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Gold prices steady as attention shifts to US payroll data
Investors hunkered in for the U.S. payroll data that is due this week, to gauge the likelihood of another U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut. By 1:32 pm, spot gold had not changed much from $4,002.35 per ounce. ET (1832 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled 0.4% higher at $4,014. Edward Meir, Marex analyst, said: "Gold is carving out a range of trading. It could be in the high 3,000s to mid-4,000s. This is expected consolidation following such a large move." Metal, which gained 53% in this year, is down over 8% since the record high reached on October 20, 2008. Investors will be watching the ISM PMIs and ADP U.S. Employment data this week for clues about the Fed's future policy. The U.S. shutdown of the government has prevented the release of important economic data. This includes the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last week, the central bank cut interest rates again this year. But Chair Jerome Powell stated that another cut was not "a foregone decision" this year. The traders now price a 65.3% probability of a December rate cut, down from an almost certainty last week prior to the Fed meeting. Gold that does not yield a return is more popular when interest rates are low or in economic times of uncertainty. "Gold's pause looks like a breather and not a collapse." The short-term decline can be explained by seasonal softness, temporary Chinese policies, and a stronger dollar, but this does not change the long-term story, according to Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategies. China has ended its long-standing policy of tax exemption for certain gold retailers, which could set back the buying spree in the world's largest consumer market. Other than that, silver spot fell by 0.8% at $48.25 per ounce. Platinum was down 0.2% to $1,564.30, and palladium rose 0.4% to $1439.86. (Reporting from Noel John in Bengaluru and Pablo Sinha; additional reporting by Kavya Baliaraman; editing by Leroy Leo, Vijay Kishore and Leroy Leo)
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Guinea's former junta chief to run for President
Mamady Doumbouya, the leader of Guinea's junta, announced his candidacy for the December 28 presidential election. This could extend his reign in power by another five years. Doumbouya had promised not to run for office when he took power in the West African nation in 2021. A new constitution, pushed by the military junta in September and approved by a referendum, opened the way for his candidacy. The new charter replaced the arrangements made after the coup, which had prohibited members of the junta to contest elections. Candidates must also live in Guinea, and have a minimum age of 40 to 80 years. This would exclude two powerful candidates: former president Alpha Conde (87), who lives abroad and former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo (73), in exile due to corruption charges that he denies. Others, such as former foreign minister Hadja Makale Camara and former prime minister Lansana Kouyate, have also submitted their applications. Simandou, in Guinea, is the site of the largest untapped bauxite deposits and the richest iron ore deposit. Reporting by Guinea Newsroom; Writing by Ayen deng Bior; editing by Andrew Heavens
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TechMet adds to its portfolio as it fears Europe will lose the battle for critical minerals
TechMet, a U.S. investment vehicle, is looking at portfolio additions. This includes bidding on a Ukraine Lithium deposit. However, the CEO is concerned that Europe is falling behind in developing a vital minerals sector, which will help to counteract Chinese dominance. Brian Menell, CEO of TechMet, said that the company, which is privately held, has stakes in ten companies, from Brazilian Nickel to South Africa’s Rainbow Rare Earths. He hopes to add to this number within 12 months. In an interview, he stated that "this short-term period market weakness due to the supply of nickel, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth metals presents a fantastically enhanced opportunity for capital deployment." TechMet's structure limits investment opportunities due to its low valuation, which is about $1.3 billion when comparing market prices for its portfolio. TechMet, which is very selective in its approach towards new companies and strategically strategic, does not want to dilute existing investors by raising large amounts. REOPENING FUNDRAISING & UKRAINE LITHIUM OPPORTUNITIES TechMet raised $300m earlier this year. This included $180m from the Qatar Investment Authority. However, Menell stated that they have reopened their fundraising which will close in three to five weeks with a "significantly larger number". TechMet has a number of opportunities, including the Dobra Lithium Deposit in Ukraine. This is expected to be one of the first projects in the joint investment fund created with the United States in April. He said: "We are bidding for rights and I believe we're very trustworthy in terms of our operational, technical and financial capabilities." "We are also backed up by the U.S. Government, which is a major plus considering the Ukraine-U.S. Reconstruction Fund." He added that Ukraine will select the winning bidder by the second quarter 2026 and finalise the agreements. TechMet has a number of major investors including Mercuria Investments, S2G Investments, and Lansdowne Partners. The United States moved quickly to create an domestic critical minerals industry, including through a multi-billion dollar deal in July with rare earths company MP Materials. Fears for Europe as it works to end its dependence on China After implementing its Critical Raw Materials Act in 2013, the EU announced a plan last week to create partnerships with countries that produce critical raw materials. Menell said that European efforts are still not enough. Menell, who has a company registered in Ireland, said: "I am really afraid for Europe." They're good at talking but it's frustrating. He said that there was a dysfunctional bureaucracy, and a lack of political will, support and resolve. Brussels has stated that ending Europe's dependency on China in terms of critical minerals is its top priority. Its new partnership initiative is expected to reflect some of the aspects of its shift away from Russian energy after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In March, EU officials approved 47 projects for strategic minerals. They are also developing a platform for joint purchases of critical minerals and energy.
