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☆ Banks pile into euro zone bond sales as rates shoot up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Yoruk Bahceli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Heavy central bank buying had kept borrowing costs and volatility low for years, so the key question now is who steps in as the ECB steps out. They were the top buyers in the European Union's debt sale this month, buying almost 50% of a seven-year bond and 35% of a 20-year bond. Banks also took 39% of an Italian 20-year debt sale in January, while fund managers took 25%. In a 16-year debt sale last year, banks bought 29%. Bank treasuries took 30% of a 30-year Belgian debt sale in February, versus 10% a year ago.

☆ Australia has not received advice to ban TikTok from govt devices -Treasurer
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 1 (Reuters) - Australia has not received advice from its security agencies to follow the example of the United States, the European Parliament and Canada to ban Chinese video-sharing app TikTok from government devices, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday. Canada banned TikTok from government-issued devices on Monday and the following day the European Parliament banned the app from staff phones citing concerns over who could access user data. The White House on Monday gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have TikTok on federal devices. That hasn't been the advice to date," Chalmers told ABC television, when asked if the government would consider a government-wide ban on TikTok. India banned TikTok in 2020.

Monte dei Paschi (MPS), which raised capital last year, needs to merge with a stronger rival to cement its turnaround. Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna, who faces pressure from shareholders to reject an MPS deal, has repeatedly said the Tuscan bank is too large for Banco BPM to integrate. A Banco BPM spokesperson said nothing had changed in this respect. HURDLESA Banco BPM and MPS tie-up would pose major hurdles, another three sources said separately. Banco BPM investors are also concerned about an expansion into regions of the country where economic growth is much weaker compared with the bank's wealthy home base in the north, one of the sources said.

☆ Petrobras, Brazil govt mull fuel price cut to offset tax resumption
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Rodrigo Viga Gaier | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"It is one of the possibilities under discussion," the ministry said in a statement via its press office. "There is room for compensation within the import parity policy," one of the sources said, referring to Petrobras' official policy of tracking international rates such as global fuel prices and foreign exchange. A meeting attended by a government official and Petrobras executives was held at the company's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The price cut is seen as a temporary solution for the very short term, one of the sources said. The company, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, reiterated it was committed to "competitive prices in balance with market".

Summary Oct-Dec GDP at 4.4% vs 4.6% Reuters forecastOct-Dec manufacturing sector down 1.1%Govt maintains 7% growth for 2022/23Economists see slowing consumer demand, possible rate hikeFeb 27 (Reuters) - India's economic growth slowed further in the December quarter as pent up demand eased and weakness in the manufacturing sector continued. Asia's third largest economy recorded year-on-year growth of 4.4% in October-December, down from 6.3% in July-September, data released by the government on Tuesday showed. The sharp fall in the year-on-year growth rate is also partly due to a fading of pandemic-induced base effects and revision to last year's growth, economists said. "We are likely to hit the 7% GDP growth target for the year," said India's chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran at a press briefing. Government spending declined 0.8% year-on-year in the December quarter compared to revised 4.1% contraction in the previous quarter.

☆ Brazil's central govt tops expectations with record January budget surplus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's central government posted a better-than-expected primary budget surplus in January on the back of record tax revenues, Treasury data showed on Monday, although the outlook for the year is for a large deficit. The central government, comprised of the Treasury, central bank and social security, reported a primary budget surplus of 78.3 billion reais ($15 billion) in January, above the median forecast of a 60.9 billion reais surplus in a Reuters poll. After pushing its benchmark rate from a record-low of 2% in March 2021, the central bank paused its tightening cycle in September, holding it at 13.75%. Although the central government's primary surplus reached 54.5 billion reais in 12 months, the primary deficit in this year's budget, the first under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, had been forecast at 231.6 billion reais after Congress approval for a multi-billion spending package to increase expenses and meet campaign promises. ($1 = 5.2054 reais)Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Mark Porter and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil govt to resume fuel taxes -ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government is set to resume the collection of federal taxes on fuels this week, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. According to the ministry, the tax revenues from fuels will be 100% recovered with the end of the waiver. The measure to exempt federal taxes levied on fuel was launched by former President Jair Bolsonaro last year as he sought to boost his popularity by lowering prices ahead of a re-election bid. With the return of the taxes on gasoline and ethanol, Haddad's team will have a reinforcement of approximately 29 billion reais ($5.59 billion) in federal revenues this year. The end of the waiver is seen positively by the ethanol industry, since without taxes the biofuel loses competitiveness against gasoline.

