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Business

Shares rise, U.S. Treasury yields drop ahead of Fed minutes’ release

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  • Fed minutes for November due at 1900 GMT
  • Wall Street stocks trade higher
  • U.S. Treasury yields retreat
  • Crude prices drop more than 4%
  • U.S. dollar falls

NEW YORK, Nov 23 (Reuters) – World equities rose while U.S. Treasury yields were lower ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes that would offer a glimpse on whether officials are likely to soften their stiff monetary policy stance.

Traders are expecting the minutes, which will be published on Wednesday, to provide clues that the Fed is set to end its pace of sharp interest rate hikes in response to a moderation in economic conditions.

Labor Department data showed on Wednesday that U.S. jobless claims increased more than expected last week while U.S. business activity contracted for a fifth month in November, according to the S&P Global flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index.

“What investors are hoping for is that the Fed acknowledges that since the consumer price index looks like it might be peaking that there’s going to be some language that they see a pause on the near-term horizon,” said Jordan Kahn, chief investment officer at ACM Funds in Los Angeles, California.

The MSCI All Country stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) was up 0.8%, while European shares (.STOXX) rose 0.62%.

U.S. Treasury yields were trading lower. Benchmark 10-year notes were down to 3.7242% while the yields on two-year notes dropped to 4.4835%.

The yield curve that compares these two bonds widened further into negative territory, to -76.30 basis points. When inverted, that part of the curve is seen as an indicator of an upcoming recession.

“I tend to think that investors that are looking for any sought of hint of a pause are going to be disappointed. I think the Fed is going to keep the message they’ve been saying for a while, which is that their job isn’t done yet and need to bring down demand,” Kahn said.

“The yield curve is still screaming that the economy is on the precipice of a slowdown,” he added.

On Wall Street, all three major indexes were trading higher, led by gains in technology, consumer discretionary, communication, and industrial stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 0.29% to 34,196.78, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 0.56% to 4,025.81 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 0.96% to 11,282.14.

Oil prices fell more than 4% as the Group of Seven (G7) nations looked at a price cap on Russian oil that is above where it is currently trading and as gasoline inventories in the United States built more than analysts expected.

Brent futures for January delivery fell 4.2% to $84.65 a barrel, while U.S. crude fell 4.46%, to $77.34 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell across the board ahead of the release of the Fed’s minutes and new data showing weaker economic conditions. The dollar index fell 0.7%, with the euro up 0.62% to $1.0366.

Gold prices were choppy as the U.S. dollar fell. Spot gold added 0.1% to $1,742.66 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures fell 0.10% to $1,736.50 an ounce.

Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York
Editing by Bernadette Baum

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Modi seeks detailed inquiry as India bridge toll rises to 135

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  • Modi visits site in home state
  • Search continues for third straight day
  • One more person still believed missing – official

MORBI, India, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanded lessons be learned as he visited the site of a bridge collapse that killed 135 people and met some of the injured in hospital on Tuesday.

Army, navy and national disaster response force teams continued their search while locals gathered on the banks of the Machchhu river in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

The colonial-era suspension foot bridge in Morbi was packed with sightseers – many in town to celebrate the Diwali and Chhath Puja festivals – when it gave way on Sunday evening, sending people plunging about 10 metres (33 feet) into the water.

A top police official told Reuters that about 200 people were on the bridge when it collapsed. Local municipality officials said tickets for about 400 people had been sold, although not necessarily to be on the bridge at the same time.

A map depicting the site of the bridge collapse over the Machhu River in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

“The prime minister said the need of the hour is to conduct a detailed and extensive inquiry which will identify all aspects relating to this mishap,” Modi’s office said in a statement as he saw the scene of the disaster.

“He also added that the key learnings from the inquiry must be implemented at the earliest.”

Top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, from the Congress party, said earlier he refused to politicise the incident, but in the capital New Delhi dozens of protesters demanded the resignation of the Gujarat state chief and called for more compensation.

“The country is angry today that around 150 people have died in Morbi but this government did nothing apart from shedding crocodile tears,” an unidentified protester shouted. Police detained the crowd within minutes.

