Asia / Pacific

U.S. officials and Ukrainian officials had what both sides described as productive talks about a Russia-Peace Deal on Sunday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism about the progress made despite challenges in ending the war that has lasted more than three years. Rubio met a Ukrainian delegation headed by a newly appointed chief negotiator at his home in Florida. He said the talks were to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. Rubio, after the end of the talks, told reporters that "we continue to be realistic about how difficult this situation is but optimistic." "It's about securing Ukraine’s...

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that on Saturday airspace surrounding Venezuela and above it should be "closed completely", but he did not give any details. Washington is continuing to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Trump has said repeatedly that U.S. attacks on alleged drugs boats in the Caribbean, Pacific and South America, which have claimed the lives of more than 80 people could lead to land action. He has also held a phone call with Maduro, and discussed the possibility of a U.S. trip by Venezuela's president. WHAT ARE VENEZUELA'S MILITARY CAPABILITIES? Six sources familiar with Venezuelan...

Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, reported a 70% drop in net income from January to September, falling by $3.57 billion or 277 billion Russian roubles. The company attributed the decline to high interest rates and cheaper oil, as well as a stronger rouble. Shell and TotalEnergies have seen their quarterly profits fall due to lower oil prices. Rosneft stated that the increased "anti-terror" security was putting additional pressure on its results. The company didn't elaborate on specific security measures. Ukraine has increased drone attacks against Russia's energy infrastructure. Rosneft reported that its revenues dropped 17.8% to 6.29 trillion rubles in...

Adani Group, owned by Alphabet, plans to invest $5 billion into Google's India AI Data Centre Project, an executive revealed on Friday. The company is looking to capitalize on the booming demand in data capacity across the world's largest nation. Google announced in October that it would invest $15 Billion over five years in the state of Andhra Pradesh to build an artificial intelligence data center. This is its largest investment in India. AI demands enormous computing power. This is driving demand for data centres with thousands of chips linked together in clusters. Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Singh stated that...

The price of iron ore futures fell on Friday but recorded their third consecutive weekly gain due to recent infrastructure demand. The day-traded contract for January iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.19% lower, at 794 Yuan ($112.18) per metric ton. The contract rose 1.14% in the past week. As of 0717 GMT, the benchmark December iron ore traded on Singapore Exchange was down 0.89% at $105.75 per ton. The contract has gained 1.73% in the first week. Galaxy Futures, a Chinese broker, says that infrastructure demand has been increasing recently. Prices are expected to follow fundamentals on...

The iron ore futures price was little changed on the Friday but is headed to a third weekly gain in a row on recent infrastructure demand. As of 0301 GMT, the most-traded contract for January iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was trading 0.06% higher. It was 796 yuan (US$112.48) per metric ton. This week, the contract has risen by 1.14%. The benchmark December Iron Ore at the Singapore Exchange fell 0.56% to $106.1 per ton. Galaxy Futures, a Chinese broker, says that recent infrastructure demand is increasing, resulting in a continued improvement in apparent steel demand. Prices are...

The major Gulf stock markets rose early on Thursday as they followed gains in Asian stocks, and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next week grew. Investors are focused on Federal Reserve officials' statements this week, as there is a lack of data about the U.S. economic situation following the end to the government shutdown. CME FedWatch Tool shows that traders are now attributing an 85% chance of a rate reduction next month, up from 30% just a week earlier. The U.S.'s monetary policy changes have an important impact on Gulf markets where the majority of currencies are pegged...

The companies and government of Andhra Pradesh announced on Wednesday that a joint venture between Reliance Industries and the state will invest $11 billion in five years for the development of 1 gigawatt AI data capacity. Digital Connexion is a joint venture between the Canadian multinational Brookfield Corporation, and the U.S. real estate investment trust Digital Realty. The project will establish a campus of AI-native data centres on 400 acres in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Google announced in October that it would build AI data centres in Visakhapatnam, India, over a five-year period. This will be the largest AI hub the...

The Energy Minister of Romania, Bogdan Ivan, said that three companies are interested in purchasing the Romanian assets owned by Russian Lukoil. They have been negotiating with the company directly. Lukoil operates 320 petrol stations across Romania. It is the third-largest refinery in the country and has offshore exploration rights to a part of the Black Sea. Ivan, a journalist for the online publication profit.ro, was quoted by the publication as saying: "At this moment, three companies have expressed an interest in acquiring Lukoil Romanian assets - both the refinery, and the petrol stations. They are currently negotiating with the...

India's Russian crude oil imports will be at their lowest level in three years by December. They were already higher than they had been for several months in November as refiners sought alternatives to avoid violating Western sanctions. The United States, Britain and the European Union have all tightened sanctions against Moscow in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Washington's most recent measures target top Russian oil producers Rosneft, and Lukoil. The deadline for buyers of Russian oil to end their dealings with these two companies was November 21. Separately the EU set a deadline of 21 January after which...

The author of the report that plunged BBC into crisis claimed the broadcaster wasn't "institutionally bias" but had editorial flaws. He hoped his criticisms could help to fix these. Michael Prescott, former external editorial advisor, has compiled a dossier of issues at BBC News. This includes allegations of bias regarding its coverage of the Israel/Hamas conflict and trans issues. The leaked report led to the resignations by Director General Tim Davie, and Deborah Turness as head of news, as well as a threat from Trump to sue up to $5 billion. This plunged the public broadcaster in its worst crisis...

The author of the report that plunged BBC into crisis claimed the broadcaster wasn't "institutionally bias" and had hoped to improve things with his criticisms. Michael Prescott, former editorial advisor, has compiled a dossier of issues at BBC News. This includes allegations of bias regarding its coverage of the Israel/Hamas conflict and trans issues. Leaked reports led to the resignations by Tim Davie, Director General, and Deborah Turness as head of news, and Trump threatened to sue the broadcaster for up to five billion dollars. This was the biggest crisis the public broadcaster has faced in decades. Prescott said to...

