Business
China Doubles Yuan Trading Band
BEIJING – China doubled the limit for the yuan’s daily moves against the U.S. dollar, easing controls on the exchange rate as appreciation bets waned amid slower economic growth.
The yuan will, from tomorrow, be able to trade as much as 2 percent on either side of a daily central bank reference rate, from 1 percent previously, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website yesterday. The band was last widened in April 2012 from 0.5 percent, and before that from 0.3 percent in May 2007.
The move underscores pledges from China’s leaders to make the exchange rate more market based and promote freer movement of capital in and out of the country for investment purposes. The central bank said yesterday it will continue to increase the yuan’s two-way flexibility after last month highlighting an “orderly” broadening of the currency’s trading band among its 2014 policy goals.
The band widening “strengthens the PBOC’s signal that the one-way bet on the yuan’s gain is over and we should expect much more yuan-dollar volatility going forward,” Lu Ting, head of Greater China economics at Bank of America Corp. in Hong Kong, said in an e-mail. “Further band widening is of little meaning. A much more important and meaningful reform is to change the rule on setting the daily fixing.”
Improve Fixing
The central bank needs to shift to a new market-based system, Lu said. As an intermediate step in improving the fixing, it could peg the yuan to a basket of currencies weighted by the importance of its trading partners, Lu said.
While the PBOC will “basically exit” normal foreign-exchange intervention to allow markets a greater role, it will “conduct the necessary adjustment and management” in cases of abnormally large fluctuations, the central bank said in a separate statement.
The currency has slid 1.8 percent from a 20-year high of 6.0406 per dollar reached on Jan. 14, after strengthening 2.9 percent in 2013. The yuan fell as much as 0.86 percent on Feb. 28, the biggest intraday loss in China Foreign Exchange Trade System prices going back to 2007. The drop was also the largest since China unified official and market exchange rates at the start of 1994. It closed at 6.1502 on March 14.
Appreciation Bets
Recent weakness was driven by the central bank in order to curb one-way appreciation bets before broadening the trading limit, HSBC Holdings Plc strategists led by Paul Mackel wrote in a note yesterday.
One-month implied volatility in the onshore yuan, a measure of expected moves in the exchange rate used to price options, touched an 18-month high of 2.49 percent on March 14. Non-deliverable forwards due in 12 months completed the biggest weekly drop since November 2011.
The “knee-jerk” market reaction is likely to be higher yuan volatility, while long-dated yuan forwards will weaken further, Albert Leung, Hong Kong-based local market strategist for Asia at Bank of America, said in an e-mail.
Growth Target
Yesterday’s announcement follows data signaling an economic slowdown that may make Premier Li Keqiang’s 2014 expansion target of about 7.5 percent harder to reach. Industrial output had the weakest January-February growth since 2009 and fixed-asset investment increased at the slowest pace for the two-month period in 13 years, government reports released March 13 showed.
At least seven institutions including Bank of America, Nomura Holdings Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS AG, Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd., Barclays Plc. and Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their forecasts for gross domestic product growth after the data.
GDP rose 7.7 percent in 2013, the same pace as in 2012, which was the weakest increase since 1999.
Yuan appreciation and capital inflows are unlikely amid the weak economic data, JPMorgan economists led by Zhu Haibin wrote in a research note. “Yuan depreciation could support exports, and capital outflow will drain domestic liquidity and open the window for reserve-requirement ratio cuts by the PBOC,” they said. Zhu cut his 2014 growth estimate to 7.2 percent from 7.4 percent last week.
Higher Volatility
The reserve ratio, the amount of cash lenders must set aside at the central bank, has been kept at 20 percent for the largest banks since the last reduction in May 2012.
“With the band widening and, more importantly, recent spate of weak China data, we think the bias is for near-term weakness of the yuan and potentially higher volatility,” Irene Cheung, Singapore-based foreign-exchange strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said in an e-mail.
The majority of 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News last month had said they expected the PBOC to double the yuan’s daily limit by the end of June, after the central bank listed it among its goals for 2014 in a Feb. 19 statement.
PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan highlighted an “orderly” widening of the band in a guidebook in November that explained policy changes outlined at a Communist Party summit earlier that month. The meeting pledged to give markets a “decisive” role in the pricing of resources, with acceleration of yuan convertibility and liberalization of interest rates among the proposals.
Key Factor
“Widening the trading band will help companies and residents recognize the exchange rate as a key price factor in the allocation of resources,” the PBOC said, adding that the increase is “within the bearable range” for market players.
“With the progress of reform toward a market-oriented exchange-rate mechanism, the yuan will in the future be like other major international currencies with fully-flexible two-way movement as the norm,” it said.
