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Authorities report at least 60 deaths in North China due to extreme rain.
In the last week, extreme weather conditions in northern China have killed at least sixty people. Thirty of those deaths occurred in an elderly home in Beijing's Miyun district on the hills in the capital. At a press briefing, Xia Limao, the deputy mayor of Beijing said that 44 people had been killed in Beijing and nine others were still missing at midday on Thursday. Miyun experienced rainfall up to 573.5mm (22.6") - levels that local media described in the past as "extremely damaging." Beijing receives an average of 600 mm per year. Authorities reported that 16 people were killed in the nearby province Hebei as a result intense rain. Eight people have been killed and 18 are still missing in Chengde, a city just outside Beijing. State-run Xinhua late Wednesday reported citing local officials that the deaths took place in villages in the Xinglong region of Chengde, Hebei Province, without specifying how or when the people died. The Chengde deaths occurred in villages bordering Beijing's Miyun, about 25 km (16miles) from Miyun reservoir (the largest reservoir in China's northern region). During the recent rains that devastated nearby towns, the reservoir's overall water level and capacity reached record highs. On Sunday, the reservoir reached its maximum capacity when 6,550 cubic meters of water (about 2.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools) flooded in every second. A landslide killed eight people in another Hebei village, north of the reservoir. Four others are still missing. Chinese officials attribute a part of the slowdown in manufacturing activity to extreme rainfall and severe floods, which are linked to climate change by meteorologists. Reporting by Liz Lee and Xiuhao chen; Editing and revision by Stephen Coates, Bernadette Baum
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Gold increases over 1%, as dollar rally stops and trade worries resurface
The gold price increased by more than 1% Thursday, moving from the low of one month it reached in the previous session. A pullback in dollar value and new U.S. Tariff announcements boosted demand for this safe-haven investment. As of 0612 GMT, spot gold was up 1.1%, at $3,312,03 per ounce. On Wednesday, the bullion reached its lowest level since 30th June at $3267.79. U.S. Gold Futures rose 0.4% to $3.309. Gold became less expensive for holders of other currencies as the dollar dropped from its two-month low. Gold prices dropped sharply yesterday, around the time of the FOMC's statement and the announcement on tariffs. A moderately weaker U.S. Dollar is helping gold today, said UBS commodity analysts Giovanni Staunovo. Before the deadline of August 1, U.S. president Donald Trump announced new levies, including updates on copper tariffs, taxes on goods imported from Brazil, South Korea, and India, as well as a halt to exemptions on small overseas shipments. Trump announced on Wednesday that the U.S. will impose a 15% duty on South Korean imports as part of a deal to avoid higher tariffs. He expressed optimism in the trade negotiations with China and said he expected a fair agreement to be reached. Powell stated that it is too early to predict whether the Fed will cut rates during its next meeting, scheduled for September. In an environment of low interest rates, gold tends to do well. The World Gold Council reported on Thursday that global gold demand including OTC trading increased by 3% annually to 1,248.8 tons in the second half of 2025, as investment rose 78%. The focus now shifts to the U.S. Core PCE Index data, due later today. This will be followed by U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday. These two events should provide more clues about Fed rate path. (Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman) (Reporting from Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru, Editing by Janane Vekatraman.)
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Covestro sticks with ADNOC timeline despite sales falling short of expectations
Covestro, a German chemicals manufacturer, missed its second-quarter sales targets on Thursday due to the impact of U.S. tariffs on prices. However, it expressed confidence that ADNOC's acquisition by Abu Dhabi would still be completed this year in spite of an EU investigation into competition. Covestro's products include foam chemicals that are used in mattresses, car seat and building insulation. The prospect of higher tariffs in the U.S. led to an oversupply in the U.S. market, especially from Asia-Pacific, which then caused a large drop in price. The company's revenue fell by 8.4% in April-June to $3.86 billion, falling short of the average analyst estimate of $3.55 billion in a consensus provided by the company. Christian Baier, Chief Financial Officer of the company, said in an interview that the demand at the moment is not strong enough to absorb the partial surplus. Covestro has cut its earnings projection for the full year again this month. Covestro now expects to earn between 700 million and 1.1 billion euro before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation, down from the previously anticipated 1 billion to 1.4 billion euro. ADNOC EXPECTATIONS REMAIN UNCHANGED Baier stated that the 14.7 billion euro takeover of Covestro by the Abu Dhabi state oil company ADNOC would be completed in the second half. This is despite European Union regulators announcing on Monday they had launched an investigation into possible market distortions due to the deal. Baier stated that he was "very confident" of completing the transaction by the end of the year. Covestro's shares rose 0.5% to 60.56 Euros at 0835 GMT. ADNOC signed the deal in October last year, making it its largest acquisition ever and one of the biggest foreign takeovers by a Gulf State of an EU-based company.
