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European shares dropped on Monday, as technology stocks fell after leaders of top AI firms urged a'slower pace of development.' Meanwhile, another surge in oil prices dampened risk appetite. As of 0840 GMT the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.3%, at 637.5, in choppy trade, with many major regional bourses trading downward. Technology shares were among the worst performers, with a 2% decline in line with their Asian and U.S. counterparts. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, called on AI companies on Saturday to slow down?the pace at which they advance their model capabilities because of fears about misuse. Benjamin...

The company announced on Monday that India's Essar Group has acquired UK petrol station operator SGN Retail. This acquisition adds 118 sites to its network of fuel retail outlets, which it hopes to expand to 800 by 2031. Essar Energy Transition Retail (EET Retail), which operates 235 petrol stations, said that the acquisition would bring this number up to 235. EET Retail ?is part of Essar Energy Transition Fuels, which operates ?the 200,000-barrel-per-day Stanlow refinery in the United Kingdom. This acquisition will accelerate our?plan for a nationwide, vertically integrated platform with?800 sites. It is backed by direct refining supply, and...

Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, hit $100 per barrel Wednesday. This was the first time this has happened since late July. However the price increase is relatively slow despite the escalating conflict in the Middle East that fuels fears of more disruptions to oil shipments. Russell Hardy, CEO Vitol - the world's largest independent oil trader - told the APPEC Conference in Singapore on Tuesday that the Middle East has exported approximately 9 million barrels of crude per day and another 1 million bpd in refined products in recent days. This compares to roughly 20,000,000 barrels of...

The yields on two-year and five year British government bonds rose to a new high of one week after oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time in six weeks. This sparked fears about inflation, which pushed yields up to their highest levels in decades last weekend. At 0925 GMT the two-year gilt yields - which are sensitive to expectations of interest rates - reached 4,629%, an increase of more than 3 basis point on the day. This is their highest level since September 2, when they reached a five-month high of 4,691%. The five-year yield peaked at...

Interfax reported that Kazakhstan's Ministry of Justice suspended enforcement proceedings against the North Caspian Operating Company, which operates the Kashagan Oil Field. NCOC is a joint-venture between Shell, TotalEnergies,?ExxonMobil, and China's CNPC. It runs Kazakhstan's 'offshore Kashagan' field. It did not respond immediately to a request for comment. NCOC is embroiled in a long-running?legal dispute with the Kazakh Government, who accuses NCOC of?environmental violation related to sulphur storing, and ordered NCOC pay a large penalty. NCOC and its contractors have rejected the fine, as well as the allegations that led to it. The case is now being heard by international...

Owner?Aliko?Dangote announced on Thursday that the initial public offering (IPO) of Nigeria's Dangote refinery, the largest in Africa, would open within the next 10 to 12 days. "Our dream is to double the capacity of our refinery, which would take us up to 1.4 millions barrels per day." Dangote, who was visiting Botswana in Southern Africa, told investors and analysts that the IPO would open within 10-12 days. The African richest man's refinery is expected to try to raise $5 billion, which could be the largest IPO on the continent. Dangote does not reveal refinery margins. However, the industry has...

British government bond yields reached new 18-year-highs on Wednesday, following a global sell-off in response to the latest escalation of Iran's war. This added to the challenge faced by finance minister John Healey as he prepares his first budget. The yield on the 10-year gilts reached its highest level since June 2008. It hit 5,268% shortly after 7am GMT, an increase of about 4 basis point on?the day. This is on top of a 15-bps rise on Tuesday. Investors are worried about the inflationary effect of the rising oil prices due to the return of the Gulf conflict. The increase...

The Financial Times reported that Shell has attracted interest from bidders such as ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell and others for its U.S. chemical assets, which could fetch up to $8 billion. The report cited people who were familiar with the matter as saying that the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and the chemicals division of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, had also expressed an interest in the?assets. Shell is looking to sell off underperforming chemical?plants. Shell, ExxonMobil and Kuwait Petroleum have not responded to requests for comment outside of regular business hours. Shell, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell Apollo and Kuwait Petroleum did not...

