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Kuwait Oil Minister expects demand to increase after US rate reduction
Kuwait's oil minister Tariq al-Roumi stated on Thursday that he expected higher demand for oil following the U.S. rate cut this week, especially from Asian markets. On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the first since December. He also said that he expects new sanctions against Russia to have a positive effect on the oil price. Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the U.S. is prepared to impose new energy sanctions against Russia, provided all NATO countries stop purchasing Russian oil. Eight OPEC+ member countries agreed on September 7, to increase output by 137,000 bpd for October. This is a continuation of the policy of the group since April, which has been to increase production after years of cutting to support the oil markets. Al-Roumi stated that despite the agreement to increase output, "prices were more than satisfactory". He added, "We expected the worst, but everything is fine." The oil market is confusing and difficult to predict. The Minister made these remarks at an event marking the start of oil production at Kuwait Oil Company's Mutriba Field, which is targeting a light oil output between 80,000 to 120,000 bpd. At the event, KOC CEO Ahmad Al-Aidan said: "This step will help Kuwait achieve its strategy of reaching a production capacity for oil of 4 million barrels per day by 2035." The current production capacity is less than 3 million bpd. Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy, Writing by Tala RAMAdan and Ahmed Elimam, Editing by Bernadette BAUCH and Jan Harvey
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Dollar firms after Fed lowers rates and copper falls
The copper price fell on Thursday, as traders took profits after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates. Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that there would be no further aggressive easing. The benchmark three-month price of copper at the London Metal Exchange fell 0.4% to $9,960.50 a tonne as of 0940 GMT after hitting a low for a week on Wednesday, $9,925. Powell, in his press conference, reacted against the idea of larger cuts. Dollar index rose by 0.1%, to 96.98, on the back of Mr. Trump's remarks. However, it is still down 10.6% for this year. The dollar index is still down around 10.6% this year. Dan Smith, managing Director at Commodity Market Analytics said that the rate decision made on Wednesday was a key driver behind copper's drop. He also pointed out a technical charting pattern called a "triple-top". Smith stated that there has been a significant amount of resistance in the copper market around $10,160. Smith said that the price has turned three times at this point in recent months, which indicates the current momentum will be to the downside. The rest of the base-metals complex was mostly in the red. Aluminium fell as much as 0.6%, to $2,665.50 per ton. This is a new low for the week. It was also down 0.2% at 0940 GMT. The cash aluminum contract premium is added to the contract for three months On Thursday, the price of a ton had dropped to $4 from $16 on Tuesday. Lead was unchanged at $2,012 a ton. Nickel and tin also fell. (Reporting and editing by Rashmi, Harikrishnan Nair, Ed Osmond and Harikrishnan Nair; Additional reporting and editing by Amy Lv & Lewis Jackson)
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Central bank of UAE says that the UAE economy will grow by 4.9% in 2025 due to higher oil production.
Central bank of the United Arab Emirates said that the economy will grow by 4.9% in 2025 compared to an earlier forecast. This is due to increased oil production and growth in non-hydrocarbon sectors. In a quarterly report, the bank stated that it expects hydrocarbon production to increase in accordance with OPEC+ quotas by 5.8% by 2025 and 6.5% by next year. The report stated that "this real adjustment in hydrocarbon production is expected to offset the negative impact on government revenue of the decline in crude oil prices, creating a ripple effect for non-hydrocarbon sector." The UAE is a major oil exporter and has intensified plans to diversify their economy. In the first quarter, the non-hydrocarbons sector accounted for 77.1% total GDP. The central bank projects that the non-hydrocarbon GNP will grow by 4.5% and 4.8% respectively in 2025, and 2026. This growth is likely to be boosted indirectly by the higher hydrocarbon growth through increased investment, government expenditure and confidence. The UAE economy grew by 3.9% in the first three months of the year, led by a non-hydrocarbon expansion of 5.3%. This was driven by manufacturing, financial services and construction sectors. Reporting by Rachna uppal; editing by Andrew Cawthorne
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Stocks and the dollar rise after Fed cuts, but now focus is on BoE