[1/8] India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the site of a suspension bridge collapse in Morbi town in the western state of Gujarat, India, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer

The protesters called for compensation of 2 million rupees ($24,000) for all victims – the injured and the families of those killed. So far the state and central governments have offered 600,000 rupees ($7,000) for the kin of those who lost their lives.

Local residents at the scene on Tuesday told Reuters they feared the death toll could rise further.

GT Pandya, a senior administrative official in Morbi, said a person who was injured had died from their injuries on Tuesday, taking the toll to 135. One person was still missing according to the authorities’ estimate, he said.

Gujarat, which declared a day of mourning on Wednesday, said in a statement that 152 people had been discharged from the hospital while 17 were still undergoing treatment.

The bridge – 233 metres in length and 1.25 metres wide – was originally built in 1877 and had been closed for six months for repairs until last week.

CCTV footage of the incident showed a group of young men trying to rock the bridge from side to side while others took the photos before they tumbled into the river below as the cables gave way.

Police arrested nine people on Monday under penal code sections including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Those arrested included ticketing clerks accused of letting too many people onto the bridge and contractors that had been in charge of repair work.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping were the latest to send condolences for the loss of lives, many of whom were children.

($1 = 82.5170 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Shivam Patel and Sumit Khanna; Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Jacqueline Wong and Alison Williams

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Russia and China open cross-border bridge as ties deepen

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June 10 (Reuters) – Russia and China opened a new cross-border bridge in the far east on Friday which they hope will further boost trade as Moscow reels from sweeping Western sanctions imposed over its actions in Ukraine.

The bridge linking the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk to the Chinese city of Heihe across the Amur river – known in China as Heilongjiang – is just over one kilometre long and cost 19 billion roubles ($342 million), the RIA news agency reported.

Amid a firework display, freight trucks from both ends crossed the two-lane bridge that was festooned with flags in the colours of both countries, video footage of the opening showed.

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Russian authorities said the bridge would bring Moscow and Beijing closer together by boosting trade after they announced a “no limits” partnership in February, shortly before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine.

“In today’s divided world, the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe bridge between Russia and China carries a special symbolic meaning,” said Yuri Trutnev, the Kremlin representative in the Russian Far East.

China wants to deepen practical cooperation with Russia in all areas, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua said at the opening.

Russia’s Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said the bridge would help boost bilateral annual trade to more than 1 million tonnes of goods.

Flags of China and Russia are displayed in this illustration picture taken March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration

CUTTING JOURNEY TIME

The bridge had been under construction since 2016 and was completed in May 2020 but its opening was delayed by cross-border COVID-19 restrictions, said BTS-MOST, the firm building the bridge on the Russian side.

BTS-MOST said freight traffic on the bridge would shorten the travel distance of Chinese goods to western Russia by 1,500 kilometres (930 miles). Vehicles crossing the bridge must pay a toll of 8,700 roubles ($150), a price that is expected to drop as toll fees begin to offset the cost of construction.

Russia said in April it expected commodity flows with China to grow, and trade with Beijing to reach $200 billion by 2024.

China is a major buyer of Russian natural resources and agricultural products.

China has declined to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine and has criticised the Western sanctions on Moscow.

($1 = 57.8000 roubles)

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Reporting by Reuters
Editing by Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Biden, top team to crisscross U.S. in victory tour for $1 trillion infrastructure bill

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WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden and top officials in his Cabinet are hitting the road to promote the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed in Congress last week, as they explain when and where Americans can expect to see some of the funds in their own communities.

White House aides are planning a bipartisan signing ceremony for the infrastructure bill as soon as this week, after it gained final passage on Friday night when Democrats who control the House of Representatives ended months of bickering and approved it. read more

Biden is also pressing lawmakers to approve a separate, climate and safety-net package known as his Build Back Better plan. It is estimated to cost about $1.75 trillion and has been the subject of fierce debate on Capitol Hill.

“It’s going to be a tough fight. It ain’t over yet, as the expression goes, but I feel good, and I think people are beginning to realize it’s important to get it done,” Biden told reporters on Monday.

Biden heads to the Port of Baltimore on Wednesday to promote the infrastructure bill and will travel to places where the “need is and the action is,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the White House daily news briefing on Monday.