Prices of oil fell by more than $1 per barrel on Monday, as investors took a profit ahead of an announcement that Washington is expected to make about additional sanctions against Iran. This could further disrupt Middle East supplies. Brent crude futures dropped $1.22 or 1.29% to $93.17 at 0035 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was $85.86 per barrel, down by $1.20 or 1.38%. The two contracts both posted their second weekly gains, up over 5% last week as the peace talks between Iran and the U.S. hit a deadlock, limiting oil shipments across the Strait of Hormuz, where a...

Whitehaven Coal, a miner in Australia, reported a larger-than-expected 29% drop in its annual profit, due to lower coal prices. This sent the company's shares down more than 4%, even though it announced a share-buyback program. The average achieved coal prices fell by 6%, to A$202 a metric ton in the year ending June 30. This is due to a combination of cyclical weakness as well as the stronger Australian dollar. The underlying net profit after taxes was?A$227 ($160.69) million, lower than A$319 (or A$247.56 million) a year ago and Visible Alpha's estimate. Revenue dropped 7% to A$5.4 Billion. The...

Reliance Industries announced a partnership with Britain's Rolls-Royce on Friday to develop and produce an engine for India’s fighter jet programme. The?country is aiming to build its most advanced stealth combat aircraft. The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft prototype is expected to be ready in 2028. It will play an important role in India's air combat strategy. India approved last year a framework to build its most advanced stealth jet fighter and invited interest by defence firms weeks after a conflict with Pakistan, a nuclear-armed neighbor. The country has also approved the model of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), a...

The hacking group?Cl0p said on its website that it had recently targeted Philips and Shell. Philips claimed it had been 'targeted' by Cl0p, while Shell confirmed that it was aware of an "incident" which occurred recently. This confirms a report from Dutch media outlet BNR. Shell's spokesperson stated that "we are working closely with our security team and experts in the field to investigate this situation." Philips has identified and contained an attempted cybersecurity compromise on a specific enterprise data server, Philips stated in a press release. The incident did not affect 'customer environments. Cl0p is a ransomware known for...

The copper price was headed for its first weekly decline?since June. They also stabilized on Friday after a steep drop in the previous session following reports?that White House had not yet made a decision on imposing tariffs on the metal. The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper was unchanged at $14,230 per metric ton during the official open outcry. It fell 3.6% on Friday after reaching a record high price of $14,875; it is expected to finish the week at a loss of?1.6%. This would put an end to its 10-week winning streak. Alastair Mudro, senior base metals analyst at Marex...

Gold prices dropped by over 1% on Thursday, after strong U.S. inflation data and higher oil prices increased the odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase next week. Spot gold fell 1%, to $4.358.09 an ounce, by 11:14 am EDT (1514 GMT), whereas U.S. Gold Futures dropped 1.4%, to $4.400.60. According to Kyle Rodda of Capital.com, a senior financial analyst, the Producer Price Index data "sort of shows that there's been a?bit? of a pick-up in underlying inflation" in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Labor Department reported that PPI for final demands rose by 0.4% in...

Gold prices dropped by over 1% after?robust U.S. data on inflation and rising oil costs increased bets that the Federal Reserve will raise rates next week. Spot gold fell by 1.2%, to $4349.32 an ounce, at 9:24 am EDT (1324 GMT), whereas U.S. Gold Futures dropped 1.6%, to $4391.30. The data from the producer price index "sort of tells [us] that there has been an increase in inflation underlying in?the?U.S. The rising cost of energy is a major factor in the economy. U.S. Producer Prices increased in August in line with expectations, despite a rise in the cost of energy....

Gold lost ground on Thursday as it erased earlier gains. This was a result of a stronger dollar and higher bond yields. Investors were also awaiting key U.S. data on inflation to get clues about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path. Gold futures in the U.S. fell 0.7%, to $4,427.80 per ounce, while spot gold dropped 0.4%, to $4385.40 an ounce, by 1125 GMT. I think that part of the decline in metals prices is due to the U.S. Dollar coming back ahead of inflation data. Fawad Rasaqzada is a Forex.com market analyst. He said that the bond yields are...