The dollar and stocks both rose on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its interest rates for the first time this year. Meanwhile, French politics kept the markets in France jittery. And the pound remained steady ahead of the Bank of England's rate announcement. The Fed's steady-as-she-goes-message from what had been a politically charged meeting lifted both the pan-European STOXX 600 and Wall Street futures 0.5%, despite an initially mixed reaction from U.S. traders on Wednesday. Asia also rallied over night. Chinese stocks reached a decade-high as local chipmakers rejoiced at reports that U.S. giant Nvidia was banned in China. South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan's Nikkei ended all more than 1% higher. The dollar's rise to nearly 0.2% on the currency market may also have been a relief for firms that export to countries other than the United States after a recent plunge to its lowest level in three-and-a-half years. The Fed's "dot plot", which is closely monitored, had indicated that two additional rate reductions would be made over the remaining two meetings of this year but only one in 2026. Fed Chair Jerome Powell also moderated expectations by saying that the central bank didn't need to act quickly, though analysts admit this could change. Richard Cochinos, RBC Capital Markets, said: "We look beyond the volatility of one or two days to find underlying trends." In this case, we expect a weaker U.S. Dollar," Cochinos said. He pointed to the expectation of U.S. interest rates falling to 3% in 2013. The euro was largely unchanged at $1.1825, and the sterling was at $1.36. It is widely expected that the BoE will keep UK interest rates at 4% in the future. The main focus will be whether the British central banks slows down the pace of its 100 billion pounds a year reduction in government bond holdings in response to the recent volatility on UK bond markets. The BoE poll conducted in August showed that economists expected the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to reduce the pace of monetary policy to 67.5 billion pounds (92.2 billion dollars). This is a larger drop than the 72 billion pounds predicted by the BoE poll. In response to a 25 basis point rate reduction announced by its central bank earlier, the Norwegian crown softened just a little. The Norwegian crown was close to its three-year high against the dollar, and was at a two-month high when compared with the euro. New Zealand's Dollar fell after the data showed that the economy of the country shrank much more than expected. FRENCH FOCUS After the release of August's weaker than expected labour market data, the Australian dollar fell 0.4%. The bond markets are still on the rise, with the yield of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropping to 4.06%, and the two-year rate, which is rising with traders' expectation of higher Fed Funds rates, at 3.53 %. The benchmark yield for the Euro Zone, Germany's 10-year bond, fell by 0.5 basis points, to 2.67%. However, attention was again focused on France, as its bond yields moved above Italy's. Brent crude oil fell 0.2% to $67.87 a barrel. Gold, a safe haven, rose 0.2% to $3,665 an ounce.
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Russia announces changes to its budget aimed at decreasing oil revenue dependence
The Russian Finance Ministry announced on Thursday a new measure that it claimed was designed to shield the state budget against oil price fluctuations as well as Western sanctions targeted at Russian energy exports. The government is lowering the price cutoff for oil that oil revenues are deposited into the fiscal reserves fund. This will ensure the fund has enough money to replenish it. At a public meeting, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov stated that "to make our finances more robust, we propose a reduction of dependence on different constraints, whether they are price-related or volume related, in the budget’s reliance on revenues from oil and gas". Siluanov's new measure, which he sought to reinstate the budget rule, after it had been abandoned following the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, is a victory. However, Russian media claimed that he wanted a larger reduction. The budget is more vulnerable to a drop in oil prices if the rule isn't in place. Siluanov stated that the price cutoff would be reduced by $1 per year, bringing it down to $55 a barrel in 2030. Currently, the cut-off price for barrels is $60. The draft budget will be presented to the parliament on 29 September. Currently, the fiscal reserve fund has approximately 4 trillion roubles (48.25 billion dollars) available. The government plans to use 447 billion roubles (5.39 billion dollars) of the fund to cover a part of the deficit expected to exceed 1.7% GDP. Siluanov stated that the new measures will allow the state budget to reduce the share of revenues from energy to around 22% in the first eight month of 2025, down from 25%. ($1 = 82,9000 roubles). (Reporting and editing by Andrew Osborn. Darya Corsunskaya.
