2024-09-17 06:50

NEW DELHI, Sept 17 (Reuters) - India's wholesale price index (INWPI=ECI) , opens new tab rose 1.31% in August from a year earlier, government data released on Tuesday showed. Economists polled by Reuters had estimated wholesale price inflation at 1.85% in August. Inflation was at 2.04% in July. Food prices rose 3.26% year-on-year from a 3.55% increase in July. Cereal prices rose 8.44% over last year, compared to an 8.96% on-year increase in July. Vegetable prices fell 10.01% on-year from a 8.93% drop in July. Manufactured product prices increased 1.22% year-on-year against a 1.58% rise in the previous month. Fuel and power prices fell 0.67% on-year compared with a 1.72% increase in July. Last week, data showed India's retail inflation remained below the central bank's target of 4% for the second consecutive month, but vegetable prices continued to soar, dampening hopes of a dovish stance in the next monetary policy meeting. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-august-wholesale-price-index-rises-131-on-year-2024-09-17/

2024-09-17 06:49

Intel shares jump 8% after hours Intel CEO Gelsinger details Amazon deal in memo Chip maker's memo also outlines cost cuts Sept 16 (Reuters) - Intel's (INTC.O) , opens new tab foundry, or contract manufacturing business, has signed up Amazon's (AMZN.O) , opens new tab cloud services unit as a customer for making custom artificial intelligence chips, the companies said on Monday, a deal that gives the chip maker a vote of confidence. Intel's shares rose roughly 8% in extended trading after CEO Pat Gelsinger released a memo to employees announcing Intel had secured the Amazon unit as be a multibillion-dollar customer, paying Santa Clara, California-based Intel for design services and manufacturing. The memo also outlined Intel's planned cost cuts. Amazon's AWS cloud computing division already designs several chips for use in its data centers and has hired Intel to package at least one version. Intel will produce an "artificial intelligence fabric chip" for AWS and use the chip maker's 18A process, the most advanced version available for outside customers, the companies said. Intel said it expects to make additional designs from Amazon on the company's forthcoming 18AP and 14A manufacturing processes. The memo also outlined a number of steps Intel would take to revive itself. Last month, it reported disastrous second quarter earnings. "The board and I agreed that we have a lot of work ahead to drive greater efficiency, improve our profitability and enhance our market competitiveness," Gelsinger wrote in the memo. Among steps the board has decided to take, Intel is selling a stake in its programmable chip business Altera. It also said it would pause construction at its chip factory project in Germany for two years, a move Reuters had previously reported. The company plans to pause its project in Poland as well. Intel said there are no changes to its plans to expand manufacturing in the U.S. Intel plans to keep its manufacturing business, or foundry, inside the company, confirming earlier Reuters reporting. The foundry business is crucial to Gelsinger's turnaround plan for the company, which he outlined in 2021. Until Amazon, Intel has struggled to find marquee customers that it could discuss publicly. But in the memo, Gelsinger said the foundry business would have greater independence, for instance being able to take outside capital. Intel plans to establish it as an independent subsidiary, with an operating board that will oversee the foundry operation. The foundry unit separated its financial performance from the design business earlier this year. The company is also taking several steps to prioritize the core technology behind its central processing units (CPUs), and is reorganizing several divisions, including its automotive and "edge" businesses. On Monday Intel also said it was awarded up to $3 billion in direct funding from the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, as part of the Secure Enclave program. The company said it plans to send notices in the middle of October to the roughly 15,000 employees it said in August it would lay off. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/intel-aws-expand-strategic-collaboration-chip-manufacturing-2024-09-16/

2024-09-17 06:43

Over 12% of crude output in US Gulf of Mexico remains offline Odds of 50 bps US rate cut this week at 69% China's oil imports seen improving US oil stockpiles rose last week as per API, sources say NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose by a dollar a barrel on Tuesday as supply disruptions mounted and traders bet that demand will grow if the U.S. Federal Reserve lowers borrowing costs this week, as is widely expected. Both contracts settled at their highest so far this month. U.S. crude futures rose $1.10, or 1.6%, to $71.41. Brent crude futures gained 95 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $73.70 per barrel. More than 12% of crude output from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was offline after Hurricane Francine last week, lifting oil prices in four of the last five sessions, a rebound after Brent last Tuesday hit the lowest in nearly three years. Prices also found support from renewed tensions in the Middle East, analysts at AEGIS Hedging said. Militant group Hezbollah promised to retaliate against Israel after pagers detonated across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and wounding nearly 3,000 others who included fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Israel declined to comment on the detonations. Prices drew support from supply disruption in Libya, where a rift between rival factions over control of the central bank has led to lower oil output and exports, Rystad analysts said on Tuesday. Talks led by the United Nations to solve the crisis failed to reach an agreement this week. Libyan crude exports rose three-fold last week to about 550,000 barrels per day, a Reuters review of Kpler shipping data showed. That was still half the OPEC producer's exports last month of over 1 million bpd, the data showed. Investors also hoped the Fed's widely anticipated rate cut could revitalize demand in the top oil consuming nation. Fed funds futures showed markets pricing in a 69% chance that the central bank will cut rates by 50 basis points. A cut of that magnitude could soften the U.S. currency and boost oil and other dollar-denominated commodities, independent energy and shipping analyst Matias Togni wrote , opens new tab on Tuesday. There are also signs of improving demand in China, Togni said, where a turbulent economy has heavily dented demand from the top oil importer so far this year. The country's imports are approaching this year's highest levels at over 11 million bpd this month, he added. Oil prices were broadly unchanged after market sources said data from the American Petroleum Institute showed both oil and fuel stockpiles rose last week. Analysts expect oil stockpiles to drop by about 500,000 barrels, according to an extended Reuters poll. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's official report is due on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-extends-gains-us-output-concerns-expected-drop-stockpiles-2024-09-17/

