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Jan 24 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices rose slightly in early Asian trade on Tuesday in a market focused on prospects of demand recovery from top importer China and on the global economic outlook ahead of company earnings. Brent crude had risen 5 cents to $88.24 per barrel by 0116 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 13 cents to $81.75 per barrel. However, crude prices are wavering as the dollar stabilizes and over exhaustion from China-reopening headlines, according to OANDA analyst Edward Moya. Demand for products has lifted the oil market and refining margins. This week traders are watching for more business data that could indicate the health of global economies during an earnings reporting season.

☆ Australian Dec business conditions moderate, cost pressures ease - survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Australian businesses conditions moderated for a third straight month in December, while price pressures began to ease, pointing to a likely peak in inflation, according to a business survey issued on Tuesday. The survey from National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) (NAB.AX) showed its index of business conditions had fallen 8 points to +12 in December, although it remained still well above its long-run average. The survey showed inflation easing across the board. The RBA's board will consider whether to raise its policy interest rate for a ninth time at its next meeting. That will still be below the forecast from the RBA for a peak inflation rate of around 8%.

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that a search by the Justice Department of President Joe Biden's home on Friday had been carried out after a "voluntary, proactive offer" by his personal lawyers to the department. It was the latest in a string of discoveries of classified documents at Biden's Wilmington home and at a temporary office at the University of Pennsylvania. "This was a voluntary, proactive offer by the president's personal lawyers to DOJ to have access to the home," said White House spokesperson Ian Sams. Sams declined to provide more clarity on the exact content of the materials taken from the Wilmington house. Biden had been kept informed throughout this process, the White House said.

Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) on Tuesday forecast annual profit below Street expectations, hurt by lingering supply bottlenecks and higher costs, though a generous defense budget helped it beat fourth-quarter estimates. The defense contractor said it expected a profit of $26.60 to $26.90 per share in 2023. Lockheed forecast 2023 revenue between $65 billion and $66 billion, compared with market estimates of $65.74 billion. Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin posted adjusted net income of $7.79 per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts' estimate of $7.39 per share. It reported fourth-quarter net sales of $18.99 billion, above expectations of $18.27 billion.

☆ Djokovic says injury doubters give him extra motivation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic said any questions over whether he has genuinely been struggling with a hamstring injury at the Australian Open only give him extra strength and motivation. In his English post-match press conference, the 35-year-old said he felt as good as he had since he sustained the injury in an Adelaide warm-up tournament, but in later comments to Serbian media he rounded on the doubters. "I leave the doubting to those people; let them doubt," he said, according to the Tennis Majors website. When some other players are injured, then they are the victims, but when it is me, I am faking it. "But I am used to it, and it just gives me extra strength and motivation.

Jan 24 (Reuters) - At least one chemical plant and an oil refinery were scrambling to recover from operational upsets on Tuesday after severe weather tore through an oil and gas refining hub outside Houston. Shell (SHEL.L) said it was experiencing an incident at its Deer Park chemicals facility following severe weather, according to a company tweet. Petroleos Mexicanos also reported operational upsets due to weather at its neighboring oil refinery, according to a company alert. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Houston area on Tuesday afternoon. Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) said operations at its Baytown, Texas, plant were stable following the severe weather, with no injuries reported.

☆ Explainer: What guns were used to attack a Lunar New Year party in California?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here is what is known so far about the weapons involved and the regulations that govern them:WHAT GUNS WERE USED? He did not disclose the capacity of the magazine attached, although under California law a "large-capacity magazine" is defined as one that holds more than 10 rounds. The state bans many kinds of guns that are legal in other states, and obtaining a required California gun license is relatively difficult. Semi-automatic pistols are the most widely carried guns in the country, and some kinds are legal in California. But the state bans what it defines as "assault weapons," which is determined by the gun's features and includes semiautomatic MAC-10 guns.

The euro reached as high as $1.0927 , breaking the recent peak of $1.08875, to trade at its highest level since April last year. It was aided by European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member Klaas Knot, who said interest rates would rise by 50 basis points in both February and March and continue climbing in the months after. A Reuters survey of analysts also favoured a hike of 50 basis points in March and an eventual top of 3.25% from the current rate of 2%. "Layered on top of that, it looks as if the ECB are going to carry on hiking interest rates fairly aggressively," Foley added. Investors also have around 50 basis points of U.S. rate cuts priced in for the second half of the year, reflecting softer data on inflation, consumer spending and housing.

☆ Indian govt to borrow a record 16 trillion rupees in fiscal 2023/24 - Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Vivek Mishra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Gross borrowing next fiscal year is expected to hit 16.0 trillion rupees, up from an estimated 14.2 trillion rupees in 2022/23, according to the median forecast of 43 economists. Predictions were in a narrow range of 14.8 trillion to 17.2 trillion rupees. Even if it is at the lower end of the range, 2023/2024 gross borrowing would easily be the highest on record. Nim estimated repayments for 2023/24 at about 4.4 trillion rupees. India's government will cut food and fertiliser subsidies to 3.7 trillion rupees, more than 25% below the level of around 5 trillion rupees budgeted for 2022/23, the poll found.

