2025-11-26 00:07

Nov 25 (Reuters) - Venture Global (VG.N) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it has signed a 20-year sales and purchase agreement, or SPA, with Japan's capital city gas supplier, Tokyo Gas (9531.T) , opens new tab, to supply it with 1 million metric tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas, starting in 2030. The agreement marks Venture Global's fourth long-term contract with a Japanese company and the U.S. LNG exporter has in the last six months signed SPAs for 7.75 million tonnes per annum of the superchilled gas, the company said in a statement. Sign up here. Venture Global is the U.S.' second-largest LNG exporter and last month was responsible for 30% of the U.S. total LNG output, according to data compiled by LSEG. The U.S. remains the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas. Global LNG demand has surged since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting buyers in Europe and Asia to secure long-term supply deals with U.S. exporters. Japan, the world's second-largest importer of LNG after China, is seeking stable and flexible energy supplies to support the expansion of data centers. Earlier this month, Venture Global signed a deal with Mitsui (8031.T) , opens new tab, following an agreement with JERA in 2023. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venture-global-tokyo-gas-sign-20-year-lng-supply-deal-2025-11-26/

2025-11-25 22:31

Reeves raises taxes to stay on track for borrowing target Tax burden hits fresh high Budget watchdog says Reeves has more margin to meet plan Growth outlook lowered on weaker productivity view UK government's borrowing costs fall in bond market LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves announced a big tax-raising budget on Wednesday that will take more money from workers, people saving for a pension and investors to give herself greater room to meet her deficit-reduction targets. Britain's fiscal watchdog cut its forecasts for economic growth for the coming years - a setback for struggling Prime Minister Keir Starmer who promised voters last year he would speed up the economy. Sign up here. But the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the government will now have more than double its previous buffer for meeting its fiscal targets, something closely watched by investors assessing Britain's borrowing risks. The OBR - in forecasts published in error before Reeves began her annual tax and spending speech to parliament, and first reported by Reuters - said the tax hikes would amount to an annual 26.1 billion pounds ($34.5 billion). That will push Britain's tax-to-GDP ratio to 38.3% of economic output, a fresh post-war high, although this will still be lower than the euro zone's average of 41% last year. Last year, Reeves ordered 40 billion pounds of tax hikes - the biggest since the 1990s - and she promised at the time that they would be a one-off. "No doubt, we will face opposition again. But I have yet to see a credible, or a fairer alternative plan for working people," Reeves said. GROWTH FORECASTS CUT The removal of a two-child limit on welfare payments to poor families is opposed by most Britons, according to opinion polls but the announcement earned cheers from Labour Party lawmakers. Although the next national election is not due until 2029, the authority of Reeves and Starmer has been questioned within their centre-left party. The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank highlighted how the budget included an increase in spending in the short term while much of the push to raise taxes would hit later on. "The future restraint, just before the next election? One could be forgiven for treating that with a healthy dose of scepticism," IFS director Helen Miller said. The OBR cut its forecasts for economic growth which it now saw averaging 1.5% over the five-year forecast period, 0.3 percentage points slower than it expected in March. The downgrade was linked to lower productivity growth which the OBR said reflected past underperformance due to headwinds including Brexit. Reeves vowed to prove the watchdog wrong. "We beat the forecasts this year and we will beat them again," she said. But the OBR's verdict on the budget and the outlook saw British living standards barely growing in the coming years, hurt in part by the higher taxes. BORROWING COSTS FALL British 30-year government bond yields - which are sensitive to borrowing concerns - fell sharply by almost 12 basis points on the day, their biggest one-day drop since April, suggesting investors were largely comfortable with the budget plan. Sterling rose against the U.S. dollar and the euro. The OBR said the headroom - the amount of extra spending or tax cuts possible for the government while meeting its budget rules - stood at almost 21.7 billion pounds in four years' time. In March, the OBR forecast headroom of just 9.9 billion pounds which was eaten up by the weaker economic outlook, higher-than-expected borrowing costs and a U-turn in July on welfare reform. Deloitte Chief Economist Ian Stewart said the OBR's assumption of faster wage growth - and higher tax receipts - had rescued Reeves. "However, today's announcements will likely have a longer-term impact on growth, as the chancellor is raising an extra 26 billion pounds a year in tax," Stewart said. The OBR said a three-year extension of a freeze on income tax thresholds - first introduced by the previous Conservative government - would raise an extra 8.0 billion pounds in the 2029/30 financial year. The generosity of pension incentives was scaled back with social security charges on salary-sacrifice pension contributions raising almost 5 billion pounds. Increasing tax rates on dividends, property and savings income would raise 2.1 billion pounds, the OBR said, while a so-called "mansion tax" on homes worth more than 2 million pounds was expected to raise 0.4 billion in 2029/30. Reeves maintained a freeze on the rate of fuel duty but she introduced a new mileage-based charge on electric cars. Despite the increases, David Zahn, head of European fixed income at Franklin Templeton, which manages $1.5 trillion in assets, said he expected Reeves would have to raise taxes again next year. "It's a missed opportunity, and she's just chosen to kick the can down the road," he said SPENDING UP, GROWTH DOWN Public spending was due to grow every year as a result of the measures in the budget - reaching an extra 11 billion pounds in 2029/30 - primarily to pay for the welfare measures. A think tank that focuses on poverty reduction welcomed the removal of the two-child cap, along with actions to lower energy bills and an increase in the minimum wage announced on Tuesday. "But there is more to do," Alfie Stirling, insight and policy director at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said. "Housing costs and bills are still too high, our safety nets are too frail, and the cost to workers of caring for their loved ones is too great." ($1 = 0.7568 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/uks-reeves-test-faith-investors-party-with-tax-heavy-budget-2025-11-25/