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Gulf markets tepid as earnings fall short, Fed warns about rates
Major Gulf equities started the day mostly flat or lower, weighed down by a lackluster corporate earnings report and a cautious U.S. Federal Reserve position on monetary ease, following its decision to hold interest rates at their current level and give no indication as to when borrowing costs may be reduced. Investor sentiment in Gulf markets was clouded by the prospect that U.S. interest rates would remain higher for a longer period of time. This is because the monetary policies tend to follow those of Fed due to currency pegs. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell 0.4% as broad sectoral declines weighed on sentiment. Yamama Cement shares fell by more than 1% following its disappointing second-quarter results, while Nayifat Finance shares dropped 2.4% after a 60% drop in Q2 profits compared to the same period last year. National Gas and Industrialization Co and Saudi Telecom both lost 1.6% when their shares started trading ex-dividend. The General Authority for Statistics released flash estimates that showed Saudi Arabia’s real GDP grew 3.9% from a year ago to the second quarter, largely due to growth in non-oil sectors as the country continues its efforts at diversifying its economy. Dubai's main stock index fell 0.5% from its previous high of nearly two decades. This was mainly due to a 3% drop in Mashreqbank, which had posted a 17% decline in earnings for the second quarter. Tecom Group fell 1.5% before the release of its earnings for the quarter later that day. Investors resisted placing larger bets before key earnings announcements, and the Abu Dhabi index and Qatar's benchmark were also little changed. Ooredoo, the Qatari telecoms company, outperformed its peers by 1.6% following its positive second quarter results. It also held steady with its guidance for the full year. (Reporting from Amna Mariyam, Bengaluru. Editing by Andrew Heavens.)
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Sources say that Asia is increasing its imports of US WTI oil as Middle East prices increase.
Trade sources say that Asia will increase imports of U.S. West Texas intermediate crude in the fourth-quarter after Middle East oil price increased and opened arbitrage window. They said that the price gap between light-sweet U.S.WTI oil and Middle East crude benchmarks Dubai & Murban has narrowed this month due to robust demand in Asia for high-sulphur oils. WTI's Arbitrage to Asia has been open for the last week for cargoes that arrive in early November. This was stated by June Goh, senior analyst at Sparta Commodities. Sources said that U.S. oil producer Occidental sold WTI crude oil to Japanese refiner Taiyo Oil. One source said that the cargo was sold for a premium of $3.50 per barrel over October Dubai prices, and would be delivered in October. A Singapore-based trader stated that WTI crude oil could be sold at a price 50-75 cents per barrel less than Murban oil of similar quality to North Asian refiners, depending on the suppliers. Two other traders claim that WTI is 30 cents less expensive than Murban light-sour grade. The trade is also enabled by the falling costs of a large crude carrier that can send 2,000,000 barrels from the Gulf Coast in the United States to Asia. The daily tanker rates of SSY on LSEG Workspace show that the costs for a VLCC shipping U.S. crude oil to China, Singapore, and West Coast India dropped by $200,000 on Wednesday to $6.5, $5.5, and $5.35, respectively. Sources confirming the benchmark said that Murban's supplies have also been tightened as Abu Dhabi National Oil Co has reduced its exports of its flagship grades by diverting oil to its own refinery. Goh stated that "we anticipate more Asian buyers will secure WTI cargoes, especially as Murban looks expensive while taking the opportunity to diversify their portfolio against AG (Arabian Gulf crude)." She said that the threat of U.S. president Donald Trump to impose secondary duties on countries who buy Russian oil also supports Middle East crude price. Indian refiners will look to purchase oil from Gulf to replace Russian supply, she added. Trump shortened the deadline by which Moscow must make progress in a peace agreement with Ukraine or face secondary tariffs of 100 percent for its oil customers within 10 to 12 business days. This reflects his growing frustration over Russia's actions. China, India, and Turkey are the main importers of Russian crude. Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Siyi LIu in Houston, Arathy Sommesekhar at Houston; editing by Tom Hogue and Philippa Fletcher
