By Martin Coulter

LONDON (Reuters) - Elon Musk has been accused of exacerbating tensions after a week of far-right rioting in Britain, sparking calls for the government to speed up the rollout of laws policing harmful online content.

Misinformation and calls to violence have spread on social media over the past week after far-right and anti-Muslim groups seized on the fatal stabbing of three young girls in the English town of Southport.

As rioters clashed with police in some towns and cities, Musk joined the debate on his X platform, posting that civil war was "inevitable" in Britain. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson said there was "no justification" for such comments.

Separately, Starmer warned social media companies that violent disorder whipped up online was a crime "on your premises", while adding there was a "balance to be struck" in handling the firms.

The official responses reflect the difficult situation the government is in.

An Online Safety Bill was passed into law in October but has yet to be implemented. It gives media regulator Ofcom the power to fine social media companies up to 10% of global turnover if they are found in breach of the law, for example by failing to police content inciting violence or terrorism.

But Ofcom is still drawing up guidelines outlining how it will implement the law, with enforcement not expected until early next year. In the wake of recent violence, some are calling for the rules to be rolled out sooner.

Adam Leon Smith, a fellow at industry body BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, wants Ofcom to start enforcing the Online Safety Act as soon as possible, he told Reuters.

"There must be a tipping point where a foreign billionaire platform owner has to take some responsibility for running a toxic bot network that has become one of the main sources of fake news and misinformation in the UK," he said.

Laws properly governing online safety are long overdue, said Kirsty Blackman, an MP for the Scottish National Party.

"I would back moves for the timetable to be accelerated,” she said. "Requirements should be brought in as soon as possible, particularly for the biggest and highest-risk platforms."

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "We're moving quickly to implement the Online Safety Act so we can enforce it as soon as possible. To do this, we are required to consult on codes of practice and guidance, after which the new safety duties on platforms will become enforceable."

Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

ENFORCEMENT

While those inciting violence online can be prosecuted individually, the government has no way to force social media companies to police their platforms until the Online Safety Bill comes into effect.

On Tuesday, Britain's technology minister Peter Kyle said he had met with TikTok, Meta (NASDAQ:META), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and X to emphasize their responsibility to prevent the spread of harmful content online. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Despite this, a number of posts on X actively encouraging violence and racism – seen by Reuters – remain live and have been viewed tens of thousands of times.

At the time of writing, Musk's X posts on the issue have been read by tens of millions of users, according to the site's own metrics.

One post containing misleading information about a Kurdish teenager convicted of rape in Britain has been seen 53 million times. Another, in which he suggested Muslim communities were receiving undue police protection, had been viewed 54 million times.

While such comments themselves might not break the rules around illegal content, allowing direct calls for violence may.

"We would encourage Ofcom to speed up its work on the guidelines, so that X and other social media platforms face financial penalties if they do not remove harmful content," said Iman Atta, director of advocacy group Tell MAMA, which monitors anti-Muslim activity in Britain.

"There is a need to force platforms to take more drastic action against extremism and hate speech," she said.

By Karen Brettell

(Reuters) -U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday after the Treasury Department saw soft demand for a $42 billion sale of 10-year notes and as companies rushed to sell debt as risk appetite improved.

Supply is the main focus this week as traders wait on fresh economic data for further clues on the strength of the U.S. economy.

Yields tumbled to more than one-year lows after Friday’s employment report for July showed an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate, while jobs gains also came in below economists’ forecasts, raising fears of an imminent recession.

Tumbling stock markets partly blamed by traders unwinding popular dollar/yen carry trades, in which they sold the Japanese currency and bought U.S. assets, added to demand for safe haven U.S. debt.

This demand has since ebbed as stocks move higher, but Treasury yields remain well below where they have recently traded, which was seen as denting interest in Wednesday's debt auction.

The 10-year notes sold at a high yield of 3.96%, 3 basis points above where they traded before the sale. Demand was 2.32 times the amount of debt on offer, the weakest since December 2022.

"Investors just weren't willing to pay up for sub-4% 10s," said Vail Hartman, U.S. rates strategist at BMO Capital Markets in New York. "This suggests this move may still have a little bit further to run before dip buyers reemerge in a more meaningful way."

Heavy corporate debt issuance also pushed yields higher.

“You have a lot of issuers who paused on Monday and even maybe held back yesterday just to make sure the coast was clear in terms of how risk assets are going to be received and now are coming to market today,” said Michael Lorizio, senior fixed income trader at Manulife Investment Management in Boston.

By Liz Lee and Ellen Zhang

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's exports climbed 7.0% in July from year earlier, a slower pace of growth than in June and missing expectations, but imports rose 7.2%, customs data showed on Wednesday.

That compares with forecasts for 9.7% growth in exports and a 3.5% increase in imports from a Reuters poll of economists.