Gold spot rose 1% on Friday to a new two-week-high, amid expectations that the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates in the coming months. Silver also hit a record high. By 10:09 am, spot gold had risen 0.9% to $4.192.78 an ounce. ET (1510 GMT), was at its highest level since November 14. It was also on track for a weekly gain of 2.9%. Bullion is set to rise 4.6% this month and will be on course for its fourth straight monthly gain. Silver reached a new record high of $55.33 an ounce. This is a 3.5% increase for the...

London Metal Exchange announced on Friday that it will reduce transaction fees to its customers in order to increase liquidity on the LMEselect platform and support physical market trading. The LME announced that the electronic trading system's client trading and clearing fees will be reduced by 7.4% to 8.5 percent. The bourse announced that member electronic transaction fees would be subject to a "inflationary" increase of between 3.4% and 3.7%. However, it added that "all-in transaction costs" for an outright client trade on LMEselect will fall by 4.5%. The 148-year old exchange announced that the new fees would take effect...

Two sources familiar with this matter claim that Chile's state owned copper producer offered to sell copper to U.S. clients with contracts based upon London Metal Exchange copper price at a record premium of over $500 per metric ton. The premium is added to the benchmark LME price and reflects fundamentals of demand and supply. The premium also covers transport costs and taxes. Codelco didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. The LME copper price reached a record high of $11,200 per ton on the 29th October due to expectations that shortages would occur, partly as a result...

The demand for gold was muted across the major Asian markets during this week. High prices slowed retail purchases even as India began its wedding season. In China, the elimination of tax exemptions on gold purchases lowered consumer interest. This week, Indian dealers offered a discount The discount is now up to $18 an ounce, inclusive of import duties and sales taxes. This is a smaller discount than the one of last week of up $21. On Friday, domestic gold prices traded at around 126.100 rupees for 10 grams, an increase of 4.4% over the previous week's lowest price of...

The gold price rose on Friday, and was poised to reach a fourth consecutive monthly increase. This optimism stemmed from investor expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by December. Gold spot rose 0.8%, to $4,189.61 an ounce, by 0303 GMT. It was at its highest level since November 14 and set for a weekly gain of 3%. Bullion will rise by 3.9% this month. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery were up 0.5% to $4,221.30 an ounce. Trading conditions look a little thin in terms of liquidity, which is exacerbating certain market movements. Many of the...

The price of copper is expected to rise on Friday, as the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting expectations are bolstered by soft economic data in the United States. As of 0330 GMT the most traded copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.41% to 87,430 Yuan ($12356.37) per kilogram, a gain of 1.66% for the week. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange increased 0.50%, to $10,994 per ton. It is expected to finish the week with a 1.99% gain. London's contract was met with resistance at $11,000 per ton. This shows that there are no major triggers...

Plans to build a series of new smelters have been shelved The industry still expects to gain new capacity through projects in construction The move is seen as a sign of more to come Amy Lv. Lewis Jackson, and Dylan Duan Industry insiders say that the decision by China to suspend a number of planned copper smelters will not have a significant impact on historically tight copper markets, unless more measures are taken to reduce output. Due to the disruption of mines, copper concentrate supplies are becoming scarcer and more expensive. The growth in smelting capacity in China has increased...

Gold prices fell on Thursday after hitting a two-week high in the previous session. Investors also assessed the probability of a U.S. rate cut in December. As of 1601 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.2%, at $4,157.29 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 0.2% to $4154.30 an ounce. Carsten Menke, analyst at Julius Baer, said: "We expect that the consolidation process that began with the October setback will continue because the dust from that setback is still not completely settled." Bullion is down 5% from its record high of $4381.21 reached on October 20. However, it...

Gold prices fell on Thursday after hitting a two-week high in the previous session. Investors also assessed the probability of a U.S. rate cut in December. As of 1423 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.1% to $4,159.31 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 0.3% to $4156.30 an ounce. Carsten Menke, analyst at Julius Baer, said: "We expect that the consolidation process that began with the October setback will continue because the dust from that setback is still not completely settled." Bullion is down 5% from its record high of $4381.21 reached on October 20. However, it...

The spot platinum price rose on Thursday, as the opening of futures trading at the Guangzhou Stock Exchange in China helped to increase the overall liquidity. These contracts represent the first domestic price-hedging mechanisms for platinum and palladium, which are used in automakers and other industries including jewellery and investment goods. On their first trading day, Guangzhou's June platinum futures jumped 6% while palladium rose 1.5%. After hitting a one-month high of $1,641, spot platinum prices in London rose 1.0% to $1,604 per troy inch by 1226 GMT. Palladium spot prices were unchanged at $1,423. China is the largest consumer...

Gold prices fell on Thursday after hitting a two-week high in the previous session. Investors also assessed the probability of a U.S. rate cut in December. As of 1216 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.2% to $4,156.89 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 0.2% to $4154.40 an ounce. Carsten Menke, analyst at Julius Baer, said: "We expect that the consolidation process that began with the October setback will continue because the dust from that setback is still not completely settled." Bullion is down 5% from its record high of $4381.21 reached on October 20. However, it...

The copper prices were under pressure Thursday due to a stronger dollar, and poor data from China's top metals consumer. They had hit their highest level in nearly a month the previous session. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.7% to $10,893.50 per metric tonne by 1121 GMT. On Wednesday, the metal reached $11,025 - its highest level since October 30 - on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by December. The metal reached a record-high of $11,200 due to disruptions in mine supply on October 29. The metals market focused...