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Netflix and gold stocks fall as Gold continues to decline
On Wednesday, gold prices fell again, just a day after it had experienced its biggest single-day decline in five years. Most major stock indices also declined, with Netflix's shares falling after disappointing outlook. Investors booked profits, and gold, which was one of the best performing trades for the year, fell. The price of gold is still on track to have its best year since 1979's oil crisis. It has risen more than 50% this year. Spot gold dropped 1.49%, to $4.062.39 per ounce. In afternoon trading, shares of Netflix fell about 10% and Wall Street's major indexes plunged sharply. Tesla's earnings will be released after the close of trading, kicking off the earnings season for the Magnificent 7 group of megacap companies. Tesla shares are down around 2.5%. Investors have also taken note of developments in the world of trade. reported According to three U.S. officials and a U.S. government official, the Trump administration has been considering a plan that would curb software-powered exports from China ranging from laptops to jet engine to punish Beijing for its latest round of restrictions on rare earth exports. Oliver Pursche is the senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors, located in Westport, Connecticut. He said that given the gains and sharp rally we have made in the past year, especially since April 1, combined with concerns about future economic growth, and the lack of data because of the government shutdown, "there's no need to move materially in either direction." But maybe, "you're taking some profits, you're doing some rebalancing," he added. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 392.08 points or 0.84% to 46,529.77. The S&P 500 declined 67.23 or 1.01% to 6,667.43. And the Nasdaq Composite was down 385.72 or 1.69% to 22,567.94. The MSCI index of global stocks fell 7.29 points or 0.73% to 987.56. The STOXX 600 Index fell by 0.18%. However, London stocks rose for the third day in a row as investors bet more on interest rate reductions from the Bank of England following data showing inflation remained steady. The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.9%. The yield on U.S. Treasury bonds fell, but the market remained range-bound. As the U.S. shutdown entered its 22nd day without a resolution in sight, the U.S. Treasury rates dropped. The yield of the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes dropped by 1 basis point to 3.953% from 3.963% at late Tuesday. Investors have priced in almost a full 25 basis-point cut to the Federal Reserve's rate when it meets next week. Due to the shutdown, there are no economic statistics from the United States. This could leave policymakers in a blindingly dark meeting. They may also be divided on which risks should receive the most attention. The yen increased against the dollar. According to sources, the new prime minister Sanae Takaichi has been preparing a stimulus package that will likely exceed last year's $139.19 billion (13.9 trillion yen) in order to help families combat inflation. Next week, the Bank of Japan will also meet. Like the ECB of Europe, it is expected that the central bank will maintain its current rate. The dollar index measures the greenback in relation to a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies. The dollar fell by 0.14%, to 98.84. The euro rose 0.15% to $1.1615. The dollar fell 0.18% against the Japanese yen to 151.66. The oil prices rose. U.S. crude oil rose by 2.25%, to $58.53 per barrel. Brent was up 2.05% for the day at $62.58 a barrel.
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Brazil keeps $4 billion after partial victory on Tupi Field dispute
The Solicitor General's Office announced on Wednesday that Brazil had won a partial win in an international dispute over the Tupi oilfield, against a Petrobras-Shell-Petrogal consortium. This allowed the country to retain tax payments of 22.2 billion Reais ($4.11billion) and keep the money. Arbitration court of the International Chamber of Commerce is mediating the dispute between Brazil's oil regulator ANP and the International Chamber of Commerce over the tax regulations that govern the size of the field. The court's decision is a slight defeat for Brazil. It also determined that compensation can be paid in other forms than cash payments in the future if the amount of compensation is higher by 30% than the quarterly deposits since 2019, when the federal court ruled to the government's benefit. Shell declined to make a comment. Petrobras (which owns a 65% share in the consortium) did not respond immediately to a comment request. Tupi is Brazil's national animal. highest Producing field with more than 1 million barrels equivalent of oil per day. The consortium claims that Tupi includes Cernambi as well. However, the government views them as a single large field whose oil revenue is taxed at a higher rate.
