2025-10-22 16:25

NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. support for Argentina's markets has prevented a downgrade of the South American country's credit rating, but the country needs a broader plan to rebuild foreign exchange reserves in order to earn an upgrade, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday. "The U.S. backstop is something that has helped Argentina ward off a ratings downgrade, the risks of which would have risen if the central bank had kept bleeding international reserves to defend the FX regime," Todd Martinez, co-head of the Americas for Fitch Ratings' sovereigns group, said in an email to Reuters. Sign up here. Argentina's central bank said this week it signed a $20 billion exchange-rate stabilization agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department, part of a U.S. plan to support President Javier Milei's reform policies ahead of key midterm elections this weekend. The bank said on Tuesday it sold $45.5 million from its reserves to support the exchange rate. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said there is work being done on a $20 billion bank facility that could be used to purchase Argentina's bonds. Martinez said such lifelines "aren’t sufficient to deliver a ratings upgrade unless they are part of a broader plan to enable a government to build up its own FX buffers, so that it will not need another lifeline down the road." Argentina's international dollar bonds fell on Wednesday by around a cent each, while the peso strengthened marginally after setting a record closing low on Tuesday. Financial markets initially took the U.S. support as a bullish signal but have been volatile ahead of midterm elections this Sunday as Milei's party seeks to strengthen its minority position in the legislature. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/fitch-says-us-support-helped-argentina-ward-off-ratings-downgrade-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 14:15

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Shares of Texas Instruments (TXN.O) , opens new tab fell 6% on Wednesday, after the chipmaker's downbeat fourth-quarter profit and revenue outlook deepened worries over a drawn-out recovery in the analog chip market as tariff uncertainty plagues the wider industry. The overall rebound has been dampened by an uncertain economy and customer caution, especially due to a "wait-and-see" approach on new factory and capital expenditure investments in the industrial sector. Sign up here. Unresolved regulatory and tariff rules are driving customer hesitancy, even as TI reduced some of its business exposure to the Trump administration's levies through trade deals. The company has pledged more than $60 billion to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint. "We expect the rest of the Analog group to see similar softness," brokerage Jefferies said. Shares of On Semiconductor (ON.O) , opens new tab, NXP Semiconductors (NXPI.O) , opens new tab and Analog Devices (ADI.O) , opens new tab were down 2% to 3% in morning trading. At least 16 brokerages have cut their price targets on the stock after the results. TI is set to lose around $10 billion from its market value if losses hold. TI forecast fourth-quarter revenue to be $4.4 billion and earnings per share to be $1.26, both well below analysts' estimates. In the third quarter, its gross profit margin declined by 50 basis points sequentially. Analysts at Charter Equity Research said they expected customer demand to reduce TI's excess inventory and factory idle capacity by now. Instead, profit margins could remain low for several more quarters, worsened by potential tariffs or China's trade actions. President Donald Trump said in August the U.S. would impose a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors but offered an exemption to companies that are manufacturing in the country or have committed to do so. But this was not a formal tariff announcement. The stock has fallen nearly 4% so far this year, giving it a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, compared with 26.24 for rival Analog Devices. https://www.reuters.com/business/ti-shares-slide-bleak-outlook-signals-delayed-industry-recovery-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 13:32

LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Britain's markets regulator has filed a lawsuit against HTX, a global crypto exchange advised by Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun, accusing it of unlawfully promoting crypto asset services to UK consumers. The Financial Conduct Authority said on Wednesday it had launched civil proceedings in London's High Court against HTX, formerly known as Huobi, for breaching Britain's financial promotions regime. HTX is not authorised to operate in Britain, the FCA's website shows. Sign up here. "This action is part of our commitment to protect consumers and uphold the integrity of UK financial markets," an FCA spokesperson said, declining to comment further. Representatives for HTX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HTX ADVISED BY CHINESE ENTREPRENEUR JUSTIN SUN HTX was founded in 2013 and names Sun as a global adviser. Sun is a prominent backer of the Trump family's crypto venture World Liberty Financial, having spent at least $75 million on the project's crypto tokens. A wallet labelled "SUN", identified by blockchain analysts as belonging to HTX, was also the top holder of U.S. President Donald Trump's "$TRUMP" memecoin. The FCA, which says it wants to develop a competitive and sustainable cryptoasset regime, introduced new rules in 2023 for firms promoting crypto assets. They need authorisations and have to register with the FCA under money laundering regulations. However, HTX is currently on the FCA's warning list, which names companies that consumers should avoid dealing with. The FCA's case has been filed against Huobi Global and four groups listed as "persons unknown" to cover individuals such as the owners, operators and heads of promotions at the business. https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/uk-regulator-sues-crypto-exchange-htx-over-unlawful-promotions-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 12:58