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Venezuelan oil exports drop due to lower imports and inventories
According to documents and shipping data from the state-owned firm PDVSA, Venezuelan oil exports fell 26% in October to 808,000 barrels a day as its stocks decreased and it imported fewer volumes of diluents for exportable crude grades. Exports from the OPEC nation reached a 5-year high in Septembre, after being boosted in part by a stable crude oil production of around 1.1m bpd. Also, robust imports of naphtha and light crude - mainly from Russia – earlier in the year were made to reduce its heavy oil output. The data and documents revealed that imports dropped to 41,000 bpd and 73 500 bpd respectively in September and October. This is below the 105,000-110,000 Bpd recorded in the first half of the year. Last month, 34 vessels left Venezuelan waters with 808,000 bpd crude and refined products as well as 195,000 metric tonnes of oil byproducts. Volume was 9% lower than the same month in 2024. Since Washington imposed sanctions against PDVSA in 2019, about 80% of the total exports or 663,000 bpd went to China directly and indirectly through intermediaries who worked with PDVSA. Last month, China was Venezuela's top oil export destination. According to data, Chevron's partner PDVSA shipped around 128,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to the U.S. Venezuela sent 11 000 bpd refined products to Cuba, its political ally. In August, the government of President Donald Trump granted Chevron a license to operate in Venezuela sanctioned by the United States and export oil under certain restrictions. The restrictions allow Chevron to export about half its joint venture output after paying royalty payments and in-kind tax to President Nicolas Maduro’s administration.
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Prince William's trip to Brazil leaves the Andrew scandal in the past
Prince William traveled to Brazil for a ceremony to award his multi-million dollar environmental prize. He hoped to divert attention from the scandal surrounding his uncle Andrew to the causes of the royals. William, the British heir, will make his first Latin American visit and will see some of Rio de Janeiro landmarks. The goal is to bring the attention of the public to a number of environmental projects in advance the award ceremony for the Prince's Earthshot Prize. The visit came just days after King Charles stripped Andrew of his princely title and expelled him from his mansion. He also banned his brother from public life in an effort to protect the royal brand against any further damage caused by Andrew's links to Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offenders. FOCUS IS THE EARTHSHOT PRICE William's three-day visit will be devoted to his main environmental philanthropic cause. This is to find innovative ways to combat climate changes and award five winners with 1 million pounds each ($1.3 million). Kate, his wife, is currently in remission following cancer treatment and will not join him. South America is not a common destination for British royals, who prefer to travel to Europe or other foreign lands where they are the head of state. Charles has not been to Brazil, Latin America or South America since 2009. The Earthshot events this year will be held a week prior to the United Nations COP30 Climate Summit, which will also take place in Brazil. The prince will be attending in place of his dad. Earthshot Prize CEO Jason Knauf said that the city was the ideal place to host the biggest and best Earthshot yet. The winners will announced on the 5th of November at a ceremony that will include performances by Australian popstar Kylie Minogue, and Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil. The summit will bring together more than 1,000 world leaders, including global mayors, world-leading scientists and some of the biggest philanthropists. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Heavens; Michael Holden)
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Dollar up slightly, but stock indexes mostly rise after Amazon-OpenAI deal
