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Shanghai copper reaches record highs as China promises fiscal stimulus
Shanghai copper prices reached a new record on Friday, and are on course for a third straight 'weekly' gain. This is due to the promise by China of a fiscal boost next year as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve reducing interest rates and expanding its balance sheet. By 0204 GMT, the most traded copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen 1.34%, to 93570 yuan (US$13,261.43) a metric ton. It reached an all-time high of 94.080 yuan earlier in the day. This was a record that had been set on Monday. Benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.33% to $11,832.5 per ton. It had reached a record-high of $11,906 Thursday. This week, the benchmarks SHFE and LME have gained 0,9% and 1,4% respectively. The readout of the annual Central Economic Work Conference, held on December 10-11, by state news agency Xinhua was a positive one. It showed that Chinese leaders had pledged to continue a "proactive fiscal policy" in 2026. The market sentiment was also boosted after the Fed cut rates by 25 basis point on Wednesday, and announced that it would start buying short-dated Government bonds on Friday. The Fed's balance will be expanded once more by the restarted bond purchases. Concerns over a shortage of ex-U.S. copper have been sparked by mine supply disruptions, and the massive?outflows' of copper into the United States. ANZ Research expects copper prices to stay above $11,000 per tonne in 2026. Prices could reach $12,000 by the end of the year due to supply constraints and an accelerating growth in demand. SHFE tin reached a 43-month high at 332,820 Yuan per ton. This was boosted by fears about supply disruptions. SHFE aluminium rose 0.55%. Zinc climbed?2.22%. Nickel and lead both dropped 0.29%. The LME also saw a slight decline in aluminium, while nickel was unchanged, lead fell 0.2%, and tin rose 0.14%. Zinc, however, lost 0.37%. $1 = 7.0558 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson)
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Prices of oil are up due to tensions between the US and Venezuela, but they will fall by a week's time.
The price of oil rose on Friday, as fears about the U.S. interdicting more Venezuelan tankers heightened supply concerns. However, the prices remained on course for a weekly drop amid optimism regarding a possible Russia/Ukraine peace agreement. Brent crude futures were up 29 cents or 0.5% to $61.57 a barrel by 0115 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was at $57.91 a barrel, an increase of 31 cents or 0.5%. Both benchmarks dropped about 1.5% Thursday. Six sources with knowledge of the situation said that the U.S. was preparing to intercept additional ships transporting Venezuelan crude oil after the seizure this week of a tanker. This is part and parcel of increasing pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The seizure of U.S. goods this week has raised concerns about disruptions in supply. After selling in anticipation that supply pressures will ease amid hopes of a Russia-Ukraine?agreement, buying has emerged to reduce losses following the U.S. seizing of a Venezuelan oil tanker, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa. Chief strategist at Nissan Securities Investment. He said that peace negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and other countries will be the main focus next week and beyond. If a real deal is reached, WTI may test $55 if it's a genuine agreement. The supply of Russian crude oil currently sanctioned in the West would increase if a peace agreement were to be reached between Russia and Ukraine. On Wednesday, the leaders of Britain and France held a phone call with U.S. president Donald Trump in order to discuss Washington's latest peace efforts to end war in Ukraine. They described this as a "critical time" in the process. According to an official of Ukraine's Security Service, on Thursday, Ukrainian drones hit a?oil platform in the Caspian Sea, stopping production at the facility that belongs?to Lukoil. In its latest oil market report, published on Thursday, the International Energy Agency revised its forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2026, while reducing its predictions for supply growth. This suggests a slight reduction of surpluses next year. The IEA noted that demand was expected to increase due to a stronger global economy and a lower supply of oil from countries under sanctions. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) published data on Thursday that showed that the world oil supply and demand will be close in 2026. This is contrary to projections by the IEA, which predicted a massive glut. (Reporting and editing by Jacqueline Wong; Yuka Obayashi)
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The bird flu outbreak has spread to Madrid and hundreds of storks have been found dead.
