Latest News
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Oil extends gains on optimism over policy support for development
Oil prices extended gains on Friday after closing at their greatest in more than 2 months in the prior session, in the middle of hopes that governments around the world may increase policy assistance to revive economic development that would raise fuel demand. Brent crude futures rose 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $ 76.15 a barrel by 0420 GMT, after settling at its greatest considering that Oct. 25 on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 25 cents, or 0.3%, at $73.38 a barrel, with Thursday's. close its greatest because Oct. 14. Both agreements are on track for their second weekly boost. after financiers returned from holidays, improving trade. liquidity. Factory activity in Asia, Europe and the U.S. ended 2024 on. a soft note as expectations for the New Year soured due to. growing trade dangers from Donald Trump's impending return to the. U.S. presidency and China's delicate economic recovery. The December PMIs for Asia were a mixed bag, but we. continue to anticipate manufacturing activity and GDP development in the. area to remain suppressed in the near term, Capital Economics. experts stated in a note, describing buying supervisors'. indexes information released on Thursday. With development set to battle and inflation below target in. most nations, we think reserve banks in Asia will continue to. loosen up policy. Lower rates of interest must stimulate more financial growth that. would cause higher fuel consumption. Financiers are considering further rate of interest cuts by the. Federal Reserve this year to support the U.S. economy, while. China's President Xi Jinping has pledged more proactive policies. to promote development. As China's economic trajectory is poised to play a pivotal. function in 2025, hopes are pinned on government stimulus steps. to drive increased consumption and reinforce oil need development in. the months ahead, StoneX expert Alex Hodes said. The market also eyes upcoming crude costs from leading oil. exporter Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia may raise unrefined rates for. Asian purchasers in February for the very first time in 3 months,. tracking gains in Middle East standard costs last month,. traders stated. In the U.S., the world's most significant oil consumer, gas and. extract stocks jumped recently as refineries increase. output, though fuel demand hit a two-year low. Unrefined stockpiles fell less than expected, down 1.2 million. barrels to 415.6 million barrels recently compared with. experts' expectations for a 2.8-million-barrel draw. Traders are paying close attention to current weather condition. projections as expectations of a cold wave in the U.S. and Europe. over the coming weeks might increase demand for diesel as a. substitute for gas for heating. Financiers are likewise bracing for Trump's presidency ahead of. his Jan. 20 inauguration. Trump's tariffs on China and their influence on international. need patterns will be main to oil prices in 2025, stated. Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market expert at Phillip Nova.
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Singapore iron ore falls below $100/T as China pre-holiday restocking nears end
Singapore iron ore futures fell listed below the $100permetricton crucial psychological level on Friday as some traders liquidated long positions on faltering demand, after most steelmakers in top buyer China finished preholiday restocking of feedstocks. The benchmark February iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 2.67% lower at $98.2 a load, since 0353 GMT, the lowest considering that Nov. 18. The most-traded May iron ore contract on China's Dalian Product Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 2.37%. lower at 762.5 yuan ($ 104.46) a ton, the lowest since Dec. 30. Both benchmarks were on track for a 3rd straight weekly. fall, shedding 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively, primarily dragged down. by seasonally lessening demand for the key steelmaking. active ingredient. Dalian iron ore fell 16% in 2024 and Singapore. benchmark dropped 18.5%. Average day-to-day hot metal output among steelmakers surveyed. succumbed to a seventh straight week, down 1.2% to the lowest given that. late September at 2.25 million loads, as of Jan 2, information from. consultancy Mysteel revealed. Some bulls closed positions as disadvantage risks mounted with. more steel mills recently beginning equipment maintenance, which. weighed on buying cravings for feedstocks including iron ore,. stated Steven Yu, senior analyst at Mysteel. Additionally, iron ore deliveries have revealed indications of selecting. up. The Chinese New Year starts from Jan. 28 and domestic. steelmakers usually build up stocks to meet production requirements. during and after the vacations. Other steelmaking active ingredients on the DCE pulled away, with. coking coal and coke down 2.34% and 3.16%,. respectively. Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange weakened. Rebar lost 1.27%, hot-rolled coil shed 1.32%,. and stainless steel dipped 0.63%. The ferrous market has actually been weak in spite of Beijing reiterating. assistance for a subsidy programme for large-scale equipment. upgrades for businesses and long lasting items trade-in.
