2025-10-17 21:22

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Global credit ratings agency Moody's downgraded Botswana's rating to 'Baa1' from 'A3' on Friday, citing the government's challenges in adjusting to a structural downturn in the diamond industry and increasing government debt. "The economy remains heavily reliant on capital-intensive diamond mining; diversification efforts lag due to reform delays, while exposure to climate shocks persist," Moody's said , opens new tab in a statement" Sign up here. Long viewed as an African economic success story, Botswana is in a slump due to a prolonged downturn in the global diamond market, its key export, with demand hurt by global economic uncertainty and the rising popularity of lab-grown stones. The world's leading producer of diamonds by value, whose diamond exports continue to drive foreign exchange, has seen sector weakness widen its current account deficit and push reserves to a historic low, according to Moody's. It expects Botswana's economy to likely decline by an additional 6% in 2025 as it remains exposed to global demand shocks and technological disruption from lab-grown alternatives and changes in consumer preferences Last month, peer agency S&P , opens new tab cut Botswana's rating to 'BBB' as it expects weak global diamond demand and prices will keep the Southern African country's external and fiscal flow positions weak. The agency said the global diamond downturn is unlikely to reverse, while maintaining the country's outlook at 'negative'. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/moodys-cuts-botswanas-rating-by-notch-baa1-amid-diamond-industry-slump-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 21:02

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday authorities should monitor risks and guard against excessive exchange-rate volatility that could hurt the economy. "The outlook of the global economy is uncertain due to trade measures and geopolitical tensions, constraining the behavior of businesses and consumers," Kato said in the statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee. Sign up here. The global economy is also facing long-term structural transformation such as innovation in artificial intelligence, climate change, and demographic shifts, he said, adding that failure to adapt to such changes could widen social disparity and cause political instability. "It is also essential to monitor risks that could trigger major adjustments in financial markets and to guard against excessive volatility or disorderly movements in exchange rates that could undermine economic and financial stability," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-urges-vigilance-against-excessive-fx-volatility-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 20:57

TSX ends down 1.2% at 30,108.48 For the week, the index adds 0.9% Materials group falls 6% as gold retreats from record high Consumer staples sector rises 1.6% TORONTO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index gave back much of its weekly gain on Friday as gold prices fell and investors took profits in high-flying metal mining shares. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended down 350.32 points, or 1.2%, at 30,108.48. For the week, the index was up 0.9%. Sign up here. "It's safe to say that most of the blame for this would be on the pullback we had in precious metals," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. "We're seeing a case where people are taking money out of their winners. And precious metals and mining stocks have been massive winners." The materials group (.GSPTTMT) , opens new tab, which includes fertilizer companies and metal mining shares, fell 6%, its biggest decline since April 4. The price of gold , a traditional hedge against uncertainty, pulled back from a record high as fears eased of an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. Gold was down 2.2%. Heavily weighted financials (.SPTTFS) , opens new tab dipped 0.2% and energy (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab was down 0.3%. The price of oil clawed back a small part of its weekly decline, settling 0.1% higher at $57.54 a barrel. Consumer staples (.GSPTTCS) , opens new tab was a bright spot, adding 1.6%, with food processing company Canada Packers Inc (CPKR.TO) , opens new tab up 7.2%. The interest rate-sensitive real estate sector rose 0.8% as the Canadian 10-year yield touched its lowest level since April 30 at 3.062%. The Bank of Canada will be putting more emphasis on potential risks when it decides what to do about interest rates later this month even as it tries to be more forward-looking, Governor Tiff Macklem said. https://www.reuters.com/business/tsx-futures-fall-banking-jitters-spread-us-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 20:50

Oct 17 (Reuters) - A New York judge who last month confirmed the validity , opens new tab of defaulted Venezuelan bonds ruled on Friday that Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA must pay $2.86 billion to the bondholders, according to a court filing. The bonds are collateralized with equity in Citgo, PDVSA's Houston-based refining arm. The decision from the Southern District of New York has been long expected by creditors aiming to cash compensation from debt defaults, but is expected to be challenged by Venezuela. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/new-york-judge-says-venezuelas-pdvsa-must-pay-286-billion-bondholders-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 20:43

