Washington takes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s words about nuclear weapons seriously, but so far sees no need to change its strategic positions, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.
“We should always take this kind of rhetoric seriously. It’s not like what he’s been saying in the past seven months. We’ve taken it seriously,” Kirby said in response to a reporter’s related question.
“We are following Russia’s strategic position as best we can. If necessary, we will change our (position). We see no indication that this is required at the present time,” he added.
Earlier Wednesday, Putin warned those seeking to blackmail Russia with nuclear weapons that the wind rose could turn in their favor.
The President of the Russian Federation noted that “when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff.”
Stock indices of the largest states of the Asia-Pacific region on Wednesday showed a decrease following the similar dynamics of the US stock market a day earlier.
Traders’ attention is focused on the meetings of the Central Bank of several large countries at once, which will be held this week. The results of the meeting of the leadership of the US Federal Reserve System will be especially important.
Most experts believe that the US Central Bank will raise the base interest rate by 75 basis points (bp) following the meeting, which will end on September 21. However, some analysts consider a 100 bp increase possible at once. In addition, financial market participants will evaluate the forecasts of the Fed regarding the future level of the rate and the economy.
In addition, geopolitical tensions in the world and the expected slowdown in global economic growth have a negative impact on investor sentiment.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) downgraded its economic growth forecast for emerging Asia for 2022-2023 on Wednesday. amid rising global risks. Now GDP is expected to increase by 4.3% this year compared to 5.2% expected in April, next year – by 4.9% against 5.3% earlier.
“Emerging Asia continues to recover, but the risks are high,” said ADB chief economist Albert Park. to financial instability.
He also noted that the Chinese economy is facing problems due to repeated lockdowns and a weak real estate sector. The estimate of China’s GDP growth for this year was downgraded by ADB analysts to 3.3% from 5% forecast in April.
China’s Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.8%. Both indicators are at their four-month lows.
Shares of solar panel maker Xinyi Solar Holdings Ltd were among the top decliners on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (-8%), which produces semiconductors Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. (-10.5%), automakers Geely (-4.6%) and BYD (-2.2%), game developer Netease Inc. (SPB: NTES) (-3.6%), online retailers Alibaba (SPB: BABA) (-3.7%) and JD.com (-2.9%).
The value of the Japanese Nikkei 225 index for the day decreased by 1.4%.
Shares of polymer producer Unitika led the fall, losing 7.5%. The price of securities of the investment and technology SoftBank Group (-1.2%), the manufacturer of prefixes Nintendo (-1.2%), automotive Toyota Motor (-2.4%) and Nissan Motor (-3.1%) also decreased.
Shikoku Electric Power’s share price fell 5.2% after the power company announced it would not pay dividends for the first half of the year due to uncertainty about future fuel prices.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.9% on Wednesday.
Shares of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of chips and consumer electronics Samsung Electronics Co. fell by 0.9%, automaker Hyundai Motor – by 0.8%.
Auto parts makers Hwacheon Machinery Co. led the pack, up nearly 30% after falling by a similar amount in previous trading.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.6%.
The market value of the world’s largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto decreased by 3.1% and 3.7%, respectively. Iron ore prices fell to a nine-month low due to an expected contraction in steel demand.
Oil companies Woodside Energy and Santos lost 1.9% and 1%.
As of September 20, Ukrainian agricultural producers sowed the main winter crops on an area of 411 thousand hectares (9% of the forecast of 4.56 million hectares), 0.25 million hectares were sown over the past week, according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Tuesday.
In particular, wheat was sown on 9% of the planned area, or 364 thousand hectares (+207 thousand hectares for the week of September 13-20), barley – 32 thousand hectares (+25 thousand hectares, 5% of the area), rye – 15.3 thousand hectares (+10 thousand hectares, 18% of the area).
According to the ministry, the most intensive sowing of winter grains is carried out in the Ternopil region, where 29.2 thousand hectares have already been sown, or 20% of the forecast.
In addition, agrarians from 13 regions of Ukraine have fully completed the sowing of winter rapeseed, by September 20 it was sown on 98% of the planned areas – 948 thousand hectares (+107 thousand hectares per week).
As reported, in 2021, Ukraine allocated 8.87 million hectares for winter crops, including 6.66 million hectares for wheat, 1.02 million hectares for barley, 160.6 thousand hectares for rye, and 1.03 for rapeseed. million ha.
