RBI monetary policy: Four charts show markets are preparing for a rate hike

The interest-rate cycle in India is turning. The central bank may be set to tighten policy next week to keep inflation in check and stem the declines in the rupee if the rate-market moves are any indication.

The Reserve Bank of India hasn’t tinkered with rates since August, and even cut inflation projections last month, raising expectations that borrowing costs would remain on hold. But a surprising hawkish tilt revealed in its April policy minutes and the recent spike in oil has boosted speculation the authority may lift rates at its June 6 meeting.

“Front-end bonds are fully pricing in a 25-basis point hike in June,” said Suyash Choudhary, head of fixed income at IDFC Asset Management Co. in Mumbai. “Even accounting for some higher supply absorption premium, one can say that a 75-basis point increase seems to be comfortably discounted over the next year.”

Wall Street climbs on higher oil prices, quarterly earnings' reports

US stocks rose on Thursday with a broad-based rally across sectors as speculation over China halting US bond purchases eased and investors focused on quarterly earnings reports and higher oil prices.

US crude futures rose to $63.82 a barrel, its highest since December 2014, boosted by a surprise drop in US production and lower crude inventories.

Positive brokerage recommendations on oil majors Exxon and Chevron lifted their shares, helping the S&P energy index climb 0.62 percent.

"It's back to a generally positive mode," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

At 9:34 a.m. ET (1434 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 46.19 points, or 0.18 percent, at 25,415.32 and the S&P 500 was up 5.29 points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,753.52.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 12.79 points, or 0.18 percent, at 7,166.36.

The S&P and the Nasdaq snapped their six-day rally on Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported Chinese officials had recommended halting its U. S. bond purchases, which China dismissed later.

Also weighing on the dour sentiment was a Reuters report on Wednesday that Canada is increasingly convinced U. S. President Donald Trump would soon announce an exit from the North American Free Trade Agreement.
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EU ministers approve new sanctions to punish North Korea

The European Union mposed fresh sanctions on North Korea today as part of international efforts to punish the pariah regime for its nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes.

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg signed off a new package of measures including a ban on investments in North Korea and on EU exports of oil to Pyongyang.

They also tightened the restrictions on North Korean workers in the EU to try to stop money being sent home that could be used to fund the disputed weapons programmes.

The EU said the new steps were taken in view of the "persistent threat to international peace and stability" posed by Kim Jong-Un's regime.

The North carried out its sixth nuclear test -- and most powerful to date -- on September 3, sparking international outrage and a fresh round of sanctions.

More people and entities associated with Kim Jong-Un's regime have been blacklisted and the ceiling for payments that can be made to North Korea has been cut from 15,000 euros to 5,000 euros.

A total ban on EU investment in North Korea is now in force, along with a complete halt to sales of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

As part of efforts to ensure sanctions are effective, EU members will instruct their embassies in countries seen as a risk of evading North Korean sanctions to deliver formal warnings to comply.
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Foreigners scramble out of Iraqi Kurdistan ahead of retaliatory flight ban

Foreigners scrambled to leave Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday hours before the start of a flight ban imposed by Baghdad in retaliation for an independence referendum that has sent regional tensions soaring.

Iraq's central government has ordered a halt to all international flights to and from the autonomous region from 6:00 pm (local time) on Friday after Iraqi Kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence.

Washington has said it would be willing to facilitate talks between the Iraqi Kurdish authorities and Baghdad to calm escalating tensions over the 92-percent "yes" vote, as a top Shiite cleric called for solving the crisis in an Iraqi court.

Neighbouring Turkey and Iran also strongly opposed the vote, fearing it would inflame the separatist aspirations of their own sizable Kurdish population.

Ankara has threatened a series of measures including blocking crucial oil exports from the region via Turkey.

The Kurds have condemned the flight suspension as "collective punishment".

