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☆ Bank of England says insurers more likely to fail if capital cut rule goes ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Britain's proposals to loosen capital rules for insurers will increase the chances of an insurance company failing by 20% in a given year, the Bank of England has told lawmakers, reiterating its caution over the government's plan. Following Britain's departure from the European Union, its finance ministry has proposed easing capital requirements for insurers to unlock billions of pounds for investing in infrastructure to boost the economy. Easing the so-called Solvency II rules inherited from the EU is seen as a key "Brexit dividend" for the financial sector, and the ministry overrode warnings from the Bank of England, saying policyholders would still be protected. The BoE will implement the ministry's proposed reforms of Solvency II if approved by parliament, Bailey said. ($1 = 0.8335 pounds)Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Costa Coffee raises UK staff pay for third time in a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Costa Coffee has followed rival Pret A Manger in raising pay for its British store staff for the third time in a year. The UK government-mandated National Living Wage will rise to 10.42 pounds an hour from April, an increase of 9.7%. Costa Coffee said its latest rise takes the increase over the last 12 months to over 14%. Rival Pret announced another pay rise for its staff last week, while food retailers Tesco (TSCO.L), Asda and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) have also all recently announced increases. Costa Coffee said it also provides workers with a store performance related bonus, free drinks while on shift and a 50% staff discount.

☆ Monte dei Paschi investor CariFirenze doesn't plan to sell stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FLORENCE, Italy, March 3 (Reuters) - A local banking foundation that invested in Monte dei Paschi's (BMPS.MI) new share issue last year said on Friday it had no plans to sell the stake it built under efforts to make the lender part of a larger banking group. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of an event, the chairman of banking foundation CariFirenze, Luigi Salvadori, said the Monte dei Paschi (MPS) stake was not a purely financial investment but a strategic one "because we believe there is a need for another large banking group." CariFirenze was one of several banking foundations - traditionally investors in Italian lenders - that responded to an appeal by the Italian Treasury to back the make or break share sale. "We also liked CEO Luigi Lovaglio's plan," Salvadori said. Reporting by Silvia Ognibene, Wriring by Valentina Za; editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fire at Indonesia's Pertamina fuel storage station kills 17
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Yuddy Cahya Budiman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina, in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Willy KurniawanCompanies Pertamina (Persero) PT FollowJAKARTA, March 3 (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed when a fire broke out on Friday at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina (PERTM.UL) in the capital Jakarta, an official at the city's main firefighting unit said. A Pertamina spokesperson said late on Friday that the fire had been extinguished at about 10.30 p.m.Fire was still seen around residents' houses after that, a firefighting station official said on the unit's Instagram account. Near the storage station, residents crowded the area while firefighters carried orange body bags from the fire. The fuel station has a capacity of over 300,000 kilo-litres, according to the country's energy ministry.

The bank raised its standing deposit facility rate and standing lending facility rate by 100 basis points each to 15.50% and 16.50%, respectively, it said in a statement. The country is awaiting approval of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout package as it endures its worst financial crisis since independence from Britain in 1948. The central bank raised rates by a record 950 basis points last year to tame inflation and then kept them steady until Friday's 100 basis point increase. "There have been some differences between the CBSL and IMF staff on the inflation outlook," the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said in its statement. But depends on whether the market reads this as positive for getting IMF (bailout) in March."

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - European buyout houses Montagu Private Equity and Astorg Partners are preparing to hang the "for sale" sign on their UK insurance software investments, hoping to woo insurers and fellow private capital funds with their technology. Acturis, Astorg and Open GI did not respond to requests for comment. It last attempted to sell the business in 2018 and has since strived to transform it into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, which could attract fellow private equity funds with existing investments in the insurance industry, sources said. Open GI could be worth up to 12 times its expected core earnings of more than 30 million pounds ($35.96 million) expected for 2023, two sources said. Revenue rose to 111.9 million pounds from 102.4 million pounds the previous year, as the company added new brokers and insurers to its eponymous SaaS platform.