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Gold continues to fall as investors take profits before US inflation data
Investors booked profits before the U.S. key inflation data that is due this week, which will determine whether gold prices are still rising or falling. As of 01:42 pm, spot gold was down by 1.7%, at $4,054.34 an ounce. ET (1742 GMT) after reaching as high as $4,161.17 in earlier session. U.S. Gold Futures for December settled at $4,065.40 an ounce, a 1.1% decrease. Gold prices are at multiple record highs this year and have gained 57%. This is due to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty as well as expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts. Prices dropped 5.3% on the Tuesday after hitting a record-high of $4,381.21 during the previous session. David Meger is the director of metals at High Ridge Futures. The 21-day moving median at $4,005 is a technical support for gold. The core inflation rate is expected to remain at 3.1% for September, according to Friday's U.S. Consumer Price Index report. This report was delayed because of the U.S. Government shutdown. Investors are almost fully pricing in a rate cut of 25 basis points at the Federal Reserve meeting next week. In low-interest-rate environments, gold, which is a non-yielding investment, tends benefit. In the meantime, Russia announced on Wednesday that they were still preparing for an upcoming summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Investors also await clarity regarding the potential meeting next week between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping. "We maintain a bullish outlook for gold and silver into 2026, and following a much-needed correction/consolidation, traders will likely pause for thought before concluding the developments that drove the historic rallies this year has not gone away," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, in a note. Silver spot fell 1.6%, to $47.95 an ounce. It fell 7.1% on Monday. Palladium increased 0.1%, to $1 409 80, while platinum gained 4.5%, to $1 620.83.
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Orange Polska announces a worse-than expected Q3 profit decrease
Orange Polska reported a 10% worse than expected decline in its net profit for the third quarter due to increased finance costs. However, it confirmed its guidance for core earnings and revenue. The third quarter net profit was 228 million Zlotys (63 million dollars). The analysts polled expected a net profit of 250 million zlotys. The Polish division of France's Orange attributed the drop in profit to increased net finance costs after it purchased a 5G licence. Why it's important Orange Polska, with a market capitalisation of 12.20 billion zlotys (approximately $9.04 billion zlotys), is the biggest listed telecoms in Poland. By the Numbers The third-quarter revenue increased 9.3% on an annual basis to 3,33 billion zlotys. Core earnings (EBITDAaL), however, grew by 2.9% to $899 million, due to cost control and strong direct margins. The company added 108,000 new mobile customers during the quarter. KEY QUOTES "We are happy that customer net additions have exceeded 100,000 for the first few years, particularly in mobile (...)." In a press statement, CEO Liudmila Climac said. She added, "The results achieved in the last nine-months give us high confidence to reach this year's guidelines." (Reporting and editing by Matt Scuffham; Marta Maciag)
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Gold continues to fall as investors take profits before US inflation data
Investors booked profits before the U.S. key inflation data that is due this week, which will determine whether gold prices are still rising or falling. As of 11:19 am, spot gold was down by 2%, at $4,038.89 an ounce. After reaching as high as $4,161.17 in earlier sessions, ET (1519 GMT) was the next session. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 1.3%, to $4055.40 an ounce. Gold prices are at multiple record highs this year and have gained 54%. This is due to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty as well as expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts. Prices dropped 5.3% on the Tuesday after hitting a record-high of $4,381.21 during the previous session. David Meger is the director of metals at High Ridge Futures. The 21-day moving median at $4,005 is a technical support for gold. The core inflation rate is expected to remain at 3.1% for September, according to Friday's U.S. Consumer Price Index report. This report was delayed because of the U.S. Government shutdown. Investors are almost fully pricing in a rate cut of 25 basis points at the Federal Reserve meeting next week. In low-interest-rate environments, gold, which is a non-yielding investment, tends benefit. In the meantime, Russia announced on Wednesday that they were still preparing for an upcoming summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Investors also await clarity regarding the potential meeting next week between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping. "We maintain a bullish outlook for gold and silver into 2026, and following a much-needed correction/consolidation, traders will likely pause for thought before concluding the developments that drove the historic rallies this year has not gone away," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, in a note. Silver spot fell 1.3%, to $48.12 an ounce. It fell 7.1% on Monday. Palladium, which is also known as platinum, rose by 0.1% to $1,409.45, while platinum fell 0.3%.