Today, Iraqi Kurdistan's transport ministry sent a letter to Baghdad asking to "open negotiations" on flights but was still awaiting a reply, a ministry spokesman said.
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US oil surges to $50 a barrel as demand improves; Dow at new closing high

Rising demand pushed US crude above $50 a barrel on Thursday, while Sterling jumped after the Bank of England said it was likely to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade in coming months.

Energy shares rose on Wall Street and in Europe, but stocks were mixed worldwide. A gauge of global equity indexes fell slightly, as did the S&P 500 in the United States, while major European indexes gained and the Dow set a new closing high.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, rose more than 2 percent before paring gains after a forecast by the International Energy Agency on Wednesday and dollar weakness prompted bullish sentiment in the oil market.

"Anticipation is growing that this could quicken the pace of oil market rebalancing," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics in London.

US crude rose 9 cents to settle at $49.89 a barrel and Brent settled up 31 cents at $55.47.

Brent has climbed more than $10 a barrel over the past three months and is close to where it was at the beginning of the year, roughly trading between $55 and $57 a barrel.
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UN Security Council unanimously steps up sanctions against North Korea

The UN Security Council has unanimously passed a US-drafted resolution that imposes strongest sanctions ever on North Korea, with measures targeting its last remaining major exports and reducing about 30 percent of oil provided to it.

"Today, we are saying the world will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. And today, the Security Council is saying that if the North Korean regime does not halt its nuclear program, we will act to stop it ourselves," the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said as the 15-membered UN body passed the resolution 2375 on North Korea.

"We are done trying to prod the regime to do the right thing. We are now acting to stop it from having the ability to continue doing the wrong thing," she said.

Haley said the international community is doing that by hitting North Korea's ability to fuel and fund its weapons program.

Noting that oil is the lifeblood of North Korea's effort to build and deliver a nuclear weapon, Haley said the resolution reduces almost 30 per cent of oil provided to North Korea by cutting off over 55 per cent of its gas, diesel, and heavy fuel oil.
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India strikes a better deal on LNG price with Exxon: Dharmendra Pradhan

India has renegotiated the pricing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported from Australia's Gorgon project to make the imported fuel affordable to price-sensitive domestic customers, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday.

India has been trying to leverage its position as one of the biggest energy consumers to strike better bargains for its companies. In 2015 it renegotiated the LNG pricing formula with Qatar's Rasgas to buy the gas at half the original price.

"Indian customers will receive (Gorgon) LNG volumes at an amicable price soon. This is done in a similar way to what we did with LNG from Qatar," Pradhan said in a tweet.

India's top gas importer Petronet LNG signed a deal in 2009 with Exxon Mobil Corp to buy 1.5 million tonnes of LNG annually from Gorgon for 20 years. At that time Petronet agreed to buy LNG at a cost equivalent to 14.5 percent of the oil price and to pay for the shipping freight as well.

Supplies under the deal began from January 2017, with the landed price of gas costing about $11-$13 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), almost double that of Asian spot LNG prices.

The Gorgon gas prices are now linked to about 13-13.5 per cent of the global oil price on a delivered basis, two sources with knowledge of the negotiation said.
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China invests $9.1 bn in Rosneft as Glencore, Qatar cut stakes

Chinese conglomerate CEFC will buy a 14.16 percent stake in Russian oil major Rosneft for $9.1 billion from a consortium of Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority, strengthening the energy partnership between Moscow and Beijing.

CEFC China Energy has grown in recent years from a niche oil trader into a sprawling energy conglomerate and the transaction will allow China, the world's second largest energy consumer, to boost cooperation with the world's top oil producer.

The deal comes as the United States imposes a new round of economic sanctions on Russia, making it difficult for large Western firms such as Glencore to develop partnerships and increase ties with state-owned firms such as Rosneft.

Glencore said in a statement that CEFC will buy shares at a premium of around 16 percent to the 30-day volume weighted average price of Rosneft shares without naming the price. A CEFC spokesman said the company would pay $9.1 billion.

