2025-07-04 06:27
JAKARTA, July 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia's nickel miners' association APNI on Friday urged the government to ensure mining quotas continue to be valid for three years to maintain a consistent business climate, rather than reverting to a single year as planned. The mining minister on Wednesday said the government plans to cut the duration of mining quotas, known as RKABs, to one year to better control supply and to support prices of commodities such as coal and nickel. Sign up here. The resource-rich country extended the quotas' validity to three years in 2023 to reduce the burden of seeking approval on both authorities and applicants, though companies are able to propose revisions to their quotas each year. APNI on Friday said while it appreciates efforts to sustain the mining sector, reducing quota duration would create bottlenecks in the approval process as thousands of miners would need to seek quotas every year. "The government needs to strengthen internal evaluation and oversight capacity, not lengthen the bureaucratic chain with shorter licensing periods," APNI said in a statement. Medium-term certainty is vital for investment and operational planning, it said. Deputy mining minister Yuliot Tanjung on Friday said details of the change are "still being formulated" but declined to comment further. He did not comment about the association's request. The ministry in a statement late on Thursday reiterated that the plan is aimed at maintaining price stability and mitigating impact of price drops on government revenue. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indonesia-nickel-miners-urge-government-maintain-three-year-mining-quota-2025-07-04/
2025-07-04 06:19
US stock futures decline as focus shifts to spending bill Trade deals elusive ahead of higher tariffs on July 9 Trading thinned by Wall Street, Treasuries holiday for July 4 LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Stocks slipped on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump got his signature tax cut bill over the line and attention turned to his July 9 deadline for countries to secure trade deals with the world's biggest economy. The dollar also fell against major currencies, with U.S. markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week, as traders considered the impact of Trump's sweeping spending bill that is expected to add an estimated $3.4 trillion to the national debt. Sign up here. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) , opens new tab fell 0.5%, with banks, mining-related stocks and retailers among the top laggards. U.S. S&P 500 futures edged down 0.6%, following a 0.8% overnight advance for the cash index to an all-time closing peak. Wall Street was closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Trump said Washington would start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they would face on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9 deadline when tariffs could rise sharply. Investors are "now just waiting for July 9", said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market's lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea. At the same time, investors cheered a surprisingly robust U.S. jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main U.S. equity indexes climbing in a shortened session. "The U.S. economy is holding together better than most people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily continue to do better (from here)," Sycamore said. Following Thursday's close, the House narrowly approved Trump's signature, 869-page bill, which averts the near-term prospect of a U.S. government default but adds trillions to the national debt to fuel spending on border security and the military. TRADE THE KEY FOCUS IN ASIA Trump said he expected "a couple" more trade agreements, after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to framework agreements with China and Britain as the only successes so far. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that a deal with India was close. However, progress on agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced, appears to have broken down. The U.S. dollar index had its worst first half since 1973 as Trump's chaotic roll-out of sweeping tariffs heightened concerns about the U.S. economy and the safety of Treasuries, but had rallied 0.4% on Thursday before retracing some of those gains on Friday. As of 1430 GMT it was down 0.1% at 96.94. The euro added 0.2% to $1.1778, while sterling held steady at $1.3662 as British assets steadied following investor fright over the last two days at a tearful appearance by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in parliament on Wednesday. The U.S. Treasury bond market was closed on Friday for the holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points (bps) to 4.34%, while the 2-year yield jumped 9.3 bps to 3.882%. Gold firmed 0.4% to $3,336 per ounce, on track for a weekly gain as investors again sought refuge in safe-haven assets due to concerns over the U.S.'s fiscal position and tariffs. Brent crude futures fell 57 cents to $68.23 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 66 cents to $66.34, as Iran reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-07-04/
2025-07-04 05:31
East China forecast to swelter in 37-40C heat over the next week The 'Sanfu Season' heatwave is unusually early this year China is not on track for a record-breaking summer, analyst says SHANGHAI/BEIJING, July 4 (Reuters) - Sweltering heat enveloped China's eastern seaboard on Friday, as a high-pressure system settled over the country's most populous region, baking key agricultural and manufacturing hubs along the Yangtze River and raising fears of droughts and economic losses. Large swathes of China's economic heartland are set to roast in temperatures of 37-39 degrees Celsius (99-102 degrees Fahrenheit) over the coming week. Forecasters are warning that parts of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, as well as the more central provinces of Hubei and Henan, could top 40 C. Sign up here. The subtropical high causing the heat has arrived unusually early this year. China's "Sanfu Season" - an agricultural marker thought to have been in use for more than two millennia - typically begins in mid-July and lasts through late August, sending people sheltering from intense summer heat. "It's getting hot earlier and earlier now," said Tao Sijia, a 30-year-old Shanghai resident. "I prefer the cooler weather in my childhood. The summers in my memory were cool. Now, it's pretty hot." Extreme heat, which meteorologists link to climate change, has emerged as a major challenge for Chinese policymakers. As well as scorching croplands and eroding farm incomes, higher temperatures can affect manufacturing hubs and disrupt operations in key port cities, and strain already overburdened healthcare systems. The recent heatwave is already taxing China's power grid, with the nationwide maximum power load surging to a record 1.47 billion kilowatts on Friday, up nearly 150 million from a year earlier, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In eastern China, the power load reached 422 million kilowatts, with air conditioning accounting for about 37% of the demand. "Heatwaves in China bring drought risks, and this could be a concern in southwestern China this year," said Chim Lee, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit specialising in energy and climate change. "Sichuan is already experiencing lower-than-average rainfall, and this will have ramifications