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Dollar gains after Fed Chair's remarks as gold falls further from records
Gold fell further from its previous session record, as the dollar rose after the U.S. Federal Reserve took a more measured approach to future easing in response to a widely anticipated 25 basis point interest rate reduction. As of 0801 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.1% to $3,657.21 an ounce. Prices reached a record-high of $3,707,40 on Wednesday before falling 0.8%. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 0.7% to $3691.0. The Fed cut rates by 25 basis point on Wednesday, and said it would continue to lower borrowing costs throughout the remainder of this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the action as risk-management in response to a weakening labour market. He said that the Fed was in a situation where it is "meeting by meeting" in regards to interest rate outlook. Peter Fertig, an analyst at Quantitative Commodity Analysis, said that there was a "bit of disappointment" in the gold market, as the market had expected the Fed to reduce the opportunity costs for gold holdings (more than they did). Gold became more expensive for holders of other currencies due to the 0.2% increase in the dollar. On Wednesday, it fell to its lowest level in more than three-and-a half years. In a low-interest rate environment, non-yielding gold bullion is a good investment. It's a safe haven during times of geopolitical or economic uncertainty. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, traders are pricing in a 90 percent chance that the Fed will cut rates again by 25 bp at its next meeting in October. ANZ said that it expects gold will outperform the early stages of the easing cycle. The bank said that the demand for safe haven assets in a geopolitical environment of uncertainty is likely to increase investor demand. The SPDR Gold Trust is the largest gold-backed ETF in the world. Its holdings dropped 0.44% on Wednesday to 975.66 tons from 979.95 on Tuesday. The price of spot silver increased by 0.1%, to $41.70 an ounce. Platinum rose 2%, to $1,389.57, and palladium remained unchanged at $1,154.0/oz. (Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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Octopus Energy, UK spins off Kraken Technology arm
Octopus Energy announced on Thursday that it will spin off its technology arm Kraken Technologies and name Tim Wan the newly-separated company's Chief Financial Officer. Britain's largest electricity provider is focusing on its core business. Kraken, a company that provides energy software to major energy companies such as EDF, National Grid US, and Tokyo Gas has reached $500 million in annual revenue committed through licensing agreements. Separation will allow Kraken to expand and invest as required, while also reassuring Kraken's customers about potential conflicts of interests from being owned by another company. Kraken is a global success business that has been operating independently for a while. Completing our journey towards full independence is the next strategic and inevitable step, said Kraken CEO Amir Orad in a press release. Wan, the incoming CFO, was finance chief of the U.S. listed software platform Asana between 2017 and 2024. He oversaw the market listing. Octopus Energy has not provided specifics about Kraken's spin-off. Sky News A report from July stated that the technology group's value could reach up to 10 billion pounds ($13.63billion) if it were separated. The spin-off is expected to also boost Australian electricity and Gas retailer Origin Energy Octopus is owned by, who owns approximately 23%. Origin did not respond immediately to a comment request.
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Anglo American Australia cuts a'small number of' jobs in Brisbane
Anglo American announced on Thursday that it has cut a "small" number of jobs in its Brisbane office and coal mines in the area as part of its efforts to streamline its operations, adapt to falling coal prices and increasing costs. The Queensland company has not specified the number of job cuts. This comes just a day after BHP, its larger counterpart, cut 750 jobs in a coal mine in that same region. BHP cited low coal prices as well as high royalties from the state government for its poor returns. Ben Mansour is vice president of people and corporate affairs at Anglo American Australia. He said that the majority of the reductions were voluntary. ABC News in Australia reported that 200 Anglo American jobs were at risk, citing Isaac Regional Council. Local government did not respond immediately to the request for comment. According to its website, Anglo American has five coal mines located in Queensland's Bowen Basin that produce steelmaking coal. It sold 33% of one of its Australian coal mines that produces steelmaking coal for $1.1 billion last year to focus on its core copper assets. Last week, the company announced a merger proposal with Canada's Teck Resources. This will be second largest mining deal in history.
100 Days of DOGE: Lots of chaos and not much efficiency
The Social Security Administration is sending lawyers, statisticians, and other senior agency officials from its Baltimore headquarters to the regional offices in order to replace veteran claim processors that have either been fired by the Trump administration or bought out. Two people who are familiar with the situation say that most of the new employees don't have the skills to perform the tasks, which will lead to longer waiting times for the disabled and elderly Americans, who depend on the benefits. In an email, a SSA official responded that reassigned staff "have vast knowledge of our programs and services." Since President Donald Trump sent remote workers to overcrowded offices, the Internal Revenue Service's internet is so patchy that employees are using personal hotspots to access the web, which crashes their computers during tax season. IRS officials did not respond when asked for a comment. The IRS did not respond to a request for comment.
Jessica Riedl is a fellow of the Manhattan Institute. A fiscally conservative think-tank that advocates streamlining government, she said, "DOGE does not seem like a serious undertaking." She believes that DOGE is only saving $5 billion and will cost more in the end.
These examples, which were previously unknown, span 14 government agencies. They were revealed in interviews conducted with 30 federal workers and experts on governance. These accounts don't provide a complete picture of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency's project to reduce the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy. However, they reveal the collateral damage caused by DOGE's attempts to make the sprawling bureaucracy of the federal government more efficient.
Harrison Fields, White House spokesperson, responded to questions regarding the impact of DOGE cuts on government efficiency in a press release. Fields stated that Musk's group "has already modernized and improved government technology, prevented fraudulent activity, streamlined processes, identified billions in savings for American tax payers." Fields didn't give any examples of how the government's computer systems and workforce have improved.
