Aurelia Butler

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Most Asian central banks will cut interest rates slower than the U.S. Federal Reserve over the coming year, Reuters polls showed, as solid growth has eased pressure to maintain currency stability against a persistently strong dollar.A jumbo 50 basis points Fed rate cut in September and expectations for two more quarter-percentage point reductions by end-year has provided wriggle room for central banks in Asian economies to consider their next moves.The Fed is expected to cut rates by another 125 basis points next year, much more than Asian central banks. But with the U.S. economy showing continued resilience, the greater risk is for the Fed to move more gradually than speed up.With inflation broadly within Asian central bank targets and growth still resilient, there is no urgency for most to be slashing rates much further.”Despite easing inflation at home, weak currencies had deterred policymakers from prematurely lowering rates, to prevent further compression in rate differentials,” said Radhika Rao, senior economist at DBS in Singapore.”Each of them is really moving on their own beat and they are not going to match the Fed’s moves one-on-one.”Apart from the Indian rupee, which the Reserve Bank of India is actively managing to keep stable, as well as the Chinese yuan, most Asian currency losses this year range from 2-6% against the U.S. dollar.  Excluding the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), seven of eight important Asian central banks which hiked rates only modestly after the pandemic compared to developed economy peers, will hold rates for the rest of 2024 or cut by 25 basis points at most, according Reuters polls taken Oct. 1-29.Only Bank Indonesia was forecast to cut by another 50 basis points this year.So far only the Bank of Korea, Bank of Thailand and Bank Indonesia have cut rates by 25 basis points while the Philippine central bank reduced them by 50 basis points. The State Bank of Vietnam reduced rates in June 2023 and has been on hold since. Next year, only the Philippine central bank was forecast to cut rates by 100 basis points while the rest were expected to hold or at most cut 50 basis points in total.The PBOC is an outlier. It announced its most aggressive monetary easing measures since the pandemic in recent weeks to revive the economy, which grew 4.5% last quarter on a year earlier, lower than the 5% growth target. But it also changed its key benchmark interest rate.For the bulk of world economies where rates are falling, the risk remains they go lower than economists currently expect, the survey found, underpinning a solid global outlook.Much will depend on whether the Fed decides to move slower than currently expected.”We believe the main risk to our interest rate outlook for Asian central banks is the path of the Federal Reserve…If the Fed chooses to be cautious with rate cuts, it will mean a stronger dollar,” said Alicia Herrero Garcia, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis. (Other stories from the October Reuters global economic poll) (Polling by the Reuters Polls team in Bengaluru and bureaus in Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Ross Finley, Hari Kishan and Ros Russell) More

The New York facility will be expected to drive innovation in EUV technology, a complex process necessary to make semiconductors, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Natcast, operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NTSC) said.The launch of the facility “represents a key milestone in ensuring the United States remains a global leader in innovation and semiconductor research and development,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.Last year, Raimondo had said she would make multiple funding awards, which could drastically reshape U.S. chip production.The announcement comes days after the Biden administration said it is finalizing rules that will limit U.S. investments in artificial intelligence and other technology sectors in China that could threaten U.S. national security.The new rules are due to come into effect on Jan. 2 and are part of a broader push to prevent U.S. know-how from helping the Chinese to develop sophisticated technology. More

$1 for 4 weeksThen $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism. Cancel anytime during your trial.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print edition More

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said the repo operations aimed to “keep banking system liquidity reasonably ample”. The tenor of the repos for the month was six months. The new tool, announced on Monday, which supports credit flow in the banking system ahead of the expiration of trillions of yuan in loans at the end of the year, also offers the regulator additional sources of bonds that it can sell in the future.”While the central bank’s current holdings of government bonds are sufficient for existing operations, it needs to establish additional channels for bond holdings. This will lay the groundwork for future bond sales and swap facility operations,” analysts at China Securities said in a note.Unlike pledged repos that the PBOC typically uses in regulator reverse repo operations, the title of the collateral in an outright repo transaction is sold to the buyer. That means the PBOC will have more flexibility to meet liquidity needs by selling the bonds it holds. Separately, the central bank said it had purchased a net 200 billion yuan of government bonds in open market operations in October, according to official statements. The bank did not specify whether it bought or sold short-term or long-dated bonds as it did in August.Until late September, China’s bond market had seen a prolonged record-breaking rally as banks and investors sought safer assets in a flailing economy. The central bank warned market participants for weeks about the inflated prices of bonds and sold long-dated bonds in August to cool a feverish market.Ten-year and 30-year sovereign bond yields were down 1 basis points (bps) and 3 bps, respectively.Traders and investors are eagerly awaiting next week’s key leadership meeting, with any fiscal stimulus falling short of expectations likely to drive yields lower.($1 = 7.1180 Chinese yuan renminbi) More

