This year's investment was a 178% jump from the more than $900 million raised last year. "The acceleration of capital, even when the global economy has tightened, is a signal of maturing investor confidence, technological progress, and a rapidly coalescing supply chain," said Andrew Holland, FIA's CEO. Fusion, which fuels the sun and stars, is in the experimental stage on Earth, but could one day generate enormous amounts of energy that emits virtually no greenhouse gas and without generating large amounts of long-lasting radioactive waste. Physicists work to replicate fusion reactions by forcing together light atoms with technology including lasers or giant magnets. Tall hurdles to commercialization include lowering the amount of energy needed to spur reactions, getting reactions to occur continuously, and systems to transmit the energy. The survey does not count public funding for public fusion projects, which China is believed to the world leader in. Venture arms of traditionally fossil fuel companies Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab and Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab and Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) , opens new tab and Nucor (NUE.N) , opens new tab, the largest U.S. steel producer, were some of the investors. The investment hike has benefited from a boom in power demand from artificial intelligence and data centers. Google (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab said last month it had struck a deal to buy power from a Commonwealth Fusion systems plant in Virginia which hopes to generate power by the early 2030s. Despite the funding jump, 83% of respondents said they still consider getting investments challenging. Fusion companies said they would need an additional $3 million to $12.5 billion to bring their first pilot plants online, with a median response of $700 million. The total of $77 billion that respondents said they would need is about eight times more than has been committed by investors. Expected industry consolidation could reduce the total investment needed, the survey said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/global-investment-fusion-energy-rises-most-since-2022-2025-07-21/

2025-07-21 23:59

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Federal Reserve's vital independence on monetary policy is threatened by its "mandate creep" into non-policy areas and he called on the U.S. central bank to conduct an exhaustive review of those operations. The Fed's autonomy "is threatened by persistent mandate creep into areas beyond its core mission, provoking justifiable criticism that unnecessarily casts a cloud over the Fed's valuable independence on monetary policy," Bessent said in a post on X. Sign up here. He called Fed monetary policy "a jewel box" that should be walled off to preserve its independence, which he called a cornerstone of continued U.S. economic growth and stability. Bessent said a review should be conducted into the Fed's decision to launch a massive renovation project of its headquarters at a time when it is posting operating losses. He did not say who should conduct that review, adding that he has "no knowledge or opinion on the legal basis" for the project. President Donald Trump has railed repeatedly against Fed Chair Jerome Powell and urged him to resign because of the central bank's reluctance to cut interest rates. In recent days Trump has also taken aim at the $2.5 billion renovation at the Fed's almost 100-year-old Washington headquarters, which has exceeded its budget, suggesting there could be fraud involved and that might be a reason to oust Powell. A recent Supreme Court opinion has solidified a long-standing interpretation of the law that the Fed chair cannot be fired over policy differences but only "for cause." The Fed's Board of Governors approved the renovation project , opens new tab in 2017, during Trump's first term, and received design approval from the National Capital Planning Commission in 2020 and 2021. Speaking with CNBC earlier on Monday, Bessent declined to comment on a report that he had advised Trump not to fire Powell, saying it would be the president's decision. "If this were the (Federal Aviation Administration) and we were having this many mistakes, we would go back and look at why. Why has this happened?" said Bessent, whom Trump has mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Powell. "All these PhDs over there, I don't know what they do." Powell last week responded to a Trump administration official's demands for information about cost overruns on the renovation project, saying it was large in scope and involved a number of safety upgrades and hazardous materials removals. Bessent declined to be drawn on predictions that U.S. financial markets could crash if Powell was ousted. Powell's term as chair ends in May 2026, although he is due to stay on as a Fed governor through January 2028. Bessent noted another governor seat will come open in January. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-treasurys-bessent-calls-review-fed-non-monetary-policy-operations-2025-07-21/