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Anglo American reports $1.9 billion loss and cuts dividend as restructuring continues
Anglo American, a global miner, reported on Thursday a $1.9billion loss for the first half of this year, cut its dividend and continued its restructuring efforts, which included divesting its coal and diamond units. Since BHP failed to acquire it last year, the London-listed company has sold or spun off non-core assets in order to concentrate on its core copper and ore. Anglo demerged their platinum business in May, and announced on Thursday that they had sold off their nickel and coking-coal assets but have not yet finalized the sale. The company declared a $0.07 interim dividend per share. This is down from $0.42 an year ago, due to negative earnings in the platinum and coal divisions and no contribution by diamond unit De Beers. The company posted a loss of $1.9 billion for the first six months, which is about three times the $672 million it suffered in the same time period last year. Analysts had expected analysts to expect $2.9 billion in core earnings for the copper, iron ore, and De Beers business. Instead they reported $3 billion. Anglo's share price fell 2.8% during the morning trading. Duncan Wanblad, CEO of De Beers said that a formal sale process was progressing, despite the slump in diamond prices around the world. The second round of offers from interested buyers is expected to be made in the coming month. Anglo American's other option is to spin off De Beers and eventually list it on the stock exchange. Anglo American values De Beers at $4.9 billion, after incurring $3.5 billion of impairments in the last two years. Wanblad stated on Thursday that a trade sale is the best option. However, the trade sale must be to the right buyers. Work continues in parallel to prepare the business for IPO. Net debt was $10.8 billion, which is below the $11.6 billion consensus estimate. Anglo expects that this will come down as soon as it receives the proceeds of the nickel and coal assets sales, and the 19.9% stake it still has in Valterra (formerly Amplats) and its platinum business. Wanblad responded to a question about whether the company will sell the remaining stake it has in Valterra. The miner expects to complete the deal despite a production stop caused by an April fire at one mine included in the sale of $3.78 billion to Peabody Energy. Peabody issued a Material Adverse Change notice (MAC) to Anglo American in May, arguing that the fire and the closure of the mine was a significant development which could have allowed the buyer the right to terminate the contract. Wanblad stated that it was up to Peabody now to decide what to do.
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Portugal's EDP increases 2025 targets following solid first half
EDP, Portugal's largest utility company, raised its 2025 profit target on Thursday following a first-half improvement in earnings thanks to cost saving and increased electricity generation. EDP expects to earn a recurring net profit of between 1.2 and 1.3 billion euro ($1.4-1.5billion) this year. This is up from its previous estimate of 1.2 billion euro. In 2025, the recurring earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), would be between 4.8 to 4.9 billion euro, an increase from the previous guidance of around 4.8 million euros. Early trading on EDP shares showed little change. "We had an excellent first half, with solid (recurring), operational results... and efficiency gains and costs reductions. This allowed us to increase our guidance for the year," said Chief Executive Miguel Stilwell de Andrade. EDP's net profit grew 27% in the first half to 752 millions euros. EBITDA grew 7%, to 2.6 billion euro. EDP reported that the total electricity production increased by 12%, to 34.6 Terawatt-hours. This was due to high rainfall on the Iberian Peninsula, which filled reservoirs up to 87% capacity, as well as natural gas power stations. After the major power outage that occurred in Spain and Portugal April 28, it was decided to prioritize the production of gas plants for the purpose of strengthening the electrical grid. In order for the large grid investments in Iberia needed to materialise, "it is essential that regulators in Portugal, and Spain, when they conduct their upcoming reviews increase the rates on this asset base". He said that the current rates of return in both countries were around 5.6%, but they should be raised "to more realistic levels" in order to keep up with other European countries which reward investments with returns as high at 7.5%. EDP installed capacity in June was 32.3 gigawatts. This is 11% higher than the previous year.