FRANKFURT, Oct 22 (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday backed German Chancellor Friederich Merz's call for a single European stock exchange to support European listings and economic growth. "If we are serious about moving forward, we must complete the banking union and we must apply the same logic - and faster - to capital markets: a single rule-book, a single supervisor, and a consolidation of exchanges," she told a conference. Sign up here. "So I very much welcome the statements and the comments by Chancellor Merz in support of this direction." https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ecbs-lagarde-backs-germanys-call-european-stock-exchange-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 12:49

Bessent says China's controls on rare earths 'unworkable' Hoping to iron out issues so Trump-Xi meeting starts on positive note, Bessent says USTR Greer says China's controls on rare earths 'incredibly aggressive' Greer sees landing zone for US, China trade WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he expected to reach agreements with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet in South Korea next week that could range from resumed soybean purchases by Beijing to limits on nuclear weapons. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he planned discuss China's purchases of Russian oil and how to stop Russia's war in Ukraine, now in its third year. Sign up here. "I think we'll make a deal," Trump told reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, adding he believed that Xi had shifted his thinking on the war in Ukraine and would be receptive to a discussion about ending the war. "He would now like - I'm not sure that he did at the beginning - he would now like that war to end," he said. Trump's comments stood in contrast to more strident remarks from his top trade negotiator and finance chief, who were headed to Asia on Wednesday to keep Trump's meeting with Xi, the first of his second term, on track. The U.S. president downplayed the importance of China's curbs on exports of rare earth magnets that have roiled markets, calling it "a disturbance" and describing tariffs as a "more powerful" issue. Trump, under pressure from U.S. farmers reeling from big drops in Chinese orders for soybeans, said he expected to reach some agreement with Xi on the issue. A deal was also possible on nuclear arms, he said, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had raised the prospect of a bilateral de-escalation of nuclear weapons, and China could be added to that effort. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest economies, flared in recent weeks after months of relative calm. Trump imposed additional duties of 100% on China that are due to take effect on November 1 after China announced export controls on nearly all rare earths. TOP US OFFICIALS HEAD TO ASIA U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were headed to Malaysia to defuse tensions over Beijing's rare earth export curbs, as officials in Washington prepared to hit Beijing with fresh measures if no deals are reached. Reuters reported earlier that the Trump administration is considering a plan to curb a wide range of software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, to retaliate against Beijing, following Trump's threat earlier this month to bar "critical software" exports to China. Bessent said Greer was already en route to Kuala Lumpur and he would head there later on Wednesday, before joining Trump for the rest of his Asia trip. "This is China versus the globe. It's not just on the U.S.," Bessent told Fox Business Network's "Kudlow" program. "This licensing regime that they've proposed is unworkable and unacceptable." He said the U.S. and its Western allies were contemplating how to respond if they were unable to negotiate a pause in Beijing's plans or some other relief, but gave no details. "I'm hoping that we can get this ironed out this weekend so that the leaders can enter their talks on a more positive note," he said. Bessent described the planned Trump-Xi meeting as a "pull-aside", in what may be an attempt to dampen expectations. Trump is scheduled to travel to Kuala Lumpur for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that begins on Sunday, and later that week is expected in South Korea ahead of a leaders' summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum that is being held October 31-November 1 in Gyeongju. Bessent said Trump would also stop in Japan to meet the new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. The U.S. Treasury chief said he was optimistic that two days of "fulsome" talks with Chinese officials would lay the groundwork for a good meeting of the two leaders, noting that Trump had great respect for Xi. CHINA VIOLATED COMMITMENTS, GREER SAYS Washington also announced sweeping new sanctions against two Russian oil companies, but stopped short of imposing tariffs on China, one of the largest buyers of Russian oil, as it has done with India, another big purchaser. Greer and Bessent have both stressed they do not want to decouple from China, or escalate the situation, but insist the United States needs to rebalance trade with China after decades of very limited access to Chinese markets. Trump has sent conflicting signals on the Xi meeting in recent days, telling reporters on Tuesday that it might not happen. Greer told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that China's rare earth measures violated a commitment its officials had made months ago to keep supplying rare earths needed for high technology, but said the U.S. and China could find a new balance for trade in non-sensitive goods. China also had unfulfilled obligations to buy U.S. agricultural and manufactured goods under a trade deal signed during Trump's first term as president, he said. "The U.S. has always been quite open to the Chinese, and it's really been driven by Chinese policies that exclude U.S. companies and drive overcapacity and overproduction in China. None of that works for the United States," he said. "We can't live that way anymore so we need an alternative path." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ustr-greer-treasurys-bessent-heading-malaysia-talks-with-chinese-counterparts-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 12:41

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Monday said he did not see tons of foreign beef coming into the United States, days after President Donald Trump suggested that he might import more from Argentina amid rising prices and angered U.S. farmers. "I do not see a world where there's some huge, you know, millions and millions of metric tons flooding into this market," Greer told CNBC in an interview. "That's just not part of the program." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-trade-chief-says-he-does-not-see-imported-beef-flooding-us-market-2025-10-22/