2025-09-22 12:14
This is a breaking news story. Full coverage will be available soon. Japanese pm contender and chief cabinet secretary hayashi: boj is conducting monetary policy in way that does not deviate much from govt thinking Sign up here. Hayashi: size of spending package must take into account japan's 'quite small' output gap, avoid issuance of deficit-covering debt Hayashi: if chosen as premier, will compile economic package to cushion blow from rising living costs, spending for disaster relief https://www.reuters.com/business/japanese-pm-contender-chief-cabinet-secretary-hayashi-boj-is-conducting-monetary-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 12:04
BENGALURU, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank will hold its policy rate at zero on September 25 and throughout 2026 due to inflation remaining on target and the currency holding steady, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll. With the SNB already having the lowest interest rate among major central banks and inflation gradually picking up - although remaining very low - the bar is high for rates to go negative, as they were from December 2014 until September 2022. Sign up here. Earlier this month, SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel shared a similar view, citing "undesirable side effects" of negative rates. Meanwhile, a steady franc may provide additional comfort to the central bank, especially when the ECB is widely expected to be done with cutting rates. The SNB will keep its main policy rate at 0.00% on September 25, its first pause since December 2023, according to all but one of 41 economists in the September 17-22 Reuters poll. One expected a cut to -0.25%. "We updated our view and now expect a policy rate hold, rather than one more cut, after inflation printed above our forecasts over the summer," said Josie Anderson, European economist at Nomura. "In addition, hawkishness from the ECB at recent meetings suggests the ECB is unlikely to cut its policy rate again for the foreseeable future, limiting the prospect of CHF appreciation." Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered its first cut since December, while the ECB kept its deposit rate unchanged for the second consecutive meeting on September 11. The franc has only gained around 0.4% against the euro since the start of this year and is expected to lose more than 2% over the coming 12 months, according to a separate Reuters survey. Meanwhile, inflation, which was at 0.2% last month and remained well within the central bank's target range of 0%-2%, is expected to average just 0.2% this year and 0.6% in 2026. More than 80% of economists - 30 of 36 - now expect rates to remain on hold for the rest of the year, a bigger majority than two-thirds in a June survey. A strong majority - 21 of 25 - predicted the rate would still be at 0.00% at the end of 2026. "We expect the SNB to remain on hold for the foreseeable future as domestic inflation has stabilised at low levels while at the same time economic activity remains resilient," said Nikolay Markov, lead economist at Pictet Asset Management. "Also, the SNB still has leeway to intervene in the foreign currency market as needed in the event of further CHF appreciation - a policy option that should be preferred by the Governing Board compared to introducing negative rates." The export-dependent economy, which grew 1.2% annually last quarter - the slowest pace since early 2024 - is already feeling the impact of 39% U.S. tariffs announced on August 1. It is likely to grow 1.2% this year and next, on average, poll medians showed. (Other stories from the Reuters global economic poll) https://www.reuters.com/business/snb-hold-rates-zero-september-25-throughout-2026-economists-say-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 11:47
NEW DELHI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - India's infrastructure output (ININFR=ECI) , opens new tab rose 6.3% year-on-year in August, backed by growth in steel, coal and cement production, government data showed on Monday. The index, which tracks activity across eight sectors and makes up 40% of the country's industrial production, grew at a revised 3.7% in July. Sign up here. KEY NUMBERS * Crude oil output fell 1.2% year-on-year in August against a fall of 1.3% in July * Natural gas production declined 2.2% year-on-year after a fall of 3.2% in July * Cement output rose 6.1% in August compared with a revised growth of 11.6% year-on-year in July * Steel production rose 14.2% after a revised 16.6% year-on-year increase in July * Fertiliser production rose 4.6% year-on-year in August after a growth of 2% in July * Coal production grew 11.4% year-on-year compared with a fall of 12.3% in July * Electricity generation grew 3.1% year-on-year in August against a revised 3.7% increase in July * Refinery products output grew 3% in August against a revised 1.1% fall in July * Infrastructure output grew 2.8% year-on-year in April-August against a growth of 4.6% a year ago https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-august-infrastructure-output-grows-63-yy-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 11:39
PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - French utility EDF posted a strike notice on Monday for its hydro sector between 0900-1230 GMT on Tuesday. Recent strikes at the utility's power plants have had limited impact on electricity production. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/french-utility-edfs-hydro-sector-strike-tuesday-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 11:23
