2024-09-18 21:50

Sept 19 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. "Go big, and go bold," was the advice to Fed Chair Jerome Powell and colleagues from some U.S. policy watchers and even former policymakers, and didn't they do just that. The Federal Reserve's half percentage point interest rate cut on Wednesday was a statement of intent that the Fed stands ready to protect the labor market and steer the economy away from anything approaching recession. Investors liked it, at first. The S&P 500, Dow and gold all leaped to fresh record highs, the Russell 200 small caps index rallied nearly 2%, and the dollar fell across the board. But stocks' and gold's gains melted away and the dollar bounced back from a 14-month low to close the U.S. session up on the day. What gives? Maybe the bond market reaction was most prescient. Treasury yields rose across the curve, more so at the longer end, perhaps on underlying worries over inflation and easier financial conditions, or because the Fed slightly revised up its long-run forecast for the fed funds rate. This sends mixed signals for Asian markets on Thursday. Who says central banks no longer retain the element of surprise? Bank Indonesia's quarter-point rate cut on Wednesday was not on the cards - only three of the 33 economists polled by Reuters predicted the move, with the remaining 30 expecting the policy rate to be left at 6.25%. Perhaps surprisingly, the rupiah didn't move much and stuck close to its strongest levels against the dollar in about a year. Now that the Fed has taken its first step on its easing path also, other central banks in Asia are likely to feel more comfortable loosening policy. But not Taiwan, not yet at least. Taiwan's central bank is expected to keep its policy interest rate unchanged on Thursday, according to all 32 economists surveyed in a Reuters poll, and stay the course until late next year as it deals with lingering inflation concerns. The central bank left the benchmark discount rate at 2% as expected at its last quarterly meeting in June, having hiked it to that level from 1.875% at the prior meeting in March. Investors in Asia also have New Zealand GDP, unemployment figures from Australia and Hong Kong, and trade data from Malaysia on their plate on Thursday. Traders may also be adjusting positions ahead of Japanese inflation figures and rate decisions on Friday from the Bank of Japan and People's Bank of China. The dark cloud of deflation hangs heavily over China, especially the property sector. Previous housing market crashes around the world suggest it could take China a decade to recover from the bubble currently bursting. And that's if prices even get back to their pre-bubble peaks. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to Asian markets on Thursday: - Taiwan interest rate decision - New Zealand GDP (Q2) - Australia unemployment (August) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-pix-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 21:49

Sept 18 - The current major U.S. expansion in liquefied natural gas exporting terminals and infrastructure will require an additional 400 vessels that can carry the supercooled gas to foreign buyers, Emily McClain, vice president of North America gas markets at research company Rystad Energy, told the Gastech conference on Wednesday. The United States is the world’s largest LNG exporter and Rystad estimates, based on projects already under construction, that it will be responsible for 35% of global LNG production by 2035. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/rystad-estimates-400-additional-lng-vessels-needed-meet-current-us-export-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 21:33

EU not offering enough funding to quit reliance on Russian gas Landlocked Hungary relies on Russia for two-thirds of its gas imports Hungary signs LNG deals with Azerbaijan, Turkey to diversify supply HOUSTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Hungary's energy security chief on Wednesday slammed the European Union for not providing enough support to help smaller, landlocked countries move away from Russian natural gas. Csaba Marosvari, Hungary's deputy state secretary for energy security, told attendees at the Gastech conference in Houston that smaller, landlocked states, including Hungary, need more funding to cut reliance on Russian gas. Around two-thirds of Hungary's gas imports come from Russia, but pressure is mounting for the country along with some of its neighbors to diversify more quickly away from Russian energy, following Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "In our region there are small countries, small markets, few significant market players, lack of capital, these kinds of infrastructure and de-bottlenecking projects can cost up to hundreds of millions of euros - in fuel market terms it is not feasible to fulfill," Marosvari said. The European Commission's move toward financing green energy projects to end reliance on fossil fuels has left some countries out of the mix, according to Marosvari. "As a result of the war in Ukraine, we received stronger and stronger pressure to diversify faster away from Russian fuels, but they deny the funds to be able to do that," he added. Hungary has been receiving 4.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from Russia under a 15-year deal signed in 2021. Marosvari said Hungary has signed some short-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals with Azerbaijan and Turkey to help cut its dependence on Russian sources. It also expects Turkey and Greece to become more significant suppliers of pipeline gas and LNG in the future. "You don't put all your eggs in one basket, this is true of natural gas supply as well," Marosvari said. “The Russians are delivering according to the contracts, for us they are reliable but this does not mean we have to stick to one single source, so we have been conducting a diversification strategy for supply.” Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/hungary-says-eu-not-doing-enough-end-russian-gas-dependence-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 20:56

