By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar regained some ground on Tuesday and hovered near a one-week high against a basket of currencies, while the Australian dollar fell after its central bank left interest rates unchanged.

The Aussie was last down 0.66% to $0.6576 after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept rates at a 12-year high of 4.35% on Tuesday, as expected, and noted that economic data received since November had been broadly in line with expectations.

That left the Antipodean currency some distance away from Monday’s four-month top of $0.6690, which it hit on the back of the dollar’s decline over the past few sessions.

“The Aussie has had a great run in recent weeks and was arguably overbought over the near-term,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.

“So we may be seeing a combination of profit taking following the fact of the RBA’s hold, and the closure of pre-emptive bets that the RBA may have delivered a more hawkish statement.”

The decline in the Aussie also dragged the New Zealand dollar slightly lower, with the kiwi last down 0.35% to $0.6146.

Elsewhere, the greenback held broadly steady and pushed away from Monday’s three-month low against the yen. The dollar last traded at 147.10 yen, helped by a slowdown in core consumer inflation in Tokyo that put downward pressure on the Japanese currency.

The euro, meanwhile, languished near a three-week low hit on Monday and last traded $1.0842, while the dollar index stood near a more than one-week high and was last at 103.60.

Sterling was little changed at $1.26345, some distance away from its recent three-month high.

Analysts say the greenback’s move higher was in part due to a reversal of its heavy selloff in recent weeks, which saw the dollar index falling some 3% in November, its steepest monthly decline in a year.

“I think it’s maybe just a little bit of a reassessment as to the U.S. dollar having fallen too far, and too fast,” said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac.

U.S. economic indicators this week, including November’s non-manufacturing ISM figures and the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, will provide further clarity on the future path of interest rates.

Traders have all but priced in a rate cut from the Federal Reserve by the first half of next year.

“The Fed will be reactive to the hard data and not anticipatory of it,” said Thierry Wizman, Macquarie’s global FX and interest rates strategist. “So as long as the activity data deteriorates and inflation retreats, convergence toward lower yields will resume.”

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin last stood at $41,806, not far from the previous session’s peak of $42,404, its highest level since April 2022.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has charged roughly 153% higher this year on U.S. rate cut expectations and bets that American regulators will soon approve exchange-traded spot bitcoin funds (ETFs), opening the bitcoin market to millions more investors.

“$40,000 has acted like a magnet since Bitcoin finally broke through $30,000 in late October,” said crypto-services firm Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev. “It was only a matter of time before the next round number succumbed as enthusiasm about a spot ETF reaches fever pitch.”

(Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Jamie Freed and Sam Holmes)

By Leika Kihara and Takahiko Wada

TOKYO (Reuters) -Core inflation in Japan’s capital slowed in November, underscoring the central bank’s view that cost-push pressures in the world’s third-largest economy will gradually dissipate.

While service prices – in focus as the central bank looks for signs of wage-driven inflation – marked their fastest pace of increase since 1994, analysts attributed the climb to a spike in hotel fees amid an influx of tourists.

The core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes fuel costs, for Tokyo rose 2.3% in November from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, slightly below a median market forecast for a 2.4% gain.

It was slower than the 2.7% increase in October and matched a low marked in July last year, as fuel costs kept falling and price hikes for food moderated, the data showed.

The Tokyo index is considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends.

The so-called “core core” index that strips away both fresh food and fuel prices – closely watched by the BOJ as a gauge of broader price trends – rose 3.6% in November, slowing from a 3.8% gain in October.

The data will be among factors the BOJ will scrutinise at its next policy-setting meeting on Dec. 18-19.

With inflation having exceeded the BOJ’s 2% inflation target for more than a year, many market players expect the bank to phase out its massive stimulus some time next year.

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has stressed the need to keep policy ultra-loose until recent cost-push inflation is replaced by a demand-driven increase in prices backed by solid wage gains.

He has also said next year’s annual wage negotiations and the outlook for service prices, which reflect labour costs, are key to determining how soon the BOJ can exit its ultra-easy policy.

Slowing global growth and lacklustre domestic consumption have cast a shadow over a potential BOJ exit. Japan’s economy contracted in July-September, snapping two straight quarters of expansion on soft consumption and exports.

Service prices rose 3.0% in November, the Tokyo CPI data showed.