Stock indices of Western European countries mainly rise on Wednesday, market participants are waiting for the results of the September meeting of the Federal Reserve System (FRS).
The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 increased by 0.38% by 11:42 a.m. to 404.94 points.
The British stock index FTSE 100 rose by 0.64%, the French CAC 40 – by 0.04%, while the Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 added 0.8% and 0.2% respectively. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.14%.
The Fed meeting will end on Wednesday at 21:00 CST, after which the traditional press conference of Central Bank Chairman Jerome Powell will begin at 21:30. Markets are convinced that the regulator will raise the key interest rate by at least 75 basis points.
Uniper shares fell 22% on news that the German government, the management of the energy company and its parent company Fortum have reached an agreement on state support.
The terms of the agreement provide for the government to inject 8 billion euros into the company’s capital through an additional issue of shares in favor of the state at a price of 1.70 euros per share. In addition, the German government will acquire Fortum’s stake in Uniper, after which the state stake in Uniper will reach about 99%.
Fortum’s market value soared 14%, leading the stock in the Stoxx Europe 600 index.
The price of securities of another German energy company, E.ON, rises by 0.7% on the announcement of the extension of the contract with CEO Leonard Birnbaum for another five years, until June 30, 2028.
Shares in France’s Schneider Electric shed 0.3%, while British software developer Aveva rose 2.3%. Aveva shareholders approved the sale to Schneider for 9.482 billion pounds ($10.8 billion).
Capitalization of Lloyds Bank rises by 0.4% after Citi analysts were optimistic about the profit prospects of European banks against the background of rising interest rates in the world’s leading economies. Shares of Societe Generale and UBS, also included by Citi among the region’s most attractive financial companies for investment, are down more than 1.5%.
Dynamics of changes in discount rate of NBU
NBU
Canadian mining company Black Iron Inc. with assets in Ukraine, despite the ongoing war, continues to promote the Shimanovsky iron ore project through negotiations with the Ministry of Defense regarding the transfer of land, the execution of an investment support agreement with the government of the country and obtaining permits for the extraction of minerals and their processing.
According to the company’s press release, the land adjacent to the Shimanovsky ore body, necessary for the location of the future processing plant, waste rock warehouses and tailings, belongs to the government of Ukraine and is used by the Ministry of Defense for training purposes. Discussions with the Department of Defense led to an agreement on a preliminary amount of funds that Black Iron would have to pay as compensation for obtaining this piece of land for its use.
“Efforts are now focused on drawing up a binding agreement on the transfer of this land (to the use of Black Iron – IF) after peace is established in Ukraine,” the press release states.
In addition, Black Iron is also negotiating with the government of Ukraine on an investment support agreement that will include several benefits, such as the permanence of legislation (company operating conditions – IF) and exemption from import duties on equipment needed for the project.
In turn, Black Iron management prepared an extensive report covering several aspects of the project, such as the proposed new jobs, tax payments and social benefits. Before submitting this document, it will be necessary to make some changes to the legislation of Ukraine in order for Black Iron to comply with the requirements, and work in this direction is currently in full swing, the press release emphasizes.
“In order to keep our permits valid, work is currently underway in Ukraine to update the geological and mining plans. Finally, while Black Iron stakeholders wait for peace in Ukraine to bring the Shimanovsky project to the construction stage, management is considering new potential projects to increase shareholder value “, – summed up in a press release.
As reported, in October 2010, Black Iron acquired the Cypriot subsidiary of Geo-Alliance Ore East Limited from EastOne investment group of Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk, together with licenses, for $13 million, then renaming it BKI Cyprus. The main assets are 99% in LLC “Shymanovskoe Steel” and “Zelenovskoe Steel” (both – Dnipro).
In July 2013, after a series of problems with the implementation of the Black Iron project, it announced an agreement with Metinvest, the largest Ukrainian mining and metallurgical group, to develop its iron ore assets. Metinvest B.V. paid to Black Iron Inc. $20 million and acquired 49% in BKI Cyprus. Later, however, Metinvest withdrew from the project.
The Shimanovskoye iron ore deposit is surrounded by five other operating mining enterprises, including the ArcelorMittal iron ore complex. The existing infrastructure, including access to electricity, railway and port facilities, according to Black Iron, will allow the project to be quickly implemented to the production stage.
According to a presentation dated May 2021, the expected capital investment in the launch of the first stage is estimated at $452 million, the second – $364 million. the first stage and 8 million tons per year – at the second.
