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Tech shares mainly eased while oil prices rose to a two-week high
The major stock indexes were mostly down as technology shares declined?on Sunday, while Brent crude oil prices rose to a 2-week high as investors assessed if there would be any progress in the near future to end the Iran War. Overnight trading, U.S. Treasury longer-term yields had risen to their highest levels in more than a year. Investors are worried that the war in Iran, which began late February, could cause a lasting inflationary crisis. They fear that rising energy costs will lead to higher consumer prices and a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that he paused an attack on Iran on Monday to allow negotiations on a peace deal to end this war. This was after Iran sent Washington a new proposal for peace. Investors digested recent?developments'. U.S. crude oil added $3.24, settling at $108.66 per barrel. Brent crude rose $2.84, to $112.10, its highest closing since May 4. PROFIT-TAKING in TECH SHARES Market watchers believe investors are taking profits on tech shares that have been performing well recently. They are also awaiting the quarterly results of Nvidia, which will be released on Wednesday. The S&P 500's technology sector declined by 1%. A semiconductor index fell 2.5%. Energy was the sector that gained the most and it was up by 1.8%. "The semiconductors in particular got beaten up just a bit, but they've enjoyed a massive, huge run," Bruce Zaro said, managing director of Granite Wealth Management, Plymouth, Massachusetts. He said that the recent increase in interest rates is a source of concern for investors. "There's this assumption that higher interest rates are bad news for technology stocks," he added. This is something I'd debate in many different ways. Strategists also noted that Trump’s?first trip to Beijing since 2017 concluded on Friday without any major breakthroughs in trade or tangible assistance from Beijing for ending the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159.95 points or 0.32% to 49,686.12, while the S&P 500 dropped 5.45 points or 0.07% to 7,403.05, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 134.41 or 0.51% to 26,090.71. The MSCI index of global stocks fell by 0.77 points or 0.07% to 1,098.23. The STOXX 600 Index rose by 0.54%. A rise in yields will increase borrowing costs, and a discount on future earnings for the company. This can affect stock values. In overnight trading, the yield on the benchmark Treasury 10-year note rose to?4.659%. This is its highest level since 2025. The yield has since reversed the gains, and last stood at 4,591%. Japan's 10-year bond yield had reached a high not seen since 1996, as the government planned to issue new debt to "fund" a planned additional budget to cushion the blow of the Iran War on the economy. Germany's 10-year yield has risen to a level that was not seen in 15 years. AI, RETAIL PROFITS RELATED TO A RECENT RALLY IN 'TEST STOCKS" Nvidia's earnings report due Wednesday will test the artificial intelligence market, as expectations are high. Nvidia's shares closed the day down 1.3%. The shares are up sharply from a low in March, and the Philadelphia SE semiconductors index is also surging amid demand for chip as tech companies invest massively to build AI-related infrastructure. The U.S. Jury ruled on Monday against Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI. They found that the AI company was not liable for allegedly having diverted from its original mission of benefiting?humanity. This week, Walmart and a host of other retailers will release their results, providing insight into the consumer's reaction to high energy prices. The dollar fell against the majority of major currencies, as U.S. Treasury rates were down from recent highs. The dollar index fell by 0.33%, to 99.03. Spot gold increased by 0.61%, to $4565.54 per ounce.