It also compares with June figures that showed an 8.6% expansion in exports and a 2.3% contraction in imports.

The world's second-largest economy has struggled to gain momentum despite government efforts to stimulate domestic demand following the pandemic. A protracted property slump and fears about job security have dragged heavily on consumer confidence.

By Liz Lee and Ellen Zhang

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's exports climbed 7.0% in July from year earlier, a slower pace of growth than in June and missing expectations, but imports rose 7.2%, customs data showed on Wednesday.

That compares with forecasts for 9.7% growth in exports and a 3.5% increase in imports from a Reuters poll of economists.

It also compares with June figures that showed an 8.6% expansion in exports and a 2.3% contraction in imports.

The world's second-largest economy has struggled to gain momentum despite government efforts to stimulate domestic demand following the pandemic. A protracted property slump and fears about job security have dragged heavily on consumer confidence.

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's government passed two decrees on Tuesday allowing the economy ministry to seek a cumulative $9 billion in financing, Panama's council of ministers said in a statement.

The first decree permits the issuance of treasury notes on the local market for up to $6 billion, with maturities between two and 10 years.

The second allows the economy ministry to subscribe to financing schemes with local and international institutions for up to $3 billion.

By Leika Kihara

HAKODATE, Japan (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan's influential deputy governor said on Wednesday the central bank won't hike interest rates when markets are unstable, playing down the chance of a near-term hike in borrowing costs.

The remarks by Shinichi Uchida, which contrasted with Governor Kazuo Ueda's hawkish comments made last week when the BOJ unexpectedly raised interest rates, boosted Japan's Nikkei share average and sent the yen

Uchida said the intense market volatility in the past week could "obviously" change the BOJ's rate hike path if it affects the central bank's economic and price projections and the likelihood of Japan durably achieving its 2% inflation target.

"As we're seeing sharp volatility in domestic and overseas financial markets, it's necessary to maintain current levels of monetary easing for the time being," Uchida said in a speech to business leaders in the northern Japanese city of Hakodate.

The recent strengthening of the yen would affect the BOJ's policy decision-making because it reduces upward pressure on import prices, and therefore overall inflation, Uchida said.

Stock market volatility would also influence its decisions by affecting corporate activity and consumption, he added.

"Unlike U.S. and European central banks, we're not in a situation where we would end up being behind the curve unless we hike interest rates at a set pace," Uchida said.

"We won't raise interest rates when financial markets are unstable," Uchida said.

The dollar surged to a session high of 147.50 yen and was last up 1.6% at 146.59 after Uchida's remarks. The Nikkei average climbed 3%, while the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield fell 1 basis point to 0.875%.

"The BOJ hiked interest rates because it didn't like the weak yen. Now, it appears to be suggesting a pause in rate hikes because it doesn't like stocks falling," said Takuya Kanda, an analyst at Gaitame.com Research Institute.

"If the BOJ is watching markets so much in setting policy, there's a chance it won't be able to raise rates that much."

U.S. OUTLOOK KEY

Last week, the BOJ raised interest rates to levels unseen in 15 years and unveiled a detailed plan to slow its massive bond buying, taking another step towards phasing out a decade of huge stimulus.

Governor Ueda said the BOJ will keep raising rates if the economy and prices move in line with its projection, signalling the chance of steady hikes in coming years.

The hawkish remarks, as well as weak U.S. labour data that stoked fears of recession in the world's largest economy, helped contribute to a global market rout that sent the yen soaring and Japan's Nikkei average plunging on Monday.

Markets have whipsawed since then, partly as traders reassessed the timing and pace of future BOJ rate hikes.

While stressing the need to keep monetary policy loose for the time being, Uchida said Japan's economy was likely to keep recovering with the United States seen achieving a soft landing.

"Uchida's comments are clearly dovish. Unless market sentiment recovers rapidly, the chance of the BOJ hiking rates either in September or October is low," said Toru Suehiro, an economist at Daiwa Securities.

"But if U.S. recession fears subside around year-end, the BOJ will likely raise rates in December," he said.

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's government passed two decrees on Tuesday allowing the economy ministry to seek a cumulative $9 billion in financing, Panama's council of ministers said in a statement.

The first decree permits the issuance of treasury notes on the local market for up to $6 billion, with maturities between two and 10 years.

The second allows the economy ministry to subscribe to financing schemes with local and international institutions for up to $3 billion.

By Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said on Wednesday that it conducted a record single-day yen-buying intervention in April, selling 5.92 trillion yen ($40.83 billion) worth of dollars in a fight against a falling yen at that time.

Quarterly data from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed that Japan spent a record 5.92 trillion yen on a single-day yen-buying intervention on April 29 and a further 3.87 trillion yen on May 1.

The previous single-day record for such intervention was 5.62 trillion yen spent on Oct. 21, 2022, according to MOF data available since 1991.

