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Aluminum prices rise on weaker dollar and softer US rate hike predictions
The price of aluminium rose on Friday due to a weaker dollar and the easing of concerns about an impending 'U.S. Interest rate hike. Benchmark three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.53% at $3,108 per metric ton by 0300 GMT. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded aluminium contract rose 1.18%, to 22,755 Yuan ($3,355.60). The market closely monitored macroeconomic conditions which were offset by announcements made this week that suggested improved aluminum supply prospects. Citi published a note overnight that said the concerns about a rapid return to Middle East supply were overstated. The supply will not arrive quickly enough to offset growth in demand. The data indicating a cooling U.S. labor market has calmed the expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike in the near future, which is helping industrial metals. Rates that are higher can reduce economic activity and demand for metals. Although a rate increase is expected later in the year, odds are still high that it will happen this month. Daniel Hynes said that the easing of concerns about monetary tightening boosted risks appetite and pushed metals higher. A cheaper dollar makes greenback-denominated commodities more affordable for buyers using ?other currencies. Copper prices also rose despite the recent decline in semiconductor stocks. In recent years, the red metal has benefitted from projections for?demand growth linked to AI infrastructure upgrades, electrical grid improvements and electric vehicles. PMI data this week revealed that factory activity in China, the world's largest copper consumer, grew for seven straight months in June. The Yangshan Copper Premium The level of interest in buying property there was at its highest since 2025. On the LME, copper rose by 0.72% while on the?SHFE, it increased by 0.8%. Zinc, lead, and nickel all rose in price on the LME. Tin also grew by 1.84%. Zinc fell 0.1% on SHFE. Lead rose 0.35%. Nickel grew 0.51%. Tin climbed 0.78%.
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Asian markets gain footing after US PMIs and jobs data lift stocks
The?stocks rose in the Asian trading session on Friday, following a lukewarm U.S. The jobs report cast doubt on the 'prospect' of an imminent Federal Reserve rate hike, and regional activity indicators pointed to an expansion in the economy during June. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan has risen 1.3% after two days of declines. South Korea's Kospi fluctuated between gains and losses and ended the day up 3%, as buyers took advantage of battered chipmaker shares. S&P 500 futures rose by 0.3% while Japan's Nikkei 225 reversed its early losses and traded 0.7% higher. The Purchasing Managers' Index data (PMI) released on Friday showed increased activity in the region. Japan's?services?sector resumed expansion in June, after stagnating the previous month. China's service activity expanded at a slower pace, but overseas demand rose at the fastest rate since 20 months. U.S. LABOUR MARKET COOLING U.S. Job growth slowed in June, and payroll gains from the previous two months were revised 'lower,' according to data released Thursday. This indicates a cooling of the labour market. As workers left the workforce, the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% last month from 4.3% the previous month. This pushed the participation rate down to its lowest level in over five years. In a report, Westpac analysts said that "the figures challenged the narrative" that the Fed is on track to raise rates in the second half this year. The lackluster jobs data dampened traders' expectations for an imminent rate increase and increased the odds that Fed rates will remain on hold until October. Fed funds futures are pricing a 46.8% implied probability that the U.S. Central Bank will maintain rates at its September 15-16 meeting, compared to 35.8% a day before. This is according to CME Group's FedWatch. The overnight stock market on Wall Street was a mixed bag. The S&P 500 remained?flat, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high. On Friday, the U.S. stock market will close for Independence Day. The U.S. Dollar was unchanged at 161.125 yen against the yen. This was due to the fact that the market was less liquid because of the holiday, and traders were on the lookout for any possible intervention. This week, the Japanese currency has been volatile after reports on Thursday that?authorities might have adopted a different approach to their forays in the market. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket six currencies, fell 0.2% to 100.80. Brent crude futures in Asia rose 0.5%, to $72.12 per barrel. Gold rose 1.4% to $4,179.73. (Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Jamie Freed) In cryptocurrency, bitcoin was unchanged at $61,522.23, while ether rose 0.3% to $1,709.33. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Gregor Stuart Hunter)
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Peace efforts continue to hold as oil prices rise slightly before the long US weekend
