India's Hero MotoCorp CEO to step down
The company named insider Vikram Kasbekar as its acting CEO.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
9 minutes ago
- Reuters
Gold falls as hot US data lifts dollar, yields; cools hopes for jumbo Fed cut
Aug 14 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Thursday as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data and a drop in jobless claims lifted the dollar and Treasury yields, trimming the odds of a supersized September rate cut. Spot gold fell 0.7% to $3,331.03 per ounce as of 12:20 p.m. ET (1620 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down 0.9% to $3,376.50. The dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab gained 0.5% from an over two-week low, making bullion less attractive for non-U.S. buyers, while benchmark 10-year yields rose from a one-week low. Stronger U.S. wholesale price data tempered bets on a larger, half-point cut next month. The Labor Department reported the producer price index rose 3.3% year-on-year in July, beating forecasts of 2.5% while weekly jobless claims came in lower than expected, at 224,000 versus 228,000 forecast. "Gold trades lower as the stronger than expected U.S. PPI print may lower rate cut expectations as they feed into a higher Core PCE inflation print for July as well, likely keeping the Federal Reserve cautious on rate cuts," said Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategy, Ole Hansen. "Overall, the print does not alter our bullish view on gold as the Fed eventually will have to choose between fighting inflation or supporting the economy." Traders are now leaning toward a quarter-point move next month with another in October, reinforcing comments from Fed's Mary Daly pushing back against the need for a 50-basis-point cut in September. Gold, a traditional refuge in times of economic or geopolitical strain, tends to benefit from low interest rates. "We don't think the rally has stalled — it's just consolidating, with bulls waiting for a new catalyst. Interest rate cuts would be the one to reignite the rally," said Kiril Kirilenko, senior precious metals analyst at CRU. Gold will likely retest the $3,500 record high by year-end or early next, Kirilenko added. Elsewhere, spot silver lost 1.5% to $37.90 per ounce, platinum gained 0.8% to $1,349.84 and palladium rose 2% to $1,145.06.
Reuters
37 minutes ago
- Reuters
Investors temper Ukraine hopes ahead of Trump and Putin summit
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Investors are tempering expectations that Friday's summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will deliver a significant breakthrough on the war in Ukraine despite some hopeful signs. Ukraine's government bonds - key indicators of the mood - rallied when news of the summit emerged this month but have largely stalled at a still-distressed 55 cents on the dollar amid the pre-meeting posturing. Trump himself said it will be more of a "listening exercise" although he hopes it will go well enough for another involving Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy soon afterwards - and threatened "severe consequences" if it doesn't. Europe's leaders meanwhile have been encouraged by Trump's signals on participating in security guarantees, while Putin has praised Trump for "sincere efforts" to stop the hostilities. Kathryn Exum, an analyst at emerging market-focused fund Gramercy, said the fact Ukraine's bonds remain well below the highs they hit when Trump regained the White House despite their near 20% rally this month reflected limited market expectations. "The bar is pretty high for any meaningful progress given the red lines of the parties seem deeply entrenched," Exum said. "I think the market is pricing in a symbolic truce," such as on long-range missiles and drones, she added. "Ultimately though is doesn't change the game for any side." Diliana Deltcheva, head of emerging market debt at Robeco, said EU leaders' calls with Trump on Wednesday, when he offered a potentially significant but vague security offer, were a "modest positive". But she too thinks Friday's summit is unlikely to yield substantive progress. "We had a small overweight (in Ukraine bonds) but now we have neutralised it," Deltcheva said. "From our position, is it too difficult to call the situation... there have been too many false starts." Geopolitical analyst at research firm TS Lombard, Christopher Granville, thinks whatever its ostensible outcome, Friday's meeting will mark the "definitive start of the concluding phase of the Ukraine war". "One way or the other, the situation is on a quickening path," Granville said. Either the sides would find a path towards a lasting ceasefire, or the war would ratchet up and ultimately force the issue. Ukraine's bonds, part of a $20 billion restructuring last year, were up as much 1 cent Thursday, just below the five month highs they hit earlier in the week , . Oil and gas prices have fallen over the last fortnight too, traders say, on hopes of a post-summit "peace dividend" that could avoid costly 'secondary' tariffs being put on major Russia crude buyers like India and China. Investment bank surveys show the majority of fund managers have a small 'overweight' position on Ukraine's bonds, although it has been reducing over the last six months. Gramercy's Exum said investors remain wary because Trump has repeatedly changed tack on the war. His trolling of Zelenskiy as a "dictator" in February and the ugly Oval Office clash shortly afterwards, was "a wakeup call" for overly optimistic investors she said. Robeco's Deltcheva described that meeting as "traumatising", both in terms of the human aspect and for assumptions around the U.S. position. "We all saw how Zelenskiy got treated and how Trump's opinion changed," she said, which made it more difficult for investors to rely on Trump's stance. If Friday's discussion surprises on the positive side though, "then we will probably have to react," she said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Hapag-Lloyd lowers 2025 earnings forecast, seeks savings
FRANKFURT, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd ( opens new tab on Thursday reported a 3.1% decline in first-half net income and lowered the top end of its full-year earnings forecast, which has prompted it to focus on cost savings over the next 12-18 months. CEO Rolf Habben Jansen told analysts that start-up spending on its Gemini cooperation with competitor Maersk ( opens new tab, fidgety customers amid changing U.S. trade policies, and virtual closure of the Suez Canal weighed on profits. "The Gemini transition cost was a three-million dollar digit figure," said Habben Jansen in a call with analysts, adding port congestions amid tariff to and fro, as well as costly alternatives to the Suez route had also led to spiralling costs. "A 1 billion euros (savings programme) is realistic to (be achieved) by the end of next year," he added. Houthi militant attacks on vessel owners in the Middle East forced shippers to avoid the region. Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth-largest shipping firm, earlier projected full-year earnings before interest and taxes ranging between 200 million euros and 1.1 billion euros, compared with a previously expected range of breakeven to 1.5 billion euros. Core profit was 24% lower at 619 million euros in the six months at the German company. Its stock in a small free float was 7.2% down at 1100 GMT. Net income in the first half fell 3.1% to 709 million euros ($829 million) while revenues were up 10% at 9.7 billion euros and transport volumes grew 10.6% to 6.7 million 20-foot-equivalent (TEU) containers. Gemini brings synergies from a network of 340 ships on seven trade corridors, which will begin to pay off from the second half of 2025, Habben Jansen said. But inflation, higher prices of shipyards, carbon permits and cleaner fuels could not be argued away. ($1 = 0.8549 euros)
