2025-11-10 01:31
MUMBAI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee and government bonds will yet again count on market interventions by the Reserve Bank of India this week, to help keep the currency above its record low and protect the benchmark bond from falling sharply. The rupee closed at 88.66 against the U.S. dollar, up 0.1% on the week, supported by multiple dollar-selling interventions by the central bank. Sign up here. Lacklustre foreign portfolio flows, persistent dollar demand from local importers and renewed strength in the greenback have proven to be headwinds for the rupee over the last few weeks. Traders expect the currency to hover in the 88.40-88.80 range this week with a modest bias towards depreciation. Data released on Friday showed that India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $5.6 billion to $689.7 billion as of October 31. The dollar index, meanwhile, ended the week at 99.5, down slightly on the week, as investors weighed the odds of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut in December amid a hawkish tilt in policymakers' commentary and lingering concerns over the health of the U.S. economy. "With the U.S. government shutdown ongoing, we are still in the dark about the true labour market picture," analysts at ING said in a note. They expect the dollar to consolidate in the near-term. Meanwhile, India's 10-year benchmark 6.33% 2035 bond yield settled at 6.5142% on Friday, largely unchanged week-on-week, as large purchases from a particular investment category was met with selling pressure, mainly from state-run banks. Traders expect the benchmark yield to stay in the 6.48% to 6.55% band this week, with few catalysts aside from potential central bank actions to support sentiment. Investors from the so-called others category bought bonds worth 205 billion rupees on a net basis last week, with market participants guessing that the Indian central bank purchased a bulk of the bonds. According to traders, the RBI owned around 20-25% of around 1 trillion rupees of 5.15% 2025 bond that matured on Friday, adding that the central bank must have bought more to replenish the maturing security. The RBI had also met select market participants last week, where traders suggested the central bank must step in to buy government debt to ease pressure. "RBI's communication and potential announcement of a structured open market purchase calendar will be critical for market sentiment," said Abhishek Bisen, head of fixed income at Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund. "Upcoming inflation data which is expected to be negative for the first time in a while, and softer-than-expected GDP growth could influence RBI's policy stance." India's retail inflation, due on Wednesday, is expected to have slowed more than a full percentage point to 0.48% in October from 1.54% in September, according to a Reuters poll. This would be the lowest level in the current 2012-base series. Market participants will also keep an eye on foreign inflows in bonds, which slowed down last week after $1.5 billion purchases in October. KEY EVENTS: India ** October CPI inflation - November 12, Wednesday (4:00 p.m. IST) (Reuters poll 0.48%) ** October WPI inflation - November 14, Friday (12:00 p.m. IST) (Reuters poll -0.60%) U.S. ** Initial weekly jobless claims for week to November 3 - November 13, Thursday (6:00 p.m. IST) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-bonds-rely-central-bank-protect-record-low-key-yield-level-2025-11-10/
2025-11-09 23:59
New export permits would be valid for a year, sources say New licenses may not be available for some sectors like defence No sign yet restrictions introduced in April will be removed Nov 7 (Reuters) - China has begun designing a new rare earth licensing regime that could speed up shipments, but it is unlikely to amount to a complete rollback of restrictions as hoped by Washington, industry insiders said. The Ministry of Commerce told some rare earth exporters they will be able to apply for new streamlined permits in the future and in industry briefings outlined the documents that will be required, two sources familiar with the matter said. Sign up here. The export curbs have become Beijing's most potent source of leverage in its trade rivalry with Washington, as China produces over 90% of the world's processed rare earths and rare earth magnets, vital in products ranging from cars to missiles. Following the agreement reached between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, China said last week it would pause for one year the restrictions it imposed in October. However, China's commerce ministry has said nothing publicly about a broader round of controls introduced in April that rattled global supply chains. The White House said on Saturday that China had agreed to introduce general licenses and characterised such permits as the de facto end of China's rare earth export controls. In private, Chinese officials have said they are working on the licenses, three other sources briefed on discussions said, although one said it could take months. However, other industry insiders said the new licenses do not mean China's wide-ranging rare earth export controls introduced in April have been removed. China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters. ONE YEAR, POTENTIALLY HIGHER VOLUMES The new licenses would be valid for a year and probably allow larger export volumes, the first two sources said. Companies are preparing documents, which will require more information from customers, they said. The sources said they expect more clarity by the end of the year. Some Chinese rare earth companies said they have not yet been informed of the change. General licenses will likely be harder to acquire for users associated with defence or other sensitive areas, some industry sources said. All sources spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. Introduced in April and expanded in October, Beijing's rare earth rules require exporters to obtain licenses for every cargo, an onerous and lengthy process customers complain is holding up exports. The restrictions created shortages in May which brought parts of the auto industry to a halt. Of the 2,000 applications submitted by European Union firms since April, just over half have been approved. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/china-starts-work-easing-rare-earth-export-rules-short-trump-hopes-sources-say-2025-11-07/
2025-11-09 23:52
Reuters Open Interest (ROI) is your essential source for global financial commentary. LAUNCESTON, Australia, Nov 10 (Reuters) - China's imports of major commodities were largely soft in October as high prices weighed on volumes, with iron ore's resilience bucking the trend despite the steel sector showing signs of pressure. Crude oil, natural gas, copper and coal all showed declines from September, according to data released on Friday by the General Administration of Customs. Sign up here. China, the world's biggest importer of crude oil, saw arrivals of 11.39 million barrels per day (bpd) in October, the third straight monthly decline and down from 11.50 million bpd in September. The easing in oil imports is most likely a reflection of the higher global prices that prevailed at the time when October-arriving cargoes would have been arranged. Benchmark Brent futures hit a six-month high of $81.40 a barrel on June 23 during the brief conflict between Israel and Iran, and while they retreated to a low of $66.34 by July 1, they once again trended higher to reach $73.63 by July 31. Since then, oil prices have been declining on a trend basis, with the occasional spike higher, largely caused by geopolitical events such as the announcement of new sanctions on Russia's crude producers by U.S. President Donald Trump. Brent ended at $63.63 a barrel on Friday, and the current lower prices are likely to encourage China's refiners to increase imports, even if much of the crude flows into commercial and strategic storages. The impact of higher prices can also be seen in imports of natural gas, which totalled 9.78 million metric tons in October, down 11.5% from September's 11.05 million and 7.2% below the 10.54 million from October last year. It's likely that pipeline volumes from Central Asia and Russia were largely steady, meaning the decline was from imports of liquefied natural gas, which have been trending weaker this year amid elevated spot prices caused by European demand for the super-chilled fuel. Higher prices are also likely behind the 9.7% drop in imports of unwrought copper in October from September. October arrivals were 438,000 tons, down from 485,000 tons in September and 506,000 tons in October 2024. Copper prices have been trending higher since April, but the gains accelerated from late September, with London contracts jumping 12.8% from $9,927.50 a ton then to a record high of $11,200 a ton on October 29. COAL, IRON ORE But it's not always prices driving China's commodity imports, with coal being a case in point. Imports of all grades of coal dropped 9.3% in October to 41.74 million tons from September's 46.0 million tons, and were also down 9.8% from October last year. The lower imports came as seaborne thermal coal prices languished near five-year lows, with commodity price reporting agency Argus assessing Indonesian coal with an energy content of 4,200 kilocalories per kilogram at $40.45 a ton in the week to July 4. The grade, which is popular with Chinese utilities, has since recovered to $47.09 a ton in the week to November 7, but still remains well below the $52.30 from the same week in 2024. However, with the northern winter imminent and higher domestic coal prices, it's likely China's imports will recover heading into the end of the year. Iron ore was the surprise packet of China's commodity imports in October, with arrivals of 111.31 million tons. While this was down 4.3% from September's record high of 116.33 million, it was up 7.2% from October last year and was also the fifth consecutive month that imports have topped 100 million tons. The strength in imports isn't price-related, as benchmark contracts in Singapore have been stable in a relatively narrow range anchored around $100 a ton so far this year. Steel production has also been soft, dropping to a 21-month low in September of 73.49 million tons, with output for the first nine months of the year down 2.9% from the same period in 2024. It appears that the strength in iron ore is largely because inventories are being rebuilt, with port stockpiles monitored by consultants SteelHome rising to 138.44 million tons in the week to November 7, a seven-month high and up from the low so far this year of 130.1 million tons in early August. With inventories still shy of the 150.7 million tons they reached in November last year, there is still scope for iron ore imports to remain resilient heading into the end of the year. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X , opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-major-commodity-imports-ease-except-iron-ore-2025-11-09/