☆ U.S. govt clears F-35 engine deliveries after safety concerns addressed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) said on Friday the U.S. government has cleared its Pratt and Whitney unit to resume deliveries of its F-135 engine for the F-35 fighter jet, after a halt was put in place in December following the discovery of a safety concern. The F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement its engineers worked alongside Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) to develop "mitigations for a rare system phenomenon involving harmonic resonance to develop a path forward for safe operation of the F135 in flight". "The actions the government and industry team are taking will ensure incorporation of mitigation measures that will fully address/resolve this rare phenomenon in impacted F135 engines," it added. The JPO also said the government was working on drawing up instructions for safely resuming flight operations for impacted and new production aircraft. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morning Bid: Kuroda 2.0
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The Japanese government's nominee for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda arrives for a hearing session at the lower house of the parliament in Tokyo, Japan, February 24, 2023. Interest rate markets are positioned for an end to yield curve control as a first step away from decades of super-easy policy experiments in Japan. Yet as he fronted his confirmation hearing before parliament on Friday, he sounded very much like incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda. Traders responded with relief and the Nikkei share average (.N225) had its best session in a month. A surprise could shake things up, though with U.S. rate expectations already ratcheting higher through February a degree of stickiness is priced in.

☆ Fact Check-Video of teacher implementing a ‘communist lunch program’ created as satire
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A tweet with more than 2.5 million views at the time of writing shared the video and said: “SHOCK VIDEO: Govt. School teacher admits to taking white kids’ ‘good’ lunches & redistributing them to blk & brown kids to promote Equity” (here). The clip originates from Twitter user Kali Fontanilla (@KaliFontanilla) on Feb. 15 with text in the video that says “Implementing a communist lunch program in my 4th grade class! The clip was intended as parody and created by a user who routinely shares satirical videos. (Update Feb. 22, 2023: Replaces paragraph 7 with response from Fontanilla)This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

☆ Morning Bid: Hang on a minute
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

And so a speech from New York Fed chief John Williams make give a better steer on current thinking. Markets are now priced for a Fed 'terminal rate' in the 5.25-5.50% range by July and no cut from there by year-end. European central bankers are also talking tough as the region's economies dodge recession and inflation stays high. But geopolitical concerns rankle again ahead of Friday's anniversary, with Russia unilaterally withdrawing from a key nuclear arms control treaty. As G20 finance chiefs meet in India, the world is watching closely the extent of the alliance between Beijing and Moscow.

☆ Foxconn chairman meets senior officials in China's Henan - provincial govt
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way met with the party chief of China's Henan province, home to the company's iPhone plant that was hit late last year by a COVID-19 outbreak, the provincial government said on Wednesday. Liu, who departed on Tuesday for a four-day inspection of the plant in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, has met Lou Yangsheng, the Communist Party chief of Henan province and Wang Kai, provincial governor, the statement said. Henan pledged broad support for businesses and hoped Foxconn would continue to expand in the province, the statement added. Reporting by Ethan Wang and Meg Shen; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Telecom Italia says KKR has agreed to govt request to extend bid for grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Trading information for KKR & Co is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid//File PhotoFeb 21 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) said on Tuesday U.S. fund KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) has extended the non-binding offer for its prized landline grid by four weeks to March 24 following a government request. Earlier this month KKR, which already owns a minority stake in TIM's landline grid, submitted a non-binding bid for a controlling stake in a unit comprising TIM's domestic fixed network and submarine cable unit Sparkle. A day later, Italy expressed its intention to implement its goal of putting Telecom Italia's grid in state hands. TIM said its Board of Directors will meet on 24 February to discuss KKR's non-binding offer.