Gold rose on Thursday on a softer dollar, as investors waited for key U.S. data on inflation to get clues about the Federal Reserve's rate hike path. Gold futures in the U.S. fell 0.3%, to $4448.80 per ounce, and spot gold rose 0.1%, to $4405.09 an ounce, by 0824 GMT. Gold is benefiting from a slightly weaker dollar, because the yellow metal has a negative correlation with the greenback most of the time. This, combined with the global debt worries, continue to support the demand, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. As the U.S. Dollar index weakened, greenback priced bullion became...

GE Aerospace, a leader in the aerospace industry, has acted to reduce shortages of precision parts for jet engines while securing valuable technologies. It did this by purchasing Consolidated Precision Products at a price of $12 billion. The purchase of CPP, the world's third largest manufacturer of metallic components for engine blades, is part and parcel of a long-term effort to improve aerospace supply chains. Larry Culp of GE Aerospace, who announced his largest acquisition after splitting the industrial giant General Electric and turning it around, described this capacity as "mission-critical". The deal shows a shift in focus from winning...

The London Metal Exchange will launch a contract for steel on October 27 using prices from its Shanghai counterpart, the 'LME' announced -on Wednesday. This is part of China’s efforts to increase its influence on global commodity pricing. In June, the LME announced an agreement with the Shanghai Futures Exchange for the new contract. At the time, the LME stated that trading would start in October. However, it did not specify a date. The SHFE, one of the most liquid steel contracts in the world, will be mirrored on the LME to increase trading volume and attract new customers. The...

Copper prices reached record levels on Wednesday due to a shortage of supplies in the United States. As 'hostilities' in the Middle East flared, concerns were raised about global demand and growth. The price of three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange fell 0.5% by 1045 GMT to $14,641 per metric ton after reaching an all-time record high of $14 779 on Tuesday. After the escalation of attacks by Iran and the U.S., oil prices soared above $100 per barrel. This is a six-week high. Ewa Manthey is a commodities?strategist with ING. She said that copper?is easing off record highs,...

Investors were cautious on Tuesday due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, and higher oil prices. Novartis also suffered its biggest one-day drop in history after reporting another setback in its drug development pipeline. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.05% to 649.6. Novartis' 10.9% drop in the benchmark Swiss index weighed on the overall index, which fell by 1.6%. Novartis, the Swiss drugmaker, was the largest faller in the STOXX 600 index after it announced that its experimental treatment of a muscle-wasting condition had failed a late-stage study. News of the failure came just a day after Novartis revealed...

The 'price of copper' continued to rise on Tuesday. It reached a record high on speculative purchases on the backs of tight supply outside the U.S. and weak mine production. In open-outcry official trading, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.3% to $14,503 per metric ton, breaking the previous record. LME copper is up 18% in this year. This is largely because a large amount of metal has been moving to the U.S., anticipating?tariffs to be imposed on refined copper. Alice Fox, an analyst at Macquarie, stated that falling inventories outside of the U.S. - including in China...

The dollar was weaker on Monday and the prospects of shortages outside the U.S. boosted the price of copper. The traders said that the U.S. holiday meant volumes would be muted and that they were focusing on copper and zinc. The benchmark copper price on the London Metal Exchange was 0.2% higher, at $14.443 per metric ton. It reached $14,467 earlier in trade, its highest level since January's all-time high of $14,527.50. Since President Donald Trump proposed import tariffs last February, traders and producers have shipped large amounts of copper to the U.S. Comex copper stock levels are at a...

The Serious Fraud Office of Britain has settled with a Kazakh mining company ENRC that accused the agency and law firm Dechert for causing them huge losses during an important criminal investigation. The settlement announced on Wednesday by ENRC and Dechert appears to bring to an end the more than 10 year legal saga that began when the SFO began investigating allegations of bribery committed by ENRC between 2009-2012 to secure mining contracts for the Democratic Republic of Congo, which the company denies. The London High Court previously ruled that the SFO wouldn't have opened an investigation into the alleged...