2025-11-09 23:23
AGL sells 19.9% of Tilt stake to QIC, Future Fund Deal aims to free capital for battery, energy projects AGL remains tied to Tilt via power purchase agreements Nov 10 (Reuters) - Australia's AGL Energy (AGL.AX) , opens new tab has agreed to sell 19.9% of its 20% stake in clean energy developer Tilt Renewables for A$750 million ($487.35 million) to vehicles led by Queensland Investment Corp (QIC) and Australia's sovereign Future Fund. The deal executes a sale process flagged in its August results , opens new tab, aimed at freeing up capital for investment in batteries and other fast-start energy projects that can support the grid when renewable output dips. Sign up here. AGL shares rose as much as 2.8% to a one-week high of A$9.17 in early trade, outperforming a marginal 0.2% rise in the broader benchmark (.AXJO) , opens new tab. Tilt’s Australian platform was created when Powering Australian Renewables (PowAR), the AGL/QIC/Future Fund venture, acquired Tilt’s Australian assets in 2021 and later rebranded asTilt Renewables , opens new tab. Pre‑deal, Tilt was owned 40% by QIC, 40% by Future Fund, and 20% by AGL, with 1.9 gigawatts (GW) operating and a more than 5 GW pipeline, including the 1.3 GW Liverpool Range project in New South Wales. Selling its bulk stake to QIC and the Future Fund brings Tilt fully under the control of long-term infrastructure investors, streamlining ownership and aligning it with their investment horizon. The transaction values AGL's original stake in Tilt, a wind and solar energy developer, well above its A$321 million book value as of June 30, and is expected to deliver a gain on the sale in 2026 earnings, the company said. The country's largest power producer remains commercially tied to Tilt despite stepping back as an owner. It continues to source a significant portion of its renewable supply from the platform under long-term power purchase agreements. These include a 15-year deal for 45% of output from the 396-megawatt Rye Park wind farm in New South Wales. AGL has also committed to buy 45% of output from the Palmer wind farm , opens new tab, which is targeting first power in December 2028, and has a 15-year agreement to take 100% of the Waddi Wind Farm for its Perth Energy business. ($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-agl-sells-most-tilt-renewables-stake-qic-future-fund-487-million-2025-11-09/
2025-11-09 22:51
Nov 9 (Reuters) - Russian Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu arrived in Cairo on Sunday leading a large delegation of senior arms and nuclear officials for military talks with Egypt's leadership, RIA news agency reported. Shoigu is due to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's national security adviser, foreign and defence ministers, as well as other senior security and intelligence officials, RIA reported. Sign up here. "Priority topics include the prospects for carrying out agreements reached at the highest level, including in military and military-technical cooperation," RIA cited a statement from the Russian Security Council's press service as saying. Shoigu, a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin and former defence minister who oversaw much of Russia's war in Ukraine, remains a central power broker in the defence and security apparatus and a key voice in Kremlin decisions. Russia and Egypt maintain close ties, combining Soviet-era military links with major energy and grain deals, while Cairo balances relations with Moscow, Western partners and Gulf allies amid the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The Russian delegation includes officials from arms exporter Rosoboronexport, the space agency Roscosmos, nuclear agency Rosatom, as well as from the interior, foreign, justice and industry ministries, and the National Guard, RIA reported. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/shoigu-leads-large-russian-delegation-egypt-military-talks-ria-reports-2025-11-09/
2025-11-09 22:49
Nov 10 (Reuters) - A large wildfire burning through New Zealand’s oldest national park has probably been extinguished after steady rainfall helped to suppress the flames, authorities said on Monday. The fire in Tongariro National Park, a popular hiking spot in New Zealand's central North Island, broke out on Saturday and has so far burnt through 2,500 hectares (10 square miles) of alpine bush. Sign up here. In an update late Monday, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said an afternoon observation flight found "no visible signs of fire". "This is very good news," District Commander Nigel Dravitzki said in a statement. The rainfall had a "significant impact" in helping to suppress the blaze, along with crews on the ground working on the fire’s flanks, he said. "We are very mindful that another change in the weather could alter the situation and lead to a resurgence of fire activity, so we are planning for all contingencies," he added. Foggy conditions had hampered firefighting efforts earlier in the day, grounding helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. There are no reports of structures being damaged by the fire, which forced the evacuation of some residents and hikers over the weekend. Civil Defence Minister Mark Mitchell told the New Zealand Herald he had "no idea" how the fire started, but said it was being treated as a crime scene by officials. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/rain-helps-stall-wildfire-new-zealands-oldest-national-park-2025-11-09/