A wider band is positive for the yuan and marks a step to making it a currency that can compete with the dollar and euro, Sean Yokota, Singapore-based head of Asian strategy at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, said in a note today. The yuan will continue to appreciate in the longer term, he said.
The yuan touched both ends of its then-permitted 1 percent trading range. It fell to a 0.99 percent discount to the fixing on July 20, 2012, testing the weak end for the first time. It traded within 0.1 percent of the upper end of the band on most days between October 2012 and May 2013, reaching the limit frequently. The difference has averaged 0.5 percent so far this year.
International Use
The currency is currently allowed to fluctuate 3 percent on either side of reference rates set against the euro, the British pound, the yen and the Hong Kong dollar. The limit is 5 percent against the Malaysian ringgit and the Russian ruble. The central bank statement yesterday didn’t mention changes to those bands.
International use of the yuan is increasing as China opens up its capital markets. A third of China’s trade will be settled in yuan by 2015 and the currency will be fully convertible within five years, HSBC forecast in a report last year. The yuan surpassed the euro as the world’s second most-popular currency in trade finance in 2013.
The U.K. is in active talks with the PBOC to set up a yuan clearing bank in London, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said in an interview last month. Direct trading between the yuan and the currencies of Japan and Australia started in the past two years. The European Central Bank and the PBOC in October agreed to establish a bilateral currency swap line of as much as 350 billion yuan ($57 billion).
China is also testing convertibility of the yuan under the capital account in a free-trade zone in Shanghai and a special economic zone in Shenzhen.
Business
PepsiCo Reduces Revenue Projections As North American Snacks And Key International Markets Underperform.
(VOR News) – In the third quarter of this year, Pepsi’s net income was $2.93 billion, which is equivalent to $2.13 per share. This was attributed to the company.
This is in stark contrast to net income of $3.09 billion, which is equivalent to $2.24 per share, during the same period in the previous year. The company’s earnings per share were $2.31 when expenses were excluded.
Net sales decreased by 0.6%, totaling $23.32 billion. Organic sales increased by 1.3% during the quarter when the effects of acquisitions, divestitures, and currency changes are excluded.
Pepsi’s beverage sales fell this quarter.
The most recent report indicates that the beverage and food sectors of the organization experienced a 2% decline in volume. Consumers of all income levels are demonstrating a change in their purchasing habits, as indicated by CEOs’ statements from the previous quarter.
Pepsi’s entire volume was adversely affected by the lackluster demand they encountered in North America. An increasing number of Americans are becoming more frugal, reducing the number of snacks they ingest, and reducing the number of times they purchase at convenience stores.
Furthermore, Laguarta observed that the increase in sales was partially attributed to the election that occurred in Mexico during the month of June.
The most significant decrease in volume was experienced by Quaker Foods North America, which was 13%. In December, the company announced its initial recall in response to a potential salmonella infection.
Due to the probability of an illness, the recall was extended in January. Pepsi officially closed a plant that was implicated in the recalls in June, despite the fact that manufacturing had already been halted.
Jamie Caulfield, the Chief Financial Officer of Pepsi and Laguarta, has indicated that the recalls are beginning to have a lessening effect.
Frito-Lay experienced a 1.5% decline in volume in North America. The company has been striving to improve the value it offers to consumers and the accessibility of its snack line, which includes SunChips, Cheetos, and Stacy’s pita chips, in the retail establishments where it is sold.
Despite the fact that the category as a whole has slowed down in comparison to the results of previous years, the level of activity within the division is progressively increasing.
Pepsi executives issued a statement in which they stated that “Salty and savory snacks have underperformed year-to-date after outperforming packaged food categories in previous years.”
Pepsi will spend more on Doritos and Tostitos in the fall and winter before football season.
The company is currently promoting incentive packets for Tostitos and Ruffles, which contain twenty percent more chips than the standard package.
Pepsi is expanding its product line in order to more effectively target individuals who are health-conscious. The business announced its intention to acquire Siete Foods for a total of $1.2 billion approximately one week ago. The restaurant serves Mexican-American cuisine, which is typically modified to meet the dietary needs of a diverse clientele.
The beverage segment of Pepsi in North America experienced a three percent decrease in volume. Despite the fact that the demand for energy drinks, such as Pepsi’s Rockstar, has decreased as a result of consumers visiting convenience stores, the sales of well-known brands such as Gatorade and Pepsi have seen an increase throughout the quarter.
Laguarta expressed his opinion to the analysts during the company’s conference call, asserting, “I am of the opinion that it is a component of the economic cycle that we are currently experiencing, and that it will reverse itself in the future, once consumers feel better.”