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Metals mixed; strong dollar keeps gains in check
The majority of base metals were blended on Friday, trading in tight ranges, influenced by economic data from China and the United States, but gains were limited by a. more powerful U.S. dollar. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was. relatively the same at $8,804 per metric ton as of 0331 GMT. The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai. Futures Exchange (SHFE) dropped 0.5% to 72,930 yuan. ($ 9,991.23) a ton. On Friday, the dollar was poised for its finest weekly. efficiency in over a month, sustained by expectations of sluggish U.S. rate of interest cuts after a larger-than-expected drop in weekly. out of work claims. A more powerful dollar makes it more costly for holders of. other currencies to purchase greenback-priced products. The dollar stays strong; downward pressure on copper. prices continue, experts at Jinrui Futures said in a note. In China, the Caixin/S&& P International production PMI nudged. down to 50.5 in December from 51.5 the previous month, falling. short of the marketplace expectation of 51.7, recommending a slowed. pace of expansion. LME aluminium rose 0.1% to $2,530.5 a heap, nickel. rose 0.1% to $15,090, zinc lost 0.4% to $2,914,. tin gained 1.1% to $28,860, while lead was 0.2%. lower at $1,931. SHFE aluminium was down 0.1% to 19,880 yuan a ton,. nickel fell 1.5% to 122,520 yuan, zinc. pulled away 2.5% to 24,565 yuan, lead dropped 0.7% to. 16,690 yuan, and tin edged down 0.2% to 244,360 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click. or.
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British Business - Jan 3
The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not confirmed these stories and does not attest their precision. The Times - US activist investor Saba Capital, led by Boaz Weinstein, faces criticism from Herald Financial investment Trust for an unidentified and unverified method in its campaign targeting seven UK-listed financial investment trusts. - British engineering firm Arup lost over 25 million pounds ($ 30.96 million) in a deep fake cyberattack in 2015, with criminals in Hong Kong utilizing fake voices, signatures, and images to carry out the fraud. The Guardian - Nick Clegg, previous UK deputy prime minister and Meta's. president of international affairs, is stepping down after six. years with the company, having actually joined in 2018 as vice president. for international affairs and interactions. - Twenty councillors in Nottinghamshire have actually quit the. Labour, accusing the party of abandoning its worths under Keir. Starmer, costing Labour control of Broxtowe borough council. The Telegraph - Morgan Stanley has exited Mark Carney's Net-Zero. Banking Alliance, citing plans to pursue independent climate. policies, amidst a more comprehensive Wall Street withdrawal as Donald Trump. prepares to go back to the White Home. Sky News - Outsourcing company Amey, backed by former British chancellor. Lord Hammond, has made an indicative offer surpassing 300 million. pounds to get Telent, a leading digital infrastructure. providers. The Independent - UK organizations will deal with an extra cost of 2,367 pounds. per minimum wage employee in 2025, driven by pay increases and tax. walkings detailed in financing minister Rachel Reeves' Spending Plan.
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Gold set for weekly rise; market waits for Trump's policy relocations
Gold edged up on Friday on a softer U.S. dollar and safe house streams, with the metal enroute for a. weekly gain as attention turned to U.S. Presidentelect Donald. Trump's proposed policy modifications that could influence the. financial and rates of interest outlook moving forward. Area gold was up 0.2% at $2,661.19 per ounce, as of. 0257 GMT, striking its highest level because Dec. 13. Bullion is up. about 1.6% for the week up until now. U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,675.40. The dollar index fell 0.2%, making dollar-priced. bullion more budget friendly for holders of other currencies. We have seen an uptick in safe house flows, which has actually been. to the advantage of gold, stated Tim Waterer, chief market expert. at KCM Trade. Any pullback in the U.S. dollar might prove to be a. driver for gold to breakout greater. Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 has actually heightened uncertainty,. with his suggested tariffs and protectionist policies anticipated to. be inflationary and possibly trigger trade wars. On the geopolitical front, Israeli airstrikes eliminated at. least 68 Palestinians in Gaza. Additionally, Russia released a drone strike on the. Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday, triggering damage in at least. two districts. Gold flourishes in low rate of interest environments and serves. as a hedge against financial and geopolitical unpredictabilities. Last month, the U.S. central bank provided a third. successive rate cut, now predicts just two decreases in. 2025. Markets now wait for U.S. job openings data, the ADP work. report, Fed meeting minutes, and the work report, all due. next week, for further direction. Worldwide trends will continue to play a huge role and continue. to move the gold market forward. The metal will grow slowly,. revealing stable growth values throughout the year, stated Julia. Khandoshko, CEO at broker Mind Money. Area silver was consistent at $29.58 per ounce, platinum. added 0.4% to $926.95, and palladium rose 0.2% to. $ 913.18. All three metals were on track of weekly gains.