☆ Russian factory activity expands at quickest rate in six years in Feb -PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose in February to 53.6 from 52.6 in January, moving further above the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction. Manufacturing firms surveyed highlighted that February's solid rise in production was linked to import substitution and a further expansion in new orders, S&P Global said in a statement. Input costs increased further, the survey showed, with the rate of inflation accelerating. "The pace of increase in input prices was sharp and the fastest since May 2022," S&P Global said. "Concurrently, the rate of job creation eased further," S&P Global said.

☆ German manufacturing activity remains weak in Feb but some encouraging signs -PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, March 1 (Reuters) - German manufacturing activity continued to shrink overall in February but output rose for the first time in nine months as supply-chain bottlenecks showed signs of easing, a survey showed on Wednesday. S&P Global's final Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for manufacturing, which accounts for about a fifth of Germany's economy, fell to 46.3 in February, from 47.3 in January. It marked its lowest level for three months and stayed below the 50 level that points to growth in activity. While there were positives on the supply-side, demand remained under pressure, with new orders continuing to fall, according to the report. The German manufacturing PMI has languished below the 50 mark since July.

☆ Euro zone factory output returned to growth in February -PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

S&P Global's final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dipped to 48.5 in February from January's 48.8, in line with a preliminary reading but still below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction. That healing of supply chain strains led to another sharp diminishing of the cost burden faced by factories. The input prices index slumped to 50.9 from 56.3 in January, its lowest reading since September 2020. However, the output prices index remained high. "Although factory selling prices continued to rise sharply, albeit with the rate of increase easing to a two-year low, this in part reflects the usual lagged effect of changes in costs feeding through to output prices," Williamson said.

Amid a confounding mix of economic signals, Wall Street shares edged up on Monday, a sign of potential bargain hunting. U.S. two-year Treasury yields , the most sensitive to shifts in interest-rate expectations, have risen almost 80 bps in that time, while the S&P 500 (.SPX) has lost 6% from Feb. 2's five-month highs. On Monday, the two-year U.S. Treasury yield fell 2 basis points to 4.785%, while 10-year Treasury yields dropped 2.3 basis points to 3.926%. Bruce Kasman, head of economic research at JPMorgan, has added another quarter-point hike to the ECB outlook, taking it to 100 basis points. The dollar has been the main beneficiary of the shift in expectations for Fed rates.

Losses were limited by oil supply concerns after Russia halted exports to Poland via a key pipeline. That positive economic data helped global stock markets to rebound, yet shares remained near six-week lows as investors braced for interest rate hikes in the United States and Europe. Adding to global oil demand worries, rising Sino-U.S. tensions hammered equity markets in China and Hong Kong while investors awaited policy signals from the upcoming National People's Congress. On Monday, Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said it started pumping oil from Kazakhstan to Germany via Poland through the Druzhba pipeline, while halting deliveries to Poland. Russia announced plans this month to cut oil exports from its western ports by up to 25% in March versus February, exceeding previously mooted production cuts of 5%.

A raft of euro zone inflation figures will also shape investor expectations for next month's central bank meeting. On Monday, the two-year U.S. Treasury yield fell 0.6 basis points to 4.799%, while 10-year Treasury yields dropped 2.9 basis points to 3.922%. Bruce Kasman, head of economic research at JPMorgan, has added another quarter-point hike to the ECB outlook, taking it to 100 basis points. The dollar has been the main beneficiary of the shift in expectations for Fed rates. Additional reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney; Editing by Susan Fenton and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy seeks 6 billion euros from REPowerEU plan, more time to spend COVID funds -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aimed at ending the EU's dependence on Russian fossil fuels and tackling the climate crisis, REPowerEU is funded through some 225 billion euros of untapped loans made available under the EU recovery plan launched in 2021. Italy believes it can get at least 2.7 billion euros from the ETS resources and 3 billion euros from the cohesion funds, one of the sources said. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration plans to complete talks with Brussels on Rome's proposed use of the EU funds by the end of April. Italy is behind schedule in actually using the recovery funds. Its initial timetable envisaged spending more than 40 billion euros' worth by 2022 but this estimate was revised downwards several times and in December was set below 20 billion euros.