Additionally, it has been noted that the food and beverage markets of South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa have experienced a decline in sales volume. The company cut its forecast for organic revenue for the entire year on Tuesday due to the business’s second consecutive quarter of lower-than-anticipated sales.
The company’s performance during the quarter was adversely affected by the Quaker Foods North America recalls, the decrease in demand in the United States, and the interruptions that occurred in specific international markets, as per the statements made by Chief Executive Officer Ramon Laguarta.
Pepsi has revised its forecast for organic sales in 2024, shifting from a 4% growth rate to a low single-digit growth rate. The company reiterated its expectation that the core constant currency profitability per share will increase by a minimum of 8% in comparison to the previous year.
The company’s shares declined by less than one percent during premarket trading. The following discrepancies between the company’s report and the projections of Wall Street were identified by LSEG in a survey of analysts:
SOURCE: CNBC
SEE ALSO:
Old National Bank And Infosys Broaden Their Strategic Partnership.
Business
Old National Bank And Infosys Broaden Their Strategic Partnership.
(VOR News) – Old National Bank, a commercial bank with its headquarters in the Midwest, and Infosys, a firm that specializes in information technology, have recently entered into a strategic expansion of their link, which has been in place for the past four years.
This expansion is more likely to take place sooner rather than later, with the likelihood being higher.
For the purpose of making it possible for Old National Bank to make use of the services, solutions, and platforms that are offered by Infosys, the objective of this expansion is to make it possible for the bank to transform its operations and processes through the application of automation and GenAI, as well as to change significant business areas.
This lets the bank leverage Infosys’ services, solutions, and platforms.
Old National Bank Chairman and CEO Jim Ryan said, “At Old National, we are committed to creating exceptional experiences for both our customers and our fellow employees.”
This statement is applicable to Old National Bank. Infosys is carefully managing the business process innovations that it is putting us through, putting a strong emphasis on efficiency and value growth throughout the process to ensure that it is carried out efficiently.
This is a routine occurrence throughout the entire operation. Because of Infosys’ dedication to our development and success, we are incredibly appreciative of the assistance they have provided.
Old National has been receiving assistance from Infosys in the process of updating its digital environment since the year 2020, according to the aforementioned company.
Ever since that time, the company has been providing assistance. The provision of this assistance has been accomplished through the utilization of a model that is not only powerful but also capable of functioning on its own power.
Infosys currently ranks Old National thirty-first out of the top thirty US banks.
This ranking is based on the fact that Old National is the nation’s largest banking corporation.
It is estimated that the total value of the company’s assets is approximately fifty-three billion dollars, while the assets that are currently being managed by the organization are valued at thirty billion dollars.
Dennis Gada, the Executive Vice President and Global Head of Banking and Financial Services, stated that “Old National Bank and Infosys possess a robust cultural and strategic alignment in the development, management, and enhancement of enterprise-scale solutions to transform the bank’s operations and facilitate growth.”
This remark referenced the exceptional cultural and strategic synergy between the two organizations. Dennis Gada is the one who asserted this claim. This was articulated explicitly concerning the exceptional cultural congruence and strategy alignment of the two organizations.
We are pleased to announce that the implementation of Infosys Topaz will substantially expedite the transformation of Old National Bank’s business processes and customer service protocols. We are exceedingly enthusiastic about this matter. We are quite thrilled about this specific component of the scenario.
Medium-sized banks operating regionally will continue to benefit from our substantial expertise in the sector, technology, and operations. This specific market segment of Infosys will persist in benefiting from our extensive experience. This phenomenon will enable this market sector to sustain substantial growth and efficiency benefits.
SOURCE: THBL
SEE ALSO:
American Water, The Largest Water Utility In US, Is Targeted By A Cyberattack
States Sue TikTok, Claiming Its Platform Is Addictive And Harms The Mental Health Of Children
Qantas Airways Apologizes After R-Rated Film Reportedly Airs On Every Screen During Flight
Business
American Water, The Largest Water Utility In US, Is Targeted By A Cyberattack
The largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States stated Monday that it had been the target of a cyberattack, forcing the company to halt invoicing to consumers.
American Water, The Largest Water Utility In US, Is Targeted By A Cyberattack
American Water, based in New Jersey and serving over 14 million people in 14 states and 18 military facilities, said it learned of the unauthorized activity on Thursday and quickly took precautions, including shutting down certain systems. The business does not believe the attack had an impact on its facilities or operations and said employees were working “around the clock” to determine the origin and scale of the attack.
According to their website, American Water operates over 500 water and wastewater systems in around 1,700 communities across California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
SOURCE | AP
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