2025-07-11 06:52
July 11 (Reuters) - Asian stocks drew foreign inflows for a second straight month in June, buoyed by investors wagering on U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and a softer U.S. dollar, though gains were capped by jitters over looming U.S. tariffs. Foreign investors bought a net $6.02 billion worth of equities across Taiwan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines in June, down from $10.65 billion in the previous month, according to LSEG data. Sign up here. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab rose 5.33% last month, its strongest monthly gain since September 2024, outperforming the MSCI World Index (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab, which advanced 4.36%. Upbeat demand for artificial intelligence-linked products, underscored by record highs in chip-maker Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab and Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab last month, spurred strong foreign inflows into Asia's technology sector, with Taiwan and South Korea - the region’s dominant tech exporters - attracting net purchases of $3.22 billion and $2.01 billion, respectively. Foreign investors also added a net $1.69 billion worth of Indian stocks in a third straight month of net purchases. Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese and Philippines stocks, meanwhile, saw net outflows of $515 million, $243 million, $73 million and $72 million, respectively in the last month. However, analysts remained cautious about the regional outlook, which hinges largely on tariff policy decisions by U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, Trump postponed his tariff deadline to August 1 from the previous July 9 to allow time for negotiations, but simultaneously escalated trade tensions by announcing new duty rates for several countries, including major trading partners Japan and South Korea, and imposing a 50% tariff on copper. While tariff uncertainty now extends to August, the growth impact may be less severe than feared, Goldman Sachs said on Friday, and that final announcements could act as a risk-positive "clearing event" despite higher-than-expected rates. https://www.reuters.com/business/asian-stocks-attract-foreign-inflows-second-month-tariff-outlook-clouds-2025-07-11/
2025-07-11 06:49
July 11 (Reuters) - Citigroup on Friday introduced its mid-2026 target for the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) Local as they expect global equity markets to be rangebound until year-end, with "meaningful" gains coming in the first half of next year. The Wall Street brokerage set a target of 1,150 for the benchmark global equity index (.dMIWD00000P) , opens new tab, implying an upside of about 5% to its last close of 1,100.213. Sign up here. "Our targets imply the most upside in Japan and Europe over the medium term," Citi added. The brokerage maintained its preference for European stocks among global equities, but downgraded Japan to "neutral" on concerns over near-term tariff risks and the strength of the Japanese yen . Global equities have climbed back to all-time highs after a volatile first half of 2025, even as the economic outlook looks uncertain broadly due to Trump's tariffs and geopolitical tensions. Citi set its 2026 year-end earnings-per-share (EPS) growth for the index at above 11%, which remains below consensus estimates of more than 13%. "Though still positive on average, bottom-up EPS forecasts around the world have been under pressure, as markets grapple with trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainty," the brokerage said, as it estimated an EPS growth of just above 5% for this year. Citi maintained its "neutral" stance on U.S. equities and "underweight" on emerging markets and Australia. On the global sector front, it reiterated its "overweight" view on technology and "underweight" rating on consumer stocks. https://www.reuters.com/business/citigroup-sets-mid-2026-target-1150-mscis-global-equity-index-2025-07-11/
2025-07-11 06:47
TOKYO, July 11 (Reuters) - Japan's farm ministry said on Friday that an animal health and quarantine agreement with China had come into force, paving the way towards the resumption of Japanese beef exports to China that had been halted in 2001. Beijing has banned beef imports from Japan since an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as mad-cow disease, in September 2001. Sign up here. The move comes as Japanese beef producers face higher tariffs for exports to the United States under President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs, of 25% and set to take effect on August 1. "Japan will continue discussions with China, including food safety and radiation testing, towards the resumption of Japanese beef exports to China," the ministry said. A government official said the agreement's taking effect was a major turning point for beef trade to resume while adding it was unclear when exports could actually start. China last month announced the resumption of seafood imports from some Japanese regions, ending a nearly two-year blanket ban imposed due to worries over Japan's release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/japan-china-take-step-towards-resuming-japanese-beef-exports-china-2025-07-11/
2025-07-11 06:24
MUMBAI, July 11(Reuters) - The Indian rupee weakened on Thursday on the back of dollar bids from foreign banks and a broadly stronger greenback, after U.S. President Donald Trump continued to up the ante on tariffs by announcing a 35% levy on Canadian imports starting August 1. Traders also pointed to modest portfolio outflows, which contributed to pushing the rupee down to 85.8650 as of 11:30 a.m. IST, down nearly 0.3% on the day. Sign up here. India's benchmark equity gauge, the Nifty 50 (.NSEI) , opens new tab, fell 0.7%, while the country's benchmark 10-year bond was also nursing a modest decline. Asian currencies were trading mixed, with the Chinese yuan edging higher after a stronger-than-expected midpoint fix by the country's central bank. Trump also said he plans to impose tariffs of 15% or 20% on most other trading partners and that the European Union could receive a letter declaring the applicable rate by Friday. While market reaction to tariff threats has become more subdued compared to earlier in the year, analysts reckon that the uncertainty may continue to dampen risk appetite. "Given the current backdrop, the bias for rupee appreciation remains limited. Support near 85.50 continues to hold strong, with a high probability of the pair inching back towards 86.00," said Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex. On the day, the dollar-rupee fix was quoting at a modest premium of around 0.2/0.3 paisa, signalling heightened appetite to buy dollars at the daily reference rate. Dollar sales by a large state-run bank around the 85.90 level, though, helped limit the rupee's losses, a trader at a private bank said. Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums nudged higher with the 1-year implied yield up 3 basis points at 1.98%, while the 1-month forward premium ticked up to 11.25 paisa. The Reserve Bank of India's aggressive turn towards withdrawing liquidity exerted upward pressure on near-forward premiums, a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-troubled-by-dollar-uptick-modest-outflows-forward-premiums-nudge-higher-2025-07-11/