The dollar was near its three-month-high versus the Euro due to the fading expectations of a large U.S. interest rate cut. Amazon shares rose more than 4% after the multi-year, $38 billion Amazon OpenAI deal. As expected, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates last week. Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, said that another rate cut in December is "not a certainty", contrary to what investors believed. On Friday, some Fed officials expressed their dissatisfaction with the central banks decision to lower rates. Meanwhile, influential Fed Governor Christopher Waller argued for further policy easing in order to support a weakening labour market. The ongoing U.S. shutdown has prevented most economic data from being released in the United States. Investors are optimistic regarding AI and the progress made with China in regards to the trade truce. Adam Sarhan is the chief executive officer of 50 Park Investments, based in New York. "The AI stocks and tech shares are up today, and everything else is down." He said that the "clear narrowing of leadership" was continuing in an obvious way. TRUMP'S TARIFS GO TO SUPREME CREEK Arguments are scheduled for Wednesday before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is examining whether President Donald Trump’s tariffs on global products are legal. Trump's tariffs will likely remain in place for a long time, regardless of the legal basis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 189.63, or 0.39 %, to 47.375.42. The S&P 500 rose by 5.83, or 0.09 %, to 6,846.03, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 97.25, or 0.41 %) to 23,822.21. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 0.69 points or 0.07% to 1,006.92. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose by 0.07%. This week, investors will also be able to see more quarterly results for technology companies. Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company, is expected to release its earnings report shortly after the closing bell. This week, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Qualcomm will also report. Uber and McDonald's are due to make a statement. Megacap U.S. companies reported mixed results last week. Investors want to see a return from the capital expenditures on AI. DOLLAR GAINS AGAINST PRIMARY CURRENCIES The euro, after falling as low as 1.1505 dollars against the dollar - its lowest since August 1 - pared losses and traded down by 0.1% to $1.1518. The Institute for Supply Management reported that U.S. manufacturing shrank for the eighth consecutive month in October, as orders were subdued and materials took longer to arrive at factories due to tariffs on imported products. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket currency) rose by 0.13%, reaching 99.94. The dollar gained 0.02% against the Japanese yen to reach 154.03. The pound fell 0.24%, to $1.3119. This is ahead of the Bank of England's rate decision due later this week. Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, was down by 2% to $107 486. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes dropped 0.2 basis points from 4,101% at late Friday to 4.099%. U.S. crude oil fell by 0.56%, to $60.64 per barrel. Brent dropped to $64.48 a barrel. This is a 0.45% drop on the day. Investors digested the news that OPEC+ intends to stop its supply increases.
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Gold prices steady as attention shifts to US payroll data
Investors hunkered in for the U.S. payroll data that is due this week, to gauge the likelihood of another U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut. By 11:14 am, spot gold had risen 0.1% to $4,004.23 per ounce. ET (1614 GMT). U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery rose by 0.5% to $4015.30. Edward Meir, Marex analyst, said: "Gold is carving out a range of trading. It could be in the high 3000s up to the mid-4000s. This is expected consolidation following such a large move." Metal, which gained 53% in this year, is down over 8% since the record high reached on October 20, 2008. Investors will be watching the ISM PMIs and ADP U.S. Employment data this week for clues about the Fed's future policy. The U.S. shutdown of the government has prevented the release of important economic data. This includes the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last week, the central bank cut interest rates again this year. But Chair Jerome Powell stated that another cut was not "a foregone decision" this year. The odds of a December rate cut have dropped from last week, when it was almost certain. Gold that does not yield a return is more popular when interest rates are low or in economic times of uncertainty. "Gold's pause looks like a breather and not a collapse." The short-term decline can be explained by seasonal softness, temporary Chinese policies, and a stronger dollar, but this does not change the long-term story, according to Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategies. China has ended its long-standing policy of tax exemption for certain gold retailers, which could set back the buying spree in the world's largest consumer market. Other than that, silver spot fell 0.7%, to $48.31 per ounce. Platinum was unchanged at $1,565 while palladium dropped 0.8%, to $1,422.25 (Reporting from Noel John in Bengaluru and Pablo Sinha; additional reporting from Kavya Balaraman, Editing by Leroy Leo & Vijay Kishore).