2025-11-25 22:30

SAO PAULO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian meatpacker JBS (Z98.F) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it had signed a binding memorandum of understanding with the shareholders of Viva to combine both firms' assets related to leather production and commercialization. In a securities filing, JBS said the new company will be called JBS VIVA and will be owned 50% by JBS and 50% by Viva's shareholders -- Vanz Holding and Viposa. Sign up here. The company will process more than 20 million leathers per year, with 31 factories and over 11,000 employees, JBS said, adding that the deal still lacks conditions including the signature of definitive agreements. JBS will name the chairman and the Chief Financial Officer of JBS VIVA, while Viva's shareholders will appoint the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operating Officer, according to JBS. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/meatpacker-jbs-agrees-merge-its-leather-assets-with-ones-viva-2025-11-25/

2025-11-25 22:07

NEW YORK, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Making sense of the forces driving global markets By Alden Bentley, Editor in Charge, Americas Finance and Markets Sign up here. Jamie is enjoying some well-deserved time off, but the Reuters markets team will still keep you up to date on what animated markets today. I'd love to hear from you so please feel free to reach out at [email protected] , opens new tab Today's Key Market Moves Today's Key Reads Wall Street advances as Federal Reserve rate cut bets gather momentum Alphabet on pace to hit $4 trillion market value as AI gains momentum US retail sales growth slows in September; energy prices boost producer inflation US consumer confidence deteriorates in November Good chance Trump may unveil Fed pick by Christmas, Bessent says Fed optimism, Thanksgiving week Several economic indicators contributed to a bad-news-is-good-news scenario that helped convert an overnight pullback into another solid rally, even as Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday threatened to drain market liquidity and volume. All three major stock indexes strengthened. The blue-chip Dow took the lead while sagging shares of artificial intelligence front-runner Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab limited the Nasdaq's advance even as Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab rose to a record high, closing in on becoming the fourth company to reach $4 trillion in market capitalization. Meta was the biggest boost to the S&P 500 after The Information reported it was in talks with Google to spend billions on its chips for data centers. U.S. retail sales increased a less-than-expected 0.2% in September, suggesting consumer fatigue amid higher prices due to tariffs going into the shutdown that delayed government reports for that month and the next. Meanwhile, labor market worries pushed down the Conference Board's consumer confidence index to 88.7 this month, the lowest level since April. The Labor Department also reported that its September Producer Price Index rebounded 0.3%, after a slight drop in August, due to higher energy and food costs. Following comments from three Fed officials since Friday, futures traders stepped up bets that the central bank would cut its fed funds target range another 25 basis points to 3.50% to 3.75% after its December 9-10 meeting, putting the probability at 76% -- not as certain as a couple of weeks ago, when they priced in near certainty, but more confident than during last week's shakeout. Treasury yields fell on the underwhelming data and prospects for still more monetary policy accommodation, which also weighed on the dollar. What could move markets tomorrow? Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Trading Day is also sent by email every weekday morning. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-trading-day-2025-11-25/