for the region's hydropower output, which in turn will affect its power exports to eastern China." However, China does not appear to be heading for a record-breaking summer, Lee said, noting that recent high temperatures in northern China and the number of hot days so far remain lower than during the same period in 2023. Still, authorities across eastern and central China issued warnings about the dangers, urging workers to take precautions as the combination of extreme heat and humidity during commutes created a heightened risk of heat stroke. "I feel very hot after walking out of the office," said Iris Chen, a 21-year-old student. "It's just the beginning of July, so it's probably not the highest temperature yet." WORLD'S LARGEST LEGOLAND The searing heat shows little sign of curbing enthusiasm for Shanghai's newest attraction - the world's largest Legoland, which is set to open in the city on Saturday. Online searches for the theme park increased five-fold in June compared with May, while hotel bookings in the surrounding area increased by an annual 250%, data from Qunar, China's second-largest travel agency, showed. In 2022, China was hit by the worst heatwaves since 1961, with many parts of the country enduring a 79-day hot spell from mid-June to late August. No official death toll was disclosed and China does not give a tally of heat-related deaths, although domestic media occasionally report fatalities citing local authorities. In a 2023 report published in the medical journal The Lancet, heatwave-related mortality in the world's second-largest economy was estimated at 50,900 deaths in 2022, doubling from 2021. China is not alone in having to contend with the potentially catastrophic consequences of extreme heat. Earlier this week, Greek firefighters battled wildfires on the island of Crete and near Athens, as an early summer heatwave linked to the deaths of at least eight people sweeps across Europe. California has also seen conflagrations erupt well outside the traditional wildfire season in recent years, displacing tens of thousands of people. Compounding the challenge facing Chinese officials, while the east bakes, other parts of the country are struggling with torrential rain, conditions that analysts also attribute to climate change. The national meteorological centre forecast more torrential rain across parts of north- and southwest China on Friday and Saturday, with videos circulating on Chinese social media showing residents canoeing through flooded streets in the city of Chengdu. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eastern-china-swelters-under-early-heatwave-threatening-crops-industry-2025-07-04/
2025-07-04 05:31
MUMBAI, July 4 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee and dollar-rupee forward premiums retreated from one-month peaks on Friday after a stronger than expected U.S. jobs report dented wagers on Federal Reserve rate cuts, with traders also keeping an eye on a looming U.S. tariff deadline. The rupee dipped to near 85.50 in early trading, coming off a one-month peak hit on Thursday, before paring losses to quote little changed at 85.33. Sign up here. A dip in the dollar index, following a rise in the previous session, aided the rupee while Asian currencies were mostly rangebound. Meanwhile, the 1-year dollar-rupee implied yield fell 5 basis points to 2.02%, with traders pointing out that near forward premiums could also witness downward pressure after the central bank did not raise the quantum of liquidity it aims to withdraw from the banking system. This surprised many market participants, who had expected a rise in the quantum due to a heightened surplus. The U.S. jobs data prompted traders to nearly wipe out wagers on a Fed rate cut in July, while the odds of a September cut dipped to below 75% from near 94% before the data. "The market is now waiting for news on tariffs," a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said, referring to the looming July 9 deadline for countries to strike trade deals with the U.S. About a 100 countries are likely to see a reciprocal tariff rate of 10%, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television, predicting a "flurry" of trade deals announced before the deadline. Taking cues from deals struck with other countries, there is scope for a reduction in the umbrella tariff rate on India to the baseline 10%, DBS said in a note. U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened a 26% duty on Indian goods as part of his April 2 "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs, which were temporarily lowered to 10% to buy time for negotiations. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/trimmed-fed-rate-cut-wagers-pull-rupee-forward-premiums-off-one-month-peak-2025-07-04/
2025-07-04 05:09
SYDNEY, July 4 (Reuters) - Australia said on Friday it would invest A$432 million ($283.82 million) in a green hydrogen project led by Orica (ORI.AX) , opens new tab, the world’s largest explosives maker, backing the emerging industry amid a wave of delays and cancelled projects across the country. The funding will support the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, which aims to decarbonise Orica’s nearby ammonia and explosives manufacturing operations and eventually supply the green fuel and green ammonia for export. Sign up here. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the funding for the project on the east coast helped secure Australia’s energy future, with the government seeing green hydrogen as key to its net-zero goals. “By switching from gas to green hydrogen, the project will also significantly cut emissions from Orica’s ammonia production facility and help produce green ammonia for domestic use across mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors,” Bowen said in a statement. It is a boost for Australia’s struggling green hydrogen industry after a series of delays and exits cast doubt on its viability. On Sunday, plans to build a A$12.5 billion CQ-H2 plant in the state of Queensland collapsed after its lead developer, state-government owned energy company Stanwell, ended its involvement. It was one of the country’s largest and most advanced projects. Orica’s Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, once a joint venture with Origin Energy (ORG.AX) , opens new tab, faced a major setback last year when the power producer exited, citing cost concerns and headwinds in the green hydrogen market. Orica said the government support was “essential” to bridging the project’s “commercial gap”. The explosives maker added that it had received strong interest from potential project partners in the past few months and would work towards a final investment decision “in due course”. “We hope to further contribute to our domestic and international customers' decarbonisation goals by offering low-carbon products, while supporting Orica’s next phase of decarbonisation,” CEO Sanjeev Gandhi said. The first phase of the hub is expected to produce up to 12 tonnes of green hydrogen per day using a 50 megawatt electrolyser powered by renewable energy. ($1 = 1.5221 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australia-pledges-283-million-orica-green-hydrogen-project-industry-wavers-2025-07-04/
2025-07-04 05:00
July 4 (Reuters) - There will be no foreign exchange report during U.S. hours on Friday July 4 as markets are closed for a public holiday. Reuters will resume the report in Asian trading hours on Monday July 7. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dollar-holds-firm-against-euro-yen-us-trade-pressure-mounts-2025-07-04/