BARCELONA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Ericsson's (ERICb.ST) CEO says the company is still in the market for more acquisitions, albeit smaller ones, after splurging over $7 billion to buy networking company Cradlepoint and communication platform Vonage. In contrast with Nokia, which announced a new strategy focused on enterprise, Ericsson expects to continue to focus on its business of selling to communications service providers (CSPs) or telecom operators along with adding to its enterprise offerings. While the global enterprise business, which revolves around private 5G and automating factories, has yet to grow significantly, it has been a melting pot of partnerships between equipment makers, mobile operators and big technology companies. “We will need to add to our enterprise offerings, so you will see smaller acquisitions,” CEO Borje Ekholm told Reuters on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on Monday. "We have 90% plus of sales from CSPs... we need to build on that strength that is always central [to the business]."

☆ Cineworld gets no offer for whole company, warns on shareholders' equity
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Yadarisa Shabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

It said it had received initial proposals from a number of counterparties but none offered an all-cash bid for the entire company. Cineworld said talks with certain stakeholders about a possible plan of reorganisation were ongoing in parallel with a potential sale of assets, but neither path would see shareholders recover their equity interest. Cineworld had a net debt of $8.81 billion as of June 30, 2022, including lease liabilities, while its cash reserves had dwindled to $131 million. Larger rival AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC.N) in December had said its talks to buy some theatres owned by Cineworld had fallen through. Sky News reported earlier this month that London-based cinema operator Vue International, with support from two funds, would be among the bidders for Cineworld.

☆ Mozambicans seek shelter as storm Freddy makes landfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Manuel Mucari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MAPUTO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Mozambicans took shelter on Friday as tropical storm Freddy made landfall in a small coastal town, with heavy rain expected to batter the country's southern provinces for several days. Pictures posted by Matos on Facebook showed children and adults sitting on the floor in a crowded primary school classroom. Up to 1.75 million people could be affected by the storm and severe flooding, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement. Mozambique has already been battling severe flooding in recent days, and the government has declared a state of "red alert" to expedite operations to tackle Freddy. In Zimbabwe, which is expected to see heavy rain from Freddy, the education ministry has suspended school in six provinces.

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The global nickel market flipped from deficit to surplus over the course of 2022, according to the International Nickel Study Group (INSG). Indonesia's mined nickel production expanded by 48% to 1.58 million tonnes in 2022, according to the INSG. However, as Indonesian production of Class II nickel rises, the Class I market shrinks. Around 70% of the physical nickel supply chain is now priced at a discount to the LME benchmark. LME nickel volumes slumped by 28% last year and January's activity was 60% lower than that of January 2022.

At its latest meeting, the Fed laced its statement and minutes with a rider about cumulative tightening and uncertain lags. The gist of the argument is that the Fed doesn't deliver credit directly to the wider economy - banks and financial markets do. But few seem to doubt that these policy lags have shortened considerably over the decades. Showcasing the study in December, San Francisco Fed chief Mary Daly adopted a more dovish slant on the gap between the funds rate and tightening financial markets. "But investors should remain attentive to the occasional episodic disconnects observed between Fed guidance and some prominent indices of financial conditions," Clarida told clients.

☆ One year of war in Europe: How the dollar, energy and food prices swirled
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted economies and markets around the world, from energy and food prices to European banks, emerging market stocks and the Russian currency. Below are five charts that show how Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two has shaped global financial markets in the last 12 months. But when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in late February, European natural gas prices rocketed by almost 400% in two weeks. Energy prices soared, bringing the threat of blackouts, recession and a worrying switch back to dirtier sources of fuel. Food price pressures are easing, but that does little to soften the blow for many developing nations, where food and energy prices make up a larger share of spending.

