2024-08-21 07:46
FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 adds 0.2% Mining shares lead broader gains, energy shares top losers Mobico posts jump in first-half profit, shares gain U.S. Fed Chair Powell's speech on tap Aug 21 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 inched higher on Wednesday, supported by miners, while traders sensed caution among global markets ahead of U.S. economic data, release of the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes and speeches from policymakers this week. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) , opens new tab was up 0.1% at 8,277.36, as of 0711 GMT, after logging its worst day since Aug. 5 in the previous session. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index (.FTMC) , opens new tab edged 0.2% higher. Industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) , opens new tab were the biggest gainers in the benchmark index with a 1.6% gain, despite a downtick in copper prices. Precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030) , opens new tab jumped 1.2% as bullion hovered below its record-high levels following a rally fuelled by Western fund inflows and U.S. rate-cut optimism. The benchmark index closed 1% lower in the previous session, dragged down by heavyweight energy shares (.FTNMX601010) , opens new tab. The energy sector led losses on Wednesday as well, with a 0.4% decline, as oil prices slipped on estimates showing swelling U.S. crude inventories and expectations of easing tensions in the Middle East. Global markets took a breather from a recovery in the last week following comforting U.S. data and a brutal sell-off earlier this month. Investors are eagerly awaiting Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming later this week, where the policymaker is expected to acknowledge the case for a September rate cut amid dovish comments from some Fed officials recently. Later in the day, preliminary revisions to U.S. labour data are due to be published. Federal Reserve minutes are also expected to reinforce a dovish stance. Among individual stocks in London, Mobico (MCG.L) , opens new tab advanced 6.2% after the British transport company posted an over 28% jump in its first-half profit. Watkin Jones (WJG.L) , opens new tab slid 30% after it missed profit estimates for the year and said it was reviewing options on funding, followed by a downgrade to "hold" from "buy" by brokerage Peel Hunt. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/londons-ftse-100-inches-higher-investors-await-us-data-fed-minutes-2024-08-21/
2024-08-21 07:45
BEIJING, Aug 21 (Reuters) - China, the world's largest builder of coal-fired power stations, cut the number of permits for new plants by nearly 80% in the first half of 2024, an environmental group report finds, saying time would tell whether it was a turning point. The Greenpeace East Asia report, based on new project approval data, also found China's combined wind and solar capacity of 11.8 terawatts (TW) exceeded coal capacity (11.7TW) for the first time in the first half, and made up 84.2% of all new grid-connected capacity. At the same time, China commissioned 14 coal plants with a total 10.3 gigawatts (GW) of power generating capacity - a 79.3% decrease from the first six months of 2023, the report published on Tuesday showed. Greenpeace East Asia project lead Gao Yuhe said wind and solar expansion has been strong as coal building slows, but that it was unclear what the slowdown meant for use of the carbon-intensive fossil fuel. "Are Chinese provinces slowing down coal approvals because they've already approved so many coal projects during this five-year plan period? Or are these the last gasps of coal power in an energy transition that has seen coal become increasingly impractical? Only time can tell." Greenpeace said investment should be put toward improving grid connectivity, to increase output from China's huge fleet of wind and solar plants. Analysts at the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air believe China's carbon emissions may have peaked in 2023. They report emissions fell 1% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, in the first quarterly drop since the COVID-19 pandemic. China says it still builds coal plants for grid stability and to ensure it has enough dispatchable power during periods of peak demand, such as during the record-breaking heat that swept much of the country in July. Economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/china-has-cut-new-coal-power-plant-permits-by-nearly-80-greenpeace-says-2024-08-21/
2024-08-21 07:38
BEIJING, Aug 21 (Reuters) - China's commerce ministry announced on Wednesday it has opened an anti-subsidy investigation into European imported dairy products from Aug. 21. The application to launch the investigation came from the China Dairy Association and China Dairy Industry Association, it said in a statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-opens-anti-subsidy-investigation-into-european-dairy-imports-2024-08-21/
2024-08-21 07:31
NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (Reuters) - India will spend nearly $300 million in two years to expand water bodies like lakes and build drains in seven cities including Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru to mitigate floods and conserve water, a government official told Reuters on Wednesday. Flooding, often fatal, is common in Indian cities every monsoon as rapid urbanisation devours city lakes and waste clogs drains. Such flooding has been preceded by severe water shortages in recent years, especially in Delhi and Bengaluru, where once-plenty water storage spaces have shrunk. Ratings agency Moody's warned in June that India's growing water stress could affect its growth, which at a projected 7.2% this April-March fiscal year is the highest among major economies. The federal government spending, the first flood control measure focused on water bodies, was approved recently and will also incorporate early-warning systems, said Krishna S. Vatsa, one of the three members of the National Disaster Management