☆ Egypt court to rule soon in case over Intesa's local unit - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It did not mention AlexBank, though a sale of its remaining stake to Intesa is a possibility, one of the sources said. The sale was challenged in court by activist group, the Egyptian Centre for Transparency, local media reported. Egypt's constitutional court in mid-January ruled to uphold that law rejecting a challenge brought against it. A number of cases, including that centred around the sale of AlexBank, had been put on hold pending the decision on the law. Reporting by Patrick Werr in Cairo and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Protests stay strong in Israel as govt forges ahead with judicial changes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] People hold Israeli flags during a protest against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right-wing coalition and its proposed judicial changes to reduce powers of the Supreme Court in Tel Aviv, Israel February 18, 2023. The marches have attracted huge crowds on a weekly basis since early January, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government took aim at the Supreme Court. "Here I am, in my armor and my shield, doing my best," said Daniel Guytsabary, 28, amid a crowd that filled a Tel Aviv thoroughfare. Proponents say the Supreme Court needs to be reined in from overreaching into the political sphere. "I'm determined to complete the legislation," Justice Minister Yariv Levin said in an interview with Channel 13 on Saturday.

☆ South Africa's naval exercise with Russia, China raises Western alarm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Carien Du Plessis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"These exercises are going to be a lightning rod," said Steven Gruzd, of the South African Institute of International Affairs. "South Africa, like any independent and sovereign state, has a right to conduct its foreign relations in line with its ... national interests," South Africa's defence ministry said last month. Russia's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment, and South Africa's National Defence Force has denied the TASS report. China is now Africa's top bilateral trading partner, but the EU is by far the largest market for South African exports. Domestic critics of South Africa's push to deepen ties with Russia and China say that economic reality alone should be enough to give the government serious pause.

☆ Istanbul bourse rises nearly 10% after quake closure, govt measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

RAPID NEW REGULATIONSTurkish authorities pushed through new regulations including measures incentivizing company share buyback programs, and increasing obligatory pension fund allocation for stocks. The general assembly decision mandate for share buybacks was also waived, allowing listed companies to start share buyback programmes with just a management board decision. Additional measures could still be needed to stabilize the stock exchange, according to Tunc Satiroglu, strategist and founder of financial consulting firm Kanal Finans. The cancellations followed multiple market-wide circuit brakers in the two trading days following the earthquake, which failed to halt the slide to no avail. "I expect the stock market to be more stable...

[1/5] Police officers stand outside a building having BBC offices, where income tax officials are conducting a search, in New Delhi, India, February 14, 2023. The government last month dismissed the documentary, "India: The Modi Question", as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media. The BBC has stood by its reporting for the documentary and said it was cooperating with Indian tax officials. The tax survey relates to transfer pricing rules and alleged diversion of profits. India's Income Tax Department has so far declined to comment on the reason for the search.

☆ Asian Shares track Wall Street's inflation optimism, yen recoups losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 1.2%, while the Nasdaq (.IXIC) rallied 1.5% and Dow Jones (.DJI) was up 1.1%. Treasuries rallied a little, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds easing 2 basis points to 3.6940%. The two-year bond yields also eased from their three-month highs to hover at 4.5090%, compared with the previous close of 4.5340%. It weakened 0.2% against the Japanese yen to 132.13 yen, after gaining 0.8% the previous day. On Tuesday, the Japanese government is expected to name academic Kazuo Ueda as its pick to become next central bank governor.