Rosneft's market capitalisation stands at $57 billion and the deal makes it one of the largest investments ever made by China into Russia.

Glencore and QIA will retain stakes of 0.5 percent and 4.7 percent in Rosneft respectively.

The Kremlin has been seeking to grow ties with China, especially since the West imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow to punish it for the annexation of Crimea and an incursion in east Ukraine in 2014.
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US asks UN to slap oil embargo on North Korea, freeze Kim Jong-Un's assets

The United States has asked the UN Security Council to slap an oil embargo on North Korea and freeze the assets of leader Kim Jong-Un, in response to Pyongyang's sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

A US-drafted resolution obtained by AFP also called for banning textile exports and ending payments made to North Korean labourers sent abroad, further depriving the regime of revenue to pursue its military programs.

The United States circulated the proposed resolution to the 14 other council members two days after Ambassador Nikki Haley called for the "strongest possible measures" to be imposed on North Korea.

Haley said on Monday that the United States was seeking a vote on the new sanctions on September 11.

The draft text takes aim directly at North Korea's leadership with a freeze on leader Kim's assets as well as those of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea and the government of North Korea.

Kim would be added to a UN sanctions blacklist that would subject him to a global travel ban, along with four other senior North Korean officials, according to the draft.
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Nepal, China sign three pacts to boost energy, economic, technological ties

Nepal and China on Tuesday signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country, including in the southern Terai plains.

The pacts were signed after visiting Chinese vice premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepal's deputy prime ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara.

The agreements cover three different domains - economic and technological cooperation, China-aid oil and gas resources survey project and framework agreement on promotion of investment and economic cooperation, Nepal's state-run National News Agency reported.

They include a feasibility study for excavating natural gas and petroleum in mountain areas and plains of the Terai region.

The two countries agreed to establish hydropower projects and transmission lines and take steps for economic and technological development in Nepal, which suffers from acute shortage of electricity.

Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi told the agency the pacts would make significant contributions in Nepal's socio- economic transformation.

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Oil prices plunge as drop in US inventories encourage more production

Oil prices rose to near eight-week highs on Wednesday, as a fall in US inventories bolstered expectations that the long-oversupplied market was moving toward balance.

Brent crude futures rose 40 cents to $50.60 a barrel by 1213 GMT, after rallying more than 3 percent on Tuesday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 50 cents to $48.39 a barrel.

U.S. crude stockpiles fell sharply last week as refineries boosted output, while gasoline inventories increased and distillate stocks decreased, the industry group the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday.

Crude inventories fell 10.2 million barrels in the week ending July 21 to 487 million, more than the expected decrease of 2.6 million barrels. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday could provide more support, with forecasts of a drop for a fourth week in a row.

Tuesday's stock draw added to hopes the long-awaited oil market rebalancing was underway. Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would limit oil exports to 6.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, down nearly 1 million bpd from a year earlier.
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Oil tanker explosion: At least 100 burnt to death, 75 injured, in Pakistan

At least 100 people were on Sunday charred to death and 75 others severely injured after an oil tanker caught fire and exploded on a highway in Bahawalpur district of Pakistan Punjab Province, according to media reports.

The tanker caught fire and exploded apparently after fuel leakage from its damaged containers. People had gathered around the tanker after it overturned to collect oil that had leaked out.

The fire brigade arrived on the site of the incident shortly after the blaze started and rescue operations were initiated.

Two fire engines battled the fire and eventually gained control over it.

At least six cars and 12 motorcycles were burnt in the blaze.

The injured have transferred to District Headquarters Hospital, rescue officials said.
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An American fighter jet shoots down Syria warplane after allies bombed

An American fighter jet shot down a Syrian warplane that the US-led coalition said attacked its allies in the fight against the Islamic State group in the war-torn country.

The escalation comes as Syria's six-year-old war becomes ever more complex, with US forces and their allies converging on the northern IS bastion of Raqa in close proximity to Russian-backed regime troops.