But the increase was due largely to a 62.5% jump in hotel fees, which were inflated by the base effect of a fall last year and pent-up demand for travel after the removal of pandemic curbs, analysts say.

“We expect not just goods but service prices to come under dis-inflationary pressure,” said Toru Suehiro, chief economist at Daiwa Securities.

The BOJ remains a dovish outlier among global peers, having maintained ultra-loose policy even as major central banks elsewhere raised interest rates aggressively to fight rampant inflation.

“Wage growth has yet to catch up to inflation, which is why inflationary pressure is gradually weakening,” said Takuya Hoshino, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

“With the economy starting to show signs of weakness, it’s hard to assume the BOJ can proceed smoothly towards normalising ultra-loose policy.”

(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Takahiko Wada; Editing by Sam Holmes and Edwina Gibbs)

Beijing (Reuters) -Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday amid uncertainty over voluntary output cuts by OPEC+, continued tension in the Middle East and weak economic data from the U.S.

Brent crude futures ticked down 1 cent to $78.02 a barrel by 0402 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 5 cents at $73.09 a barrel.

Comments by Saudi Arabia’s energy minister that OPEC+ production cuts could continue past the first quarter of 2024 if needed lent some support to the market, said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst for Asia pacific at OANDA.

Oil prices had declined in the previous trading session as traders doubted that supply cuts by OPEC+ would have a significant impact, and as a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on commodity prices in general, said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng.

A stronger dollar typically makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, which could dampen oil demand.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, on Thursday agreed to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024, led by Saudi Arabia rolling over its current voluntary cut.

At least 1.3 million bpd of those cuts, however, were an extension of voluntary curbs that Saudi Arabia and Russia already had in place.

Resumption of fighting in the Israel-Hamas war, however, stoked supply concern, as did attacks on three commercial vessels in international waters in the southern Red Sea.

Those incidents followed a series of attacks in Middle-Eastern waters since war broke out between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7.

Data on Tuesday showed U.S. factory orders fell by more than analysts expected in October and the most for over three years, dampening oil market sentiment. That bolstered the view that high interest rates are beginning to limit spending, analysts said.

(Reporting by Emily Chow and Colleen Howe; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

By Gloria Dickie

DUBAI (Reuters) – What if the world could quickly slash climate-warming emissions, without having to build so much new renewable energy capacity?

That’s exactly what some experts say needs to happen, by improving the efficiency of appliances and electricity grids through efforts like plugging leaks and stopping so-called “vampire loads” from devices that pull power from wall sockets even when switched off.

By lowering the amount of power needed to perform the same tasks, the world could burn fewer fossil fuels and spend less on expanding solar or wind capacity.

“We don’t just need to change the way we generate electricity, we need to change the ways we use it,” said Larissa Gross of E3G climate think tank.

At least 118 countries at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai have backed a pledge to improve energy efficiency rates by 4% each year until 2030. That would be a doubling of the 2% improvement in efficiency rates seen in 2022.

HOW CAN ENERGY BECOME MORE EFFICIENT?

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called efficiency the “first fuel” of the energy transition and one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

In its simplest form, energy efficiency can simply mean using appliances, technology, or electronics that are designed to consume less energy, such as heat pumps or LED lighting.

At a larger scale, buildings can be designed with better insulation to lessen the need for air conditioning or heating. Factories or cities can improve wiring to get rid of leakages.

As more industries including transport seek to power up from the electric grid, rather than through burning fossil fuels, demands on the grid will rise steeply.

“We need to make energy efficiency as sexy as wind turbines,” said Sofie Irgens, head of the climate solutions accelerator at Danish multinational Danfoss, which produces heating and cooling products.

Government regulation can also help by, for example, requiring minimum energy performance standards in appliances, vehicles or manufacturing.

HOW MUCH ENERGY AND MONEY CAN BE SAVED?

Doubling the global average efficiency rate could provide half of all necessary emissions reductions in 2030, according to the IEA’s Net Zero Roadmap.

For the European Union and Britain, it would mean an overall reduction in CO2 emissions of 40 million metric tonnes each year by 2030. That translates to annual cost savings of about 10.5 billion euros ($11.43 billion), Danfoss estimated in a November 2023 white paper.

Industries worldwide could save $437 billion per year by 2030 with improved energy efficiency, according to an October 2023 industry collective report by the Energy Efficiency Movement.

