2025-09-16 10:38

Rising imports could boost already high global prices Growing demand has absorbed surplus from last year's shipments Importer expects imports this year to reach 5,500 to 6,000 tons NEW DELHI, Sept 16 (Reuters) - India's silver imports are expected to gather momentum in the coming months, supported by stronger investment and industrial demand that has already absorbed the surplus from last year's elevated shipments, industry officials told Reuters. Higher imports by the world's biggest silver consumer could give further support to global prices that are close to their highest level in 14 years. Sign up here. "With prices going up, investment demand has shot up, too — nearly twice as much as before," Chirag Thakkar, CEO of silver importer Amrapali Group Gujarat, said on the sidelines of the India Gold Conference in New Delhi. Silver imports are set to pick up in the coming months, with the annual total likely to be between 5,500 and 6,000 metric tons, Thakkar said. The industry had expected a sharp drop in India's 2025 imports after shipments more than doubled in 2024 to 7,669 tons. India's silver imports in the first eight months of 2025 more than halved to 2,580 tons from 5,695 tons a year earlier, provisional trade ministry data showed. However, strong demand in recent months has depleted stocks, prompting banks and dealers to step up imports, Thakkar said. Local silver futures hit a record high of 129,878 Indian rupees ($1,474.75) per kilogram on Tuesday and are up nearly 49% this year, outpacing a 44% jump in gold prices. Despite the price rally, silver is trading at a slight premium over official domestic rates, which include a 6% import duty and 3% sales levy, as demand remains strong from industrial users and investors, said one Mumbai-based dealer with a private bank. "Usually, when prices shoot up, a ton of scrap hits the market because investors cash out. But this time they're so bullish on the outlook that hardly any scrap is showing up," he said. Inflows into silver exchange-traded funds reached 17.59 billion rupees in July and 19.04 billion rupees in August, well above the last fiscal year's monthly average of 6.7 billion rupees, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed. India imports silver mainly from the United Arab Emirates, Britain and China. ($1 = 88.0680 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/indias-silver-imports-gain-momentum-strong-investment-demand-2025-09-16/