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Strong dollar keeps metals' gains in check
A lot of base metals edged up within tight ranges on Friday, influenced by mixed macroeconomic information from China and the United States, however gains were limited by a stronger U.S. dollar. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had inched up 0.1% to $8,813.5 per metric load since 0151 GMT. The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) dropped 0.3% to 73,070 yuan ($ 10,010.41) a lot. On Friday, the dollar was poised for its best weekly performance in over a month, sustained by expectations of slow U.S. interest rate cuts after a larger-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims. A more powerful dollar makes it more expensive for holders of other currencies to purchase greenback-priced commodities. The dollar remains strong; downward pressure on copper costs continue, analysts at Jinrui Futures stated in a note. In China, the Caixin/S&& P Global manufacturing PMI pushed down to 50.5 in December from 51.5 the previous month, falling short of the market expectation of 51.7, suggesting a slowed rate of growth. LME aluminium was fairly unchanged at $2,530 a. load, nickel increased 0.2% to $15,100, zinc lost 0.1%. to $2,923, tin gained 0.3% to $28,650, while lead. was 0.1% greater at $1,935. SHFE aluminium was down 0.3% to 19,830 yuan a lot,. nickel fell 1.5% to 122,530 yuan, zinc. pulled back 2.3% to 24,630 yuan, lead dropped 0.4% to. 16,755 yuan, and tin edged down 0.6% to 242,570 yuan. For the leading stories in metals and other news, click. or. ($ 1 = 7.2994 Chinese yuan renminbi)
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Asian stocks increase, dollar at two-year high as US rates, Trump in focus
Asian stocks rose on Friday, intending to shrug off a lacklustre start to 2025, while the dollar was perched at a twoyear high against a basket of currencies as financiers fret about U.S. rates remaining higher for longer. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.33% higher but on course for a nearly 1%. drop for the week. The index increased almost 8% in 2024. Japan. markets are closed for the week. China stocks were steady on Friday after plunging on. Thursday highlighting growing stress over China's economy and. a possible looming trade war when Donald Trump begins his U.S. presidency this month. China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index was 0.16 greater in. early trading after logging its weakest New Year start because. 2016 on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increased 0.19%. It's been a hard duration for equities around the turn of. the year, however weird things can take place in illiquid markets,. said Ben Bennett, Asia-Pacific financial investment strategist at Legal. and General Financial Investment Management. I don't think we need to theorize this efficiency. That. said, a stronger dollar and greater bond yields will weigh on. sentiment moving forward and equity financiers will be hoping this. modifications soon. On Wall Street, U.S. stocks closed broadly lower on Thursday. after initial gains failed to hold. Shares of Tesla. sank 6.1% after reporting its very first annual drop in deliveries, The dim mood is available in the wake of a stuttering end to 2024,. denting a year-long rally sustained by growth expectations. surrounding artificial intelligence, prepared for rate cuts from. the Federal Reserve, and more just recently, the probability of. deregulation policies from the inbound Trump administration. However with the Fed last month jolting the markets by. projecting less rate cuts than previously prepared for and. increasing concerns that Trump's policies may prove to be. inflationary, bond yields have risen, enhancing the dollar and. harming stocks. Vasu Menon, managing director of financial investment technique at. OCBC, stated Trump's pro-growth and pro-business agenda might enhance. the US economy however for the remainder of the world, it may show. challenging due to possible tariffs and a more powerful dollar. So, there is some degree of caution and anticipation in. markets specifically after the strong financial investment performance over. the previous two years, stated Menon. Information overnight showed that the number of Americans filing. brand-new applications for welfare dropped to an. eight-month low of 211,000 recently, indicating low layoffs at. the end of 2024 and constant with a healthy labour market. That bodes well for the U.S. economy, with