WHAT OFFERS THE BIGGEST ENERGY SAVINGS?

Switching to electric vehicles or heat pumps can offer significant energy savings if plugging into grids that increasingly draw on renewable power sources.

Electric vehicles also waste less of their energy reserve than combustion-engine vehicles powered by gasoline.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that EVs currently use 77% of their battery energy for power at the wheels. Gasoline vehicles can only harness about 12% to 30% of the energy from gas in their tanks.

Heat pumps can be up to five times more efficient than gas boilers, the IEA says.

In developing countries, including India and parts of Africa, the same logic applies to shifting to electric cookstoves instead of burning cow dung or firewood to cook.

“Electric cooking is hugely more efficient than biomass cooking,” said energy researcher Nick Eyre at Oxford University.

IS PROGRESS BEING MADE?

Since 2020, countries have mobilized around $1 trillion for energy efficiency projects, from building retrofits to public transport to support for electric vehicles.

As a result, energy efficiency improved globally this year by about 1.3% compared with last year, slower than the 2% improvement posted in 2022 due largely to rising energy demand, the IEA’s annual Energy Efficiency report said.

In the U.S., energy efficiency is beating the global average efficiency improvement rate this year at 4%, with $86 billion allocated for the goal under the Inflation Reduction Act.

And the European Union saw energy being used 5% more efficiently this year following an 8% improvement last year, thanks in part to milder winters.

Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands together saw heat pump sales rise 75% in the first half of 2023, compared with the same period last year.

The IEA has also highlighted opportunities in developing countries with growing cities, which can better plan for new energy-efficient buildings as their economies grow.

___

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($1 = 0.9190 euros)

(Reporting by Gloria Dickie; Editing by Katy Daigle and Jan Harvey)

By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) -A consortium of top multilateral development banks and climate funds launched a global task force on Monday to scale up the number and size of “debt-for-nature” swaps that cut a developing country’s debt in return for protecting vital ecosystems.

Debt-for-nature swaps are attracting growing interest following a number of successful recent deals in places such as Belize and the Galapagos Islands.

The creation of the task force, which Reuters reported was underway last week, is the most significant sign that the global club of multilateral lenders, who between them have trillions of dollars worth of firepower, are now ramping up their support for these types of deals.

It will initially be led by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), lenders that between them have been involved in all of the recent swaps, which also included Barbados and Gabon.

The Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, France’s Agence Francaise de Developpement and the European Investment Bank will also be members, as well as the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility.

“We are looking to scale up and enhance the impact of climate and nature finance,” IDB President Ilan Goldfajn said.

DFC CEO Scott Nathan added that it “solidifies” a commitment by multilateral lenders to better co-operate.

The World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank had also been expected to sign up to the group and while neither did so on Monday or commented on the reason why not, one source directly involved said both banks could still do so.

Development banks play a particularly important role in debt-for-nature swaps because they provide the credit guarantees and/or political risk insurance that make them viable.

At their simplest, the swaps work by buying up a country’s bonds, often at a discount, and then replacing them with cheaper eco-labelled ones that come with the special multilateral development bank guarantees.

Those enhancements make the new bonds less of a default risk in the eyes of investors and therefore drive down their cost. Some of the savings – although not necessarily all, critics note – are then funnelled towards conservation efforts.

GAME CHANGER

Countries seen as prime candidates for debt swaps include Sri Lanka and Zambia, which are both in the process of debt restructurings, as well as Kenya, Tanzania, Colombia and a host of others in Africa and Latin America.

The new task force is expected to start work in January and will initially focus on a stock take of the deals done so far as well as the toolkit countries and multilaterals need when they undertake a swap.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a U.S.-based NGO that will also be involved in the new working group, estimates a third of the $2.2 trillion worth of emerging market sovereign debt globally, or as much as $800 billion, is potentially “ripe” for swapping.

TNC’s Kevin Bender said the combined firepower of the enlarged set of multilateral lenders and climate funds “could be a real game changer.”

“Going to $1 billion to $2 billion-sized (debt swap) deals should certainly be the next step,” he said.

Others though think some issues still need to be ironed out.

Iolanda Fresnillo at the European Network on Debt and Development said there needed to be more transparency on the terms of the swaps and they needed to make a bigger impact in tackling debt.

