Asia

The Russian central bank published the minutes of its July 24 meeting on Wednesday. They stated that higher fuel prices in Russia accelerated the consumer price growth in June by 0.3% and by 0.2% in the first half. After Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refining facilities disrupted the supply, Russians experienced a 'fuel shortage across all 11 time zones of the country. This led to long queues, higher gas prices, and rationing in some regions. Authorities say that the?situation? has stabilised?in many areas. Central bank officials said that the total direct and indirect impact on inflation of the fuel price...

India's Oil and Natural Gas 'Corp (ONGC) hopes to sign agreements soon with Venezuela 'to operate two oil 'blocks under the South 'American nation's 'new petroleum 'law', its finance chief'said 'on Wednesday. ONGC Videsh (ONGC Videsh is the overseas investment arm of the state-run ONGC) holds a stake of 40% in the San Cristobal oil field, and along with other Indian firms, a stake 18% in the Carabobo-1 Project. "Now, we are able to work freely on Venezuelan projects." We had restricted our operations in Venezuela because of sanctions-related risks," said finance director Anupam agarwal on a?analyst's call following the...

India's Oil and Natural Gas 'Corp (ONGC) hopes to sign agreements soon with Venezuela 'to operate two oil 'blocks under the South 'American nation's 'new petroleum 'law', its finance chief'said 'on Wednesday. ONGC Videsh (ONGC Videsh is the overseas investment arm of the state-run ONGC) holds a stake of 40% in the San Cristobal oil field, and along with other Indian firms, an 18% share in the Carabobo-1 Project. "Now, we are able to work freely on Venezuelan projects." We had restricted our operations in Venezuela because of sanctions-related risks," said finance director Anupam agarwal on a?analyst's call following the...

Reliance Brands is the luxury retail arm of Reliance Retail. They have partnered with Kim Kardashian's SKIMS in order to bring this shapewear brand into India. This comes as global companies race to enter India's growing fashion and beauty market. The company, which is a subsidiary of Mukesh-Ambani's Reliance Industries, said that it would launch the SKIMS name across both physical and digital channels?starting in Delhi and Mumbai. Indian beauty retailers are racing to introduce international brands into the country as Gen Z and younger consumers gravitate towards global trends in beauty and brands backed by celebrities, thanks to social...

India's benchmark Nifty has seen a sharp swing in price following the introduction of a new formula for calculating closing prices?for stocks that have derivatives contracts. The BSE Sensex and the volatility of Wednesday's session triggered a rare, third-straight session divergence. This led to heavy losses among traders. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Industries account for more than?27%. The Sensex is composed of 30 stocks that are all also included in the Nifty 50. WHAT IS THE NEW METHOD TO DETERMINE CLOSING PRICE? India introduced on Monday the Closing Auction Session, a separate window of 20 minutes that starts...

Bharti Airtel, India's second largest telecom operator, posted a 37.3% increase in its first-quarter profit on?Tuesday. This was due to?users upgrading their plans and adding new subscribers. The company's consolidated "net profit" rose to 81.67 trillion rupees ($856.28 millions) for the quarter ending June 30 from 59.48 trillion rupees one year earlier. India's telecom companies have relied on customers upgrading to more expensive plans to increase average revenue per user (ARPU), a key telecom measure. There hasn't been any broad-based price increases since July 2024. Airtel, the market leader in 4G and 5G service adoption, and Reliance Jio have revised...

Indian shares dropped on Tuesday, ahead of?the Central Bank's Wedensday Policy Decision. The blue-chip Nifty?50 reversed the sharp rise from the previous session as investors adapted to a new closing auction mechanism?for stock with futures and option?contracts. Investors re-aligned their positions ahead of the weekly expiration of derivative contracts for Nifty. The volatility index reached its highest level in one week, at 12.1875. The Nifty dropped 0.64%, to 24,614.90. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex fell 0.27%, to 78.428.95. The indexes gained 0.7% and 1.6% respectively on Monday. This was an unusual divergence after the launch of the new system. The new...

German fashion group Hugo Boss announced its operating profit for the second quarter ahead of expectations and maintained its outlook for the full year despite a subdued demand from consumers. In a poll conducted by the company, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), which were 81 million euros in 2014, fell to 59 million euros. This was higher than analysts' average predictions of 52 million euro. The currency-adjusted sale fell by 9%, to 905 millions euros. This was slightly lower than analysts' expectations, which were 907 million euro, as strategic realignment and a weak consumer background continued to weigh on...