2025-09-16 10:36

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets today By Mike Dolan , opens new tab, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets Sign up here. An "everything rally" in markets greets the start of a two-day Federal Reserve , opens new tab meeting, with stocks at record highs, bond yields subsiding and a two-month low dollar , opens new tab taking the heat ahead of what is widely expected to be the first U.S. interest rate cut of the year. A quarter point Fed rate cut on Wednesday is fully priced. But the spotlight is as much on the central bank's institutional standing , opens new tab as on the policy call itself, after a pair of developments underscored the White House’s growing sway over the Fed. Meanwhile, gold set a new record , opens new tab high, and China's offshore yuan hit its highest level of the year after positive signs from the U.S.-China trade talks in Madrid. • The Senate's narrow confirmation of Stephen Miran to the Fed's Board hands President Donald Trump's top economic adviser a policy vote just as the FOMC convenes , opens new tab, while a U.S. appeals court ruling means Governor Lisa Cook can attend unless the Supreme Court intervenes. Together with Trump's public call for a 'bigger' cut , opens new tab and his stated intent to replace Chair Jerome Powell when his term ends next May, the moves highlight the degree of political pressure now bearing down on the central bank. Ahead of a 20-year bond auction later today, long-term Treasury yields hover close to four-month lows. • Big Tech led Wall Street gains on Monday, with Tesla shares climbing 3.6% after regulatory filings revealed CEO Elon Musk had acquired nearly $1 billion worth of the electric vehicle maker's stock last week and Alphabet hit a record high to race past $3 trillion in market capitalization. Nvidia underperformed after China's market regulator said it will continue an investigation into the AI chip leader after early findings showed it had violated the country's anti-monopoly law. Although the S&P500's year-to-date gains of 12% are still only half of that of the MSCI world index excluding U.S. stocks, funds tracking the 'Magnificent Seven' megacaps are now up 16% for 2025. S&P futures were higher again ahead of Tuesday's open. • China's offshore yuan hit 2025 highs even though its ebullient stock benchmarks stalled on Tuesday after U.S. and Chinese officials said they reached a framework agreement to switch short-video app TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership - a move expected to be confirmed in a Friday call between U.S. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Madrid talks encouraged hopes of another extension of the trade truce beyond the world's two biggest economies beyond November. Elsewhere, data showed the British jobs market and wage growth softened ahead of this week's Bank of England meeting and German investor morale unexpectedly strengthened in ZEW's September update. In today's column, I discuss how euro zone credit markets are converging, erasing the old 'core-periphery' divide and reshaping the bloc's borrowing dynamics. Today's Market Minute * U.S. President Donald Trump sued the New York Times , opens new tab, four of its reporters, and publisher Penguin Random House for at least $15 billion on Monday, claiming defamation and libel, and citing reputational damage, a Florida court filing showed. * U.S. and Chinese officials said on Monday they have reached a framework agreement to switch short-video app TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership that will be confirmed in a Friday call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. * U.S. companies should be allowed to report earnings every six months , opens new tab instead of on a quarterly basis, Trump said on Monday, announcing what could prove to be a major shift for corporate America. * The U.S. labor market appears to be deteriorating rapidly just as the country's housing market is also creaking, two negative forces that risk feeding off each other and smothering economic growth. Read the latest from ROI markets columnist Jamie McGeever. * While U.S. corporate taxes and interest rates fell over the past 40 years, the federal deficit soared. Does that mean the federal government is now justified in taking a slice of corporate profits – and is this the tax hike the United States needs? Find out in Robinhood Markets’ Chief Investment Officer Stephanie Guild’s latest piece for ROI. Chart of the day In the increasingly polarized world of American politics, there is bipartisan agreement that Americans are less tolerant of opposing views than they were 20 years ago, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey. Today's events to watch * U.S. August import/export prices (8:30 AM EDT), August retail sales (8:30 AM EDT), August industrial production (9:15 AM EDT), September NAHB housing index (10:00 AM EDT), August business/retail inventories (10:00 AM EDT); Canada August housing starts (8:15 AM EDT), Canada Aug consumer prices (0830) * U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee starts two-day meeting on interest rates, decision on Wednesday * U.S. President Donald Trump visits Britain * US Treasury sells $13 billion of 20-year bonds -- Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. You can find ROI on the Reuters website , opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2025-09-16/

2025-09-16 10:20

SINGAPORE/BEIJING Sept 16 (Reuters) - Energy and commodities trader BGN is building a metals trading desk, the Turkish firm said on Tuesday, in a bid to expand business into minerals essential for the energy transition. BGN, a privately owned energy trading group with more than 80 years of history, is known for trading liquefied petroleum gas and chemicals. Sign up here. "As part of our strategic growth plans, BGN is establishing a metals trading desk, which will be centred in Geneva and led by a head of metals trading for the BGN Group," said Wael Amer, chief commercial officer at BGN, in a statement. Amer, however, did not elaborate details regarding the size of the metals team and the metals to be added on the trading portfolio in the statement. This came after Chief Executive Officer Ruya Bayegan said last month the company aimed to expand the business into markets supplying fuels and minerals essential for the energy transition. Daniel Yu, formerly from Squarepoint trading group, will join the company in December as head of metals Asia in Singapore, according to the statement. Yu will be looking after base metals and battery materials, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter on condition of anonymity as the information is private. BGN did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. BGN is not the first energy trader expanding into metals. Peers such as Mercuria and Gunvor have delved into metals, betting structural changes in global energy systems will prove lucrative. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/energy-trader-bgn-expands-portfolio-into-metals-2025-09-16/