“If you put that multilateral instrument on the table you should make sure there is a big (debt) saving because you are using public money,” Fresnillo said.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jamie Freed)

(Reuters) -Eight people were taken to a hospital for treatment on Monday after a toxic gas leak at Altivia Chemicals’ plant in La Porte, Texas, local officials said.

An update on their condition was not immediately available. The city canceled a shelter-in-place order in the afternoon that had affected several nearby industrial plants, officials said.

The La Porte Office of Emergency Management (LPOEM) said the Fire Department and Harris County Pollution Control confirmed there were no “detectable amounts of immediately hazardous products” near or downwind the facility.

Officials had cautioned residents to shelter in place due to a phosgene gas leak at Altivia, a chemical manufacturer and transporter that develops phosgene derivatives for pharmaceuticals and the agriculture industry.

“Eight people were transported from Altivia due to exposure, and all were stable at the time of leaving the facility,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top executive, in a social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“This happens quite frequently, we aren’t surprised,” said Ana Parras, executive co-director at Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services. “What they are producing is chemicals for plastic production, and there has been a rise in incidents” at Texas chemical plants.

The leak was the result of a ruptured pressure release device, Altivia said in a statement. All processes at its La Porte facility have been shut down, and its personnel contained the leak, the company added.

Phosgene is a colorless gas with a suffocating odor like musty hay that is used in the manufacture of other chemicals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Exposure to phosgene gas may cause vomiting, breathing difficulty, chest pain and, in its liquid form, frostbite.

Halliburton’s Multi-Chem Bayport site, Stepan’s Pasadena facility, and three other sites belonging to Kuraray America, Evonik and NCTI lifted orders to shelter in place, according to community alerts.

(Reporting by Deep Vakil and Rahul Paswan in BengaluruAdditional reporting by Georgina McCartney in HoustonEditing by Aurora Ellis, Matthew Lewis and Leslie Adler)

By Inti Landauro

MADRID (Reuters) -A group representing 83 Spanish media outlets has filed a 550 million euro ($600 million) lawsuit against Facebook owner Meta Platforms, citing unfair competition in the advertising market in a case that could be replicated across the European Union.

The AMI media association said in a statement on Monday the lawsuit was filed collectively by the newspapers with a commercial court on Friday, and allege Meta violated EU data protection rules between 2018 and 2023.

The newspapers argue that Meta’s “massive” and “systematic” use of personal data of its Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp platform users gives it an unfair advantage of designing and offering personalised ads, which they say constitutes unfair competition.

Meta’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Meta source familiar with the matter said the company was yet to receive the legal documents.

The complainants, including Prisa – which publishes Spain’s main newspaper El Pais – and Vocento, the owner of ABC, allege most of the ads placed by Meta use personal data obtained without express consent from clients.

This, they claim, violates the EU General Data Protection Regulation in force since May 2018 which demands that any website requests authorisation to keep and use personal data.

“Of course, in any other EU country, the same legal proceeding could be initiated” as it concerns an alleged violation of European regulations, Nicolas Gonzalez Cuellar, a lawyer representing the newspapers, told Reuters.

The lawsuit is the latest attempt by legacy media to fight tech giants in tribunals to protect their turf.

All over the world, media organisations have struggled in courts and parliaments to make tech giants pay fair fees for using and sharing their content.

Spanish media have scored a victory against Alphabet’s Google News service, which the government shut down in 2014 before its reopening in 2022 under new legislation allowing media outlets to negotiate fees directly with the tech giant.

Following the Spanish case, several countries, such as Canada earlier this year, have imposed regulations designed to make internet giants pay for news.

($1 = 0.9203 euros)

(Reporting by Inti Landauro, Jakub Olesiuk and Supantha Mukherjee;Editing by David Goodman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

By Noel Randewich and Shristi Achar A

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday, interrupting last week’s rally, as investors turned cautious ahead of employment data due this week that could alter expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early next year.

The S&P 500 receded, with megacaps Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia and Amazon dipping over 1%, pressured by higher U.S. Treasury yields, which made returns on stocks less attractive.

The S&P 500 registered its highest close of the year on Friday as remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the central bank’s need to “move forward carefully” amid signs of economic softening, comments that bolstered expectations the Fed has finished raising rates.

Small-cap stocks rose on Monday, with the Russell 2000 rallying about 1% and bringing its gain this year to almost 7%.

“There is a lot of chop around here that is not necessarily meaningful,” said Tom Martin, a senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.