Beiersdorf, the maker of Nivea, said that the conflict in the Middle East was disrupting sales and deliveries in key Gulf markets. This highlights how geopolitical tensions continue to impact consumer goods companies in the region. Vincent Warnery, Chief Executive of the company, said that due to the conflict the company was unable to ship some products to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. "This is something that impacts not only our costs, but also consumption." We hope the war will end soon so that we can get back to business as usual," he said in a press conference....

Sinopec, a Chinese oil company, announced on Monday that it has opened a polyvinyl ethanol (PVA), resin plant in Chongqing. This will help China reduce its dependency on imported materials. The 50,000-metric-ton-per-year plant, operated by Sinopec Chongqing SVW Chemical Co, raises the site's total PVA capacity to 210,000 tons a year, ?Sinopec said in a statement. PVA is an?water-soluble biodegradable polymer that's used in a wide range of products, from face masks to high-value applications such as photovoltaics, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. The company stated that the expansion will make the Chongqing site the largest single-site production facility for 'high-end PVA'...

Abu Dhabi National Oil 'Co announced?on Friday that it will change its benchmark for monthly official sales prices for all of its crude grades from Murban crude to Platts Dubai pricing for the month-to-month from November 1. In a press release, ADNOC said that the change will align ADNOC’s OSPs with the month in which cargoes are loaded. This applies to Abu Dhabi crude grades onshore and off-shore, including Murban Das, Umm Lulu, and Upper Zakum. ADNOC will announce differentials for grades to Dubai prices in the month prior to cargo loading. ADNOC stated that the new pricing mechanism "reinforces...

OPEC+ 'plans to approve a quota for production increase of around 188,000?"barrels a day" on Sunday. After that, it will halt further increases in output, according to sources, until the voluntary cuts are completed. Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait are the core members of OPEC+. They have been increasing their monthly production quotas since most of this year. These increases are largely a paper exercise, due to the disruptions caused by the wars in Ukraine and Iran. One OPEC+ 'delegate' and an OPEC+'source, both of whom said that the group would pause production increases after September as it faces difficult...

The gold price climbed to its highest level in nearly seven weeks on March 3. It is on track to be the largest daily increase?since the beginning of February, due to the lower Treasury yields and the?hopes of progress regarding the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. By 2:15 pm, spot gold had risen 4.4% to $4253.36 an ounce. ET (1815 GMT), it had reached $4,264.93 - its highest level since June 18 - and was above the 50 day moving average which now supports gold at $4,160. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery rose by 3.7%, to $4,305.20 an...

The gold price rose to its highest level in nearly seven weeks on Wednesday and was on track to post the largest daily increase since February due?to lower Treasury rates and hopes of progress regarding opening the Strait of Hormuz. By 11:04 am, spot gold had risen 4.4% per ounce to $4256.85. The spot gold price rose 4.4% to $4,256.85 per ounce at 11:04 a.m. ET (1504 GMT), after reaching $4,258.99 - its highest level since June 18 - and breaking above the 50 day moving average. It now stands at $4,160. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery rose by...

Gary Nagle, the CEO of Glencore, said that the company had?taken an provision relating to Radiant World. However, he added that Glencore's exposure towards the iron ore trading firm was not significant. We have some existing contracts that still need to be completed. Nagle said on a conference call that they are assessing how to deal with them in a legal manner. However, we have stopped doing any new business. Bloomberg reported that last week, fellow trading houses Vitol and Cargill had stopped doing business Radiant World because they were concerned about the validity of invoices sent to their banks....

South 'Korean stocks closed at a record high for a week on Wednesday, as heavyweight chipmakers rallied in response to strong U.S. earnings. They also showed evidence of massive AI capital expenditure. Meanwhile, lowering oil prices eased inflation concerns. The benchmark KOSPI closed 3.8% higher, at 6,598.26. This was its highest closing since July 27. The junior Kosdaq rose 2.4%, reaching a new closing high of three weeks. Chip stocks rose by a record amount overnight, thanks to strong earnings from AI companies. SpaceX also boosted chip stocks with its massive expenditures. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped?6.6%. Samsung Electronics, a...

