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Open Mineral is investigated by Switzerland for alleged sanctions against Russian gold deals
Two sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that Open Mineral, a Swiss metal trader, is under investigation by both the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in Switzerland (SECO) as well as Zug Police for alleged dealings involving sanctioned Russian Gold. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Switzerland imposed sanctions on Russian gold in August 2022. These sanctions included gold. "We fully cooperate with the authorities, and we welcome this new development in the hope that it will accelerate the resolution." Open Mineral responded to a comment request by saying that business is continuing as usual. A spokesperson for SECO said that SECO and Zug Police conducted a search of a home in the canton Zug on September 11, The measure was taken in relation to an administrative criminal proceeding that SECO is currently conducting. "The proceeding targets two people as well as unknown persons," SECO media spokesperson stated. SECO refused to identify the two individuals, and said that the search had nothing to do with the investigation of Open Mineral. SECO stated that the investigation was based on potential violations of Article 9 Federal Act on Implementation of Sanctions International... in connection with the Ordinance on Measures Related to the Situation in Ukraine. The criminal law provides a legal basis to prosecute individuals or entities who violate Swiss sanctions laws, whether intentionally or negligently. SECO stated that it would not comment further on the current proceedings. All accused persons are presumed to be innocent until the legal proceedings are concluded.
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Optus error causes three deaths in Australia
Optus, Australia's second largest telecommunications company, has suffered a technical malfunction that disrupted the emergency call system. Three people died as a result. Stephen Rue, CEO of Telstra, said that the failure occurred on Thursday during a network update, potentially impacting 600 customers from South Australia, Western Australia, as well as the Northern Territory. He said that welfare checks found three dead people in homes who had tried to call triple zero ("000") for an emergency. The checks are still being conducted. Rue apologized to customers who were unable to connect to emergency services at a time when they most needed them. I offer my heartfelt and sincere condolences, to the family and friends of those who have passed. Sorry for your loss. It is unacceptable. "We have let you down." Rue did not know the exact duration of the failure. He said that Optus owned by Singapore Telecommunications had corrected the problem, was conducting an extensive investigation, and would publish the results once they were completed. The incident occurred less than a month after Optus received a fine of A$12,000,000 ($7.9million) from regulators for failing provide emergency call service to thousands of people during a national outage in the year 2023. Optus was also hit by a cyber-attack in 2022, which affected data for 9.5 million Australians. In 2023, a widespread outage caused Kelly Bayer Rosmarin to resign as CEO. Rue assumed the leadership of Optus in November 2024.
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Gold gains for the 5th week in a row as attention turns to US policy after Fed action
The gold price edged up on Friday as investors awaited more signals about the U.S. economic outlook. As of 0817 GMT, spot gold was up by 0.2% to $3,650.89 an ounce. Bullion has gained 0.2% this week. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery rose by 0.1% to $3683.40. Han Tan, Chief Market Analyst at Nemo.money, said: "The Fed's policy outlook is the main driving force behind bullion buggers, even though the precious metals are receiving tremendous support due to central bank purchases and the demand for safe havens. Any dips below 3,600 will be brief." The Fed cut the key interest rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points and opened the way for further easing. However, it temperated its message with cautions about sticky inflation. This raised doubts over the pace of future ease. Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the policy as a risk management cut in response the weakening of the labour market. He said that the central bank is in a situation where it has to "meet-by-meeting" about the rate outlook. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, traders are pricing in 92% of another 25-bp reduction at the Fed’s October meeting. Nitesh Sha, commodity strategist at WisdomTree, said: "Key factors that drive gold prices are the continued depreciation of the dollar. Year to date the trend has been strong and we expect it to continue." We expect gold prices next year to trade around $4,300. The price of non-yielding gold, which is known to do well in low interest rate environments, reached a new record on Wednesday, reaching $3,707.40. It has increased by 39% so far this year. The physical gold premiums in India reached a 10-month-high this week, as investors continued to buy bullion in anticipation for further gains despite record prices in the run up to the festive season. Palladium fell 0.4% to $1,146.43, while spot silver increased 0.8% to 42.12 cents per ounce. Platinum also rose 0.2% to 1,386.65. All three metals are headed for a weekly loss. (Reporting and editing by Anmol Chaubey, Bengaluru)
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Solar price rises on Monday due to a slump in supply
On Monday, a drop in solar energy generation in Germany will likely offset an increase in wind power output and cause baseload electricity prices to rise. LSEG data shows that the German and French baseload power contracts TRDEBD3,TRFRBD3 had not been traded by 817 GMT Friday. LSEG data revealed that the day-ahead contracts were closed at 88.9 euro/MWh on Thursday and at 58.1 euro/MWh. Wiulan He is an LSEG analyst. He said that a decrease in solar production is expected to increase residual load on Monday. He added that Germany will be a net buyer throughout the day. LSEG data shows that German wind power production is projected to increase by 1.1 gigawatts to 17.8 GW Monday. French wind power is forecast to grow by 6.2 GW from 9.8 GW. The data indicated that solar power in Germany is expected to drop sharply Monday. It will fall from 8.2 GW down to 5.6GW. On Monday, power consumption in Germany will fall by 540 Megawatts (MW), to 53.2 GW. Demand in France should remain stable at 43.1 GW. The French nuclear capacity remained at 75%. German power contract for the year ahead TRDEBYZ6 The price of a megawatt-hour (MWh) in France has dropped by 0.4%, to 87.75 Euros ($103.16). TRFRBYZ6 The market had not opened trading on Friday after closing Thursday at 59.75 Euros/MWh. Yesterday, the German power contracts were backed by several parties. The wind forecasts were continually lowered for the first of October. In their morning report, Mind Energy analysts noted that stronger gas prices and carbon prices also contributed to the increase. The European Carbon Market CFI2Zc1 The benchmark contract dropped 0.7% to 77.28 Euros per metric ton.
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Iron ore gains for the fourth consecutive week on increased steel demand
The price of iron ore futures rose on Friday. They ended the week with a higher price, boosted by a strengthening steel market and pre-holiday stocking in China, whose major consumer. The January contract for iron ore most traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange rose by 0.81%, to 807.5 Yuan ($113.54) per metric ton. The contract finished the week with a gain of 0.88%. As of 0716 GMT the benchmark September iron ore traded on the Singapore Exchange had risen 0.27% to $105.55 per ton, but was down 0.14% over the past week. The steel sector is benefiting from the continued support of the iron metals industry as the peak season approaches. Restocking in advance of the Chinese National Day holiday also helps to boost the demand for ferrous materials. Steel prices may rise if downstream demand is stronger than expected in October. This was predicted by broker Galaxy Futures. According to Mysteel's data, China's stocks of major carbon steels declined by 0.3% from the previous week during September 12-18 to 4,18 million tons. According to Hexun Futures, a Chinese financial information website, the average daily hot metal production, an indicator for iron ore consumption, increased by 171,900 metric tons in comparison to a year ago. The capacity of blast furnaces was also utilised at 93,35 %, up 6.29 percentage points. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China, the world's largest producer of crude iron ore, increased its production by 8.8% in August, to 81.63 millions tons. Meanwhile, crude steel output fell for a third consecutive month due to a slowing demand. Coking coal and coke, which are used to make steel, have both gained in value, rising by 1.36% each and 0.75% respectively. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange are mostly in positive territory. Rebar rose 0.73%. Wire rod increased 0.09%. Hot-rolled coils rose 0.18%. Stainless steel fell 0.39%. $1 = 7.1118 Chinese yuan (Reporting and editing by Eileen Soreng; Lucas Liew)
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As the festive season approaches, India premiums are at a 10-month high; China discounts are widening.