“We have a really important Fed meeting coming up, and what makes it important is that all of a sudden, the market has decided that they’re going to cut early next year.”

The S&P 500 declined 0.54% to end the session at 4,569.78 points.

The Nasdaq declined 0.84% to 14,185.49 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.11% to 36,204.44 points.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 12.7 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 10.6 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies rallied 2.2% after an announcement on Friday it will join the S&P 500 effective Dec. 18.

Shares of Alaska Air Group tumbled 14% after the carrier said on Sunday it would acquire peer Hawaiian Holdings for $1.9 billion, including debt. Hawaiian’s shares nearly tripled in value, helping lift the Russel index.

This week’s main macroeconomic focus will be Friday’s jobs report for November, which may help investors gauge the Fed’s likely interest rate path, as well as the potential for a “soft landing” – where the Fed manages to bring inflation under control while averting a recession.

Traders widely expect the central bank will keep rates unchanged at its meeting next week. Interest rate futures suggest a 58% probability the Fed will start cutting rates by March 2024, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

However, some analysts warn that markets have been too quick to price in lower interest rates.

Adding to declines on Monday were renewed fears about a widening of the war in Israel and Gaza after an attack on three commercial vessels in the southern Red Sea.

Shares of cryptocurrency firms such as Coinbase Global, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital rallied between 5% and 9% after bitcoin crossed $40,000 for the first time this year.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.0-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 38 new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 125 new highs and 63 new lows.

The S&P 500 has gained 19% so far in 2023, while the Nasdaq has recovered 24%.

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Shristi Achar A in Bangalore, and by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Pooja Desai and Aurora Ellis)

(Reuters) -Kinder Morgan on Monday forecast higher 2024 earnings as the U.S. pipeline operator bets on growth in its natural gas pipelines and energy transition ventures.

Net income attributable to Kinder Morgan for 2024 is expected to be $1.21 per share, up 11% from its forecast of $1.09 per share for 2023, the company said.

“We expect to continue benefiting from strong natural gas market fundamentals driving growth on our existing natural gas transportation, storage, and gathering and processing assets as well as expansion opportunities,” Kim Dang, chief executive officer of Kinder Morgan, said in a statement.

The pipeline operator also anticipates to benefit from increased rates in refined products businesses, demand for renewable diesel and renewable diesel feedstocks, and demand for renewable natural gas.

The company said it expects to get a boost from contract rate escalations in its products pipelines and terminals business units.

Profits for oil and gas transportation have been helped by strong demand due to low U.S. inventory levels and increased exports, as buyers sought alternatives to Russian oil since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Kinder Morgan is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America and operates about 82,000 miles of pipelines.

Canadian peers TC Energy and Enbridge also earlier estimated higher adjusted core earnings for 2024.

Kinder Morgan expects to generate $8 billion of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in 2024, up 5% from the 2023 forecast of $7.6 billion.

The company added that it expects to invest $2.3 billion in discretionary capital expenditures, including expansion projects and contributions to joint ventures.

(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal and Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

(Reuters) -Eight people were taken to the hospital for treatment on Monday after a toxic gas leak at Altivia Chemical’s plant in La Porte, Texas, was contained local officials said.

The La Porte Office of Emergency Management (LPOEM) said the Fire Department and the Harris County Pollution Control confirmed there were no “detectable amounts of immediately hazardous products” near or downwind the facility.

The announcement comes after officials had cautioned residents to shelter in place due to a phosgene leak at Altiva, a chemical manufacturer and transporter that develops phosgene derivatives for pharmaceuticals and the agriculture industry.

“Eight people were transported from Altivia due to exposure, and all were stable at the time of leaving the facility,” said Houston County Judge Lina Hidalgo on a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Phosgene is a colorless gas with a suffocating odor like musty hay that is used in the manufacture of other chemicals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Exposure to phosgene gas may cause vomiting, breathing difficulty, chest pain and, in its liquid form, frostbite.

Halliburton’s Multi-Chem Bayport site, Stepan’s Pasadena facility, and three other sites belonging to Kuraray Americas, Evonik, and NCTI, also lifted orders to shelter in place, according to community alerts.

“There was no impact to any schools as they were not in the shelter area,” LPOEM added.

An Altiva spokesperson did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Deep Vakil and Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese, ,Bill Berkrot and Aurora Ellis)