2025-07-11 06:10
US dollar gains against Japanese yen Canadian dollar slides, euro under pressure Sterling at two-week low after UK economy shrinks in May Bitcoin at record high on renewed regulatory optimism NEW YORK, July 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies including the yen and euro as President Donald Trump rekindled trade tensions with new tariffs on Canada and other trading partners. Trump issued a letter late on Thursday that said a 35% tariff rate on all imports from Canada would apply from August 1. The European Union was set to receive a letter by Friday. Sign up here. The U.S. president, whose global wave of tariffs has upended businesses and policymaking, floated a blanket 15% or 20% tariff rate on other countries, a step up from the current 10% baseline rate. This week he surprised Brazil, which has a trade surplus with the United States, with duties of 50%, and hit copper, pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips. "There do appear to be some tariff jitters creeping in once again after Trump floating the blanket tariffs yesterday," Michael Brown, market analyst at online broker Pepperstone in London, said. "Overall the moves that we have seen in the FX space are relatively contained, and recent ranges seem to still be respected for the time being," he added. The U.S. dollar was up 0.79% to 147.4 against the Japanese yen , on track to add nearly 2% for the week - the biggest weekly gain since early December. It was flat against the Swiss franc at 0.79695 franc. The euro was 0.1% lower at $1.1688, after Trump said the European Union could receive a letter on tariff rates by Friday, throwing into question the progress of Brussels' trade talks with Washington. Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.6% to 147.05 yen. The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart and was down 0.11% at C$1.3672, following a knee-jerk fall of more than 0.5% after Trump unveiled the tariff rate. The Brazilian real was 0.26% lower against the dollar. The market reaction to the slew of new tariffs has been largely muted compared to the manic sell-off that followed April's "Liberation Day" announcement, but investors remain on edge over the future of global trade and whether the August 1 deadline is final. While the resurgence of tariff worries was helping support the buck, some traders remained sceptical about the medium-term outlook for the U.S. currency which has come under severe selling pressure this year. "My base case remains for a slow but steady USD depreciation over the medium-term, but we have clearly already fallen a long way, in a short space of time, so there is scope for a bit of a rebound, especially if some of the more recent USD shorts begin to get squeezed," Pepperstone's Brown said. Also supporting the dollar were data suggesting labour market resilience and minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting that tempered market expectations for imminent interest rate cuts. The dollar index is down nearly 10% so far this year, on worries that data could soon reflect more widely the damage U.S. policies have had on the world's largest economy. It rose 0.28% to 97.85, on track to notch a weekly gain and snap two consecutive weeks of losses. "USD/CAD has kept most of its gains after a meaningful knee-jerk rally on the announcement, but with those gains coming from the Dollar leg, with cross/CAD generally close to flat versus pre-announcement," Goldman Sachs analysts led by Stuart Jenkins said in an investor note. Elsewhere, sterling was down 0.54% at a two-week low at $1.35050, as data showed Britain's economy contracted unexpectedly for a second month running in May. Cryptocurrencies saw a boost, driven by institutional investor demand and crypto-friendly U.S. policies. Bitcoin advanced 3.7% and scaled yet another record high of $118,832, while ethereum jumped 5.9% to $2,987.15 "The ... new record reflects the resilience of global risk appetite even in the face of Trump tariffs, as well as high optimism over U.S. legislative proposals," DBS FX and credit strategist Chang Wei Liang said. He was referring to measures the U.S. House is set to advance in its upcoming 'Crypto Week'. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dollar-rises-loonie-falls-trump-announces-new-tariffs-2025-07-11/
2025-07-11 06:05
July 11 (Reuters) - Shares of Australian rare earths miners, including Lynas (LYC.AX) , opens new tab and Iluka Resources (ILU.AX) , opens new tab, soared on Friday after U.S.-based MP Materials' (MP.N) , opens new tab a multibillion-dollar deal with the U.S. government to boost production of rare earth magnets. Lynas Rare Earths, the world's largest rare earths producer outside China, surged as much as 20% to its highest since mid-August 2022 and was set for its best day since April 2020. Iluka skyrocketed 27%, marking its biggest intraday gain ever. Sign up here. The stocks were the top gainers on the benchmark ASX 200 (.AXJO) , opens new tab, which edged higher, as of 0558 GMT. The deal between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and MP Materials lifted sentiment for Australian rare earth firms. It comes on the heels of China imposing restrictions on rare earths, resulting in a 75% drop in rare earth magnet exports from the country last month and forcing some auto companies to suspend production. Rare earths comprise 17 metals used to make magnets that are critical in manufacturing cars, including electric vehicles, some auto parts, weapons, and electronics. As part of the deal, the DoD will become the largest shareholder in MP Materials and guarantee a floor price of $110 per kilogram for the two most popular rare earths, nearly double of current market prices in China. "This signals a strong U.S. push for rare earth magnet independence, lifting upside risk across the rare earth pricing complex. Lynas appears to be the next logical beneficiary of government market support," Jefferies said in a note. "We see the resetting of the pricing metrics for rare earths as delivering material upside potential to Lynas' earnings in the near term and an increased potential for the de-risking of its growth projects via government entity funding." The brokerage upgraded Lynas to "buy" from "underperform" and hiked its price target to A$10 a share from A$6.40. Lynas was last trading at A$9.67. Smaller lithium players Sayona Mining (SYA.AX) , opens new tab and Liontown Resources (LTR.AX) , opens new tab jumped 2.8% and 1.6%, respectively. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/australian-rare-earth-stocks-soar-mp-materials-multi-billion-us-deal-2025-07-11/