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EU to set price controls on new carbon market
In a letter to the European Union's climate chief, it was revealed that the EU is working on measures to control the prices of its new carbon market. This is in response to concerns from governments about the possibility that the scheme to reduce emissions could lead to higher fuel costs. Policy is to be implemented in 2027 to charge for the planet-heating emission produced by transport and heating fuels. This will encourage people to switch to cleaner heating systems and electric vehicles. The revenue from the scheme will be used to help people pay their bills, subvention electric cars and make energy-saving renovations in homes. Some governments are concerned that the measure could stoke citizen opposition to climate policies if perceived as a way to increase their bills. This year, a group of 19 countries, including the Czech Republic and Germany, asked Brussels to implement stricter price controls. In a response to the requests, EU climate commissioner Wopke H. Hoekstra wrote: "I share your concerns about the uncertainty of future price levels in ETS2 and the price volatility therein. The new EU Carbon Market is designed to release extra permits into the market if the price of CO2 reaches 45 euros. This will help lower prices. Proposal to DOUBLE the number of permits released Hoekstra stated that the Commission would propose to double the number of permits issued in this scenario, potentially reaching up to 80 millions per year in the years 2027-2028-2029. The letter, dated 21 October, stated that "this will more effectively address unwarranted prices rises and improve the market confidence, which are key for planning decarbonisation investment." The Commission will propose to launch carbon permits auctions in 2026 to give governments funds to jump-start investments that help people switch to cleaner technologies. The Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala welcomed the plans on Wednesday, but he said that he wished Brussels would go further and delay launching the carbon market. Leaders of EU countries will meet on Thursday to discuss the bloc's 2040 climate goal. They will focus on the funding and policies needed to help businesses and citizens achieve the target. (Reporting and editing by Ed Osmond; Additional reporting by Jan Lopatka & Jason Hovet)
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Belgium considers energy limits to power data centres that are consuming a lot of electricity as AI demand increases
The Belgian grid operator said it could limit the amount of electricity allocated to data centres in order to protect other industrial users. This was due to a surge in energy-intensive AI facilities. According to the reforms proposed by Elia, data centers would be put in a different category, allowing grid capacity to specifically be allocated for them, within a certain limit. The operator added that this would allow for flexible connections in cases where grid congestion may limit access. As major tech companies spend billions on AI and data centres, nations around the globe scramble to meet the sudden energy demand required to operate the buildings. This is expected to push power consumption to new records over the next two-years. Elia reported that in Belgium, data centre requests have increased nine-fold from 2022. The capacity reserved for 2034 is already more than twice the 8 terawatt hours envisioned by national grid development plans. The report said that "such volumes were not expected during the development of various grid development scenarios in Belgium's electric network," and stressed the need to stop speculative development which is unlikely to materialise by blocking grid capacity. Mathieu Bhet, Minister of Energy in France, told the Parliament earlier this week that the federal grid development plan 2028-2038 will address the evolution of data centres consumption. He said Tuesday that he would pay special attention to the issue during the approval of the plan. Google, the U.S. technology giant, plans to invest $5.80 billion in Belgium to expand its data centres campuses and support its AI strategies. (Reporting and editing by MuvijaM; Alban Kacher)
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Netflix and stocks are mostly down as gold prices continue to fall
Gold prices fell again on Wednesday. This comes a day after gold spot experienced its biggest single-day decline in five years. Major stock indexes were mostly down, with Netflix shares falling after disappointing outlook. Investors booked profits, and gold, which was one of the best performing trades for the year, fell. The price of gold is still on track to have its best year since 1979's oil crisis. It has risen more than 50% this year. Last week, spot gold fell 1.73% to $4,052.69 per ounce. Netflix shares were down by more than 9% at the opening of trading. Wall Street's major three indexes were also lower. Investors will be waiting for Tesla's results, which are expected to kick-off the earnings season of the Magnificent 7 group of megacap stock. Tesla shares fell about 1%. We've been seeing a lot more volatility on the markets in recent months. "We've seen a lot of volatility in the markets lately. He said, "We're in the earnings season and that means uncertainty." Tariff issues still exist. The Middle East war is still a major issue. "We try to focus on the companies themselves and their performance." Russia said Wednesday that it is still preparing for the potential summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 118.69, or 0.25 percent, to 46.806.05, while the S&P 500 declined 22.73, or 0.33 percent, to 6,713.39, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 165.07, or 0.70% to 22,791.98. The MSCI index of global stocks fell by 2.63 points or 0.26% to 922.22. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose by 0.07%. Investors increased their bets that the Bank of England would cut interest rates after data revealed unexpectedly stable inflation. The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 1.1%. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes increased after two consecutive sessions of falling, but the market remained range bound as the U.S. Government shutdown entered its 22nd day without a resolution in sight. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes increased 1.1 basis points from late Tuesday to 3.974%. Investors have priced in an almost full 25-basis point rate cut. Due to the shutdown, policymakers may be left blind during the meeting. This is not ideal as they are divided on which risks should receive the most attention. Trump rejected a Tuesday request from top Democratic lawmakers that they meet until the U.S. shutdown, which has been ongoing for three weeks, ends. The dollar was barely changed. According to sources, the new prime minister Sanae Takaichi has been preparing a stimulus package that will likely exceed last year's $192.19 billion (13.9 trillion yen) in order to help families combat inflation. Next week, the Bank of Japan will also meet. Like the ECB of Europe, it is expected that the central bank will maintain its current rate. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies) fell by 0.01%, while the euro rose 0.01%, reaching $1.16. The dollar gained 0.01% against the yen to reach 151.94. The price of oil rose today, with U.S. Crude up 2.45% to $58.64 per barrel and Brent up 2.15% at $62.64 a barrel. (Reporting and editing by Mark Potter and Peter Graff; Additional reporting from Marc Jones in London.
