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NYT: Trump's comments on Venezuelan oversight could last for years
In an interview with the New York Times published early Thursday, U.S. president Donald Trump stated that "only time will show" how long the United States will continue to maintain their oversight of Venezuela. Trump replied: "I'd say it will be much longer." When asked by The Times how long he thought the situation would last, Trump responded, "I'd say much longer." Trump said of Venezuela that "we will rebuild it in a profitable way." He added, "We're going?to be taking oil and using oil." We are bringing down oil prices and we will be giving Venezuela money, which it desperately needs. According to The Times, Trump said that the U.S. and Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez are "getting on very well". Trump unveiled his new design on Tuesday A plan to refine and sell Up to 50 million barrels Venezuelan oil remained in Venezuela due to a U.S. ban, a sign that Washington has been coordinating with the Venezuelan government ever since President Nicolas Maduro was captured in an armed raid last weekend. Trump said that Venezuelan officials were giving him "everything we think is necessary".
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Swiss inflation for December is positive
The Swiss National Bank released data on Thursday showing that the annual inflation rate in Switzerland edged into positive territory?in December. Analysts polled by the company had predicted a 0.1% rise in consumer prices. This was an increase from a 0% rate recorded in November. The SNB targets an inflation rate of between 0 to 2%. However, the central bank recently said that it would be willing to allow inflation to fall below this?target temporarily. The SNB declined to comment on the latest figures. The average inflation rate in 2025 is 0.2%. This is much lower than rates of 1.1% and 2.1% for 2024. Prices for electricity, gasoline and used cars decreased last year, while housing rents and the price of?chocolate, meals and meals rose. The Federal Statistics Office reported that the prices of Swiss domestic products would increase on average by 0.7% during 2025. However, this was offset by a 1.6% drop in imports. The Swiss Consumer Price Index remained unchanged from November to December. The poll predicted a 0.1% decline. (Reporting and editing by FriederikeHeine and Thomas Seythal, with John Revill)
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Iron ore prices fall after a four-day rally, as investors take profits
Iron ore futures fell on Thursday, after a four session rally. Investors booked profits due to fears of a possible government intervention in China, the top consumer. Prices were nearing the psychologically important level of $100 per metric tonne. The May contract for iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the daytime trading session down by 0.37% to 813 yuan (116.42 dollars) per ton, after reaching 831.5 earlier in the morning, the highest price since July 22, 2025. The benchmark February Iron Ore on the Singapore Exchange fell by 1.05% at 0715 GMT to $107.9?a ton after reaching its highest level since September 30, 2024, at $109.4. After China's central bank announced that it would?ease monetary policy, the?price rise was fueled by expectations of improved demand. The sharp increase in prices has made investors apprehensive, as they fear that Beijing may intervene in the future to control prices like it did in 2023. Analysts say that some steel mills have also resisted purchasing cargos due to higher prices. According to data from Mysteel, the volume of iron ore traded at China's major ports fell 54.9% on a Wednesday. Base metals such as copper and nickel also retreated on Wednesday from their previous highs, which weighed down the overall sentiment of metals. Coking coal and coke, which are both steelmaking ingredients, have continued to rise on the DCE. They were up by 4.75% and 2.56 %, respectively. Steelhome, two analysts and several major Chinese coke producers have confirmed that they discussed a 15%-35% production cut at a Wednesday meeting, citing severe losses. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange are mixed. Rebar gained 0.44%. Hot-rolled coils increased 0.48%. Wire rods lost 0.48%. Stainless steels dropped 1.13%. $1 = 6.9832 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Sumana Cheema and Sonia Cheema; Amy Lv and Ruth Chai)
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Nickel is the leading base metal on the market due to uncertainty about Indonesian output