2024-09-17 06:41

GUJARAT, India, Sept 17 (Reuters) - India's Tata Power (TTPW.NS) , opens new tab plans to invest up to $9 billion to more than quadruple its renewable energy capacity to more than 20 gigawatts (GW) over the next five to six years, CEO Praveer Sinha said on Tuesday. The company plans to invest 700 billion rupees ($8.36 billion) to 750 billion rupees ($8.95 billion) to expand its capacity and aims to fund the plan with a mix of internal accruals and debt, Sinha said. Tata Power, which currently has 5 GW renewable energy capacity in large projects, will add another 5 GW capacity in the next one to two years and expand that to more than 20 GW by 2030, Sinha said. "Renewable is a very important part of our growth and for the next few decades we expect to be one of the large players in the renewable space." The company, a part of the salt-to-software Tata group, also has more than 8.8 GW of power generation capacity via thermal plants and aims to achieve 100% clean power generation by fiscal year 2045. It is also coming up with customised solutions for round-the-clock power using a combination of solar, wind, battery storage and pumped storage, Sinha said. Indian companies are increasingly adding to their renewable energy capacity, with the government aiming to add at least 500 GW of clean energy by 2030 to reduce emissions. ($1 = 83.8250 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/tata-power-invest-up-9-bln-expand-renewable-energy-capacity-2024-09-17/

2024-09-17 05:19

MUMBAI, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee faced resistance on Tuesday following a rise driven by the U.S. dollar's struggles a day ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated interest rate decision. The rupee was at 83.84 to the U.S. dollar at 10:28 a.m. IST, compared with 83.8875 in the previous session. The dollar/rupee pair was running into bids from two large public sector banks, a currency trader said, adding that it was "difficult to know" if they were buying for the Reserve Bank of India or for their clients. Asian currencies were mostly higher and the dollar index was flat at 100.70 having declined in the previous three sessions. The U.S. dollar "continues to be under pressure" on Fed rate cut hopes solidifying before the central bank's meeting, Srinivas Puni, managing director at forex advisory firm QuantArt Market Solutions, said. Given the high expectations that the Fed will cut rates by 50 basis points, there is a risk of market disappointment if they cut just 25 bps or issue a more "moderate" statement, Puni said. Odds of 50 basis points have climbed to nearly 70% from just 30% a week ago. Media reports suggesting that Fed officials are considering a 50 basis point cut have led investors to increase their bets on a more aggressive move by the Fed during its two-day meeting, set to begin later today. Analysts at ANZ Bank said that worries over a slowdown in the labour market were outweighing concerns over a inflation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-faces-resistance-dollar-buying-by-state-run-banks-2024-09-17/

2024-09-17 05:01

Wall Street closes little changed after early gains Treasury yields rise, dollar stands firm Fed meets on Wednesday, rate cut expected US retail sales, manufacturing production increase NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock markets ended nearly flat after hitting record highs on Tuesday and the dollar stood firm as strong economic data allayed slowdown fears and investors braced for the Federal Reserve's expected move to cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years. Signs of a slowing job market over the summer and more recent media reports had contributed in the past week to betting the Federal Reserve would move more drastically than usual at its meeting on Wednesday and shave off half a percentage point, to head off any weakness. Data on Tuesday showed U.S. retail sales rose in August and production at factories rebounded. Stronger data could theoretically weaken the case for a more aggressive cut. "That points to a healthy state of the economy," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities. Cardillo expects Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, and would be looking for clues to future moves. "He might hint the Fed could be more aggressive in the coming meetings ... I think they start off being cautious," he said. Across the broader market, traders are still betting on a 63% probability that the Fed will cut rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday and a 37% probability of a 25 basis-point cut, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab rose to an all-time intraday high at one point in the session, but flattened in afternoon trading and closed 0.03% higher at 5,634.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 0.04%, to 41,606.18. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab bucked the Wall Street trend to close 0.20% higher at 17,628.06, while MSCI's All-World index (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab rose 0.04% to 828.72. "What you're seeing in this afternoon's trading is the way we pulled off of the all-time high ... because tomorrow somebody's going to be disappointed," said Russell Price, chief economist at Ameriprise Financial Services in Troy, Michigan. STRONGER DOLLAR The dollar perked up from its recent lows against most major currencies and stayed higher throughout the day. The index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.28% to 100.98. Beyond the United States, the Bank of England (BoE) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) also meet this week to discuss monetary policy, but unlike the Fed are expected to keep rates on hold. The dollar kept strengthening against the Japanese yen , gaining 1.19% to 142.29. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield , which typically reflects near-term rate expectations, rose 4.4 basis points to 3.5986%, having fallen to a two-year low of 3.528% in the previous session. The benchmark 10-year yield rose 2.3 basis points to 3.644%, from 3.621% late on Monday. In Asia, China's sputtering economic recovery continued to weigh on sentiment after data over the weekend showed the country's industrial output growth slowed to a five-month low in August, while retail sales and new home prices weakened further. Oil prices rose as the industry continued to survey the impact of Hurricane Francine on output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. U.S. crude settled 1.57% higher at $71.19 a barrel. Brent finished the day at $73.7 per barrel, up 1.31%. Spot gold slid 0.51% to $2,569.51 an ounce, having touched a record high on Monday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-09-17/