2024-09-09 11:46
MOSCOW, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the RIA state news agency reported on Monday. Lavrov is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabias-mbs-meets-russias-lavrov-ria-reports-2024-09-09/
2024-09-09 11:29
BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - China is seeking public feedback on a plan to include cement, steel and aluminium production in its carbon emissions trading scheme by the end of the year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Monday. Including these three additional sectors could bring the greenhouse gas covered by the exchange to around 60% of the country's total, the ministry said, more than the emissions of the U.S. The plan will be open for public scrutiny until Sept. 19. China will expand the ETS over two stages, familiarizing participants with its processes between 2024 and 2026 and improving management and the quality of emissions data, while reducing quota allocations to businesses, from 2027. Carbon allowance quotas, which permit companies to emit a certain volume of carbon dioxide, will initially be allocated to enterprises free of charge. In the first stage, there will be no upper limit on allowances, and firms that emit more will be granted a larger quota. Beijing established the China Carbon Emission Trading Exchange in July 2021 as part of a drive to bring carbon emissions to a peak before 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2060. But the market has only covered the power sector since its inception. Looming carbon tariffs from the European Union have put pressure on China to accelerate its decarbonisation of heavy industrial sectors. The EU tariffs were introduced to tackle the problem of "carbon leakage", which allows businesses to avoid carbon costs by sourcing products from countries with weaker climate compliance. Starting from 2026, importers of steel, fertiliser, cement and chemicals will pay levies based on the carbon footprint of the products they buy. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/carbon/china-plans-include-steel-cement-aluminium-its-carbon-market-2024-2024-09-09/
2024-09-09 11:21
BEIJING, Sept 9 (Reuters) - China is willing to work with Norway to promote "friendly" cooperation including on green energy, President Xi Jinping told visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere in Beijing on Monday. Xi highlighted environmental protection, energy transition, maritime shipping, agricultural and fishery products and electric vehicles as areas where the two countries could expand cooperation, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Regarding the Ukraine crisis, Xi told Stoere that he hoped all sides would jointly accumulate "favourable" conditions for a political resolution through dialogue, CCTV reported. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/chinas-xi-seeks-friendly-cooperation-with-norway-green-energy-evs-2024-09-09/
2024-09-09 10:52
Sept 9 (Reuters) - The pound touched a near three-week low versus the dollar on Monday as traders unwound bets of a super-sized U.S. rate cut next week and awaited readings on the domestic economy that could dictate expectations around UK interest rates. Sterling fell 0.42% to $1.30745 - its weakest since Aug. 21. Most major currencies were also under pressure as the dollar recovered from last week's declines after Friday's data showed U.S. employment grew less than expected in August, but indicated only a steady slowdown in the labour market. Traders ramped up bets of a 50-bps rate cut from the Fed to more than 50% on Friday, but it fell to 25% on Monday as they judged the data was not enough for a panic move by the Federal Reserve. Investors will look to UK labour market data, British GDP figures for July as well as U.S. inflation data this week for clues on the direction of monetary policy on both sides of the Atlantic. Britain's labour market cooled noticeably last month as job placements fell sharply and pay growth slowed, a survey of recruiters showed on Monday. Official data on Tuesday are expected to show robust employment growth and a further moderation in pay growth. "Any upside surprise to the UK data (wage growth is expected to slow to 5%, 3m/3m GDP to grow by 0.6% and monthly GDP by 0.2%) could open the door to EUR/GBP trading below 0.84," Societe Generale's FX strategist Kit Juckes said in a note. Euro/sterling climbed for a seventh straight day, trading marginally higher at 84.84 pence per euro. Traders are pricing in 45 basis points (bps) of rate cuts from the Bank of England (BoE) by the end of this year, versus 112 bps from the U.S. central bank, market pricing showed. Growing divergence in the monetary policy outlook of both countries lifted the pound to more than two-year highs last month. While the BoE is mostly seen holding rates next week, traders are pricing in a 69% chance of a 25-bps rate cut in November. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-eases-three-week-low-us-rate-expectations-shift-2024-09-09/
