North America

Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport in Romania was designed to make Americans feel comfortable. The streets of the base are named Alabama (the state), Ohio (the state), Alaska (the territory) and George Washington. Since 1999, the base has been home to U.S. soldiers who have supported America's wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. About half of the roughly 2,000 American soldiers in Romania last year, the majority of whom lived at the base, left as the Trump administration began to realign the U.S. Military presence in Europe. The departures in Romania, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization bordering Ukraine country, caused alarm. MK, as...

India announced on Thursday that it was committed to ensuring the 'energy security of its people, and would continue to purchase supplies from a variety of sellers depending on market dynamics. This came hours after the United States. A new measure was taken to punish these buyers. New Delhi said it also warned Washington about any new actions that could affect the ties between both countries. The statement was made after the U.S. House of Representatives approved sweeping tariffs and sanctions to increase economic pressure against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The legislation allows President Donald Trump of the...

US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he hopes a "final end" to the war against Iran is near. Separately, a media report said he was expected to meet Gulf Leaders on the sidelines the UN General Assembly to discuss the conflict on Tuesday. He made his comments as the Iran War is in its seventh month, with no end in sight. Axios reported on late Wednesday that Trump's meeting next week with Gulf leaders in New York is expected to be centered around US plans for postwar strategy. Unnamed sources were cited in the report. The report said...

Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi 'drone' south of Mecca on Monday before it entered forbidden airspace over the holy city. This was confirmed by a spokesperson for a Saudi-led military coalition that is fighting Yemen's Iran aligned Houthis. Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the coalition's early Wednesday announcement, said that security at Islam's two holiest places and pilgrims were a "redline". He added that coalition would take deterrent actions against?the Houthis. Mecca is the holiest city in Islam and the focus of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Malki said that the incident was the second "Houthi" attempt to...

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine, said that a drone struck a petrol station early Tuesday morning. He also added that a drone had also struck warehouses in another part of the city. Witnesses heard an explosion in Kyiv The attack follows a?U.S. Donald Trump stated on Monday that Ukraine had agreed with Russia not to?hit each other's targets. Recently, Russia began targeting petrol stations in Kyiv and expanded the scope of facilities that were targeted. In the last few months, Russia has targeted around 300 petrol stations, mostly in or near Ukraine's frontline areas. In a social media...

Treasury Department: The United States imposed Iran-related Sanctions on Monday against?Russia's VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company accusing it of involvement in Iranian sanctions evasion. Washington is seeking to increase economic pressure on Tehran. This action is a continuation of the sanctions that were imposed in 2022 against VTB, Russia’s second largest?lender. The bank was targeted following Moscow's full-scale invasion into Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that "Under Operation Economic Outcast Treasury will continue to target those who provide material or financial support to the Iranian regime to enable it to maintain its terrorist enterprise." Treasury will not tolerate...

The Kremlin welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Ukraine to halt strikes against Russia's diesel-producing facilities. Trump called on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday to stop attacking Russian diesel infrastructure. He said?the attacks are causing a fuel shortage?that "hurts the world". In recent months, long-distance Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries have reduced Russia's fuel supply. This has led to fuel shortages in the entire country. Ukraine claims that it is attacking Russian refineries to increase the costs for Moscow to continue its invasion of Ukraine. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin's spokesman, said in a daily press conference that any...

According to sources familiar with the plans of the administration, the White House is considering?how it can use the Defense Production Act in order to increase U.S. oil refinery capacity. The conflict with Iran has exposed the country's vulnerability due to global crude supply disruptions and price increases. This extraordinary move highlights the growing pressure on the Trump administration to demonstrate that it can control the impact of rising fuel prices for consumers and businesses in advance of the midterm elections scheduled for November. Sources said that the proposal to use the act was brought up at a recent White...