Nickel fell sharply on Thursday, ending a rally that began in December. The Indonesian government refused to disclose its mining output quota for 2026, causing concern about a "rollback" of supply restrictions. The most active nickel contract at the 'Shanghai Futures Exchange' closed daytime trade down 6.14% to 136,440 Yuan ($19.538.32) per metric ton after plummeting as high as 7.96% from 133,800 Yuan. As of 0700 GMT the benchmark three-month Nickel on the London Metal Exchange dropped 4.05%, to $17.170 per ton after a dive of 5.92% to $16,835. The steep decline has halted an upward trend of more than 30% since December. This was fueled by the Indonesian Government's plan to reduce 2026 mining production quotas (locally known as RKAB) to support prices. Energy and Mineral Resources minister Bahlil lahadalia gave a press conference?on Thursday. He reiterated that the government plans to reduce nickel quotas. The quotas would?be adjusted according to the demand of local smelters. Investors are sceptical of the Indonesian government’s policy. They worry that the government might eventually reverse the quota-reduction, and dismiss the rally. Stocks in London Metal Exchange registered warehouses LME data showed that there was ample supply. A 20,088-ton influx boosted inventories to the highest level seen since June 2018. Analysts said that the overall base metals complex has a softer tone due to profit booking after broad gains. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract closed at 101,220 Yuan per ton after falling as low as 100,040 Yuan. The benchmark copper for three months on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.62% to $12,820 per ton. The copper price remained elevated despite profit booking ease. This was due to supply concerns amid mine disruptions, and regional dislocation amid United States Tariff worries. Other base metals in the SHFE fell by 2.89% for aluminum, 1.36% for zinc, 2.01% for lead and 1.83%, respectively. The LME's other metals saw a decline of 0.57% in aluminium, 1.36% in lead, and 0.39% for tin. Zinc was the only gainer with a 0.08% increase. $1 = 6.9832 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (Reporting and editing by Lewis Jackson, Dylan Duan)
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Gold drops on caution before key US employment data
Gold prices fell on Thursday, as a strong dollar weighed on investors. They were preparing for a major U.S. employment report due later this week, which will be used to assess the Federal Reserve’s policy and gauge U.S. influence on Venezuela. As of 0539 GMT, spot gold dropped 0.4% to $4435.62 an ounce. U.S. gold GCcv1 futures for February delivery dropped 0.4% to $4444.40. Bernard Sin, Regional Director- Greater China at MKS PAMP, said that traders are weighing increased geopolitical pressures, such as the U.S.'s intervention in Venezuela, against macroeconomic signals coming from the United States. The?dollar remained near its two-week high as the market focused on several U.S. labour data releases released this week. Investors are still cautious about volatility and potential profit-taking, as Sin added. Bullion is only about $110 from the record high of $4,549.71 that was hit on December 29. Gains have been curtailed by a strong dollar and profit taking. The data released on Wednesday shows that the number of job openings in the United States dropped to its lowest level in 14 months, while hiring returned to its usual sluggish pace. This indicates a waning labor demand. Investors will focus on the non-farm payrolls in the United States on Friday to get more monetary policy cues. Kelvin Wong is a senior analyst at OANDA. He said that the Bloomberg Commodity Index weightage rebalancing this week may impact flows because of lower silver and gold targets weightages. This allows short-term?speculators book profits and pressurize prices. Rebalancing the BCOM index annually is done to make sure that the index accurately reflects the global commodity markets. The window for this year is from?January 9-15. Silver spot fell 2.6%, to $76.08 an ounce. It had hit an all-time high price of $83.62 per ounce on December 29. HSBC predicts that silver will trade between $58-$88 in 2026. This is due to a tight physical supply and high investment demand. However, the bank warns about a possible market correction in later years. After reaching a record high of $2,478.50 per ounce on Monday, spot platinum fell 3.3%, to $2230.90. Palladium shed 2.8% to $1,715.0 per ounce. Ishaan arora, Bengaluru. Sumana Nandy and Janane Venkatraman edited the report. Rashmi aich reported.
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Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2019
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, is planning to dominate Venezuela's oil industry in years to come. He told his aides that he believed his efforts would help lower oil prices at his preferred level of $50 per barrel. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have reached an agreement to?take over the Apple credit card program. Warner Bros. Discovery advised its shareholders to reject Paramount’s amended hostile offer for the company. Discovery argued that its existing agreement with Netflix was stronger. AbbVie has advanced discussions to buy biotech Revolution Medicines, a cancer drug. Toll Brothers executive vice president Karl Mistry will take over as the new chief executive of the homebuilder, replacing Douglas Yearley. Douglas Yearley will now become executive chairman. A year-long investigation by India's financial regulator into Bank of America found that the bank had improperly shared non-public material information about an $180 million block of stock trade and then misled authorities about it.