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump commented on the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate cut on Wednesday by saying "it was a big cut." The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kicked off what is expected to be a series of interest rate cuts with an unusually large half-percentage-point reduction. "To cut it by that much, assuming they're not just playing politics, the economy would be very bad," Trump told reporters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-feds-actions-it-was-big-cut-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 20:53

TSX ends down 0.4% at 23,592.60 Energy falls 0.5%; oil settles 0.4% lower Materials group ends down 0.8% Rogers shares fall 2.7% after MLSE deal Sept 18 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged lower on Wednesday as lower oil prices weighed on energy shares and investors took stock of recent market gains, with some taking profit after the U.S. Federal Reserve began its interest rate cutting campaign. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended down 85.10 points, or 0.4%, at 23,592.60. On Monday, the index posted a record closing high at 23,702.07. The Fed cut interest rates by half of a percentage point, kicking off what is expected to be a steady easing of monetary policy with a larger-than-usual reduction in borrowing costs that followed growing unease about the health of the job market. "We've had a really nice rally into this expected release today. Oftentimes you get a sell-on-news type environment and I think that's a little bit of what we're seeing," said Mike Archibald, a portfolio manager at AGF Investments. U.S. stocks also closed lower after choppy trading. "The real story is going to continue to evolve around what happens in the macro environment," Archibald said. "Does the economy still manage to hang in and meet these soft landing expectations that the Fed has?" The energy sector fell 0.5% as the price of oil settled 0.4% lower at $70.91 a barrel. The price of gold also fell. That weighed on metal mining shares, with the materials group ending 0.8% lower. Industrials lost 0.7% and heavily weighted financials were down 0.3%. In corporate news, Rogers Communications (RCIb.TO) , opens new tab reached a deal to buy BCE Inc's (BCE.TO) , opens new tab stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). Shares of Rogers fell 2.7%, while BCE's shares were up 3.3%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-subdued-ahead-fed-interest-rate-decision-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 20:37

SAO PAULO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - In Brazil, a man from the Guarani community was shot dead on Wednesday morning, a governmental protection agency for Indigenous communities said, as a land dispute in the farm state of Mato Grosso do Sul escalated. It comes after a violent confrontation in early August during which armed men, backed by farmers in trucks and tractors, attacked Indigenous people reclaiming land in the vast farming state, injuring 11 of them. The man was shot in the head on Wednesday morning, the indigenous affairs agency Funai said. The dispute relates to the Nhanderu Marangatu Indigenous Land located in Mato Grosso do Sul on the border with neighboring Paraguay. Terras Indigenas , opens new tab, a database run by an environmental and Indigenous rights nonprofit in Brazil, shows the land of some 9,000 hectares has an population of about 1,350 and had been recognized as Indigenous territory. Funai said it had asked the specialized federal prosecutor's office to adopt all applicable legal measures and had met with the judge responsible for the case. "(We are) committed to ensuring that this violence ceases immediately and that those responsible for these crimes are rigorously punished," it said in a statement. "Given the seriousness of this matter, (Funai) is preparing new action before the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region, in order to guarantee the protection of the indigenous community," it added. Ranchers have been hoping to clear land to plant soybeans for export or raise cattle to produce beef. With Brazil's farm frontier advancing toward the Amazon, disputes over land claimed by Indigenous people have multiplied. Violent land disputes have also become more frequent and fueled an ongoing debate over the movement to limit Indigenous claims to ancestral lands in a conservative Congress backed by a powerful farm lobby. Lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the constitution that would introduce a limit to land claims by Indigenous communities made after 1988, even though the Supreme Court has ruled that setting such a time framework was unconstitutional. Less than half of the country's 1.6 million Indigenous people live on about 13% of the country's land mass. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/indigenous-man-shot-dead-land-dispute-brazil-farm-state-escalates-2024-09-18/