REFILE-Stocks increase in tense trade, concentrate on Middle East and jobs data
International stocks rose on Friday while oil rates were headed for their greatest weekly gain in two years, as escalating tensions in the Middle East kept markets on edge. With the all-important month-to-month U.S. nonfarm payrolls report simply hours away, financiers were reluctant to drive any asset costs too hard in one direction or another.
The payrolls report might prove crucial in setting the path of financial policy in the coming months. Traders have currently reeled in their larger bets on another outsized rate cut in November from the Federal Reserve.
Including a note of optimism was a rally in Hong Kong stocks on the back of China's huge
stimulus
steps. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures added on 0.1%, suggesting shares on Wall Street might edge greater later on. Oil rates have risen 8.6% today, set for their greatest weekly gain considering that early October 2022's 11.3% weekly gain, as flaring tensions in the Middle East raise the threat of major interruptions to international crude supply. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the U.S. was discussing strikes on Iran's oil centers, when asked whether he would support Israel's strikes in retaliation for Tehran's. rocket attack on Israel. Biden's remarks sparked a surge in oil prices, which had. currently been on the increase today. Brent crude futures increased 0.7% to $78.17 a barrel, while. U.S. futures gained 0.7% to trade at $74.24.
Equities traded with caution, as did currencies. The MSCI. All-World index was up 0.1%, while Europe's. STOXX 600 increased 0.2%.
I do wonder whether there maybe a bit of caution heading. into the weekend. Is anyone really going to wish to hold huge. positions entering? City Index market strategist Fiona Cincotta. said.
As far as the data is concerned, it's ticking over perfectly. - not too hot, not too cold. However there is that lingering and. looming issue over what might happen in the Middle East and. that may (limitation) any strong reaction to an encouraging. payrolls number.
Japan's
Nikkei, which increased 0.2% on Friday, was set for a. weekly loss of about 3%.
Japanese stocks have had a choppy few sessions today as. investors weighed rising geopolitical tensions against the. domestic rate outlook. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said today that economic. conditions in the nation were not ripe for more rate hikes by. the Bank of Japan (BOJ), reversing the hawkish tone he struck. prior to his election triumph. The comments, paired with more dovishness from other authorities,. sent the yen weakening past the 147 per dollar level, although. it did trade 0.45% higher on Friday and last stood at 146.29 per. dollar.
Still, the Japanese currency was headed for a weekly fall of. 2.8%.
Meanwhile, U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports started. reopening on Thursday night after dockworkers and port operators. reached a wage deal to settle the market's greatest work. blockage in almost half a century.
This struck the shares of
shipping companies
in Asia and Europe, which slid on the possibility of freight. charges - which had leapt when the strike started - resuming. their downward trend.
ECONOMIC STRENGTH
The dollar hovered near a six-week high ahead of the. payrolls report that might choose the course of interest rates. Expectations are for the U.S. economy to have actually added 140,000 jobs. last month, a little below August's 142,000 boost.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was last. at 101.87. A slew of information releases today pointed to a U.S. economy. still in solid shape, indicating investors will put additional focus. on Friday's payrolls information. The U.S. services ISM beat strongly on the advantage, exceeding. all projections. It definitely indicates a robust U.S. economy,. Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX technique at RBC Capital Markets,. said. Our base case presumption stays that the U.S. labour. market is normalising rather than faltering.. The euro was little changed at $1.1028, though it was. set for a weekly drop of 1.2%. Sterling rose 0.2% to. $ 1.3159 after Bank of England primary economic expert Huw Tablet stated high. rate of interest were not an essential factor for weakness in British. business investment.
The pound staged a 1% fall on Thursday after Governor. Andrew Bailey was priced estimate as saying the BoE might end up being a bit. more activist on rate cuts if there is even more good news on. inflation.
Elsewhere, spot gold increased 0.34% to $2,665.15 an. ounce.
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(source: Reuters)