Further complicating matters, Iran said it launched missile strikes Sunday against "terror bases" in Syria's northeastern Deir Ezzor province in revenge for deadly attacks on its capital claimed by IS.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces -- an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters -- is battling to oust the jihadists from Raqa, and broke into the IS stronghold city last week.

Government forces are not involved in the battle for Raqa, but they are advancing in an area southwest of the city, skirting around SDF fighters, their eyes set on the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor.

"Aircraft from the 'international coalition' targeted one of our fighter planes in the Resafa region of southern Raqa province this afternoon while it was conducting a mission against the terrorist Islamic State group," said the army.

It warned of "the grave consequences of this flagrant aggression".

The US-led coalition later confirmed it shot down the Syrian warplane it said had dropped bombs near SDF forces.

"At 6:43 pm (1743 GMT), a Syrian regime SU-22 dropped bombs near SDF fighters... In accordance with rules of engagement and in collective self-defence of Coalition partnered forces, was immediately shot down by a US F/A-18E Super Hornet," the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.

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Exxon oil project in Guyana to cost $4.4 bn, will tap 450 mn barrels

Exxon Mobil Corp said on Friday it and partners would spend $4.4 billion to develop part of the Liza oilfield off the coast of Guyana, approving a megaproject at a time when the oil industry has grown obsessed with lower-cost shale.

Exxon's decision shows that oil companies remain interested in large projects, especially offshore, even in an era of belt-tightening after two years of low crude prices.

The Guyana announcement from Exxon and partners Hess Corp and CNOOC was the fifth deepwater project to gain approvals this year. BP Plc and Reliance Industries said on Thursday they would spend $6 billion to develop natural gas reserves off the Indian coast.

Exxon, which spent nearly $7 billion earlier this year to more than double its holdings in the Permian shale formation in the United States, said the Guyana project was approved in part due to its low cost of production.

"We're excited about the tremendous potential of the Liza field and accelerating first production through a phased development in this lower cost environment," Liam Mallon, Exxon's head of development, said in a statement.

Phase One of the Liza development project should tap about 450 million barrels of oil and pump about 120,000 barrels per day when it comes online in 2020, Exxon said in a statement.

The Liza field is roughly 190 kilometres off the coast of Guyana. Exxon plans 17 wells as part of the project's first phase. A second phase is possible in the future, the company said.

New York-based Hess said it expects its share of the project's cost to be about $955 million.

Shares of Exxon rose 0.7 percent to $82.97 on Friday.
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Wall Street flat as oil offsets gains in tech, healthcare

US stocks were little changed on Wednesday, with the three major indexes on track to end the month higher, as gains in healthcare and technology were outweighed by a drop in energy shares due to a steep fall in oil prices.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite looked set to post their best monthly percentage gain since February. The Nasdaq also hit a record intraday high in early trading.

Oil prices fell by more than 2 per cent to a three-week low, as rising Libyan production fueled concerns that OPEC-led output cuts are being undermined by several countries that are excluded from the deal.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq snapped their seven-day winning streak on Tuesday as weakness in the energy and financial sectors outweighed gains in technology shares.

With stocks at record levels and the earnings season in the rear-view mirror, analysts say investors need to see strong economic data and progress on President Donald Trump's pro-business policies for further meaningful gains.

"We had the Memorial day weekend and volumes on Tuesday were low, so this is the first day that Wall Street is coming back in full force and we could see a resumption of strong equity buying that we saw last week," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

At 9:41 a.m. ET (1341 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.23 points, or 0.01 percent, at 21,028.24, the S&P 500 was up 1.97 points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,414.88 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 10.98 points, or 0.18 percent, at 6,214.17.

Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with the healthcare index's 0.48 percent rise leading the advancers.

Johnson and Johnson was up 0.67 percent and provided the biggest boost to the S&P and the Dow.