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Total volumes drop to a two-year low after record oil withdrawal from US emergency reserves
The U.S. Department of Energy reported on Monday that a'record 9.9 millions barrels of oil were shipped from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the United States last week. This pushed the total volume of the U.S. Government's emergency stockpile to 374 million barils, the lowest level since July 2024. The Trump administration wants to?release 172 million barrels of oil from the reserve, as?part a global deal to calm down the oil markets after prices?spiked due to the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran which began almost three months ago. In April, the?Energy Department offered approximately?92.5 millions barrels of?sweet crudes and sour from four different storage caverns located along the Texas coast and Louisiana coast. Last week, 53.33 millions barrels were awarded, which is the highest amount this year. Fatih Birol of the International Energy Agency said that the commercial oil stocks were rapidly depleting, and only a few weeks worth remained due to the 'Iran War' and the effective closure of Strait of Hormuz. Before the conflict, around a 5th of global oil supply passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily. The IEA's latest monthly report on the oil market said that global oil inventories dropped at a record pace, dropping by 246?million?barrels. (Reporting and editing by Deepa Babyington, Arathy S. Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney in Houston)
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Venezuelan oil officials to attend Houston energy conference
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists is holding an oil exploration conference outside Houston on Tuesday. Paula Henao and Jovanny Martnez, E&P vice president of PDVSA's state oil company, will be speaking. The speeches will be the first time that senior oil officials of the South American nation have visited the U.S. since President Nicolas Maduro was overthrown by American forces in January. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has since then promoted an ambitious plan to restore Venezuela's oil industry with $100 billion of new investments. Meanwhile, authorities in Venezuela have rewritten?rules in order to facilitate this effort. Henao, the interim president Delcy Rodriguez's predecessor in this position, was appointed oil minister by her in March. She arrived in Houston Sunday evening, said event organizers. According to a reliable source, she is expected to hold private meetings with a few oil companies. She has been telling investors and service providers that want to increase production in recent weeks that Venezuela needs pumps and frequency converters for drilling, producing and processing crude and gas, as well as pipelines, valves and chemicals. "Venezuela is incredibly important in strengthening energy security throughout the Western Hemisphere," said?U.S. At the conference on Monday in The Woodlands (Texas), Assistant Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit spoke about a recent trip to Venezuela's Orinoco?oil-belt region. He said: "I think we have segregated countries in the Western Hemisphere based on the type of energy that they produce. The U.S. Shale, Canadian Heavy Oil, offshore Brazil's, Venezuela's Heavy Oil." "But if you zoom out, and look at the Western Hemisphere as a whole, we have the resources, people, infrastructure, and refining capability to make it strong in the Americas. We are strong with our allies. On the sidelines of this event, Haustveit was pictured greeting Felix Plasencia, the diplomatic representative for Venezuela in the U.S. On Tuesday, Repsol and Maurel & Prom will be among the speakers. Reporting by Marianna Pararaga, Houston; additional reporting by Deisy buitrago, Caracas. Writing by Nathan Crooks and editing by Rod Nickel.
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Oil prices rise, but tech stocks are mostly down.
The major stock indexes were mostly?assisted as technology shares fell Monday, and oil prices rose following continued concerns over supply disruption due to the Iran 'war. After climbing to the highest level for over a year in overnight trading, U.S. Treasury longer-dated yields are nearly flat. Investors are worried that the war in Iran, which began late February, could bring about a lasting inflationary crisis. On Monday, President Donald Trump announced on social media that he would delay a planned attack on Iran for Tuesday while negotiations continue. He also said that the United States is ready to attack again if a deal cannot be reached. U.S. crude oil rose $3.24, to settle at $108,66 per barrel. Brent crude gained $2.84 and settled at $112.10. Investors also pay attention to the recent gains in the tech sector and are waiting for Nvidia's results this week. The S&P 500 saw a decline of 1% in technology, and a 2.5% drop in semiconductors. The energy sector was the last to gain 1.8% and led all sectors. Trump's recent visit to China left a lot of "open questions" about the future and protection of Taiwan, said Oliver Pursche of Wealthspire Advisors, based in Westport, Connecticut. He said that the'saleoff' in the sector is partly due to Taiwan's 'importance' on the chip market. Investors are also taking profits, he added. Trump's first trip to Beijing since 2017 ended on Friday without any major trade breakthroughs or tangible assistance from Beijing in ending the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159.95 points or 0.32% to 49,686.12, while the S&P 500 dropped 5.45 points or 0.07% to 7,403.05, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 134.41 or 0.51% to 26,090.71. The MSCI index of global stocks fell by 0.24 points or 0.02% to 1,098.76. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose by 0.54%. A rise in yields will increase borrowing costs, and a discount on future earnings for the company. This can affect stock values. In overnight trading, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note jumped to 4,659%. This was its highest level since 2025. Since then, it has retraced some of its gains. It was last at 4.591%. Japan's 10-year bond yield had reached a level?not seen in 15 years. The government was planning to issue new debt to fund an extra budget planned to cushion the economic blow of the Iran War. Germany's 10-year bonds yield has risen to a level that was not seen for 15 years. AI, RETAIL EARNINGS TO TEST STOCK'S RECENT RALLY Earnings from Nvidia, the world's largest company, are due on Wednesday. Expectations for this company are high. Nvidia's shares have risen sharply from a low in March, and the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index is also up amid the demand for chips due to tech companies spending massively on AI-related infrastructure. This week, Walmart and a number of other retailers will release their results, providing an insight into the 'consumers' reaction to high energy prices. The dollar fell against'most major currencies, as U.S. Treasury rates were down from recent highs. The dollar index fell by 0.33%, to 99.03. Spot gold increased 0.31%, to $4.552.19 per ounce.