Stocks in the U.S. rose on Friday, as oil prices fell. This helped to put stocks "on track" to finish a tough week on a positive note. Dell has jumped more than 11%, setting a new record. Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped nearly 10%, and HP gained around 7% after Oracle's strong results. Gains in the stock market have helped to ease pressure on stocks at a period when fluctuating interest rate expectations, an intensifying Middle East conflict, and high Treasury yields had weighed heavily. After several days of defensive positions, today's movement looks like a regression to mean. "The market...

U.S. index futures rebounded on Friday as oil prices dropped and investors hoped that the consumer inflation report would end a 'rough' week on a positive. Oracle's premarket price jumped by nearly 7% after it surpassed estimates for its quarterly results on Thursday. This reassured investors that their AI investments are paying off. Nvidia gained 0.8%. The market is weakened by fluctuating interest rates expectations as the stock markets navigate through a convergence of factors, such as the Middle East conflict intensifying and the elevated Treasury yields. After Thursday's slightly higher-than-expected Producer Price Index, which did not reassure investors, the...

U.S. stock index futures rebounded as oil prices dropped on Friday, and investors placed their hopes in the consumer inflation report. This helped end a tough week with a positive ending. Oracle's premarket price jumped by nearly 7% after it surpassed estimates for its quarterly results, announced late Thursday. This reassured investors that their AI investments are paying off. Nvidia gained 0.9%. The market is weakened by fluctuating interest rates expectations as stocks face a number of challenges, such as the intensifying Middle East conflict or the elevated Treasury yields. The market now faces the Consumer Price Index report, another...

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump stated that the United States could strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain and urged Tehran to be "cautious". "We've noticed that Pickaxe is a little busy." Trump told the Republican Convention that he would advise Iran to not be cute, because they will have to be hit very hard. Pickaxe Mountain is located near Iran's badly damaged Natanz uranium-enrichment facility. It has two deep-buried tunnel systems. Trump has been threatening strikes on Pickaxe Mountain at least since mid-July. Trump and the Republican Party are concerned about the rise in gas and oil prices as a result of...

Early Thursday morning, oil prices continued to fall, adding to the previous day's losses. This was due to reports that Saudi Arabia offered extra crude cargoes via Oman, which reduced concerns about supply disruptions. Brent crude futures fell $1.24 or 1.2% to $104.59 a barrel at 0049 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate futures were down by $1.14 or 1.1% to $101.29. Both contracts dropped about $3 on Wednesday. Hiroyuki Kikukawa is the chief strategist at Nissan Securities Investment. He added that "expectations of progress towards easing tensions in the Middle East before the U.S. China summit next week also cap...

Poland's Orlen announced on Wednesday that it had purchased?16,000,000 barrels of additional oil for its Polish,?Lithuanian, and Czech plants. Traders said the company was rushing to secure crude in order to cover disruptions in Saudi supply until November. Saudi Arabia's petroleum industry is struggling to cope with the effects of a series of attacks from Iran-aligned militias, one of which shut down its East-West Pipeline?on 10 September. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company, has been Orlen’s biggest supplier of oil since 2022. It provides around 40%. Orlen announced in a Wednesday statement that it had contracted for 16 additional deliveries...

Retail sales in the U.S. rebounded much more than expected during August, as households stocked up on motor vehicles and restocked for the new school term. This reinforced the economy's resilience at a time when consumers are becoming more concerned about high inflation. The Commerce Department's Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that retail sales rose 1.2% in August after a 0.5% decline in July. This was the first drop in nine months. The economists polled predicted that retail sales (which are mainly?goods, and are not adjusted to inflation) would rebound by 0.8% following a previously reported drop of?0.6% in July....

According to calculations based upon data provided by fuel market participants, half of Russia's top six diesel-producing refineries had to significantly halt or reduce production in September as a result of damage caused by drone attacks. The U.S. president Donald Trump highlighted the Russian fuel shortage on Sunday when he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to stop attacking Russian diesel infrastructure. He said the attacks are causing a fuel shortage that "hurts the world". Ukraine, which regularly faces Russian attacks on their own energy infrastructure, claims that refineries are legitimate military targets. According to GasBuddy's price tracker, the U.S. average...