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Lebanese Army says it has achieved a state monopoly in the South in an 'effective' and 'tangible' way
Lebanese Army said that they had achieved their goal of a monopoly on arms in the south. They said this was done in an "effective" and tangible manner. However, there is still more work to do to remove unexploded ordnances and tunnels from the area. The army set a deadline of year's end to remove?non state weaponry? from the southern Lebanon bordering Israel before moving to other areas. It claimed to have extended its operational control over the southern areas, except those still occupied with Israeli troops. The statement did not mention the Lebanese Hezbollah armed group, which fought an 'year-long war' with Israel. This ended in a ceasefire of 2024 that allowed only Lebanon’s state security forces to carry weapons. According to a Lebanese source, the statement indicated that no group will be able?to launch attacks from Southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has been under increasing pressure to disarm by the U.S. Israel's leaders are concerned that Israel will dramatically increase?strikes in the country's battered areas to force Lebanon's leadership to take Hezbollah’s arsenal. Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire mediated by the U.S. in 2024. This will end more than an year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Israel's strikes on the militant group backed by Iran led to a severe deterioration of their position. Both sides have since then traded accusations. (Reporting and editing by Christopher Cushing, Thomas Derpinghaus and Maya Gebeily)
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Gold drops on caution before key US employment data
Gold prices fell on Thursday as a result of a strong dollar. Investors were preparing for the release of a key U.S. employment report this week, which will be used to assess the Federal Reserve’s policy and gauge U.S. influence on Venezuela. As of 0539 GMT, spot gold dropped 0.7% to $4423.20 an ounce. U.S. gold GCcv1 futures for February delivery dropped 0.7% to $4432.0. Bernard Sin, Regional Director- Greater China at MKS PAMP, said that traders are weighing increased geopolitical pressures, such as the U.S.'s intervention in Venezuela, against macroeconomic signals coming from the United States. The?dollar remained near its two-week high as the market focused on several U.S. labour data releases released this week. Investors are still cautious about volatility and potential profit-taking, Sin said. Bullion is about $110 from the record high of $4,49.71 that was hit on December 29. Gains were curtailed by a strong dollar and profit taking. The data released on Wednesday shows that the number of job openings in the United States dropped to its lowest level in 14 months, while hiring returned to its usual sluggish pace. This indicates a waning labor demand. Investors will focus on the non-farm payrolls report in the U.S. on Friday to get more monetary policy cues. Kelvin Wong is a senior analyst at OANDA. He said that the Bloomberg Commodity Index weightage rebalancing this week may impact flows because of lower silver and gold targets weightages. This allows short-term?speculators book profits, which will pressurize prices. Rebalancing the BCOM index annually is done to make sure that the index accurately reflects the global commodity markets. The window for this year is from?January 9-15. Silver spot fell 2.7%, to $76.01 an ounce. It had hit an all-time high price of $83.62 per ounce on December 29. HSBC predicts that silver will trade between $58-$88 in 2026. This is due to a tight physical supply and strong investment demand. However, the bank warns about a possible market correction in later years. After reaching a record high of $2,478.50 per ounce on Monday, spot platinum fell 3.2% to $2232.50. Palladium shed 2.4% to $1,720.75 per ounce. (Reporting and editing by Ishaan arora in Bengaluru, Janane Venkatraman and Rashmi aich.)
Can Mexico's Sheinbaum, a climate researcher, shake Lopez Obrador's oil legacy?
Mexico's Presidentelect Claudia Sheinbaum, an accomplished climate scientist, might struggle to fulfill her environmental pledges after she cruised to success, in part, on the popularity of a predecessor who doubled down on fossil fuels.