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Russian nuclear chief: the situation at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant has reached a 'point without return'
According to the Rosatom head, the situation surrounding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has reached a "point of no return" because of the increased attacks by Ukrainian forces in the area. The Russian-installed managers at the nuclear facility, Europe's biggest with six reactors said Ukrainian forces attacked the facility for a third day in a row. Alexei Likhachev of Rosatom was quoted by Russian media as saying: "We're getting closer and closer towards the point of no return. And all of Europe needs to now exert efforts to de-escalate" the situation surrounding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. "This is playing around with fire, and it's dangerous in the first instance for Eastern European countries." Likhachev stated that around 2,600 metric tonnes of nuclear fuel was at the plant. The plant does not generate electricity but it must continue to operate in order to keep the nuclear fuel cool. In a post to?Telegram the management of the plant said that the drone attack did not cause any injuries or damage at the plant. The plant?continued operating normally. In a statement, it was stated that permanent monitors from the U.N. Nuclear watchdog - 'International Atomic Energy Agency' - had seen damage caused by an incident which occurred on Sunday. In the weeks following 'the Kremlin invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,' Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Both sides have'regularly' accused each other of military activities that could compromise nuclear safety. (Reporting and Writing by Lucy Papachristou, Editing by Alex Richardson Rod Nickel Ron Popeski
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Trump says that he has paused his attack on Iran while negotiations continue
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Monday that he had paused a 'planned attack against Iran' to allow negotiations to take place?on a pact to end the U.S. -Israeli conflict after Iran sent a rewritten peace proposal to Washington. Trump stated that he has instructed the U.S. Military that "we WILL NOT be attacking Iran tomorrow. However, we have also instructed them to be ready to launch a full-scale assault on Iran at a moments notice in the event of an unacceptable Deal not being reached." Trump has expressed his hope for an agreement that would end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but it never materialized. He said in his post that the leaders of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as well as the United Arab Emirates, had asked him to delay the attack, because "a deal will be reached, which will be acceptable to all countries of the Middle East and beyond, including the United States of America." Trump's tweet came after Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, confirmed that Tehran's views were "conveyed" to the American side via Pakistan but did not provide any details. Pakistani sources confirmed that Islamabad has shared the latest proposal between Washington and Islamabad. Islamabad is the country which has "conveyed messages" between warring parties in the Middle East ever since it hosted the first round of peace talks. The source said that progress was difficult. The Pakistani source added: "We haven't much time." The proposal is described as being similar to the previous offer According to a senior Iranian official, the Iranian proposal was similar in many ways to Iran's prior offer that Trump rejected as "garbage" last week. The first priority would be to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively blocked as a major oil supply route. Sources said that contentious issues relating to Iran's nuclear program and uranium-enrichment will be deferred until later rounds of negotiations. In an apparent softening in Washington's position, the senior Iranian sources said that 'the United States has agreed to release a quart of Iran's frozen money - totaling tens and tens billions of dollars in foreign banks'. Iran wants to see all assets released. The Iranian source said that Washington has also shown greater flexibility by agreeing to allow Iran to continue peaceful nuclear activities under the supervision of IAEA. The U.S. did not confirm that it had agreed to anything during the talks. Iran's Tasnim News Agency quoted a separate unidentified source saying that the U.S. agreed to waive oil sanctions against Iran while negotiations are underway. Iranian officials have not commented on the Tasnim report. A U.S. official who refused to be identified said that it was false. After six weeks of conflict, a fragile 'ceasefire' has been reached following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran. However, drones were launched from Iraq towards Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait by Iran and its allied forces. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry released a statement Monday condemning the drone attack that took place on Sunday. Saudi Arabia claimed to have intercepted three drones which entered Iraqi airspace.