The Spanish authorities detected four bird flu outbreaks in wild birds in central Madrid, where forest?agents collected hundreds dead storks in the?past few weeks including over 100 in the last 24 hours. According to the European Food Safety Authority, thousands of wild bird cases have been reported in 29 different countries. Madrid's Regional Government said in a statement that so far, no commercial poultry farms were affected and there was no serious human risk. It said that "the authorities are removing carcasses using strict biosecurity measures in order to prevent the further spread of virus." It is believed that the virus is carried by storks - migratory bird species arriving from northern Europe. In recent years, highly pathogenic avian flu has caused the culling of hundreds millions of birds in global farming. This has disrupted?food supplies and increased prices. Human cases remain rare. Miguel Higueras Ortega is the head of forestry operations for Madrid. He said that based on how the outbreak has behaved in Spain and throughout Europe, "there is no serious risk to human health" as there have been 'no cases recorded of transmission from animals to humans". The outbreaks do not seem to be a threat to the environment at this time, he said. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip, Alex Richardson, and Jesus Calero)
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Security agency: Western Libya forces kill a notorious migrant smuggler
Western Libyan security force said Friday that they killed a notorious migrant trafficker in the coastal city of Sabratha, after "criminal groups" associated with him attacked one of their Checkpoints overnight. The Security Threats Combatting Agency, an agency of the western Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's security, claimed that they raided and destroyed the hideout to respond to the attack, killing its leader Ahmed al-Dabbashi (also known as Al-Amu). Dabbashi's younger brother was arrested and six members of the force wounded during the fight, according to a statement posted on the agency's Facebook page. Dabbashi was under U.S. sanctions since 2018. Washington said that he was the "leader of two powerful migrant-smuggling groups" in Sabratha, and claimed that he "used his organisation to rob and enslave immigrants?before they were allowed to leave for Italy." Human trafficking has become rife since the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gadhafi, Libya's longtime leader. The absence of a strong central authority and the proliferation of smuggling groups has made the country a major staging point for migrants who are trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. Dbeibah's Government of National Unity, or GNU, was not recognised by rival authorities in the east. Dbeibah's Government of National Unity (GNU) is not recognized by rival authorities in the east. A coalition of armed forces affiliated with a former U.N.-backed Tripoli government - the 'Government of National Accord' - fought against Dabbashi in a three week battle in 2017. The battle resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries, as well as damage to residential areas and Sabratha Roman ruins. Reporting by Ahmed Elumami, Writing by Alexander Dziadosz, Editing by Andrew Heavens
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Asian stocks rise cautiously as Oracle rattles the tech sector
Asian stocks rose in the early hours of Friday's trade, following overnight gains on Wall Street. However, a new decline in Oracle shares sent jitters throughout the tech sector. The financial markets had to?move fast this week in order to regain their footing when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates Investors were stressed by the fact that the hawkish view was less than expected. The Dow, Russell 2000 and Nasdaq all reached new highs on Thursday. Softbank Group shares surged 6% in the morning after Bloomberg News reported that it was considering acquiring a U.S. company called Switch Inc. S&P 500 futures were flat and Nasdaq were down by 0.2%. Markets were tense after Oracle shares fell 13%. Massive spending and poor forecasts from the company sparked doubts about how soon the AI bets would?payoff. Analysts from Westpac said in a recent research note that Oracle's disappointing earnings and further investments in data centers have prompted investors to question whether AI-related expenditure will deliver the expected returns. Broadcom's projection of first-quarter revenue was above Wall Street expectations on Thursday. Gains were moderated after Broadcom said that margins would be lower due to an increased mix of AI revenue. This pushed its shares down by 5% during extended trading. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket six currencies, hit a new two-month low at 98.30 after the Fed gave a less hawkish outlook than expected on interest rates. The dollar's value has fallen dramatically overnight. The latest data on unemployment claims showed that the number of Americans who filed new claims for benefits rose by the highest amount in almost 4-1/2 years. The data are volatile at this time of the year and the average claims for four weeks suggested that labor market conditions were stable. Fed funds futures indicate a 75.6% implied probability that the U.S. Central Bank will maintain interest rates at its next meeting, on 28 January. This is compared to an earlier 73.9% likelihood, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. The markets are pricing in at least two rates cuts for the coming year, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated at a press conference following a policy announcement that he didn't "think that a rate increase is anyone's base case." The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond in the United States was at 4,151% last, an increase of 1.2 basis points from late U.S. levels. Brent crude rose by 0.5% to $61.59, as investors focused their attention on the Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks. Earlier, Brent crude had increased on the news that the U.S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker. The U.S. announced new sanctions against Venezuela on Thursday. They targeted three nephews of the wife of President Nicolas Maduro, six crude oil tankers, and shipping companies that were linked to them. The precious metals market has retreated from recent highs. Silver fell 0.6% to $63.17, while gold was unchanged at $4,281.91. The crypto markets were under pressure with bitcoin down 0.4% to $92,571.96 while ether= was down 0.6% to $3,231.69. (Reporting and editing by Shri Navaratnam).