2025-09-16 10:16

MUMBAI, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee closed stronger on Tuesday, hitting a one-week peak, as expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut kept the dollar weak against most currencies. The rupee closed at 88.0525 per dollar, up 0.18% on the day after touching 88.02, its strongest since September 9. Sign up here. Most Asian currencies also firmed, while the dollar slipped to a more than two-month low against the sterling and the euro . The dollar index was last down 0.3% at 97. The Fed's policy decision is due post-Indian market hours on Wednesday, where a 25-basis-points rate cut is fully priced in by money markets. Analysts attribute the dollar's weakness to investor positioning heading into the event. The rupee regained some footing after hitting its all-time low of 88.4550 last week amid persistent worries over the impact of steep U.S. tariffs on both trade and foreign portfolio flows. Foreign investors have sold about $1 billion of local stocks over September so far on a net basis, taking the year-to-date outflow tally to about $16 billion. On the day, India's benchmark equity indexes, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN) , opens new tab and Nifty 50 (.NSEI) , opens new tab each closed 0.7% higher. For the year so far, the indexes have gained about 5%-7% but are lagging well-behind the 23% rise in MSCI's gauge of Asian equities excluding Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab "Reserve Bank of India's intervention is expected to cap USD/INR around 89.0 amid external headwinds. However, the risk of further weakness persists if India fails to negotiate tariff levels lower," analysts at ING said in a note. The Indian central bank has stepped up its presence in the offshore non-deliverable forward market to support the rupee, Reuters reported earlier. India and the United States are slated to hold trade talks on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone in statements last week and expressed optimism that the two countries could finalise a trade deal. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-firms-dollar-remains-defensive-ahead-expected-fed-cut-2025-09-16/

2025-09-16 10:05

Euro bond sales by US firms at year-to-date record of $100 billion Attractive borrowing costs, currency diversification lead push Fund flows signal increased preference for euro debt - ING Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. companies are lining up to borrow in euros with bond sales hitting a record $100 billion so far this year, reflecting attractive European funding conditions and a growing willingness among issuers and investors to shift away from the dollar. The likes of Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab, Visa (V.N) , opens new tab, PepsiCo (PEP.O) , opens new tab, payments firm Fiserv (FI.N) , opens new tab and Verizon (VZ.N) , opens new tab have sold bonds denominated in euros recently. Sign up here. This offshore fundraising, called "reverse Yankees" in a nod to Yankee bonds sold by foreign companies in the United States, is up from just over $78 billion for the whole of 2024, LSEG data shows. The trend is seen as positive for the euro given the dollar's 10% drop this year on concerns about erratic U.S. trade policy and as European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde urges a "global euro moment". "There is a wall of currency ready to be deployed into European credit," said Matteo Benedetto, EMEA co-head of investment grade syndicate at Morgan Stanley. "Behind those inflows, there is a broader trend of asset reallocation into euros and potentially away from the dollar," said Benedetto, who arranges European debt sales for companies. ING said in a report this month that fund flows point towards an increasing preference for euro-denominated debt among global issuers. Investors and bankers reckon that the record run for reverse Yankees is likely to persist given lower borrowing costs, favourable currency market dynamics and a diversification away from dollars, although analysts say it's early days in calling a turning point in the dollar's standing. For now, the cost of issuing bonds in euros after swapping the raised funds back to dollars, across similar credit quality and maturity profiles, is better or comparable for U.S. companies issuing the same in dollars, Benedetto said. The pickup in reverse Yankee issuance this year has been led by non-financial firms, which have sold almost 50 billion euros ($59 billion) of bonds, up 32% year-on-year. Alphabet, which hit a market capitalisation of $3 trillion for the first time on Monday, raised almost 7 billion euros in a bond sale in May, Fiserv tapped the market for 2.175 billion euros the same month and Verizon raised , opens new tab 2 billion euros in July by selling seven and 12-year notes. Alphabet, Visa, PepsiCo and Verizon did not respond to requests seeking comment. Fiserv declined to comment on its bond sale. U.S. financial firms, meanwhile, have nearly doubled such issuance to roughly 35 billion euros this year, LSEG data shows. Zurich-based Vontobel Asset Management is among investors that are snapping up euro bond sales from U.S. companies. "For investors, it's also an interesting topic because they are able to diversify a little bit away from their European core allocations," said Christian Hantel, head of global corporate bonds at Vontobel. PRICE EFFICIENCY The wave of euro-denominated issuance from American companies has also pushed up the U.S. weight in traditional debt indices, making such issuance hard to ignore, Hantel said. The weight of U.S. corporate issuers in the iShares Core Euro Corporate Bond ETF, a proxy for investment grade corporate borrowers, increased to nearly 19% by the end of August, from about 18% at the end of 2024 and is the second largest after France, Morningstar data shows. The reverse Yankee bond sales have been well absorbed by the euro area market and have delivered more size, price efficiency and greater flexibility in the maturity of bonds issuers' pick, said Giulio Baratta, global co-head of investment grade finance at BNP Paribas. BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley were among the banks involved in a 3.3 billion euro Pfizer (PFE.N) , opens new tab bond sale in May, according to a filing by the pharmaceutical firm. BNP was also involved in IBM's (IBM.N) , opens new tab 3.5 billion euro sale earlier this year, Baratta said. Baratta, who heads BNP's corporate debt capital markets, noted that U.S. firms have been able to tap debt maturities of up to 20 years in euros, moving past the traditional 5-to-12 year bucket. That's because expectations that U.S. growth will exceed that of Europe makes investors keen to tap debt from American companies and a weakening dollar burnishes the euro's appeal as a conduit to gain exposure. The euro is up nearly 14% so far this year to $1.17, some analysts anticipate a rise to $1.20. The euro remains the second-most used currency in international debt markets after the dollar, with a roughly 39% share according to ING. This, along with central bank reserve holdings and trade invoicing, is in focus for signs of a shift away from the dollar. "It doesn't necessarily mean 'don't buy U.S. corporates', but having the opportunity to diversify away from U.S. dollar assets into euro assets is something that investors are looking to do," said Connor Olvany, a portfolio manager at L&G Asset Management's European Credit team in London. ($1 = 0.8497 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/alphabet-visa-us-giants-drive-euro-denominated-bond-surge-2025-09-16/