☆ U.S. equity funds see biggest weekly outflow in seven weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Refinitiv Lipper data showed investors withdrew a net $6.88 billion out of U.S. equity funds, marking their biggest weekly outflow since Jan. 4. Fund flows: US equities, bonds and money market fundsU.S. large-, and mid-cap funds suffered weekly disposals of $5.68 billion and $389 million respectively but small-cap received a marginal $79 million worth of inflows. Tech and real state witnessed $856 million and $603 million worth of outflows, while consumer discretionary and utilities, both lost about $300 million in net selling. U.S. high yield and municipal debt funds suffered outflows of $6.4 billion and $1.78 billion, respectively, but U.S. short/intermediate government and treasury funds saw about $4.85 billion worth of net buying. Fund flows: US bond fundsMeanwhile, money market funds obtained $541 million, marking a second weekly inflow in a row.

"With the effect of the earthquake, inflation may now reach somewhere in the range of 40-50%," the government official added, speaking anonymously as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue. More than two million people are estimated to have left the quake zone, pushing up rents in other provinces, economists said. ADDITIONAL BUDGETThe quake also gives the government an additional challenge on the budget, long one of the strongest areas of the economy. Net borrowing of up to 661 billion lira ($35 billion) would be possible under the 2023 budget for this year but the official said that now won't be enough. An additional budget will be needed," the official said.

☆ Cyprus leaders meet as peace talks remain deadlocked
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Iakovos Hatzistavrou/Pool via REUTERSNICOSIA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Leaders of Cyprus's estranged Greek and Turkish communities met on Thursday as a deadlock persisted in peace talks on the ethnically divided island. The meeting was the first for newly elected Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, the new Greek Cypriot leader, and Ersin Tatar, the Turkish Cypriot leader. Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup, with Greek Cypriots living in its south and Turkish Cypriots in an unrecognised breakaway north. "The present state of affairs cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem, not for Greek Cypriots, or Turkish Cypriots," Christodoulides said after the two-hour meeting with Tatar. "I didn't hear anything I didn't expect from Mr Tatar," Christodoulides said.

☆ Minority directors reach milestone 20% of Russell 3000 board seats
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Still, most minority groups hold a smaller share of board seats than their share of the total U.S. population. Often the investors have found receptive audiences, but slow turnover on corporate boards has limited the pace of change, recruiters say. The biggest gain over the four-year period was for Black or African-American directors, who nearly doubled their share of board seats to 8.3% from 4.4% in 2019. They were most represented in the utility sector, with 12% of board seats, and least represented among information technology, energy and healthcare companies, each at 6%. Compared to Hispanics' total share of the U.S. population, their 3.6% share of board seats "isn't anywhere near where it's supposed to be," she said.

The more emitters have to pay for EU carbon permits to cover each tonne of C02 they produce, the greater the incentive to invest in low carbon technologies and switch to less polluting fuels. Still, rising carbon prices are a cause of political tensions in the EU and breaching the 100 euro threshold is likely to reignite debates over prices. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez last year called for a CO2 price cap to help tackle soaring inflation. Other EU countries view a robust carbon price as vital to meeting climate goals. Years of weak prices followed until CO2 prices began to recover in 2018 when the EU agreed to remove surplus permits from the market.

SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chinese utilities and traders have stepped up purchases of Australian coal in February, encouraged by signs of further policy relaxation after trade partially resumed last month following a two-year hiatus. At least 15 vessels hauling about 1.4 million tonnes of February-loading Australian coal are bound for China, according to shiptracking data from Refinitiv and Kpler. Reuters GraphicsAnother more than 1 million tonnes of thermal coal have been booked to load in March, a senior trader with a state-run Chinese utility said. "In theory, firms who acquire the licence would be able to get their cargoes through customs," said another Chinese utility official. Chinese buyers may also face competition in Australian coal purchases as producers have pivoted their sales to other markets in China's absence.

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