2025-10-29 06:50

HANOI, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Floods triggered by record heavy rains have killed at least nine people and left five others missing in central Vietnam, the government said on Wednesday. Six of the fatalities were in Danang, home to one of the country's most popular beaches, and the ancient town of Hoi An, the government said in a statement. Sign up here. The floods have also inundated more than 103,000 houses, mostly in the country's top tourist sites of Hue and Hoi An, the government's disaster agency said in a separate report. Vietnam is prone to often deadly storms and flooding that cause widespread property damage, especially during the storm season from June until October. Heavy rains continue to lash the UNESCO-listed former imperial capital Hue and the ancient town of Hoi An, the agency said, after rainfall in the area hit a record high in the 24-hour period ending late on Monday, exceeding 1,000 millimetres. Photos circulating on state media showed that much of Hoi An remained inundated by flood water, with several houses submerged up to their roofs. In Hue, 32 out of 40 communes had been hit by flood waters with depths of 1-2 metres. In nearby Danang, water in most of its reservoirs has reached maximum depths, while water levels in its rivers also continued to rise, the government said. "Widespread flooding continues in low-lying areas along rivers and in urban areas, with high risks of flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas of Danang," it said. Landslides have occurred in several areas, cutting off traffic and knocking down power grids, the disaster agency said, adding that the country's state-run railway firm hasn't yet been able to resume services between capital Hanoi and business hub Ho Chi Minh City following a suspension on Tuesday. Heavy rain will continue in central Vietnam over the next two days, with rainfall in some areas staying above 400 millimetres from early Wednesday until late Thursday, according to the government's weather forecast agency. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/floods-kill-4-leave-5-missing-central-vietnam-2025-10-29/

2025-10-29 06:26

COFCO bought 180,000 tons of U.S. beans for Dec/Jan shipment China's first purchases of U.S. soybeans from autumn harvest BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Oct 29 (Reuters) - China's state-owned COFCO bought three U.S. soybean cargoes, two trade sources said, the country's first purchases from this year's U.S. harvest, shortly before a summit of leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. As the two nations battle over trade tariffs, the lack of Chinese buying has cost U.S. farmers billions of dollars in lost sales, after they largely supported Trump in his campaigns for president. Sign up here. Although COFCO's deal for December-January shipment of about 180,000 metric tons of soybeans was China's first such buy in months, traders do not expect a significant resumption in demand for U.S. cargoes after recent large South American purchases. COFCO did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. "COFCO has proceeded to purchase U.S. beans even before the two leaders have reached a trade agreement," said a trader at an international trading company that supplies Chinese crushers. "The volumes booked by COFCO are not that large, three cargoes for now." Benchmark Chicago soybean futures prices jumped this week to their highest in 15 months, rebounding from recent five-year lows on hopes for a U.S.-China trade deal. The prime U.S. soybean export season normally runs from October through January, but China has shunned soybeans from the autumn U.S. harvest this year, amid protracted trade friction with Washington, turning instead to South American suppliers. Reuters was the first to report China's purchase of three cargoes. LACKLUSTRE DEMAND China, which takes more than 60% of world soybean imports, has nearly completed booking cargoes from Brazil and Argentina through November, with limited purchases expected for December and January ahead of the Brazilian harvest. "U.S. suppliers have missed out on most of oilseed crushing business," said a second oilseed trader, who expected China to need about 5 million tons of shipments in December and January, for which market conditions favour Brazil. U.S. soybeans, which traded at a steep discount to Brazilian cargoes in recent weeks due to subdued Chinese demand, have strengthened this week and are now priced at parity at about $2.45 per bushel above Chicago futures, traders said. Private Chinese buyers tend to prefer Brazilian soybeans for their higher protein content, which typically brings a premium over U.S. soybeans, said Jeffrey Xu, general manager of Shanghai-based OCI, a soybean consultant and two other traders. Still, China could take about 8 million tons of U.S. soybeans for its strategic reserves in the period from December to May, traders said, buying through state-owned enterprises such as Sinograin, which would be worth roughly $4 billion. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-buys-three-us-soybean-cargoes-ahead-trump-xi-meeting-sources-say-2025-10-29/

2025-10-29 06:22

FRANKFURT, Oct 29 (Reuters) - German chemicals maker BASF (BASFn.DE) , opens new tab on Wednesday said quarterly adjusted operating profit slipped 4.8% but came in slightly better than expected as higher sales volumes were partly offset by negative currency effects and lower prices. Third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 1.54 billion euros ($1.80 billion), when including the coatings business that it agreed to sell this month. Sign up here. That slightly surpassed average market expectations for 1.5 billion euros, based on an analyst consensus posted on the group's website. BASF said it had to mark down prices in areas such as basic chemicals, materials for industrial use and agricultural products, with only its Surface Technologies and Nutrition & Care units being able to charge higher prices. "Customer buying behaviour in almost all industries and regions remained cautious," said CEO Markus Kamieth. BASF adjusted its full-year guidance to account for the coatings unit that is to be sold, predicting EBITDA before special items of between 6.7 billion and 7.1 billion euros. Kamieth has embarked on a push to exit or separate businesses that are not closely integrated and physically connected within the group's sprawling chemical plants across the globe. BASF moved this month to sell a 60% stake in its coatings business to private equity firm Carlyle and the Qatar Investment Authority, for a 5.8 billion euros cash payment. That has enabled it to bring a previously announced share buyback programme forward. https://www.reuters.com/business/basfs-q3-operating-profit-beats-consensus-better-volumes-2025-10-29/