This week, physical gold premiums in India reached a record high of 10 months as investors continued to buy bullion because they expected further gains. Discounts in China also increased to their highest level in five years. The price of gold in India was around 109.500 rupees (1,240.09 dollars) per 10 grams, after reaching a record high earlier this week at 110,666. A bullion dealer in Chennai said, "The rally made people more certain that gold would keep rising. So they snapped up coins and bar." This week, the dealers quoted a premium The highest price since mid-November, 2024, is up to $7 an ounce above official domestic prices. This includes 6% import duties and 3% sales taxes. Last week they quoted a discount up to $6, and a premium as high as $2. A Mumbai-based dealer for a private bank said that retail buyers were waiting on a price adjustment before finalising their purchases. In October, Indians celebrate Dussehra (Diwali) and Diwali (Diwali), when gold is considered auspicious. Dealers in China, the top consumer of gold, offered discounts of between $21 and $36 per ounce compared to global benchmark spot prices The lowest level since may 2020. Last week, it was between $17 and $24. Analyst Ross Norman, an independent analyst, said that "gold premiums have fallen in China over the past 6 months due to weak domestic demand. Investors are now focusing on equities and risk-on investments as they pivot to equity investing." Swiss Customs data released Thursday shows gold exports from Switzerland to China increased 254% between July and August, reaching their highest level since the beginning of May 2024. Analysts attribute this increase to the expected rise in demand at the end of September. Gold in Hong Kong In Singapore, the price was $1.60 higher than in Singapore. Premiums ranged between par and $1.40. Japan's bullion Traded at par with a $1 premium. A trader stated that local retailers are fond of buying gold, and that this trend is likely to continue.
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Nikkei falls as BOJ becomes more hawkish. Asia shares to gain weekly gains
On Friday, Asian shares rose on the back of hopes for further rate cuts in the global economy. Meanwhile, the Nikkei fell from its record highs as the Bank of Japan signaled a further winding down of its massive stimulus policy. The EUROSTOXX futures were little changed, indicating that European stocks would open flat. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Futures are both flat after Wall Street closed overnight at record highs. The BOJ maintained its Friday position. Short-term interest rates Two members voted to increase the rate. The company also decided to begin selling its large holdings in exchange-traded fund (ETF) or real estate investment trusts. The data showed that Japan's core rate of inflation was 2.7% for the year ending August. This is the lowest pace in nine month, but it still exceeded the central bank's target of 2%. Stock investors were caught off guard by the surprise vote dissents and asset sales. The Nikkei, after hitting a record in early trading, reversed its gains and was down last 0.3%. This brought the weekly gain of 0.9%. The dollar fell 0.3% to 147.51 Japanese yen. The yield on the 10-year Japanese Government Bond jumped by 4 basis points to 1.635%. This is just short of the previous high for this month of 1.64%. Charu Chanana is the chief investment strategist for Saxo. This is a structural headwind, but the impact will depend on the speed and the signaling of sales. Now, the focus is on BOJ Governor Kazuo ueda's scheduled news conference at 0630 GMT. In the first part of this week, central banks were in The United States Canada Norway Cut interest rates to fan hopes of further policy easing and brighten the outlook for the global economy. Bank of England held steady. South Korea's benchmark stock index fell 0.7%, but remained near its record high. The index was up by 1.3% this week, which brings the two-week total to more than 7%. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan fell 0.2%, but was still on track for a 0.6% weekly gain. It is not far off its four-year highs. The expiration of stock options, stock index options and futures on stock indexes occurs simultaneously every Friday, which can lead to an increase in trading and market volatility. The blue chips of China rose 0.6% while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.1%. This is ahead of a phone call that President Donald Trump will have with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later today. Investors have a lot to consider before that call. A deal on TikTok could be close, China's Huawei has announced its chip plans and Beijing has ordered tech firms to not buy Nvidia AI chips. The benchmark S&P 500 index, Dow Jones and Nasdaq closed overnight at new records, helped by improved jobless claims and the news that Nvidia would invest $5 billion into the struggling U.S. semiconductor maker Intel. Intel shares soared 23% while Nvidia rose 3.5%. The dollar recovered on the foreign exchange market after the Fed made its first rate reduction in nine months. The dollar index held steady at 97.38 after plummeting to a multiyear low of 96.224. The pound remained at $1.3546 after slipping 0.6% overnight, as the BOE left rates at 4%. The 10-year Treasury yields increased by 2 basis points, to 4,126%, for the third consecutive session. Oil prices have fallen on commodity markets due to concerns about fuel demand in America. U.S. crude fell 0.3% to $63.38 per barrel, while Brent oil was down 0.2% at $77.32. The spot gold price rose by 0.4%, to $3.658 per ounce.