The price of oil rose slightly Friday, just before the long holiday weekend here in the United States. As cautious optimism held on efforts to bring peace between the United States and?Iran in the Middle East. Brent futures rose 17 cents or 0.24% to $72.10 per barrel at 0155 GMT. West Texas Intermediate rose 14 cents or 0.20% to $68.83 per barrel. The U.S. market will be closed on Friday in advance of Independence Day. Independence Day is celebrated on Saturday. The two benchmarks reached their lowest levels in the previous session since the U.S./Israeli war against Iran started late February. Brent for the week fell by 0.02%, and WTI rose 0.12%. These were the lowest weekly movements in months for both Brent and WTI. Tim Waterer is the chief market analyst for KCM Trade. He said, "It seems that there's cautious optimism in the market. It wants to believe that 'the peace efforts' will last, but it still hedges its bets, until it sees concrete evidence on water." Some nations have begun to increase production in response to the reopening the Strait of Hormuz. This was the route that carried a fifth of the daily world supply of?oil?and liquefied gas before the start of the war. Kuwait's oil output jumped sharply in June to 1.65 million barrels per day from the 580,000 barrels per day it produced in May. A source familiar with this matter confirmed that. Kuwait boosted its exports on Thursday following the U.S. Iran interim peace agreement. According to shipping and trade data, Saudi Aramco has switched to spot pricing in order to accelerate sales to Asia. Helen Clark, Tom Hogue (Editing)
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Sources: Nayara refinery in India sells its gasoline to Russia through traders
Two sources who have direct knowledge of this matter confirmed on Thursday that traders had sold Nayara Energy gasoline to Russia. The country is currently experiencing fuel shortages due to Ukrainian attacks on the energy infrastructure. On Wednesday, it was reported that Russia began seaborne imports from India of gasoline without naming the supplier. Nayara has not responded to an email sent by? Nayara did not respond to an email from?Einen seeking comment. Rosneft, the Russian oil giant, owns a 49 percent stake in Nayara. Hardeep Singh Puri, Indian Oil minister, said at a media briefing on Thursday that Indian companies "were not" selling fuel to Russia. However, it was "possible", if Russia bought fuel of Indian origin from traders. Since the European Union sanctions of last July, which made it difficult to pay customers and suppliers, Russia-backed refiner Nayara relies on traders for its crude imports and refined fuel exports. Vadinar, a refinery that processes 400,000 barrels of oil per day in western India, has been processing only Russian crude since the sanctions. According to an industry source, it was reported that at least 60,000 tons of gasoline were?sent? from India to Russia. Another source said two tankers containing?30,000-40,000 tons had been sent. The tanker invoice that was seen on Thursday indicated that the vessel Agni - loaded with gasoline from Vadinar - sailed to Fujairah in June '20. However, LSEG tanker information showed that this vessel flying the flag of Cameroon had passed past Fujairah heading north and that it was now in Suez.
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Asian markets are choppy after US jobs data dampen Fed rate hike expectations
After a lukewarm U.S. The jobs report has thrown cold water on the 'prospect' of an imminent rate increase by the Federal Reserve. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan fluctuated in gains and losses. It gained 0.1% following two days of consecutive declines. The sharp declines in U.S. chipmakers trading weighed heavily on South Korea's Kospi. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures both rose by 0.1% while Japan's Nikkei was down by 1%. According to data released Thursday, the U.S. employment growth slowed dramatically in June, and payroll gains from the two previous months were'revised down.' This indicates a cooling of labour markets. As workers left the workforce, the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.3% in may. This pushed the participation rate down to its lowest level in over five years. The figures challenged the narrative that the Fed is on track to raise rates in the second half this year, wrote Westpac analysts in a research report. The lackluster jobs data dampened traders' expectations for an imminent rate increase and increased the odds that the Fed would keep rates on hold till October. FedWatch, a tool of the CME Group, shows that Fed funds futures price a 46.8% implied probability that the U.S. Central Bank will maintain rates at its September 15-16 meeting. This is compared to 35.8% a day before. Overnight, a mixed bag of stocks on Wall Street was seen. The S&P 500 was unchanged and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high. The market in the?U.S. The?U.S. The U.S. Dollar was up 0.2% against the?yen when Asian trading began, but market liquidity had been thinned out by the holiday. After a twitchy Thursday session, the greenback gained some strength. The Japanese yen also surged after reports that the authorities had adopted a different approach in their forays on the market. The reason for the sudden surge in value was not immediately apparent. The?U.S. The dollar index, which measures greenback strength against a basket six currencies, remained'steady' at 100.98, after dropping 0.5% on Friday. Brent crude futures fell 0.4% to $71.49 when trading resumed in Asia. Gold rose 0.1% to $4,125.49. Bitcoin was down by 0.4% to $61,306.45 while Ether was down by 0.7% to $1,692.16. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Gregor Stuart Hunter)
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Overnight, Russian attacks in Ukraine kill two and injure eight, according to officials
In the early morning hours of Friday, Russian officials said that two people had been?killed? and eight others injured? in overnight attacks on Ukraine. Oleh Hryhorov is the head of the regional military authority. He said that Russian drones struck a private home in the Sumy region. Two people were killed, and one was injured. Oleksandr ilkul, head of the city defence council, confirmed that seven people were injured in the central ukranian city of Kryvyi Rih. This is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. On Friday, Kyiv will observe a day of mourning after nearly 'three dozen people were killed in the deadliest Russian attack against?the Ukrainian capital this year. (Reporting from Jekaterina Glubkova, Tokyo; Editing Stephen Coates).