Authority. "It could become one of the most significant approaches to flood mitigation in the cities," Vatsa said in an interview. "While the importance of storm water drainage in reducing the runoff cannot be overlooked, they also need to be supplemented by some of the nature-based solutions such as increasing the capacity of rivers and lakes to carry rain water." He said of the 25 billion rupees ($298 million), Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata would each receive 5 billion rupees, while Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune will get 2.5 billion rupees each. No allotment was made for the capital Delhi, since the cities were chosen based on the frequency of floods and an assessment of resulting losses there, Vatsa said. However, he warned that longer-term measures were also needed, especially since the country was witnessing huge volumes of rain in a short span of time. More than 300 mm (11.8 inches) of rain lashed India's financial capital Mumbai in six hours early on July 8, authorities have said. "Whenever a city receives 100 mm of rainfall, there is bound to be inundation," Vatsa said. "You need a certain level of investment continuously which is supported by a whole lot of governance measures so that the problem could be reduced." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/india-spend-300-mln-mitigate-floods-conserve-water-big-cities-2024-08-21/
2024-08-21 07:29
NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he will "share perspectives" on the peaceful resolution of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia during his visit to Kyiv this week, more than a month after he travelled to Moscow. Modi departed for Poland on Wednesday and will visit Kyiv on Friday, the first trip to Ukraine by an Indian prime minister since diplomatic relations were established more than three decades back. The trip follows Modi's July 8-9 visit to Moscow which drew criticism from the U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as it coincided with a lethal Russian strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv. Modi condemned the killing of innocent children in an implicit rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The short visit to Kyiv is seen by many Indian analysts as an attempt to control the damage from the Moscow trip and also a strategic balancing act at a time New Delhi has grown closer to the West, particularly Washington. India's diplomats reject that and say New Delhi's ties with Russia and Ukraine are independent of each other and the trip builds on interactions between New Delhi and Kyiv across sectors. "I look forward to the opportunity to ... share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict," Modi said in a statement on Wednesday before his departure. "As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region." India and Russia have been close friends since the days of the Soviet Union and New Delhi has not condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, instead urging both sides to use dialogue and diplomacy to resolve their differences. Russia became India's top oil supplier since the war began as Indian refiners snapped up cheap Russian crude. New Delhi has also remained engaged with Kyiv, with Modi meeting Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Italy in June. They have also spoken several times by phone. The prospect of India mediating to help end the war in Ukraine has been raised in diplomatic circles from time to time but New Delhi has appeared cagey, saying only that it is willing to offer any support to resolve the conflict peacefully. "Contrary to widespread expectations, Modi’s visit to Warsaw and Kyiv may be less about a new Indian peace initiative on Ukraine," C Raja Mohan of the Singapore-based Institute of South Asian Studies wrote in Wednesday's Indian Express newspaper. "President Vladimir Putin knows how to reach out to the U.S., which has the most leverage in the Ukraine war, and open negotiations when he finds it appropriate," he wrote, adding that Modi's trip was more about boosting New Delhi's ties in Central Europe. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/indias-modi-discuss-resolution-ukraine-conflict-during-kyiv-trip-2024-08-21/
2024-08-21 07:20
Aug 21 (Reuters) - South Africa's Sibanye Stillwater (SSWJ.J) , opens new tab has finalised a 1.8 billion rand ($101 million) gold prepayment deal to raise cash to help repay loans after a slump in platinum group metal (PGM) prices hurt its income, the diversified miner said on Wednesday. The group had previously said it was seeking to raise more than $500 million through metals prepayment deals to shore up its balance sheet after earnings plunged due to the PGM price collapse. Metals prepayment arrangements allow miners to sell their future production in return for an upfront cash payment. The metals producer's profits tumbled $2 billion last year due to lower prices and after it wrote down $2.6 billion in the carrying value of its U.S. palladium mines, a nickel operation in France and a gold mine in South Africa. Sibanye Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said in a statement on Wednesday the prepayment deal was a "proactive, strategic financing alternative that improves the group's liquidity and balance sheet". Sibanye said it would deliver 1,497 kg of gold in equal monthly tranches from October 2024 to November 2026 in return for the prepaid cash. The cash will help to repay the group's loans, it said. The miner said it had also reached an agreement to refinance and increase its 5.5 billion rand revolving credit facility with South African lenders, which was due to mature in November 2024. Refinancing allows a borrower to replace an existing debt obligation with a new one on more favourable terms. The refinanced 6 billion rand facility will now mature in August 2027, with an option to extend it by a further two years, Sibanye said. ($1 = 17.8542 rand) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/sibanye-finalises-101-mln-gold-prepayment-deal-refinances-credit-facility-2024-08-21/