Gold rose for a third session in a row on Wednesday. This was helped by the softer dollar and lower crude oil prices. Investors were waiting for U.S. employment data to get a sense of interest rate outlook. By 0455 GMT spot gold had risen 1.4% to $4,133.83 an ounce, which was a new two-week high. U.S. Gold Futures rose 1%, to $4191.90. Holders of other currencies will find greenback-priced gold more appealing. Oil continued to decline after two days of steep drops. Lower oil prices can reduce inflation fears that are often the cause of expectations for higher interest...

President Donald Trump stated that his administration had "very positive discussions" with Iran on Tuesday during the all-day talks, which fueled expectations of a quick end to the five-month conflict. In Asian trade, oil prices dropped and stocks soared on Wednesday following Wall Street's record highs. This was on the hope that a deal would soon be struck to restore traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said on Fox News' "@ night" program that the negotiations lasted all day. Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened very soon. If they retreat again, they will be hit...

Gold rose for a third consecutive session on Wednesday. This was helped by a softer dollar and lower crude oil prices. Investors were waiting for U.S. job data to get clues about the interest rate outlook. As of 0253 GMT, spot gold rose 1.3% to $4,127.04 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures increased 0.8% to $4184.40. Holders of currencies other than the U.S. Dollar will find greenback-priced precious metals more appealing. After two steep drops, oil prices have stabilized. Lower oil prices can ease inflation fears that often fuel expectations of higher interest rate. Qatar claimed that mediators are making progress...

The top executive of BYD in Brazil said that the Chinese automaker will launch its first Brazilian-made plug-in hybrid flex fuel car on Tuesday, after a two year?investment. In an interview, Senior Vice-President Alexandre Baldy revealed that the Song Pro Super Hybrido Flex Fuel, which hits dealerships in Brazil on Wednesday features a powertrain capable of running on gasoline, electricity or ethanol. He added that the GL version's range on electric power alone is 60 km (37 mi) and 120 km for a higher-end GS model. Baldy stated that the vehicle was built at BYD’s Camacari factory in northeastern Bahia...

The price of copper soared to $14,000 on Tuesday. This was a two-month high, driven by the dwindling inventory outside the U.S. Benchmark 'three-month copper' on the London Metal Exchange rose above $14,000 after the release of LME stock data at 8am GMT. It jumped as high as 1.3%, to $14,053 per metric ton. This is its highest level since June 2. As of 09:00 GMT, the metal was trading at $14.024.50 up by 1.1%. The data showed orders to remove another 7,225 tonnes of copper from LME storages The remaining inventory is 94,200 tonnes, barely enough to cover a...

South Korean shares ended higher on Tuesday, after a volatile session. Regulations have impacted the trading of leveraged ETFs in a market that has been roiled by wild swings over AI fears in recent weeks. The benchmark KOSPI ended 1.6% higher, at 6,358.95, after swinging from a gain or loss of 2% to 3%. The trading volume was below the average for the last 30 days, indicating a low level of participation by investors compared to the recent frenzy among retail investors to lock-in profits from the AI boom. According to LSEG, the daily trading volume of KODEX SK Hynix...

The copper price rose on Tuesday as a result of falling inventories. Oil prices also remained stable, despite conflicting statements from the U.S.A. and Iran that 'clouded the prospects for a diplomatic solution to the long-running war. As of 0700 GMT the benchmark 'three-month copper' on the London Metal Exchange was up by 0.69% at $13,952 per metric ton. The most traded copper contract on Shanghai Futures Exchange rose by 0.86% and closed daytime trading for 106,650 Yuan ($15794.62) per ton. Copper stocks at LME registered warehouses As of Friday, inventories had fallen to 244,025 tonnes from about 400,000 tons...

The price of gold climbed a little on Tuesday, as investors weighed the mixed signals from potential 'U.S.Iran' talks and awaited this week's U.S. Labor Market Reports for clues about Federal Reserve interest rate trajectory. Spot gold increased 0.2% at $4,059.81 an ounce as of 0257 GMT. Investors are awaiting reports on the U.S. labor market. These include job opening data in the afternoon, the ADP Employment Report on Wednesday, and the nonfarm payrolls numbers on Friday. "Gold is in a consolidation phase." Ajay Kedia of Mumbai-based Kedia Commodities said that if we see a weakening in the U.S. Dollar,...