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De la Fuente, Spain's coach, said that satisfaction can kill.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente warned against getting carried away with his team's 3-0 win over Austria on Thursday that sent them through to the World Cup 16th round. Spain has yet to concede at this?tournament. Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro both scored two goals to underline the fact that they are one of the favorites. "I am happy for many reasons today. De la Fuente said to reporters that he was happy first of all because of the win. "We won in a big way and our team's image was fantastic," he explained. "But we still have room to improve." You may think that you've seen the best, but this team is still not at its full potential. "There is still more to be done." De la Fuente stressed that Spain's progress was built on a process over a period of time, rather than a single outstanding performance. He also said the knockout rounds will require even higher standards. He said that "today's performance is the basis for what comes next." "We will keep improving, and do things better... We aren't yet satisfied; we are going for more." De la Fuente warned against thinking that Spain had reached its peak following 'another impressive defensive display in which Austria failed not to register a single shot on target. There were times when we did not feel high pressure. "You need to improve constantly," he said. When you believe in flattery, you will become weaker. "Satisfaction is a killer." The 65-year old was awash with praise for his left back Marc Cucurella who provided two assists to Oyarzabal. He called him "invaluable" as well as "a top-notch athlete". De la Fuente said that the next phase would be more demanding. We have great players, but our only goal is to surpass our own expectations. Hatem Maher reported, Ed Osmond edited.
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US considers proposal to cut Colorado River water use, Arizona says
According to Arizona's chief negotiation, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation may adopt a large part of the proposal by Arizona, California, and Nevada to reduce the water?use?on the drought stricken Colorado River. This could save the states from further federal cuts. The Bureau of Reclamation is considering adopting a large part of a proposal by Arizona, California and Nevada to reduce water?use?on the drought-stricken Colorado River. This could spare the states steeper federal cuts. The bureau will implement its preferred plan by the beginning of August if there is no agreement among the seven states. If the Bureau adopts?the Lower Basin water-saving goals it will be a relief for Arizona. Under a bureau proposal Arizona would have risked losing Colorado River?water that millions of people use in Phoenix and Tucson. Tom Buschatzke said, in a Wednesday phone interview, that Arizona's chief negotiator had "some very positive discussions" with Reclamation regarding Reclamation's adoption of the Lower Basin proposal largely in a manner that was acceptable to us. "I believe?we are getting closer to delivering this with Reclamation." In a Thursday statement, Bureau spokesperson Peter Soeth stated that the agency had received input from Upper Basin States on the Lower Basin proposals, made some adjustments, and was "committed" to a continuing dialog with the states and tribal nations. Lower Basin states have proposed water savings at least 3.2 millions acre-feet by 2028 in order to maintain the critical Colorado River reservoir level. This was about half of the total amount the Bureau proposed. Buschatzke stated that Lower Basin States are in discussions with the Bureau about amendments made to their proposal by the bureau to address concerns regarding the use of reservoirs above Lake Powell. Negotiators from California and Nevada didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. "I consider this to be a Lower Basin breakthrough, but I doubt that it will break the deadlock between the Upper Division and Lower Division," said former Colorado River District general manager Eric Kuhn. Upper Basin states objected strongly to the Lower Basin proposal. The seven states may still find themselves in court over the operating rules. A spokesperson from the Utah Colorado River Agency said that Upper Basin States were having "productive" discussions with the Bureau on "short-term river operations". Requests for comment from Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming's negotiators were not immediately responded to. Reporting by Andrew Hay, New Mexico; Editing by Donna Bryson Rod Nickel and David Gregorio
Gold prices rise for the first time in five weeks on Fed rate hike bets
As investors lowered their expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes after softer than expected U.S. job data, gold rose by more than 1%. As of 0235 GMT spot gold rose 1.4% to $4179.94 an ounce. This was its highest price since June 23. U.S. Gold futures for delivery in August gained?1.6%, to $4193.20. Bullion is on track to gain 2.3% in a week, its first weekly gain since the week of May 25. Weaker-than-expected data from nonfarm payrolls as well as private payrolls helped ease concerns about inflation and longer-term interest rates.
The dollar was heading for a weekly decline, making the price of greenback bullion more accessible to holders of other currencies.
Kelvin Wong is a senior analyst at OANDA. "What we are seeing is a reduction in the pricing of U.S. Federal Reserve rates hikes for Q1 and the remainder of this year," he said. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls grew by 57,000 last month. The economists polled had predicted payrolls to increase by 110,000.
According to CME FedWatch Tool, traders now price in a roughly 54% chance that rates will be raised in September. This is down from 66% prior to the release of the data.
Gold is less attractive when interest rates are higher, because they tend to make other assets with interest more appealing.
According to?Wong, the price of gold could reach $3,500/oz by the end the year.
The World Gold Council reported that central banks had resumed their buying in May. According to the latest data, official reserves of gold grew by 41 tons in the month. Silver spot rose by 2.3%, to $62.43, platinum gained 2.7%, to $1660.05 and palladium increased 1.3%, to $1284.40. All three metals are at or near their weekly highs. (Reporting and editing by Rashmi aich in Bengaluru, with Pablo Sinha reporting from Bengaluru)
(source: Reuters)