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Judge rules that Trump administration illegally cancelled disaster prevention program
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. President Donald Trump's Administration unlawfully terminated an Emergency Management Agency grant programme designed to?protect communities and states against natural disasters? before they happen. U.S. District judge Richard Stearns, in Boston, sided with the majority of Democratic-led states and found that the Republican administration's decision to terminate the Building Resilient Communities and Infrastructure program and to use the money Congress authorized to support it to other purposes was illegal. The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced that it would terminate the program in April, describing it as wasteful, ineffective, and politicized. Stearns was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton. He said that the action of the administration amounted "to an unlawful executive encroachment upon the prerogatives of Congress to 'appropriate funds for specific and compelling purposes. Stearns wrote that the BRIC program was designed to save lives and protect against natural catastrophes. It is obvious that bureaucratic obstacles do not stop disasters from happening. Stearns, at an earlier stage in the case back in August, prevented?FEMA spending more than $4 billion that was allocated to BRIC on other purposes. He blocked the cancellation of the program without Congress' approval and ordered FEMA take immediate steps to reverse the termination. In a press release, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell (a Democrat) who led the case said: "Today's order will save lives because it prevents the federal government to terminate funding that helps prepare communities for and mitigate natural disasters." In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that BRIC had not been terminated and "any suggestion of the contrary is a falsehood." BRIC had been used as a "Green New Deal slushfund" by Democratic President Joe Biden, according to a spokesperson. The spokesperson for the Department said, "It is unfortunate that a judge who was an activist either did not understand or didn't care." The BRIC program is the largest program for disaster mitigation offered by FEMA. It assists state and local governments to 'protect major infrastructure like roads and bridges prior to the occurrences of disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. According to the lawsuit FEMA approved approximately $4.5 billion for nearly 2,000 project, mainly in coastal states over the past four years. In July, Washington and Massachusetts, along with other states, sued the BRIC program, claiming that it had caused communities to cancel, delay or scale back hundreds of disaster mitigation programs. (Reporting and editing by Aurora Ellis, Stephen Coates, and Nate Raymond from Boston)
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China plateau and US policy changes have slowed the global EV sales growth since February 2024.
Data showed that global EV sales grew at their slowest pace since February 2024 in November as China plateaued. Meanwhile, the United States ended its EV tax credit program in November and North America is now on course for the first year of a 'decline' since 2019. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the consultancy, European registrations of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in-hybrids have grown by more than a third compared to 2024. Why is it important? Electric transport groups say a swift EV transition is necessary to curb planet-warming CO2 ?emissions, but carmakers and governments have backtracked on some green commitments due to slower-than-anticipated EV adoption, which ?auto lobby groups say threatens jobs and profit margins. By the Numbers The data revealed that global EV registrations (a proxy for sales) rose by?6% in November to just over 2 million units. In?China, they grew by 3% to more than 1,3 million. This is the lowest increase year-on-year since February 2024. North American registrations dropped by 42%, to just over 100,000 vehicles sold. This follows a similar decline in October, when U.S. Tax Credits ended. They are also down 1% this year. Europe and the rest?the?world were respectively up by 36% & 35%, to more than 400,000 & almost 160,000 registrations. KEY QUOTE "We're still expecting a decline in U.S. electric vehicle sales forecast for next year." Charles Lester, BMI's data manager, said that the tax credit had a huge impact on the market. CONTEXT Last week, Donald Trump, in a bid to further undermine electrification efforts, proposed slashing the fuel economy standards set by his predecessor. The European Union has delayed the release until next week of proposals that are closely watched for the auto industry. These proposals could also 'weaken' a ban on new CO2-emitting vehicles in 2035. Reduced government subsidies are expected to dampen consumer sentiment in China, which is the largest EV market globally, accounting for over half of all global EV sales.