The latest data represent a detailed daily breakdown of the previously revealed 9.79 trillion yen intervention made during the period from April 26 through May 29.

The two rounds of massive dollar-selling intervention helped push up the yen by 5% from a 34-year low of 160.245 per dollar, but failed to reverse the yen's longer-term weakness.

The yen resumed its downturn and slid to a 38-year low of 161.76 per dollar in July, prompting Tokyo to intervene again and spend another 5.53 trillion yen to support its currency.

Later in July, the yen staged a sharp rally as traders aggressively unwound carry trades after a slew of economic data raised the prospect of a U.S. economic downturn and bigger rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Separate data from the finance ministry on Wednesday showed that Japan's foreign reserves fell to $1.22 trillion at the end of July, down $12.4 billion from a month earlier, largely due to a drop in foreign securities holdings.

The decline in reserves reflect the sale of its U.S. Treasury holdings to finance the dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention, analysts said.

Japanese authorities would not reveal the make-up of the country's foreign reserves, but most of the foreign securities holdings are believed by economists to be in U.S. Treasuries.

($1 = 144.9800 yen)

(Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said progress had been made in negotiations with El Salvador toward a fund-supported program with the Central American nation, though issues remained such as its use of Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Discussions focused on policies that could be supported by an IMF program, it said in a statement, such as those which could strengthen public finances, boost bank reserve buffers, improve governance and transparency and mitigate risks from the country's investment in Bitcoin.

The IMF and El Salvador have reached "preliminary understandings" on improving the nation's primary balance, the IMF said, to around 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) over a three-year period.

The country also plans to gradually strengthen its reserve buffers by reducing reliance on domestic financing and instead receiving support from the IMF and other development banks, the fund said.

On Bitcoin, the IMF said that many potential risks "have not yet materialized," but that there was a joint recognition that El Salvador needed to enhance transparency and mitigate risks from the project.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele made bitcoin a legal tender and has touted plans for "Bitcoin City," a tax-free crypto haven powered by geothermal energy from a volcano.

By Jesus Calero

(Reuters) - Norwegian salmon farmers face challenges from an unusually harsh winter and the El Nino climate phenomenon which led to record fish mortality and concerns over long-term forecasts ahead of a warmer summer.

El Nino — a climate pattern raising temperatures across the planet — followed by colder waters and a 20-year high in jellyfish attacks have driven fish mortality to a record 16.7% so far this year, the Norwegian Veterinary Institute said.

"This winter has been something close to a perfect storm for the industry when it comes to challenging farming conditions," Carnegie analyst Philip Scrase said.

Norway, the largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon, accounting for 50% of the global market, hopes for a healing summer after a tough first half of the year.

But record high temperatures and warmer waters increase the threat of sea lice for salmon farmers.

"Treating sea lice (vaccines) often stresses the fish, posing a threat to its welfare and its resilience to other diseases," DNB analyst Alexander Aukner said.

To protect the fish, companies like Leroy Seafood are testing special underwater cages deep in the sea to keep the lice at bay.

Farmers are also keeping young salmon longer in land-based facilities to shield them from harsh climate conditions, though this has not improved mortality rates.

Some facilities are running at too high temperatures, causing fish to outgrow their organs and die when they enter seawater, said Christian Olsen Nordby and Kristoffer Haugland from Arctic Securities.

EXPORT BAN, PROCESSING JAM

Salmon exports make up about 2% of Norway's annual GDP, with 1.2 million tonnes of salmon valued at $11.2 billion exported last year, Norwegian Seafood Council said.

To protect the industry's reputation, Norway has banned the export of wounded fish, classified as low-grade salmon.

This forces farmers to increase domestic processing of low-grade salmon into premium products like fillets or smoked goods that they can sell abroad legally.

Before the ban, unprocessed fish bypassed tariff barriers to reach European markets, but now farmers need to sell the surplus injured fish at a discount to third-party processors, Scrase said.

Those with filleting capacity, like SalMar, meanwhile face inefficiencies in their facilities due to a lack of workers needed to handle the higher volumes.

To tackle this, world's largest producer Mowi and smaller rival Grieg Seafood are upgrading their processing facilities.

However, Scrase noted that salmon spot prices were sliding, as the availability of premium salmon eases supply constraints.

ENOUGH FOR A GUIDANCE CUT

Despite farmers' efforts, analysts doubt the industry's ability to maintain harvest volumes.

SalMar lowered its 2024 volume guidance earlier this year, while other major players have kept projections unchanged.

Kontali, an aquaculture data provider, has revised its 2024 volume growth estimate for Norway and the global market to just 1%, reflecting lower sea biomass.

Aukner and Scrase expect many farmers to struggle to meet their volume targets this year, though the summer is crucial to determine full-year volumes.