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency is seeking to buy scandium oxide worth up to $40 million over the next five years from a unit of mining giant Rio Tinto to secure supplies of the critical material for addition to the national stockpile. Scandium is one of the rare earth elements, whose importance to the Western defence and technology sectors has been in the spotlight since China, the main producer, imposed export controls. Sign up here. "Scandium, until recently, was primarily sourced from China. In late 2024, China placed export controls on scandium, which constrained the supply chain and prompted this acquisition for the National Defense Stockpile," DLA said in a document , opens new tab published last week. It intends to buy 6.4 metric tons of scandium oxide within five years. In the first year it will be seeking almost 2 tons, equivalent to about 5% of last year's global production of scandium oxide, which, according to U.S. Geological Survey, totalled 40 tons with existing capacity of 80 tons. To increase domestic supply of scandium, the U.S. awarded up to $10 million to Elk Creek Resources, a unit of NioCorp Developments (NB.O) , opens new tab, in August. However, for now the U.S. government has to seek the product, used in many defence systems, from outside the country. "Rio Tinto Services Inc. has been identified as the only vendor available capable of fulfilling the government's required product needs at the capacity required for the contract," the document said. Rio Tinto (RIO.L) , opens new tab, (RIO.AX) , opens new tab said it would not comment on commercial matters, but added that it was "actively collaborating with the U.S. government to identify opportunities and leverage available support to increase domestic production and strengthen supply chains for the American market." In 2020, Rio Tinto's scientists became the first to develop a process which allows the extraction of high-purity scandium oxide from waste streams of titanium dioxide production, without the need for any additional mining. "Rio Tinto is uniquely positioned to help secure materials critical to America's future," the group said in an emailed reply to a Reuters' request for comment. Rio Tinto's facility in Quebec, Canada produced the first batch of scandium oxide three years ago and currently has the annual production capacity of 3 metric tons. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-agency-wants-buy-scandium-oxide-rio-tinto-defence-stockpile-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 11:03
Eni agrees to buy power from 400-MW ARC fusion plant in Virginia Virginia's data centers drive demand for fusion energy Deal follows similar one with Google for 200 MW Fusion still has work to do on technology, says CFS CEO WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Italian energy company Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab said on Monday it struck a more than $1 billion power purchase with Commonwealth Fusion System's project in Virginia that the companies hope by the early 2030s will generate electricity through the reaction that fires the sun. Eni agreed to buy power from the 400-megawatt (MW) ARC project in Chesterfield County, Virginia, despite CFS not knowing exactly what the project cost or when it will be completed. Sign up here. Any power generated by the project is expected to go to the grid in Virginia, home to the world's biggest hub of energy-hungry data centers. "This is showing in concrete terms, that people that use large amounts of energy, that know the energy market, that they want fusion power and that they're willing to contract for it," Bob Mumgaard, CFS CEO and co-founder, said about the deal. Big Tech, utilities and energy companies are scrambling to secure electricity supply as U.S. power demand rises for the first time in two decades on artificial intelligence and data centers. Eni, traditionally a major fossil fuel company, is rebranding itself as an energy technology company, investing in CFS since 2018. Eni believes fusion is a "very disruptive, fundamental way," to solve energy problems including cost and sustainability, Lorenzo Fiorillo, Eni's technology, R&D and digital director, told reporters in a teleconference. CFS, which spun out of MIT in 2018, has raised nearly $3 billion in capital. It struck a similar power purchase deal in June with Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab Google for 200 MW from The ARC plant for an undisclosed price. ENI and CFS did not specify the amount of power in their purchase agreement. Physicists at national laboratories and companies have been trying for decades to use lasers or, in the case of CFS, large magnets to foster fusion reactions, in which light atoms are forced together under extreme heat to release large amounts of energy. In 2022, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California briefly achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers. But achieving so-called "engineering break-even," in which more energy comes out of a reaction than the overall energy that goes into a fusion plant to spark a reaction, has been elusive. And for a plant to generate power from fusion, the reactions must be constant, not rare. "We're not here saying today that fusion power has no technology left to do," said Mumgaard. "But the character of that technology has shifted from ... 'Can this ever work?' into a question like 'Okay, what're the details of how, when and where?'" https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eni-strikes-more-than-1-billion-power-deal-with-us-fusion-firm-commonwealth-2025-09-22/