Buttigieg and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are fanning out across the country as well.

“In the coming weeks, those members and other senior officials will travel to red states, blue states, big cities, small towns, rural areas, tribal communities and more to translate what this deal means for real people across the country,” a White House source said.

The American Flag flies at the U.S. Capitol Building, as Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a State of Emergency due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo

A Democratic National Committee source told Reuters the party would unveil a slogan based on the bill: “Democrats delivered.”

The bill sends tens of billions of dollars to federal agencies and states for bridge and highway repair, new broadband and public transportation projects and will fund a network of electric-vehicle charging stations across the country.

“A lot of this sells itself,” Buttigieg said, “because communities never needed to be persuaded that their bridge needed to be fixed or their airports needed an upgrade. … They’ve been trying to get Washington to catch up to them.”

It gives Biden and Democrats a much-needed jolt of good news after poll numbers have fallen for the president. Republicans made gains in local elections last week, winning the governor’s office in Virginia and coming closer than expected in heavily Democratic New Jersey.

The White House victory lap will include messages on African-American and Spanish-language media and partnering with labor unions, business groups and state and local leaders.

The DNC source said that while the infrastructure bill is an important milestone, Democrats need to pass Biden’s social safety and climate spending plan next.

“Voters have a short memory. They have already forgotten the CARES Act (COVID-19 relief program). They will forget a bridge that was built or a highway that was repaired, but they will remember the monthly child tax credit payment. It is necessary that we pass that,” the source said.

Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons, David Gregorio and Peter Cooney

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World

Rescuers fight time, weather in Japan landslide; some 80 missing

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Members of Japanese Self-Defence Forces conduct rescue and search operartion at a mudslide site caused by heavy rain at Izusan district in Atami, west of Tokyo, Japan July 5, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Kyodo/via REUTERS

TOKYO, July 5 (Reuters) – More than a thousand Japanese rescuers combed through crumbled houses and buried roads on Monday two days after landslides tore through a seaside city, fighting time and poor weather to search for some 80 people believed missing.

At least three people have been killed in Atami after torrential rain at the weekend – more than a usual July’s worth in 24 hours some areas – touched off a succession of landslides, sending torrents of mud and rock ripping through streets.

The landslides are a reminder of the natural disasters – including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami – that haunt Japan, where the capital Tokyo is to host the summer Olympics beginning this month.

“My mother is still missing,” one man told NHK public television. “I never imagined something like this could happen here.”

One 75-year-old evacuee said the house across from his had been swept away and the couple that lived there was unaccounted for.

“This is hell,” he said.

By Monday, the number of rescuers at the site had risen to 1,500, officials said, and could increase.

“We want to rescue as many victims … buried in the rubble as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters, adding that police, firefighters and members of the military were doing all they could to aid the search.

There are 113 people believed missing in Atami, a city of almost 36,000 people situated 90 km (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo, spokesperson Hiroki Onuma told Reuters, confirming the third death. That fatality was a woman, Japanese media said

By noon, though, that number of missing had dropped to around 80, Kyodo said.

“We’re in touch with various groups and pushing forward with the searches,” Onuma said.

Over the weekend some 20 people were said to be unaccounted for, but the number rose sharply on Monday as officials began working from residential registers rather than phone calls from people unable to reach family and friends, he said.

Around 130 buildings were affected on Saturday morning when landslides ripped through Atami, a hot springs resort set on a steep slope that leads down to a bay.

The water, mud and debris are thought to have flowed along a river for about 2 km (1.2 miles) to the sea, local media said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato called on residents to remain vigilant, noting that the saturated earth has been weakened and even light rain could prove dangerous.

Though Onuma said rain had stopped in Atami for now, more is forecast, raising the possibility of further landslides.

“The situation is unpredictable,” he said.

Stocks in some engineering firms rose on Monday.

Raito Kogyo Co Ltd (1926.T), an expert in slope and foundation improvement, rose 1.5%, while CE Management Integrated Laboratory Co Ltd (6171.T), which offers geological survey and disaster prevention systems, gained 3.7%.

Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Elaine Lies; Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher Cushing

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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