Trump says 100% tariffs on China not sustainable Eli Lilly falls after Trump vows weight-loss drug price cut Latest regional bank results ease credit worries S&P 500 +0.53%, Nasdaq +0.52%, Dow +0.52% Oct 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended higher on Friday as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump's latest remarks on China, while quarterly results from regional banks eased concerns about credit risks. Trump said his proposed 100% tariff on goods from China would not be sustainable, but blamed Beijing for the latest impasse in trade talks that began with Chinese authorities tightening control over rare earth exports. Trump unveiled the new tariffs a week ago, along with new export controls on "any and all critical software," to go into effect on November 1. Sign up here. "The market doesn't really know what to take when Donald Trump speaks," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth. "There's just a lot of back-and-forth comments with regards to China and trade tariffs and pretty much everything else." Regional bank stocks rebounded following a selloff on Thursday, when Zions Bancorporation (ZION.O) , opens new tab disclosed losses tied to two commercial and industrial loans and Western Alliance (WAL.N) , opens new tab revealed it had initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group V, LLC. "There's a lot more bark than bite on the credit fears," said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital. "Looking through all the big banks' results, credit is very good. Overall, there are very few pockets of weakness." Truist Financial (TFC.N) , opens new tab gained 3.7% after the bank reported higher third-quarter profit. Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.O) , opens new tab rose 1.3%, Zions shares rebounded from losses the day before to close 5.8% higher, and Western Alliance advanced 3.1%. The S&P Composite 1500 Regional Banks index (.SPCOMBNKS) , opens new tab climbed 1.8% after tumbling almost 6% the day before. The S&P 500 financial sector index (.SPSY) , opens new tab, which includes the largest U.S. banks, rose 0.8%. Robust earnings from JPMorgan (JPM.N) , opens new tab and other big banks this week helped get the third-quarter earnings season off to an upbeat start. Analysts on average see S&P 500 earnings climbing 9.3% in the third quarter, an improvement from expectations of 8.8% at the start of October, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. Following a rally of nearly 14% in 2025, the S&P 500 is valued at 23 times expected earnings, its priciest level in five years. The S&P 500 climbed 0.53% to end the session at 6,664.01 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.52% to 22,679.98 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.52% to 46,190.61 points. Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by consumer staples (.SPLRCS) , opens new tab, up 1.23%. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.7%, the Nasdaq rose 2.1% and the Dow climbed 1.6%. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX) , opens new tab, investors' fear gauge, dropped to 21.5 points after hitting its highest level in nearly six months at 28.99 earlier in the day. Wall Street's most valuable companies were mixed, with Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab rising 2.5%, Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab adding almost 2% and Amazon (AMZN.O) , opens new tab falling 0.7%. Eli Lilly (LLY.N) , opens new tab fell 2% after Trump said he would bring down prices of weight-loss drugs. State Street (STT.N) , opens new tab dropped 1.4% after the bank's third-quarter net interest income missed estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) , opens new tab by a 2.6-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 7 new highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 37 new highs and 114 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 19.6 billion shares traded, compared with an average of 20.7 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-st-futures-tumble-bad-loans-by-regional-banks-make-investors-nervous-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 20:40

US Treasury chief says IMF should scrutinize China's imbalances World Bank should end support for projects in China, Bessent says IMF not 'a piggy bank' for creditors to debt-distressed countries, Bessent says IMF chief says she's got 'long list of homework' WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday gave specific marching orders for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to take tougher stances on China's state-driven economic practices as part of his push to get the global lenders to refocus on their core missions. In a statement to the IMF's steering committee, Bessent said the crisis lender should strengthen its country surveillance activities with "objectivity and evenhandedness." He also said the World Bank should end its support for China and shift resources to countries with greater needs. Sign up here. "The IMF should not shy away from asking difficult questions, more clearly highlighting internal and external imbalances, deepening its understanding of how industrial policies in large economies such as China contribute to those imbalances, explaining their potential harmful spillovers, and recommending appropriate corrective actions," Bessent said in the statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee. Successive U.S. administrations, including that of President Donald Trump, have blamed China's state-led economic practices and export-led growth model for building up excess manufacturing capacity that is flooding the world with cheap goods and contributing to trade imbalances. China argues that its success in sectors such as electric vehicles is due to innovation, not government support. U.S. and Chinese officials are locked in a bitter dispute over China's new rare earths export restrictions, Trump's tariffs, and new U.S. port fees for Chinese-built, -owned and -flagged ships that could lead to additional 100% U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports on November 1. The U.S. Treasury chief, who manages the dominant U.S. shareholdings in the IMF and World Bank, first called in April for the two institutions to focus more scrutiny on China, but his latest statement goes into more detail. He ordered the IMF to embrace stronger surveillance of imbalances including China's in a forthcoming comprehensive review , opens new tab of its surveillance policies, last updated in 2021. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters after a meeting of the steering committee that the global lender was already working to sharpen its surveillance, "digging deeper" into the issue of global imbalances, and reviewing the conditionality for lending programs. "I came out of the meeting room with a sense of encouragement (of) our staff, but also with a long list of homework," she said. NO DEBT 'PIGGY BANK' Bessent also included veiled references to China in criticizing the IMF for letting "recalcitrant creditors off the hook too easily" in debt restructuring negotiations for debt-burdened developing countries. China, the world's largest bilateral lender, delayed the debt restructurings of Chad, Zambia and Sri Lanka by initially insisting that multilateral development banks also take losses. Without naming China directly, Bessent said these situations worsened liquidity and economic stress on debtor countries. "In these situations, IMF programs cannot be effective if there are creditor countries within the membership that are exacerbating the very liquidity stress that IMF programs seek to address," Bessent said. "Furthermore, IMF resources must not be considered as a piggy bank to repay creditor countries that made a bad bet but refuse to take the loss." The IMF's strategy chief, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, said on Wednesday that the U.S. and China, despite their trade differences, are both continuing to work on developing country debt issues through the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. Georgieva said she agreed it was urgent to work on debt issues, adding that the IMF planned to use its "good offices" to ensure better coordination among creditors and debtors. WORLD BANK CHIDED ON CHINA, ENERGY POLICY Bessent said the World Bank should increase emphasis on its "graduation" policies to wean countries off its support and make them self-sufficient. "This must include ending support for China and shifting staff and administrative resources to countries where development needs are most acute," he said. The Treasury chief also took aim at China in the World Bank's project procurement activities, urging the bank to "curb anti-competitive procurement practices by state-owned enterprises" and ban those that "do not operate on a commercial basis." In line with the Trump administration's policies opposing green energy subsidies, Bessent also said the World Bank should eliminate a 2023 pledge to devote 45% of its annual financing to climate-related projects and called for an "all-of-the-above" energy financing approach for gas, oil and coal. The World Bank's board in June agreed to end a longstanding ban on funding nuclear energy projects in developing countries, but has not yet reached agreement on whether it should engage in funding the production of natural gas. Given China's stranglehold on supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals, Bessent also called on the World Bank to boost financing in the sector. "We welcome the steps the Bank is taking to devise a critical minerals strategy, and expect it to emphasize investments and technical assistance to promote diversified and resilient supply chains." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/bessent-urges-imf-world-bank-take-tougher-line-china-2025-10-17/