Alibaba launches new Qwen3 AI models for Apple's MLX architecture
BEIJING, June 16 (Reuters) - China's tech giant Alibaba (9988.HK), opens new tab has launched new Qwen3 artificial intelligence models for Apple's (AAPL.O), opens new tab MLX architecture, Alibaba said in a statement on Monday.
The new models would be able to run on a range of Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, MacBook and Mac, Alibaba said in a post on Wechat.
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Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
China builds a crude oil war chest amid Middle East tensions
LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 17 (Reuters) - China is continuing to build up crude oil stockpiles as it refines substantially less than what it has available from imports and domestic production. This allows the world's biggest oil importer to buy lower volumes in coming months as prices surge over Middle East tensions. China's surplus crude amounted to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, the third straight month it has been above the 1 million bpd level, according to calculations based on official data. The price of crude oil has spiked since June 13 when Israel launched a series of air strikes against Iran, prompting drone and missile retaliation by Tehran. While the conflict has yet to hit Iran's crude oil production and export facilities, the heightened risks have seen Brent futures rise almost 6% since the close on June 12 to trade around $73.58 a barrel in Asia on Tuesday. In past occurrences of a rapid rise in crude prices, Chinese refineries have responded by trimming their imports and using stockpiled oil. Given the lag of up to two months between when cargoes are arranged and when they are delivered, this means any pullback in China's imports will likely only become apparent from August onwards. While much will depend on the path of crude oil prices in coming weeks, it's certain China has plenty of scope to lower imports and put downward pressure on prices. China does not disclose the volumes of crude flowing into or out of strategic and commercial stockpiles, but an estimate can be made by deducting the amount of oil processed from the total of crude available from imports and domestic output. Refiners processed 13.92 million bpd in May, according to official data released on Monday, down from 14.12 million bpd in April and also 1.8% lower than a year earlier. Crude imports were 10.97 million bpd in May, down from 11.69 million bpd in April, while domestic production was 4.35 million bpd, up slightly from the 4.31 million bpd in April. Putting May imports and domestic output together gives a total of 15.32 million bpd of crude available to refiners, leaving a surplus of 1.4 million bpd once refinery throughput of 13.92 million bpd is subtracted. For the first five months of the year, surplus crude available rose to 990,000 bpd, from 880,000 bpd for the first four months. For the first two months of 2025, China's refiners actually processed about 30,000 bpd more than what was available from crude imports and domestic production, the first time in 18 months that they had drawn on inventories. But the massive surpluses in March, April and May have reversed the earlier draw. It is worth noting that not all of this surplus crude is likely to have been added to storage, with some being processed in plants not captured by the official data. But even allowing for gaps in the official data, it is clear that from March onwards China has been importing crude at a far higher rate than it needs to meet its domestic fuel requirements. An indication of how price sensitive China's refiners are is shown by the expected strong crude imports in June, with LSEG Oil Research forecasting arrivals of 11.72 million bpd. This would be up 750,000 bpd from the official data for April, and the sharp rise reflects the declining trend for crude prices when June-arriving cargoes would have been secured. Brent futures dropped from a six-week high of $75.47 a barrel on April 2 to a to a four-year low of $58.50 on May 5, prompting Chinese refiners to suck up cargoes. Most of these shipments will be arriving in June and July and will likely give the illusion that China's crude demand is recovering. But the weak refinery processing numbers show that it's likely the case that China is storing crude. With the strength in prices amid Middle East tensions, it's also likely that refiners will cut purchases, and also seek out discounted oil from sanctioned exporters Russia and Iran. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
Explainer: Why is the BOJ tweaking its buying of Japanese government bonds?
TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - The normally sedate Japanese government bond (JGB) market has attracted global attention in recent weeks as a surge in yields sounded warnings for deeply indebted governments. Yields on super-long JGBs touched record levels last month, meaning higher borrowing costs for the government and creating urgency for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and Ministry of Finance to steady the market. Here's what you need to know: After extended monetary stimulus to prop up Japan's flagging economy, the BOJ bought more than half of all JGBs and is now trying to gracefully shrink, opens new tab those holdings in a process called quantitative tightening. Under a plan laid out last July, the BOJ has been slowing its monthly bond purchases by around 400 billion yen steps each quarter. So in the current quarter, the central bank is buying 4.1 trillion yen of JGBs each month, down from 4.5 trillion yen each month from January through March. The BOJ said on Tuesday the taper pace will slow to 200 billion yen step changes per quarter from next April. Japan has about 1.3 quadrillion yen ($9.07 trillion) in outstanding debt securities, the world's second-biggest amount after the $28.2 trillion U.S. Treasuries market. Persistent fiscal deficits have caused Japan's ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) to expand to about 250%, the highest in the developed world. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said last month the nation's fiscal situation was worse than Greece's. But unlike Greece, whose debt-to-GDP ratio was around 150% when the nation was bailed out in 2010, about 90% of Japan's debt is held domestically. That makes the JGB market less vulnerable to investors who punish profligate governments by selling their debt, so-called bond vigilantes. Long-dated bonds have sold off around the world in recent weeks as investors grew wary about widening fiscal deficits and debt piles among major issuers, concerns encapsulated by Moody's downgrade of the United States on May 17. But Japan has some unique issues. Lawmakers are mulling cash handouts and other stimulus to woo voters ahead of an upper house election slated for July. Also, demand has fallen off for super-long bonds among traditional buyers. Japan's life insurers, for example, have steadily bought the securities over recent years to comply with new solvency regulations. With that buying mostly complete, insurers are now shifting into higher-yielding debt. A 20-year JGB auction last month laid bare the precarious situation. Demand was the weakest since 1987, as indicated by the auction's tail - the difference between the lowest and average accepted prices. That triggered a long-term debt sell-off that sent 40-year yields to a record high 3.675%, 30-year rates to an all-time peak of 3.185%, and 20-year yields to 2.595%, the highest since October 2020. Subsequent sales of 30- and 40-year securities also saw weak demand, sparking concerns of a runaway increase in borrowing costs. The rapid run-up in JGB yields spooked policymakers. In years past, Japan's central bank has come to the rescue in volatile markets by buying bonds and stocks. However, under Governor Kazuo Ueda, the BOJ has committed to shrinking its balance sheet, leaving the finance ministry to take the lead in calming markets. Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato warned that higher rates could further imperil Japan's finances and pledged "appropriate" debt management. The government issued rare warnings about rising yields in its economic roadmap last Friday. Ueda acknowledged views that demand for super-long bonds had declined and that volatility in those yields could impact shorter rates, which have a more direct economic impact. The finance ministry is now planning on trimming issuance of 20-, 30-, and 40-year bonds, balancing those reductions with increases of shorter-term notes, Reuters has reported. The ministry is also considering buying back some super-long JGBs. The rise in yields means JGBs are increasingly attractive for overseas investors, especially those looking to decrease dollar exposure. But foreign holders are more likely to dip in and out of the market, creating volatility. Kato has in recent days talked up the importance of domestic ownership of national debt and proposed a new type of floating-rate note and allowing unlisted companies to buy bonds designed for individual investors. The finance ministry will meet market participants later this month, which will inform its decisions on bond issuance and buyback changes. An auction of 20-year JGBs on June 24 will be the next key test of demand for super-long bonds.
The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Oil prices rise and US futures fall as Israel urges residents of Iran's capital to evacuate
Oil prices resumed their upward climb and U.S. futures were lower early Tuesday after Israel's military issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people in Iran's capital Tehran. Asian shares were mixed. The evacuation warning was for a part of Tehran, a city of 9.5 million, that houses the country's state TV and police headquarters and three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was returning from the G7 summit in Canada a day early due to the intensifying conflict. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index climbing 0.6% to 38,547.56 as the Japanese central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%. The Bank of Japan has been gradually raising its rate from near zero and cutting back on its purchases of Japanese government bonds and other assets to help counter inflation. It said economic growth was likely to moderate and there was some weakness in consumer sentiment, housing investment. 'In particular, it is extremely uncertain how trade and policies in each jurisdiction will evolve and how overseas activity and prices will react to them,' the BOJ's statement said. Chinese shares edged lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng slipped 0.1% to 24,038.56. The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.2% to 3,382.14. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.4% to 2,956.88. Australia's S&P/ASX 500 gave up 0.1% to 8,543.60. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.6% and in Bangkok the SET was little changed. As Israel and Iran attack each other the fear remains that a wider war could constrict the flow of Iran's oil to its customers. That in turn could raise gasoline prices worldwide and keep them high, though spikes in prices from previous conflicts have been brief. Crude jumped 7% late last week after Israel's attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets. Early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 31 cents to $72.08 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 33 cents at $73.56 per barrel. On Monday, the mood was calm on Wall Street, as the S&P 500 climbed 0.9% to reclaim most of its drop from Friday. It closed at 6,033.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8% to 42,515.09, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.5% to 19,701.21. U.S. Steel rose 5.1% after Trump signed an executive order on Friday paving the way for an investment in the company by Japan's Nippon Steel. Trump would have unique influence over the operations of U.S. Steel under the terms of the deal. They helped offset drops for defense contractors, which gave back some of their jumps from Friday. Lockheed Martin fell 4%, and Northrop Grumman sank 3.7%. The price of gold receded after jumping on Friday, when investors were looking for someplace safe to park their cash. An ounce of gold fell $14.60 to $3,402.40 per ounce. Investors have other concerns, key among them Donald Trump's tariffs, which still threaten to slow the U.S. economy and raise inflation if Washington doesn't win trade deals with other countries. The specter of tariffs was looming over the meeting of the Group of Seven meeting of major economies in Canada. Later this week, the Federal Reserve is set to discuss whether to lower or raise interest rates, with the decision due on Wednesday. The nearly unanimous expectation among traders and economists is that the Fed will stand pat. The Federal Reserve has hesitated to lower interest rates after one cut late last year. It is waiting to see how much Trump's tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation, which has remained tame recently, and is near the Fed's 2% target. More important for financial markets on Wednesday will likely be forecasts for where Fed officials they see the economy and interest rates heading in upcoming years. In other dealings early Tuesday, the U.S. dollar fell to 144.59 Japanese yen from 144.75 yen. The euro rose to $1.1564 from $1.1562. ___ AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