☆ Euro clears 9-month peak as ECB hawks let fly
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The euro reached as far as $1.0903 , breaking the recent peak of $1.08875 and opening the way to a spike top from last April at $1.0936. It was aided by European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member Klaas Knot, who said interest rates would rise by 50 basis points in both February and March and continue climbing in the months after. A Reuters survey of analysts also favoured a hike of 50 basis points in March and an eventual top of 3.25%. Investors also have around 50 basis points of U.S. rate cuts priced in for the second half of the year, reflecting softer data on inflation, consumer spending and housing. read moreAny hint the replacement is less dovish than current governor Haruhiko Kuroda could see the yen climb anew.

☆ Bank of Japan's policy tweak drew rare request from government for a break
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Government representatives who attended the Bank of Japan's policy meeting in December were granted a half-hour adjournment to contact their ministries, minutes showed, a sign the decision to tweak its yield control policy may have been hastily arranged. At the Dec. 19-20 meeting, the BOJ kept its ultra-easy monetary policy but shocked markets with a surprise tweak to its yield curve control (YCC) policy that allowed long-term interest rates to rise. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda approved the request as chair of the BOJ meeting, according to the minutes. The two representatives did not voice opposition to the yield control tweak nor any other elements of the BOJ's discussion, the minutes showed. Two government representatives - one from the MOF and another from the Cabinet Office - are legally entitled to attend BOJ policy meetings and voice the government's views on policy decisions, though they cannot cast votes.

☆ Euro nears nine-month peak as ECB hawks let fly
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The euro crept ahead to $1.0870 and nearer its recent nine-month peak of $1.08875. It was aided by European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member Klaas Knot, who said interest rates would rise by 50 basis points in both February and March and continue climbing in the months after. Much the same argument goes for sterling, with markets wagering the Bank of England will hike by half a point to 4.0% at its policy meeting next week. Analysts assume the BOJ will stand the line until at least the next policy meeting in March, though one hurdle will be the expected naming of a new BOJ governor in February. For now, the dollar was holding at 129.40 yen , following last week's wild gyrations between 127.22 and 131.58.

☆ Two students and adult fatally shot at Iowa school program
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 23 (Reuters) - Two students were killed on Monday and an adult was seriously wounded in a "targeted" shooting at a nonprofit educational center for at-risk youth in Des Moines, Iowa, local police said. The students died at a hospital, while a staff member of Starts Right Here, a learning facility for young people, was in surgery, Sargent Paul Parizek said at a press conference. Parizek said the police department works closely with the program, which was designed to help underserved students who have a variety of "troubles and challenges." Des Moines Public Schools interim Superintendent Matt Smith said the district partnered with Starts Right Here to help "re-engage students." "We are saddened to learn of another act of gun violence, especially one that impacts an organization that works closely with some of our students," Smith said in a statement.

Food and fertiliser subsidies that help two-thirds of India's 1.4 billion people will also be scaled back, according to the survey. But private investment has lagged New Delhi's lead for about a decade. Capex is set to increase in fiscal 2023/24 by about 17% to 8.85 trillion Indian rupees ($109 billion), from an estimated 7.50 trillion rupees in the current fiscal year, itself up roughly 35% on a year before. Reuters Poll: Indian budget projections - 1The total of public and private investment as a proportion of the economy has declined since 2014, when Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power. The poll also found the government would cut food and fertiliser subsidies by 26% to 3.7 trillion rupees from almost 5.0 trillion rupees expected during the current fiscal year.

Biden repeatedly tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) last year to manage rising gasoline prices and disruptions to supply caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. McMorris Rodgers now chairs the House Energy & Commerce Committee, after Republicans took over the chamber this month from Democrats. "This bill would significantly weaken this critical energy security tool, resulting in more oil supply shortages in times of crisis and higher gasoline prices for Americans," Granholm said in the letter to the House energy panel, first seen by Reuters. Rodgers said in an email the committee was still reviewing the letter, but that the bill would have "absolutely no effect" on the department's emergency authorities regarding the oil reserve. The White House has criticized the legislation, calling it "backwards" and an attempt by House Republicans to help oil companies make more profits.

☆ U.S. government touches debt limit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans, with a newly won House majority, aim to use the congressionally mandated federal debt ceiling to exact spending cuts from Biden and the Democratic-led Senate. Republicans are instead pursuing a "debt prioritization" plan that would seek to avert default by urging the Treasury to prioritize debt payments, and possibly other priorities such as Social Security and Medicare, should the limit be breached during negotiations. But we similarly should not blindly increase the debt ceiling," Representative Chip Roy, a leading conservative, told Reuters. Congress adopted a comprehensive debt ceiling, the statutory maximum of debt the government can issue, in 1939, intending to limit its growth. White House officials also note that Republicans in Congress backed multiple increases to the debt ceiling when Republican Donald Trump was president.