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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 increase 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 hurting their returns. Isaac Regional Council is a local government organization. It reported that Anglo American Australia has lost over 200 jobs since Tuesday. ABC News in Australia broke the story first. Ben Mansour is vice president of people and corporate affairs at Anglo American Australia. He said that the majority of the reductions were voluntary. The Queensland government increased royalties in July 2022 to 20% on coal above A$175 ($115.6) per ton. A top tier of 40 percent was added for prices exceeding A$300. This put pressure on the coal miners. Prior to this, the top tier of royalty was 15% on all prices above A$150 per ton. According to its website, Anglo American has five coal mines located in Queensland's Bowen Basin that produce steelmaking coal. It sold a 33% stake in an Australian steelmaking mine 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.
Documents show that Singapore is reviewing a short seller claim against India’s Vedanta
Documents viewed show that the Singapore Police Force has been reviewing a complaint filed by Viceroy Research, a short seller who alleged that Vedanta Ltd, a natural resources conglomerate had improperly funded Vedanta's 2024 dividend.
Viceroy's accusations were "baseless" according to Vedanta Ltd, which said it had paid out all dividends in compliance with the applicable laws.
The company stated that "we maintain that the allegations contained in the dubious reports of the short seller are malicious and uninformed and we reject them unequivocally."
The statement added that there was no SPF investigation in progress and the Singapore Police had not contacted it. Vedanta had previously denied separate allegations made by Viceroy back in July.
When contacted, the SPF refused to comment.
Accusations of boosted divison
Vedanta Limited, based in India, is a specialist in exploration, extraction, and processing of mineral and oil.
Viceroy, a U.S. based company, claimed in a letter to the SPF dated August 7, seen by that the company had boosted its dividend using 900 million dollars of Oaktree Capital Management's loan.
Viceroy stated that Vedanta, valued at approximately $20 billion, had used accounting and loan tricks to make their reserves appear larger on paper, and to pay out investors without any real cash earnings backing them up. Later, it repaid the debt and reversed write offs via entities domiciled in Singapore.
Viceroy said that it drew its conclusions primarily from public reports, forensic analysis of Vedanta Ltd’s filings and visits to the assets.
In an email that was seen by Viceroy, the SPF responded to Viceroy's complaints, giving it a number as a reference, indicating they were reviewing the issue.
Vedanta Limited is 56% owned by Vedanta Resource, a UK-based company. The rest of the shares are held by institutional investors.
Viceroy published in July a report stating that it had taken a position against Vedanta's debt, claiming the British company was "systematically draining its Indian unit", which Vedanta Ltd denied.
Vedanta Ltd also claimed that its dividend policy served the parent's financial needs and not its own cash flows. It added that billions in disputed expenditures were hidden from its balance sheet.
The Indian company's spokesperson said that the report contained "selective misinformation and baseless accusations."
Vedanta Ltd is under pressure after the Indian government refused to approve a plan to demerge into four separate entities, launched by chairman Anil Agarwal 2023. This was after a failed attempt three years ago to take the group privately.
Vedanta Resources announced last year that it would be focusing on cutting down its debt, with a goal of reducing net debt by $1.2 billion, to $11.1 billion, in fiscal 2025. (Reporting and editing by Veronica Brown, Joe Bavier, and Florence Tan)
(source: Reuters)