☆ First Saudi aid plane lands in Syria’s govt-held areas - state media
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] A Saudi aid plane is seen, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, at Aleppo airport, Syria February 14, 2023. REUTERS/Firas MakdesiBEIRUT, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A Saudi aid plane landed at a Syrian airport held by the government of President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday in the first such shipment from the kingdom that has backed the armed opposition to Assad during the country's 11-year civil war. It said the operation was carried out on the orders of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The person, who was not identified, said that Tuesday's plane was the first of several set to arrive over the next days. Reporting by Timour Azhari, Kinda Makieh and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Tom Hogue and Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Kazuo Ueda, a former member of the BOJ's policy board, is seen at the headquarters of Bank of Japan in Tokyo, Japan May 25, 2022, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Ueda, a 71-year-old former Bank of Japan policy board member and an academic at Kyoritsu Women's University, will succeed incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda, whose second, five-year term ends on April 8. The governor and deputy governor nominees will testify at confirmation hearings to be held on Feb. 24 for the lower house, and Feb. 27 for the upper chamber. International markets have been closely watching Kishida's choice of next BOJ governor for clues on how soon the bank could phase out its yield curve control (YCC) policy. With markets creaking under the BOJ's heavy-handed intervention, many investors are betting the central bank will start hiking rates under Kuroda's successor.

☆ Canadian premiers accept C$46-bln federal govt healthcare funding offer
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Nia Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Canada's provincial and territorial premiers on Monday said they will accept an additional C$46.2 billion ($34.64 billion) in healthcare funding from the federal government over the next 10 years, but warned the amount falls short of what is needed. In return for additional funding, the federal government has asked the provinces to commit to some conditions, including better data gathering and sharing. "We have accepted this for now...This is not a long-term solution to the healthcare funding that is needed within this country and by no means is a panacea to fix healthcare," Stefanson said. As a next step Ottawa will hold bilateral meetings with each province to finalize individual funding agreements. ($1 = 1.3336 Canadian dollars)Reporting by Nia Williams Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ France urges stronger international response to Iran's missile program
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna looks on during a news conference with Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira ( not pictured ) at Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File PhotoSummary French govt: Colonna spoke to Blinken on ThursdayDiscussed Iran, Ukraine, Armenia, AzerbaijanUrged stronger response to Iran missile programmePARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - There must be a stronger "international response" to the threat posed by Iran's ballistic missiles program, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told her U.S. counterpart Anthony Blinken, France's Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The French Foreign Ministry said Colonna and Blinken had spoken by phone on Thursday, during which they discussed an array of topics, including Ukraine and Iran. Colonna and Blinken also reiterated their "full support" to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia almost a year ago, and discussed the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten and John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Tokyo, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Japan's government is likely to appoint Kazuo Ueda, an academic and a former member of the central bank's policy board, as the Bank of Japan's next governor, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday. The government will also nominate Ryozo Himino, former head of Japan's banking watchdog, and BOJ executive Shinichi Uchida as deputy governors, the Nikkei said. The government initially sounded out incumbent Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya for the top BOJ job, but he declined, the Nikkei reported without citing sources. The yen strengthened from around 131.55 yen per dollar to around 130.60 after the Nikkei report. In an opinion piece that ran on the Nikkei in July last year, Ueda said warned the BOJ against prematurely raising interest rates just because inflation briefly exceeded 2%.

☆ BOJ's deputy governor Amamiya sees no imminent need to tweak YCC
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"YCC is an extraordinary policy, so we must carefully balance the benefits and costs," Amamiya said. "For now, I don't see the need to make further steps to enhance the flexibility of YCC," he added. The government will present its nominees for the new BOJ governor and two deputies to parliament on Feb. 14, a ruling party lawmaker told reporters on Friday. Analysts see Amamiya as being more dovish on monetary policy than other contenders like former deputy governors Hiroshi Nakaso and Hirohide Yamaguchi. He stressed the need to maintain current stimulus to ensure inflation hits the BOJ's 2% target in a sustainable manner.

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