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Buffett-owned utility warns about strained liquidity due to wildfire trials
The utility, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, warned Monday that it may face tightened liquidity and could lose its investment grade status after a court accelerated the pace of the trials in Oregon for the wildfires expected to occur during the Labor Day Weekend 2020. PacifiCorp already set aside 2,85 billion dollars, including $100 millions in the third quarter. The company is suing for $55 billion in damages over the burning of 2,000 buildings and 500,000 acres on Oregon and Northern California. Portland, Oregon victims accuse the utility of negligence for failing to turn off power lines in a storm. PacifiCorp is also being sued by the U.S. Government and Oregon for damage to natural resources. PacifiCorp has denied negligence. PacifiCorp stated in a regulatory filing that a Multnomah County judge's decision to quadruple or more the pace of the trials in the James litigation will "cause significant financial strains on PacifiCorp’s liquidity, and put pressure on PacifiCorp’s credit metrics." PacifiCorp stated that the aggressive schedule could result in it not being able to get the funding needed to meet its liquidity requirements due to cash needs for judgments. A downgrade to junk status would also make it more difficult to pay bondholders, suppliers, or serve customers. PacifiCorp expects to be able to maintain sufficient liquidity for "well beyond a year." Requests for comment were not immediately answered by either Berkshire Hathaway Energy or PacifiCorp, the two units of Buffett’s Omaha-based conglomerate. PAYOUTS & APPEALS In the James litigation, the utility was facing $52 billion in claims. 109 plaintiffs were awarded $589 millions in a series mini-trials. PacifiCorp filed appeals and said the chances of a large payout were "remote." The utility agreed to pay wildfire claimsants over $1.5 billion in total, including a $125-million settlement with 93 Oregon vineyards and wineries last month. Berkshire spent $5.1 billion on PacifiCorp, in 2006. Buffett stated that PacifiCorp's failure to protect itself better against wildfire liability was "a mistake" at Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting in May. Greg Abel, Berkshire vice chairman, succeeds Buffett on January 1 as chief executive. He said PacifiCorp could not make maintaining the lights a priority when wildfire threats are present, and also couldn't be an "insurer last resort" if damage is caused. (Reporting and editing by Bill Berkrot in New York, Jonathan Stempel from New York)
Investors await US private payroll data to see if gold prices will rise.
The dollar was near its highest level in three months on Monday, and traders were waiting for the U.S. payroll data to provide further clues about the Federal Reserve's outlook on monetary policy.
By 1234 GMT, spot gold had risen 0.1% to $4,008.34 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery rose by 0.7% to $4022.40.
Dollar index was near its highest level in three months, making gold expensive for those who paid with other currencies.
"We're still in consolidation mode." It's a little more difficult because there are no U.S. data, but weaker U.S. data will support rate cuts by the Fed and should allow gold to reach $4,200 an ounce before the end of this year," said UBS Analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
According to CME's FedWatch tool, traders are pricing in a 70 percent chance that the Fed will cut rates in December. Gold that does not yield is more popular when interest rates are low or in economic times of uncertainty.
Investors are watching the ADP U.S. Employment Data and ISM PMIs for this week to see if they can change the Fed's hawkish position.
China has ended its long-standing policy of tax exemption for certain gold retailers, which could set back the buying spree in the world's largest consumer market.
UBS expects the new rule to have only a marginal effect on gold prices globally, citing central bank purchases and strong investment.
Analysts at Heraeus wrote in a report that gold prices may continue to fall if the resistance level between $4,000 and $4050 is maintained.
The price of gold would have to rise above $4,155/oz for an initial indication to indicate a return to the rally," they said.
Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump agreed to reduce tariffs against China in exchange of concessions from Beijing on the illicit fentanyl market, U.S. soya bean purchases and rare earths imports.
Silver spot rose by 0.2%, to $48,75 per ounce. Platinum climbed 1.4%, to $1590.61, and palladium rose 0.6%, to $1442.81. (Reporting and editing by David Goodman, Shalesh Kuber and Anmol Chaubey from Bengaluru)
(source: Reuters)