While first-quarter economic data was mixed, with dips in consumer spending and sentiment, continuing strength in the labor market suggests economic activity will regain momentum as the year progresses.

The Federal Reserve issues its Beige Book at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), a compendium of anecdotes on the health of the economy, that will likely provide further evidence that the economy continues to strengthen giving the Federal Reserve impetus to raise rate next month.

Traders currently see an 86.6-percent chance of a quarter-point rate hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Shares of Michael Kors fell 8.9 percent to $33 after the luxury fashion retailer gave a bleak full-year forecast and said it would shut more than 100 full-price retail stores in the next two years.

Mallinckrodt was up 0.6 percent at $43.94, after sources said the drugmaker is exploring a sale of its generic drug unit, in a deal that could fetch as much as $2 billion.

Analog Devices rose 4.7 percent to $88.75 after the chipmaker's quarterly results came in above expectations.

Exact Sciences was up 9.3 percent at $35.58 after two brokerages raised their price target on the diagnostic test maker's shares.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,371 to 1,186, for a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the upside. On the Nasdaq, 1,221 issues rose and 1,007 fell for a 1.21-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 index showed 28 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 82 new highs and 70 new lows.
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Wall Street opens higher after $110 bn arms deal between US, Saudi Arabia

Wall Street opened higher on Monday as oil prices climbed and defense stocks rose following a $110 billion arms deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74.81 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 20,879.65.

The S&P 500 gained 6.99 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,388.72.

The Nasdaq Composite added 17.51 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 6,101.21.
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US, Saudi firms sign deals worth $200 bn as Trump visits

US and Saudi Arabian companies signed business deals worth tens of billions of dollars on Saturday during a visit by President Donald Trump, as Riyadh seeks help to develop its economy beyond oil.

National oil firm Saudi Aramco said it signed $50 billion of agreements with US firms. Energy minister Khalid al-Falih said deals involving all companies totalled over $200 billion, many of them designed to produce things in Saudi Arabia that had previously been imported.

Business leaders on both sides were keen to demonstrate their talks had been a success, so there was an element of showmanship in the huge numbers. Some deals had been announced previously; others were memorandums of understanding that would require further negotiations to materialise.

Nevertheless, the deals illustrated Saudi Arabia's hunger for foreign capital and technology as it tries to reduce its dependence on oil exports. Low oil prices in the past couple of years have slowed the economy to a crawl and saddled the government with a huge budget deficit.

"We want foreign companies to look at Saudi Arabia as a platform for exports to other markets," Falih told the conference.

In March, Saudi Arabia's King Salman toured Asia and his delegation signed similar agreements worth tens of billions of dollars there, including deals worth as much as $65 billion in China.

Top Saudi economic policy makers, including the finance minister and head of the kingdom's main sovereign wealth fund, described investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia to a conference attended by dozens of U.S. executives on Saturday.
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Jio stands for affordability in a world where data is new oil: Mukesh

Latest News - Reliance Industries Ltd chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday said the company's newly launched telecom venture Reliance Jio stands for affordability and data is the new oil in the industry.

"Jio stands for affordability. Jio is conceived at a time when the world was in the phase of digitising. Data is the new oil," Ambani said.

He was speaking at an interactive session in Nasscom India Leadership Forum 2017 here.

Reliance Jio has disrupted the (Read More)

India's oil consumption to be fastest in world by 2035: Survey

Latest News - Having pipped Japan to become world's third largest oil consumer, India's oil consumption growth will be the fastest among all major economies by 2035, BP Statistical Review of World Energy said.

India, Asia's second-biggest energy consumer since 2008, had in 2015 overtaken Japan as the world's third-largest oil consuming country behind US and China.

"We project that India's energy consumption grows the fastest among all major economies by 2035. As a result, the country remains import dependent despite increases in production," it said.

While energy consumption will grow by 4.2 per cent per annum — faster than all major economies in the world — India's consumption growth of (Read More)