2025-11-25 20:24

October deficit impacted by delayed payments due to government shutdown Calendar shift pushed $105 billion in November benefits into October Record customs duties drive revenue increase in October Trump says tariff revenues to 'skyrocket,' CBO lowers estimate of impact on deficits Nov 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. government posted a higher $284 billion deficit for October in a report delayed and impacted by the recent federal government shutdown and reflecting record tariff revenues offset by a shift of some November benefit payments into last month's data, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday. The budget results for the first month of the 2026 fiscal year were delayed by a 43-day shutdown of many federal agencies, which caused delays of some payments, such as for salaries of government employees, a Treasury official said. Sign up here. The deficit last month was up $27 billion, or 10%, from the $257 billion deficit posted in October 2024, largely due to the shift of some $105 billion worth of November benefit outlays for some military and healthcare programs into October. Adjusting for these shifts, the October deficit would have been about $180 billion, a 29% reduction from an adjusted October 2024 deficit of $252 billion. Outlays for October, including the November benefit payments, totaled $689 billion, up 18% from the $584 billion in October 2024. The Treasury official said the department did not have a precise estimate of how much outlays were reduced by the shutdown-delayed payments from various agencies, but that the Treasury believed the reduction was less than 5% of total outlays. Federal law requires any unpaid salaries and other obligations during government shutdowns to be fully paid when funding is restored. Receipts for October totaled $404 billion, a record for the month and a 24% increase from the $327 billion collected in October 2024. TARIFF REVENUES HIT RECORD MONTHLY HIGH Net custom duties were among the biggest revenue drivers in October, reaching a new all-time monthly record of $31.4 billion because of new import tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump since he returned to the White House in January. This inflow beat the previous record of $29.7 billion in September and is more than four times the $7.3 billion recorded in October 2024. Trump said on Monday that tariff revenues would soon "skyrocket" to new records, arguing that businesses have largely depleted an inventory buildup of imported goods prior to his tariffs and would have to now import goods at higher rates. His comments on the Truth Social site appeared to be aimed partly at the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices earlier this month cast doubt on the legality of tariffs Trump imposed under an emergency law. "I look so much forward to the United States Supreme Court's decision on this urgent and time sensitive matter so that we can continue, in an uninterrupted manner to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump wrote. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office said last week that recent tariff reductions brought about by U.S. trade deals with partner economies had caused the agency to cut its estimate for how much Trump's tariffs would reduce U.S. budget deficits over the next decade by 25% to $3 trillion, including interest costs, from the $4 trillion the agency projected in August. Also driving revenues higher was the $80 billion in non-withheld tax receipts for individuals received in October, which was an increase of $35 billion, or about 75%, from October 2024. The Treasury official said this increase largely reflected payments delayed by wildfires in California, where affected residents were allowed until October 15 to file and pay taxes. Withheld individual income tax receipts rose $16 billion, or 6%, from the year-ago period to $279 billion. But October corporate tax receipts were flat at $18 billion, and the Treasury official attributed the lack of growth to corporate tax breaks contained in the Republican-passed tax-cut and spending bill enacted this year. The U.S. Treasury's interest costs hit $104 billion in October, up $22 billion, or 27%, from October 2024, reflecting a higher debt load and slightly higher weighted average interest rate of 3.36%, the Treasury official said. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-posts-284-billion-october-budget-deficit-report-impacted-by-shutdown-2025-11-25/

2025-11-25 20:21

Nov 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it would provide states with $3 billion in new funding to reduce lead in drinking water. The agency said it is also making available to states an additional $1.1 billion in previously announced funding to address the lead problem. Sign up here. The money will go toward finding and removing lead pipes that deliver water to homes, schools, and businesses, the agency said in a statement. Lead pipes are the main source of lead in drinking water, according to the EPA. Ingesting the heavy metal can severely affect mental and physical development, especially in children, causing brain damage and other potentially lifelong health issues. “This investment represents the EPA’s unwavering commitment to protecting America's children from the dangers of lead exposure in their drinking water,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. EPA said updated data shows there are an estimated 4 million lead service lines in the U.S., down from 9 million previously estimated. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/epa-provide-3-billion-us-states-reduce-lead-drinking-water-2025-11-25/