2024-09-09 10:48
TSX ends up 1.1% at 23,027.15 Rises for first time in five sessions Financials add 1.5%, industrials end 1.4% higher Methanex agrees to buy OCI's methanol business Sept 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended higher for the first time in five sessions on Monday, with heavily weighted financials and industrials among the sectors to benefit as investors stepped in to take advantage of lower stock prices. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 245.72 points, or 1.1%, at 23,027.15, after it posted on Friday its lowest closing level in three weeks. Part of the impetus "is people coming in buying on the downdraft, which sometimes can be a dangerous game to play," said Michael Sprung, president at Sprung Investment Management. Wall Street's main stock indexes also rose after a week of losses as investors looked for bargains while they waited for inflation reports in coming days and the Federal Reserve's next policy decision next week. "People are becoming more concerned with the state of the economy rather than the level of interest rates," Sprung said. "I think we're going to be in for a very, very choppy market for the next while." Financials, which accounts for about 31% of the TSX's market capitalization, rose 1.5%, industrials were up 1.4% and technology ended 1.5% higher. The materials group added 1.1% as gold and copper prices rose. The price of oil also increased, settling 1.5% higher at $68.71 a barrel, on concerns that a hurricane forecast to hit Louisiana on Wednesday will disrupt production. Still, energy was the only major sector to lose ground, falling 0.2%. Methanex Corp (MX.TO) , opens new tab agreed to buy Dutch green fuel maker OCI Global's (OCI.AS) , opens new tab methanol business for $2.05 billion. The methanol producer's shares ended down 7.9%. Shares of Air Canada (AC.TO) , opens new tab were also a drag, falling 1.2%, after the airline said it's finalizing plans to suspend most of its operations as talks with the pilot union are nearing an impasse. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-jump-crude-gains-us-rate-cut-optimism-2024-09-09/
2024-09-09 10:43
Sept 9 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley on Monday cut its Brent crude oil forecasts for coming quarters and said the global oil market is facing a period of demand weakness similar to those seen during recessions. Brent crude futures settled at their lowest levels since December 2021 on Friday at $71.06. Brent was trading around $71.74 a barrel as of 1026 GMT. Rising fuel inventories, lower refining margins and the spreads between the price now and the price in the future all echo previous recessionary periods or other moments of weak demand, Morgan Stanley said. Those include the periods of falling demand in 2007-2008 due to the financial crisis and in 2020 due to the onset of COVID, the investment bank said. There are also parallels with non-recessionary periods of lackluster demand and higher supply in 2013 and in 1992-1993, the bank said. The bank explored the possibility of oil prices acting as recessionary indicator but concluded that it was too early and acknowledged that the market was pricing in a substantial deterioration in the balance of supply and demand. Seasonal demand strength usually subsides after summer, and supply from both OPEC and non-OPEC sources is likely to re-accelerate in the fourth quarter and 2025, leading to a shift in the supply and demand balance, the bank said. However, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, is focused on balancing the market, as evidenced by its decision to delay output increases that were due to start in October, the bank added. Morgan Stanley expects oil markets to remain tight in the third quarter, move closer to balanced in the fourth quarter, and show a surplus of around 1 million barrels per day in 2025. The bank cut its Brent price forecast for fourth quarter 2024 by $5 per barrel to $75, a level it now sees for all quarters next year. It had previously been forecasting Brent to average $78 in the first quarter of 2025 and to decline steadily throughout the year to $75 in the fourth. It sees WTI prices at $70 a barrel until the fourth quarter of 2025. "Although rising OPEC output is a key factor behind the surplus we model for 2025, we would be hesitant to argue that this justifies the recent price decline," it said, adding that the market appears modestly oversold in the short term. Unless demand weakens more, Brent will likely remain anchored around the mid-$70s, it added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/morgan-stanley-cuts-brent-crude-price-view-market-signals-demand-softness-2024-09-09/