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Oracle falls, but stocks mostly rise; US dollar and yields fall on Fed views
The major stock indices rose on Thursday. The Dow and S&P 500 posted?record highs, even though technology shares declined following Oracle's disappointing forecasts, and the dollar and U.S. Bond yields fell. The Nasdaq?ended down, while the Dow?and S&P 500?added to gains made the day before when the Federal?Reserve?cut rates, but gave a more dovish outlook than anticipated. Global stock indexes were also higher. Oracle, the cloud computing giant, reignited fears over astronomical tech valuations after it missed analysts' profit and sales estimates and announced a $15 billion artificial-intelligence overspend. Last week, its shares fell 10.8%. The S&P tech sector also declined. Nvidia, the AI leader, saw its shares fall 1.5%. SoftBank, a partner of Oracle in the U.S. Stargate project and a partner to Japan's Nikkei index, fell more than 7.5% overnight. Michael O'Rourke is the chief market strategist of JonesTrading, Stamford, Connecticut. He said: "Overall, I think the market is doing well, considering how Oracle is trading, and that the AI sector is weaker. But, I do believe investors are being a bit cautious." Investors focused on the global rate outlook after the Fed cut its benchmark funds rate by 25 basis points, as predicted, to 3.5%-3.75%, in a split decision of 9-3. Fed Chair Jerome Powell was balanced in a recent press conference. He said that he didn't "think that a rate hike is anyone's baseline case." Interest rate futures now have at least two rate reductions priced in for the next year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased?646.26 or 1.34% to 48,704.01; the S&P 500 grew 14.32 or 0.21% to 6,901.00, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 60.30 or 0.25% to 23,593.86. DOLLAR HITS LOWS IN MULTI-MONTH The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 3.17 points or 0.31% to 1,014.91. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose by 0.55%. The U.S. Dollar fell, reaching multi-month lows versus the euro, Swiss Franc, and Sterling and extending the losses from the previous day. Swiss National Bank's decision not to raise interest rates supported the Swiss franc. The dollar fell 0.63% against the Swiss Franc to 0.795 after previously reaching its lowest level since November. The euro reached its highest level in October 3 with a 0.43% increase at $1.1744. The dollar index fell by 0.27%, measuring the greenback in relation to a basket of currencies, including the yen, the euro and others. U.S. Treasury Yields fell for the second consecutive session after the Fed's policy statement. The?Fed said Wednesday that it will start buying short-dated government securities on Friday. An initial round of around $40 billion Treasury bills is expected. This was earlier than investors had anticipated. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes dropped 2.7 basis points, to 4.137% from 4.164% at late Wednesday. The yield ended a streak of four consecutive sessions of gains, the longest in five weeks. The yield on the 2-year note, which is usually in line with expectations of interest rates from the Fed, fell 3.9 basis points, to 3.526%. Investors shifted their focus towards the European Central Bank's meeting next week, as the benchmark Bund yield in euro zone hovered at a nine-month peak. The benchmark yield for the eurozone, Germany's 10-year bond, was down 1.5 basis points at 2.84%. On Wednesday, they reached 2.894%, their highest since mid-March. The difference between U.S. yields and German yields fell to 126.01, the lowest level since June 2023. Investors shifted their attention back to the Russia-Ukraine talks, which led to a lower oil price. U.S. crude dropped 86 cents and settled at $57.60 per barrel, while Brent declined 93 cents and settled at $61.28. Spot gold increased 1.07%, to $4273.09 per ounce.
Barrick Mining and Mali reach agreement on principle to settle dispute over gold mine
Two sources familiar with this situation said that Barrick Mining has reached a verbal understanding in principle regarding their dispute concerning the Loulo-Gounkoto Gold Mining Complex.
Sources claim that no agreement has been signed yet. Barrick Mining's spokesperson did not respond immediately to a comment request. A spokesperson from Mali's Mines Ministry said that negotiations are progressing well, but gave no further details.
Since 2023, the two sides are in dispute over the implementation a new Mali Mining Code that increases taxes and gives the Government a larger share of the gold mines. One of the sources stated that they met on Friday for talks, a week following Barrick's interim CEO Mark Hill's letter to Mali administration asking to resume negotiations. One of the sources said that they discussed a 10-year extension to Barrick's mine licence, which expires on February 20, 2026. Source: They also discussed the release four Barrick employees who were arrested in Mali. The source added that they also discussed the return of three metric tons gold that was seized by Mali authorities, as well as the dropping of arbitration proceedings Barrick initiated against Mali.
Barrick halted operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto Complex in January. In June, a Malian court appointed a temporary administrator to restart the operations. However, blasting didn't begin until October. (Reporting from Divyarajagopal and PortiaCrowe in Toronto; Additional reporting from Pranav Mathur in Bengaluru, Editing by Edmund Klamann.)
(source: Reuters)