"We are yet to see material downgrades in harvest volumes, but the 'buffer' in volume guidance has definitely been eaten into and reduced," Nordby and Haugland said.

($1 = 10.9335 Norwegian crowns)

By Brigid Riley

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rebounded sharply on Tuesday, clawing back most of the double-digit losses suffered the previous day as comments from the U.S. Fed and data gave investors pause in their concerns over recession and equity valuations.

The Nikkei's rally, after the market's biggest single day rout since the 1987 Black Monday sell-off, came as the yen reversed its gains, indicating the carnage in yen-funded global carry trades too was easing.

In a turbulent day of trading, the Nikkei was up 8% at 33,975.53 as of 0516 GMT, after plunging 12.4% on Monday. The index was last up 2,623.1 points, having earlier jumped more than 3,000 points to surpass its largest intraday points gain on record.

The broader Topix was up 7.5% at 2,394.33.

Investors had been shaken by last week's plunge in global stock markets, U.S. recession risks, and worries investments funded by a cheap yen were being unwound, triggering a sell-off in Japanese equities on Monday.

Traders said they now appeared to be reconsidering the severity of their initial response, buying back shares on the dip.

"Fundamentally, nothing significant has changed for the Japanese economy. It is the unwinding of the carry trade driving a lot of the momentum sells," said Ray Sharma-Ong, head of multi-asset investment solutions for Southeast Asia at abrdn.

The Nikkei rally helped lift other Asian stock markets. Overnight, safe-haven U.S. yields too had risen from lows in a sign the panic was abating.

But uncertainties remained, with analysts pointing to the possibility of more volatile market moves in the near-term.

"We're not yet sure if this is just a breather between water-boardings or there is more pain to follow," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.

Japanese officials meanwhile scrambled to calm markets, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urging caution and calling on market participants to stay calm.

An emergency trilateral meeting of the Ministry of Finance, Financial Services Agency and the Bank of Japan is scheduled for 0600 GMT to discuss markets.

BOJ IN A HURRY?

Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ, noted that the Nikkei also rebounded to varying degrees after the three previous occasions when it experienced double digit declines, including in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008 and Tohoku earthquake in 2011.

"But it took a while before the Nikkei clawed back all those losses," he said.

From July 11 to Monday's close of 31,458.42, the Nikkei has seen 113 trillion yen ($792 billion) wiped off its peak market value.

Monday's collapse was a "reminder that it is next-to-impossible to diversify equity risk by region (or by sector or style) during major corrections or bear markets," said Stephen Dover (NYSE:DOV), chief market strategist and head of Franklin Templeton Institute at Franklin Templeton.

"Opportunity will arise, but in our view, it is premature to step in at this point."

Last week, the BOJ raised interest rates to levels unseen in 15 years, a hawkish move that analysts also say spooked the market especially given fears of a possible U.S. recession.

"The market was afraid (the BOJ) may tighten too fast," said Kenji Abe, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Investment Institute said on Tuesday that they see a "greater risk of a BOJ policy misstep" and are reviewing their Japan overweight position.

On Tuesday, large price rebounds were led by big name technology shares such as chip-related stocks Tokyo Electron, up 15%, and Advantest, rising over 13%.

AI-focused startup investor SoftBank (TYO:9984) Group jumped 8.6%.

Circuit breakers were triggered multiple times before and during the session, causing the temporary suspension of trading in Topix and Nikkei futures.

(Reuters) - Asian share markets rebounded on Tuesday reversing a historic sell-off after central bankers sought to calm investor fears.

Japan's Nikkei rallied 9.4% as of the midday break, after plunging 12% on Monday in its biggest one-day percentage drop since October 1987.

Currency markets remained on edge, with the yen down 1% after rising for five straight sessions to a seven-month high on Monday.

QUOTES

RON SHAMGAR, HEAD OF AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES, TAMIM ASSET MANAGEMENT, SYDNEY

"My view is that this market turmoil is mostly driven by the yen carry trade being partly unwound. That’s happened on the same day where U.S. jobs numbers came in slightly weaker than expected and a potential imminent attack by Iran on Israel.

"Combine those factors with a market that so far hasn’t seen the usual and bi-annual pullback or correction of 5-10% this calendar year - and you had a so-called rug pull. We think volatility will persist over the next few weeks and stock prices direction will be dictated by the upcoming results season in Australia and the U.S. during late August."

GARY NG, SENIOR ECONOMIST FOR NATIXIS, HONG KONG

"It is hard to say the worst is behind us ... pressure might linger a little bit."

"There are many moving parts, with three key concerns come from the outlook of the U.S. economy, the unwinding of investors' trades in Japan and geopolitical risks in the Middle East ... particularly the last one, which has not been fully realised for now. As for the U.S. recession outlook, we see some sectors in the economy like consumption still holding up, and datasets in the coming weeks might come out not as bad as the surface looks, and it may help stabilise things."