U.S. consumer price increases accelerated in August as gasoline prices rebounded after two consecutive monthly drops. This boosted financial market expectations of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week. Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Labor Department announced on Friday that Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in August after increasing by 0.1% in July. Consumer inflation increased by 3.4% in the 12-month period ending August after increasing by the same amount in July. The economists polled predicted that the CPI would increase by 0.4% in the month of August and 3.4% on an annual basis. The CPI increased...

U.S. consumer price increases are likely to accelerate in August, as gasoline prices?rebound after two consecutive monthly declines. This would confirm financial market expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next week. Labor Department's upcoming Consumer Price Index report will follow the Producer Price Index, which was released on Thursday. The Producer Price Index is the measure of inflation that the U.S. Central Bank uses to track its 2% inflation target. The Fed Governor Christopher Waller said at a NEXT Newsmaker Event that he would be inclined to maintain rates if the data showed that inflation pressures had cooled....

The price of oil rose on Friday, and both major benchmarks will 'end the week above $100 per barrel for the first time since mid-May. This is due to the increasing number of attacks on key shipping routes across the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose $1.05 or 1% to $108.68 per barrel at 0045 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude rose 95 cents or 1% to $103.45 per barrel. Both benchmarks were up over 6% Thursday. The benchmarks gained nearly 13% on a weekly basis - the biggest gain since the week ending July 17. The Houthis, who are...

The Venezuelan opposition-controlled boards that have supervised U.S.-based refiner Citgo Petroleum for ?the last seven years are preparing to ?wind down as soon as this ?month, ?following a shake-up by Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez, two sources involved in the preparations said. Rodriguez started preparing to take control of the refinery owned by Venezuela earlier this year after Washington recognized her government. Her government replaced Nicolas Maduro’s administration, after he had been captured by U.S. troops in January. According to U.S. courts filings, the interim president's administration replaced law firms who had previously?represented Venezuelan and state-run PDVSA oil company in...

Iran announced on Wednesday that it had attacked ten?ships in the Strait of Hormuz, after the U.S. had sunk five Iranian oil tanks. This was the largest declared wave of tit for tat attacks by both sides on shipping since the start of the six month-old conflict. As a result of the attacks on and around the important waterway, the price of crude oil soared. The Brent crude international benchmark broke $100 per barrel for the very first time since last July. The average retail price for diesel fuel in the United States has reached a new all-time high of...

Benchmark Brent crude futures surpassed $100 per barrel on Wednesday. This was the first time that the symbol had been breached since July 24, as the intensifying conflict in the Middle East fueled a growing concern about oil exports from the region. Brent crude futures were up $2.15 or 2.2% to $100.07 a bar by 0721 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.70 or 1.83% at $94.73 a bar. Brent crude prices are up by 25% since the beginning of last month, as hope for a permanent solution to the U.S.-Iran conflict fades. The attacks this week by the?Houthis,...

The oil price rose for the 4th straight session, with a gain of more than $1 on early Wednesday trade. Brent crude futures were up 1.4% to $99.33 per barrel at 0212 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate crude was $94.34 per barrel, an increase of 1.4%. Brent crude prices jumped by 25% since early August, as the hopes of a permanent solution to the six-month old war faded and fighting flared up again. Prices are now fast approaching $100 per barrel. The 'Middle East War' intensified Tuesday as Iranian-backed Houthis launched strikes against several Saudi cities, further entangling a U.S....

The New York Federal Reserve reported that the outlook of U.S. households for inflation remained unchanged in August as their?worries?about the job market?and the state of?their?personal finances grew. In the latest Survey of Consumer Expectations from the regional Fed bank, respondents held steady to their projections of inflation of 3.6% a year hence and 3% in five years. They also marked down inflation expectations in three years from 3.3% to 3.2%. The report stated that respondents in August predicted higher gasoline prices within a year. Although households' inflation expectations did not change much, their outlook for hiring and personal finances...