If inflation stays around 2% and Japan sees significant wage hikes, the BOJ could normalise monetary policy. "Supply shock is behind the recent pick-up in inflation," said Yasunari Ueno, chief market economist at Mizuho Securities. Dai-ichi Life's Shinke expects core consumer inflation to accelerate further in January, before slowing due to the effect of government subsidies aimed at curbing utility bills. The base effect of last year's sharp rise in consumer prices will also slow the pace of increase in inflation later this year, analysts say. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, whose term will end in April, has stressed the need to keep monetary policy ultra-loose until wages rise more, changing the recent cost-push inflation into inflation driven by robust domestic demand.

☆ COVID-hit Chinese factories eye gradual recovery after Lunar New Year break
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( David Kirton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

But people running factories expect that the sudden U-turn will at least deliver a recovery that will be faster than what would have followed a phased withdrawal of controls. Economically, the country should finally leave behind a pandemic that suppressed domestic demand and snarled global supply chains for three years. LIMPING BACK TO NORMALLi's factories had to scramble last month, when up to a third of their workers were down with COVID at the same time. Her industry peer Li says his factories might even need to cut jobs later this year if external demand weakens. "If the U.S. economy enters a recession, then it's going to be very damaging to us," he said.

The increase in the core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes oil costs, matched a median market forecast and followed a 3.7% annual gain seen in November. The annual rise in core CPI thus exceeded the BOJ's 2% target for a ninth straight month. We might see inflation stay above the BOJ's 2% target well into autumn this year," he said. Core-core CPI, which strips away both fresh food and energy costs, was 3.0% higher in December than a year earlier, accelerating from a 2.8% gain seen in November. The BOJ kept monetary policy ultra-loose on Wednesday but raised its inflation forecasts in fresh quarterly projections, as companies continued to pass on higher raw material costs to households.

☆ Texas AG to halt most of Citi's municipal offerings on gun law dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton speaks during former U.S. President Donald Trump's rally, in Conroe, Texas, U.S., January 29, 2022. Texas enacted a law in 2021 that prohibited government contracts with entities that discriminated against the firearms industry. "Citi's designation as an SB-19 discriminator has the effect of halting its ability to underwrite most municipal bond offerings in Texas," Paxton's office told Reuters, referring to the law. Bloomberg News first reported the news, citing a letter that Leslie Brock, assistant attorney general chief of the public finance division, distributed to lawyers on Wednesday. "Therefore, until further notice, we will not approve any public security issued on or after today's date in which Citigroup purchases or underwrites the public security, or in which Citigroup is otherwise a party to a covered contract relating to the public security," according to the letter.

☆ Recessions risks knock stocks, speculators drawn back to yen
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Nikkei dip and the bounce for the yen suggest such speculation is here to stay, at least for now. April was another possibility, she added, since by then the BOJ would have a new governor. "My guess would be that more speculators would look to build positions going into these meetings." Microsoft's announcement of 10,000 layoffs and hawkish comments from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard added to the gloom, with both Fed officials expecting U.S. interest rates above 5% this year. The Australian dollar was last down 0.5% at $0.6907, losing ground after data showed an unexpected fall in Australian employment last month.

☆ U.S. to send hundreds of armored vehicles, rockets to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it would send hundreds of armored vehicles plus rockets and artillery shells to Ukraine as part of a $2.5 billion military assistance package. The package includes 59 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, 53 mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles and 350 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, the U.S. Defense Department said in a statement. The armored Bradley has a powerful gun and has been used by the U.S. Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s. In total, the United States has committed more than $27.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February last year. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Diane Craft and Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Texas AG to halt most of Citi's municipal offerings on gun law row
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"This step will allow us to push down longer-term interest rates, without directly affecting supply and demand of the cash Japanese government bond (JGB) market," Kuroda told a news conference. Following its two-day policy meeting, the BOJ kept intact its yield curve control (YCC) targets, set at -0.1% for short-term interest rates and around 0% for the 10-year yield, by a unanimous vote. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsThe central bank also made no change to its guidance that allows the 10-year bond yield to move 50 basis points either side of its 0% target. "By showing its resolve to use market tools more flexibly, the BOJ wanted to signal to markets it won't make big monetary policy changes under Kuroda." Market attention is already shifting toward monetary policy under Kuroda's successor, who will need to steer an orderly exit from decades of ultra-low rates.

☆ Japanese yen tumbles, bonds rally after BOJ keeps policy ultra easy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The bank, however, maintained ultra-low interest rates, including its 0.5% cap for the 10-year bond yield. The dollar also gained 2.5% against the Japanese yen to 131.4 yen, in its biggest percentage daily rise since March 2020. In a Reuters poll, 97% of economists expected the BOJ to maintain its ultra-easy policy at the meeting. A survey of global fund managers by BofA Securities out on Tuesday showed that expectations of further appreciation in the Japanese yen in January were the highest in 16 years. The dollar index , which measures the safe-haven dollar against six peers, rose 0.4% at 102.84.

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