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Iron ore falls to a two-week low due to weak China factory data
The iron ore futures price fell for the second consecutive session on Thursday, hitting their lowest level in two weeks as a result of weaker than expected July factory activity figures in China's top consumer. The September contract for iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange closed the daytime trading 2.38% lower, at 779 Yuan ($108.32), the lowest price since July 17. As of 0748 GMT on the Singapore Exchange, benchmark September iron ore fell by 1.83%, to $99.85 per ton. This is its lowest price since July 16. An official survey released on Thursday showed that China's manufacturing activity declined for the fourth consecutive month in July. This suggests a decline in exports due to higher U.S. duties, while domestic demand remains sluggish. Prices for the main steelmaking ingredient slid on Wednesday, as hopes of Beijing announcing more stimuli measures during a Politburo meeting in July that sets the economic course of the rest of the year faded. ANZ analysts wrote in a report that the policy statement from a Chinese leaders' meeting left investors underwhelmed. It included a more aggressive fiscal agenda and moderately lax monetary policies. The readout did not provide details on large-scale stimuli measures," they said. Also, other steelmaking ingredients lost ground. The price of coke and coking coal both fell by 4.93% and 8% respectively. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have fallen. Rebar fell by 4.19%, while hot-rolled coils dropped by 3.56%. Wire rods also declined 4.46%. Stainless steel lost 1.04%.
India-US trade negotiations go off the rails over a dispute over farm markets
Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will impose a 25 percent tariff on Indian products starting August 1. He cited New Delhi's high taxes and non-monetary trade barriers.
Here are some of the issues that have appeared to have stalled the trade negotiations between the U.S. and India, the fifth-largest economy in the world:
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
India has refused to comply with U.S. requests for the opening of its dairy and agricultural markets, claiming that such a move would harm millions of farmers. New Delhi has excluded agriculture from its free trade agreements to protect the livelihoods of domestic farmers.
Indian officials have cited the risks of subsidised U.S. agricultural products as a reason to not reduce tariffs on corn, soybeans, wheat, and ethanol. Automakers, pharmaceutical firms, and small businesses in India have all lobbied to only open the market gradually, for fear of disruptions from U.S. imported products.
High Tariffs
A White House fact sheet states that India has an average MFN tariff (Most Favored Nation) of 39% for imported farm products, compared with 5% in the U.S. and some as high as 50 %.
Trump's administration repeatedly cited these tariffs to be a major obstacle in establishing deeper trade relations with India.
U.S. DEMANDS
Washington wants better access to India’s markets in agriculture, ethanol and dairy products, alcohol beverages, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Washington also wants India's non-tariff trade barriers to be reduced, as well as the rules for digital trade, data flows, and patents.
Lack of Reciprocity
India is waiting for clear proposals from Washington despite offering limited tariff reductions and increasing imports of U.S. defence and energy goods. Trump's unpredictable trading moves are cited by officials as a cause for concern.
Indian exporters are still concerned about the rising U.S. tariffs on imports.
Tensions over Pakistan
New Delhi has expressed concern over Trump's repeated claims that he helped broker the ceasefire between India & Pakistan in early this year. Indian officials see the remarks as a strategic shift toward Pakistan that complicates bilateral relations.
Overconfidence in a Deal
Indian officials initially believed that a deal would be reached, as they expected the U.S. government to favor deeper trade with India's largest commercial partner. Modi and Trump aimed to sign the first phase of a pact in autumn 2025. They hoped that bilateral trade would reach $500 billion by 2030. This was up from $191 million in 2024.
India is still hopeful that its exports such as pharmaceuticals, electronics and engineering goods, garments and other items, will remain competitive despite the tariff setback.
In 2024, Indian exports of goods to the U.S. will reach $87 billion. Gems and jewellery (8.5 billion dollars), pharma (8 billion dollars) and petrochemicals (4 billion dollars) are the top three. Services exports were valued at $33 billion, mostly IT and professional services.
With $68 billion cumulatively in FDI from 2002, the United States is India’s third largest investor.
US Exports to India
U.S. manufacturing exported to India will be worth nearly $42 billion by 2024. However, there are high tariffs on these products. These range from 7% for wood products and machinery, to 15% to 20% for footwear and transport equipment and up to 68% on foods.
(source: Reuters)