payrolls and. inflation data later on this month likely to be the focus for. financiers as they gauge how measured the Fed's rate cut approach. is most likely to be. Traders are pricing in 44 basis points of relieving this year,. below the 50 bps the U.S. central bank predicted in December. That has left the dollar index, which measures the. U.S. currency versus six other systems, at 109.2, simply below the. 2 year high of 109.54 it discussed Thursday. The index rose. 7% in 2024 as traders changed their interest rate expectations. The euro was on the other hand among the most significant losers. against an imposing dollar, having tumbled 0.86% in the previous. session to a more than two-year low of $1.022475. It was at. $ 1.0269 in Asian hours on Friday, headed for a 1.6% weekly. decline, its worst given that November. The yen strengthened a bit to 157.295 per dollar,. but stood not too far from an over five-month low of 158.09 per. dollar hit in December. The yen fell more than 10% in 2015,. its 4th straight year of losses. In commodities, oil costs inched greater due to optimism. over China's economy and fuel demand after a promise by President. Xi Jinping to promote growth. Brent crude futures rose 0.16% to $76.05 a barrel,. while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.18% to. $ 73.25 a barrel. Gold prices were constant at $2,658 per ounce, after a. 27% increase in 2024, its greatest yearly performance since 2010.
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Biden to reveal decision on Nippon Steel bid for US Steel as early as Friday, CBS Report
U.S. President Joe Biden is likely to reveal a choice as soon as Friday on whether he will authorize Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel , CBS News reported late on Thursday, citing people familiar with the process. The Committee on Foreign Financial Investment in the United States ( CFIUS) just recently referred the decision to approve or obstruct the offer to Biden, who will leave office on Jan. 20. The White Home did not immediately respond to an ask for remark late on Thursday. Japan's Nippon Steel decreased to comment. U.S. Steel said in a statement that the business hopes Biden. will do the ideal thing and stick to the law by authorizing a. transaction that so plainly boosts U.S. national and financial. security. In 2023, Nippon clinched the deal to buy U.S. Steel at a. significant premium, however the merger has given that faced opposition from. the effective United Steelworkers union along with politicians. If Biden takes no action, it would lead to the. merger's automatic approval. A source familiar with the matter said earlier today. that Nippon Steel proposed offering the U.S. government veto power. over any possible cuts to U.S. Steel's production capability, as. part of its effort to secure Biden's approval for getting the. American steelmaker. Biden has actually said he wants U.S. Steel to be domestically. owned and run, while President-elect Donald Trump has actually promised. to block the deal after he takes office in January.
Petrobras Hires Seadrill’s Drillship Pair for Brazil Ops
Petrobras has awarded contracts to Seadrill’s two ultra-deepwater drillships – West Jupiter and West Tellus – for work offshore Brazil.
West Jupiter has been hired under a 1,095-day contract, following a competitive tender process. The contract will contribute approximately $493 million to Seadrill’s order backlog, including additional services and excluding a mobilization fee of $31.5 million.
The drilling program in Brazil is expected to start in the first quarter of 2026.
Seadrill has also secured secured a 1,095-day contract for its West Tellus drillship, which will be deployed for work at the Sépia and Atapu fields in the Santos Basin.
The contract will boost Seadrill’s backlog with $498 million, including additional services and excluding a mobilization fee of $41 million.
The program is expected to start in the first quarter of 2026 and includes an optional period of up to 305 additional days. Petrobras holds a 65.7% stake in the shared Atapu field, a 55.3% stake in the shared Sépia field and is the Operator in both areas.
“This contract and the recently announced award for West Jupiter deepens our relationship with a key customer at the heart of the deepwater market. These fixtures provide approximately $1 billion of additional backlog and a meaningful uplift to earnings and free cash flow beginning in 2026,” said Simon Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Seadrill.