2025-09-16 09:13

Gold exports to Cambodia boost baht to four-year high Central bank considers tax measures, dollar use for gold trading Governor term ends this month, warns of private debt, fiscal decline position BANGKOK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Thailand's central bank is considering a tax on gold trading as well as other measures to stabilise the soaring baht , its governor said on Tuesday, as the currency hit a four-year high driven by a weaker dollar as well as surging gold exports to neighbouring Cambodia. The baht was trading at 31.718 per dollar on Tuesday, higher than the 34-35 baht range considered appropriate by business groups in Southeast Asia's second largest economy. Sign up here. Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, who finishes his term as governor in 14 days, told reporters that there have been discussions about a tax on gold trading, support for gold trading in U.S. dollars and other measures. "One of the measures discussed was taxation, but there are other avenues that have also been discussed," he told reporters. "For example, as you know, Thais trade a lot in gold, so we want to encourage gold trading in dollars rather than baht." Discussions are ongoing and no decision had been reached, he added. In the January to July period, Thailand's gold shipments surged 82% year-on-year to $7.6 billion, with unusually large export volumes worth $2.1 billion to Cambodia alone. Sethaput also warned that structural fixes were needed to resolve a surge in private debt and reverse the decline in Thailand's fiscal position. "Fiscal ammunition is limited and there is risk of a ratings downgrade if the fiscal position does not improve," he said, adding that spending was higher than revenue. The Bank of Thailand has cut rates four times since late last year amid a slowdown in economic growth. The cuts were intended to ease financial conditions rather than serve as a short-term stimulus, he said. The next rate review is on October 8, with some economists expecting a further rate reduction. Former state-owned bank head Vitai Ratanakorn, seen as an inflation dove who will advocate for rate cuts to support growth, will take over from Sethaput on October 1. "There are things I'm still worried about and a message for the next governor is don't forget the long-term and structural issues," Sethaput said. Sethaput also ruled out a move into politics after his departure from the central bank. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thai-central-bank-eyes-gold-trading-tax-baht-hits-four-year-high-2025-09-16/