Sheinbaum, chosen as Mexico's very first woman president by a. sweeping margin Sunday, inherits a country grappling daily with. climate change and ecological obstacles: pervasive dry spell,. a water crisis in the sprawling capital of Mexico City, and. widespread deforestation.
The 61-year-old leftist leader, who became part of a United. Countries panel of climate researchers that received a Nobel Peace. Prize in 2007, has spoken about her belief in an academic and. scientific method to politics. She campaigned on a pledge to. considerably increase renewable energy in the oil-producing. nation to as much as 50% by the end of her term in 2030.
However in spite of her best intentions to enhance Mexico's green. record, Sheinbaum's coach, the extremely popular outbound. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, invested billions propping. up Mexico's fossil fuel-dependent state energy giants, oil company. Pemex and power energy CFE.
Her frustrating victory - and the possible congressional. very bulk won by the judgment coalition - is in lots of methods a. referendum on Lopez Obrador's policies and initiatives, stated. Mariana Campero, senior connect with the CSIS Americas. Program.
Sheinbaum might be hard-pressed to break cadence with Lopez. Obrador's design at the danger of losing assistance, restricting her. ability to prioritize environment change policies.
She has stated repeatedly that she will continue with his. policies which her federal government will be an extension of his. government, said Campero. But she has always stated that green. energy is very important. So how will she square that circle?
GREEN AT HEART?
Sheinbaum has credited her training by a chemical engineer. father and cellular biologist mother for fostering her interest. in science and politics. She has a doctorate in energy. engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
As mayor of Mexico City, she set up a roof-top solar. job at a hectic main market and inaugurated a 100% electric. bus line.
However she dealt with criticism for some tasks, including the. building and construction of a bridge in the Xochimilco ecological zone that. community members said harmed wetlands. She also supports some. of Lopez Obrador's most controversial projects, consisting of the. Mayan Train, a tourist railway that activists and scientists. decry for endangering pristine wilderness and ancient cave. systems below the jungle flooring.
Still, her increase to the presidency has sustained hope among some. that she could turn things around for the nation's performance history. on environment modification policies, which weakened under Lopez. Obrador, according to the Climate Modification Performance Index,. mainly due to increased subsidies for fossil fuels and bad. development in curbing logging.
I definitely believe that she has that will and objective to. put Mexico back on net-zero targets and in the good graces of. the global community, Arthur Deakin, director of energy. at consultancy America's Market Intelligence.
THE PEMEX ISSUE
Sheinbaum has pledged to enhance wind and solar power as part. of a $13.57 billion investment in brand-new energy generation. projects. She is, nevertheless, also facing the biggest budget. deficit in years, left behind by Lopez Obrador, a truth that. will require her to pick and choose how to devote spending.
Regardless of being the world's most indebted energy company,. Pemex is still a major contributor to state coffers, said. Alejandra Lopez, a public policy consultant who specializes in. energy problems.
The company is a heavy emitter of greenhouse gases, however it is. also a crucial nationwide sign of energy sovereignty for lots of. Mexicans, including Lopez Obrador.
Pemex stirs a sense of psychological, historical and. nostalgic value within the nation, Lopez said.
Sheinbaum is a vocal follower in the role of the state in. Mexico's energy sector, long dominated by Pemex, which could. make it tough to keep her promise to increase renewable energy.
A business-savvy approach might allow her to draw in. investment and spur realistic modification towards decarbonizing the. energy and transport sectors, Deakin said.
Sheinbaum might begin by increasing the limit for. Dispersed Generation (DG) projects, usually small. privately-funded solar or wind farms that are developed to provide. energy to a particular factory or industrial website.
Upping the cap from the existing 0.5 megawatts to 5. megawatts, like Brazil has done, might increase tidy. electrical power for business industrial users, Deakin said. She. could introduce biofuel policies and increase electrical vehicle. ( EV) aids and charging facilities. A nationwide carbon. credit framework might help speed up interest in low carbon. initiatives.
It's a little harder when you're struggling with a more. constrained budget plan, but there's other manner ins which emerging markets. have the ability to create a more attractive environment for sustainable. electrical energy, Deakin said.
(source: Reuters)