$1 for 4 weeksThen $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism. Cancel anytime during your trial.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print edition More

$1 for 4 weeksThen $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism. Cancel anytime during your trial.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print edition More

(Reuters) – Many U.S. companies have stepped up reporting on environmental and social matters in recent years even with sustained pressure from conservative politicians, data reviewed by Reuters shows.The trend shows the importance investors and regulators now place on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, analysts said, amid rapid global warming and shifting workforce demographics. Some political conservatives call the attention misplaced or worry the disclosures could give activists leverage to force companies to make unnecessary changes.”Most ESG problems are business problems. I’m an accounting professor. I can tell you that if you pick any company’s 10K and look at the risk factors, they are full of E and S problems,” said Shiva Rajgopol, who teaches at Columbia Business School.The data contrasts with a some high-profile cases where companies have dialed back ESG efforts such as working less with industry climate efforts and cooperating less with an LGBTQ+ advocacy group. Many executives may be taking a wait-and-see approach until national elections on Nov. 5 set a new balance of power in Washington, D.C., starting next year, Rajgopol said. “If you’re a company and something is getting you into trouble with some constituents, it’s simplest to back away from doing things that seem risky for now and just stay put and wait until January and then reassess,” he said Which party holds the White House and Congress could energize or squash efforts to restrict ESG investing, a cause that has lagged to date.BE COUNTEDThe share of S&P 500 companies making workforce data by race and gender public rose to 82.6% as of Sept. 1 from 5.3% in 2019, according to DiversIQ, which tracks diversity data for investors, consulting firms and corporate clients.The number of U.S. companies sharing environmental data, meanwhile, has also grown, with 85% of large-cap U.S. companies disclosing details of their greenhouse gas emissions at the end of last year, up from 54% disclosing in 2019, according to ESG investment advisor HIP Investor.Obtaining public disclosures on ESG data has been a focus of pro-ESG activist investors including Democratic public pension officials. The disclosure uptick also shows boards responding to new rules like the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, said Ken Rivlin, partner at law firm A&O Shearman. Many companies also made public commitments around climate, pay equity and workforce, details they cannot easily shift with the latest news cycle.”Establishing corporate policy in reaction to the latest pro- or anti-ESG news story is not a recipe for success,” Rivlin said.KEEP THE REPORTS COMINGVarious conservative politicians and social media figures have targeted companies’ diversity efforts including their links to LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, which surveys companies on issues including same-sex partner benefits and transgender healthcare.In August, home improvement retailer Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) said it would no longer participate in the survey and restructured diversity efforts. A Lowe’s representative said at the time it would continue to report workforce diversity and pay-gap data that investors had asked for. A Ford (NYSE:F) representative said via email that “we will continue to disclose our human capital management and DEI data” in an annual sustainability report, but did not provide further details. Despite the departures, more than 1,400 companies participated in this year’s survey, to be released in January, up slightly from 1,384 in the most recent survey issued in November 2023, HRC said.Companies “know that this is what their workforce and consumers demand,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson. Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which calls itself a Christian law firm and opposes many corporate ESG efforts, said pullbacks like those by Lowe’s and Ford stand in contrast to several years ago when many companies rushed to align with climate and social-justice activists.Successful lawsuits targeting corporate diversity policies based on the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on college admissions could accelerate corporate changes, Tedesco said. “Unfortunately companies went too far and there’s a lot of course-correction,” he said.ON THE BACK FOOTMany corporate climate disclosures stem from pressure from top fund firms backing shareholder resolutions. Since around 2021, however, investors have cut their support including State Street (NYSE:STT)’s asset-management arm.Like other investors, State Street said companies have already made significant changes. “Disclosure has dramatically improved, especially related to E and S issues over the past five years,” said Ben Colton, State Street’s stewardship chief. “I’d imagine we’ll continue to see this kind of disclosure,” he said. More