SAVE BILLIONS
Musk confirmed Tuesday that he would step down from his position as DOGE's leader next month. The end of May was the deadline for his 130-day special government employee mandate. He said that he would continue to work with Trump on the overhaul of government but not full time. The future of DOGE is in doubt because of his reduced role, but experts say that cost-cutting measures will continue.
Musk and his lieutenants are yet to provide any concrete evidence of how the government will operate more efficiently due to the massive layoffs and the termination of government contracts.
Dozens of government officials told us that DOGE teams have buried themselves into government agencies, and their computers systems are operated in secrecy. DOGE's website, which provides regular updates about the $160 billion it claims to have saved U.S. tax payers so far, is riddled with mistakes and corrections.
The White House gave examples of cost-savings, including the discovery of $630 million worth of fraudulent loans by the Small Business Administration made to applicants aged over 115 but under 11 years old in 2020-2021. $382 million was fraudulently paid out by the Labor Department in unemployment benefits since 2020.
I was not able to independently verify these claims.
DOGE has not responded to any requests for comments. Musk told Fox News' Bretbaier that his team was careful in making cuts, admitted and fixed errors, and had discovered "astonishing amounts" of fraud and waste.
You can't buy dry ice
DOGE has announced that it has cancelled almost 500,000 government-issued credit cards in its efforts to reduce costs. The agency has also imposed a limit of $1 on some cards and centralized decision-making within certain agencies. This means that managers at some regional offices cannot buy basic supplies.
It took a scientist a whole month to obtain authorization from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to purchase $200 worth of dry ice for preserving urine samples. This is a purchase that would normally be made in a local grocery store. A colleague from another regional office, who had a government-issued credit card, paid for the dry air, but the cost was $100 more because the administration barred employees from purchasing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), which supervises NIOSH did not respond when asked for a comment.
DOGE and White House also prohibited many agencies from contacting outside vendors, as they stopped thousands of federal contracts.
A chemical analysis machine worth nearly half a million dollars at a CDC in Cincinnati has been sitting idle for months, because scientists cannot schedule training with the supplier to begin using the device, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The CDC has not responded to a comment request.
In the first week in March, the Social Security Administration's computer systems crashed ten times in four days. One IT worker said that because a quarter the agency's staff has quit or been terminated, it takes longer to bring the systems back online, which disrupts the processing of claims.
Few would dispute that the SSA computer systems are outdated, frequently crash and in need of updating. Musk told Baier that the agency's computers are "failing" and "we're fix it."
HUMANITARIAN AID CUT DOGE, since its creation on Trump's very first day as President, has largely closed down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides humanitarian aid to those in need around the globe, and canceled more than 80% of its programs. By September, almost all the employees of the agency will be terminated, and all its overseas offices will close. Some functions are being absorbed by the State Department.
A tally shows that the overhaul of the government has led to the dismissal, resignation and early retirement of 260,000 civil service employees.
In February, over 20,000 probationary employees (newly hired or recently reassigned workers) were terminated. After court rulings, they were reinstated. However, most were sent back home with full pay. After further court rulings, many are being fired once again.
Trump and Musk both said that the U.S. Government is plagued by fraud and waste. Many civil servants, governance experts and others do not dispute that efficiencies could be made. However, they say that there are people within the federal bureaucracy who already try to save taxpayer dollars. DOGE has targeted some of these offices for cutbacks.
Trump fired 17 inspectors in January. Their mission as government watchdogs included reducing fraud and waste.
Christi Grimm was fired from her position as inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. She said she expected $14.5 billion in "cold, hard cash" to be recovered over the next three years through audits and fraud investigation.
The DOGE eliminated 18F, one of only a few government units tasked with streamlining technology throughout the federal government. Waldo Jaquith who worked at 18F from 2016 to 2020 said that the team saved the Pentagon $500,000,000 in just one project lasting three days after noticing two departments doing the same unknowingly work.
I was not able independently to verify this figure.
Musk and his team have a very specific idea of how they want the government to function. Jaquith stated that when Musk's team discovered it, it was destroyed.
Thomas Shedd, an appointee of Trump at the General Services Administration (GSA), in an email sent to staff members last month, called 18F "noncritical". (Reporting and editing by Ross Colvin, Suzanne Goldenberg, and Julie Steenhuysen; additional reporting by Alexandra Alper, Leah Douglas and Julie Steenhuysen)
(source: Reuters)