2025-10-29 06:21

MUMBAI, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee closed modestly higher on Wednesday as likely central bank intervention supported the currency in face of month-end dollar bids, while traders turned their focus to the upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision. The rupee had declined to 88.3450 early in the session, but traders said that the Reserve Bank of India stepped in to shore up the local currency. It closed at 88.1950, up slightly from its previous close. Sign up here. Asian currencies were mixed on the day, with the offshore Chinese yuan perched near a one-month peak on growing expectations of a U.S.-China trade deal. Indian officials, too, have pointed to ongoing negotiations with Washington on a bilateral trade agreement. A senior central bank official on Wednesday said that the rupee's exchange rate is market determined and hence is not a policy tool to fight tariffs. Weakness in a currency can help dent the impact of trade levies by making exports cheaper. The rupee has declined 3% so far this year, and hit a record low of 88.80 last month. Meanwhile, the focus is on a widely anticipated rate cut by the Fed later in the day, with traders awaiting cues from Chair Jerome Powell's commentary and any changes to the central bank's quantitative tightening policy. "Given the lack of jobs data we certainly expect Powell to attempt to remain balanced and would not want to shift market expectations at this juncture only for updated jobs data to contradict that shift," MUFG said in a note. The dollar index was last at 98.8, up 0.2% on Wednesday. Dollar-rupee far forward premiums were modestly lower, with the 1-year implied yield down 2 basis points at 2.24%. Buy/sell swaps conducted by state-run banks over recent sessions, coupled with bias towards a dovish Fed is likely to keep forward premiums in check in the near term, a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-traders-eye-rbi-flows-before-fully-priced-fed-rate-cut-2025-10-29/

2025-10-29 06:14

BANGKOK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Thailand's finance minister said on Wednesday that the country has not engaged in currency manipulation, and said the central bank has the tools to manage the currency without resorting to intervention. Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas also told reporters that the government would put illicit fund movements under more scrutiny by December. Sign up here. "We have not distorted the management of the baht in the past as it is something our central bank has been very cautious about," he said. "There are mechanisms in place to oversee the currency without the need for intervention. It is our intention not to cause any distortions," he said. Earlier, the U.S. Treasury and the Bank of Thailand said they had agreed not to use any macroprudential or capital flow measures or government investment vehicles such as pension funds to target exchange rates for competitive purposes. The central bank said the agreement did not affect its exchange rate policy and its objective of maintaining exchange rate stability. Its exchange rate policy does not aim to distort the exchange rate market to gain a trade advantage, it said in a statement. Thailand's economy has struggled with U.S. tariffs, high household debt, and a strong baht . Ekniti said he would hold discussions with the United States about lowering tariffs on some Thai products. The United States set a 19% tariff on imported goods from Thailand, lower than the 36% rate announced earlier and in line with other countries in the region. Thailand and the United States on Sunday reached a framework agreement on trade, in which Thailand would eliminate tariff barriers on approximately 99% of U.S. goods. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-has-not-manipulated-currency-finance-minister-says-2025-10-29/

2025-10-29 06:01

OSLO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab reported a bigger-than-expected decline of 9.9% in third-quarter profits on Wednesday as oil and gas prices fell from a year ago, and maintained its outlook for production growth. The Norwegian energy group's adjusted earnings before tax for July-September fell to $6.21 billion from $6.89 billion a year earlier, slightly lagging the $6.31 billion predicted in a poll , opens new tab of 21 analysts compiled by Equinor. Sign up here. The company maintained a projection that its oil and gas output will grow by 4% this year compared to 2024 and kept its forecast for capital expenditure in 2025 of $13 billion. "High performing fields and new fields coming on stream on the Norwegian continental shelf, drive production growth," CEO Anders Opedal said in a statement. In February, Equinor followed rivals such as Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab and BP (BP.L) , opens new tab in promising higher oil and gas output while scaling back investment in renewables, citing challenging market conditions for the green energy transition. Equinor lowered its quarterly guidance for its Midstream, Marketing and Processing segment, home to its energy trading activities, to an average adjusted operating income of around $400 million, from a previous $400 million-$800 million range. "This is due to changing market conditions and earlier divestment of certain assets," the company said in its report. The MMP unit posted earnings of $299 million, down from $545 million a year ago and short of analyst expectations of $307 million. Equinor in the third quarter pumped 2.13 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), in line with expectations in the analyst poll for 2.1 million boed, and up from 1.98 million boed a year earlier. The company in 2022 overtook Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab as Europe's biggest supplier of natural gas when Moscow's invasion of Ukraine upended decades-long energy ties. Equinor's share price has declined by 9% so far this year, lagging an 18% rise in the broader European energy stock index (.SXEP) , opens new tab. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/equinor-q3-core-profit-falls-more-than-expected-2025-10-29/