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Bayer pays $133 million to clean up PCBs in two states
Monsanto, a unit of Bayer, said on Monday that it would pay Michigan and Rhode Island at least $133,000,000 to settle their claims claiming the company had contaminated natural resources in the two states with toxic chemicals known to cause harmful health effects. Bayer has settled with other states in the US, and is now paying Michigan $108 million for the cleanup of chemicals called polychlorinated bisphenyls. This is the latest of a number of settlements. Bayer has reached settlements with 12 U.S. States over legacy contamination from?PCBs. The most recent was with Illinois and West Virginia, in December. Monsanto Bayer, who produced PCBs between 1935 and 1977, stated that the settlements would address legacy liabilities without admitting wrongdoing. PCBs used to be widely used as insulation for electrical equipment. They were also used in products such as caulking, paint, and floor finish. In 1979, the U.S. government banned them after they were linked to cancer and other health issues. If Bayer wins a lawsuit it filed against six companies that purchased PCBs from Monsanto in 2023, the settlement value may increase. Bayer claims that the companies breached their agreements to indemnify Monsanto against the costs of PCB-related liability. The lawsuit is still pending before the Missouri federal court. Rhode Island and Michigan may receive an additional $50 Million, while Michigan may receive an additional $176 Million in contingency payments. Attorneys General for Michigan and Rhode Island announced Monday that the states would use the funds to combat PCB contamination of water, soil and wildlife. The Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said, "This settlement supports our efforts to hold companies accountable for pollution caused by their products, and ensures we have the resources necessary to remove these chemicals in 'our state. Bayer purchased Monsanto in 2018 for $63 billion. The company has been battling lawsuits since then over?PCBs and thousands of lawsuits that claim its weedkiller Roundup is cancer-causing. In a statement, the company stated that it had participated in and conducted studies on PCBs and issued appropriate warnings based on "the state of science at the time." It has been sued by municipalities and states for the 'environmental impact of PCBs,' as well as building owners and school administrators over damage to property. Individuals have also filed lawsuits claiming that PCB exposure is responsible for their illness. Some of the lawsuits have been settled, but others have led to significant jury verdicts. Dietrich Knauth is reporting, Alexia Garamfalvi is editing and Aurora Ellis is announcing.
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Zambian state investment firm creates gold mining joint venture
Zambia's ZCCM IH, the state investment company, announced a joint venture on Monday with Mining Mineral Resources in order to explore and mine gold. The copper-producing African country is looking to diversify its mine sector. ZCCM Investments Holdings announced in a statement that Kyalo Goldfields Limited was formed on May 6, to explore, develop, and mine gold in the Kikonge Mining Area of?Zambia’s North Western Province. KGL said it would support the formalisation?of artisanal and small-scale mining in the region to ensure safe and regulated gold production. It will also enhance processing capabilities to increase value retention within Zambia. ZCCM will own 51% of KGL. Mining Mineral Resources which processes and mines tin tantalum tungsten and other minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo will hold the remaining? "Kikonge represents a tangible step forward in our mission to formallyise and develop Zambia's gold sector," ZCCM IH CEO Kakenenwa Muyangwa stated. ZCCM said that KGL operations would initially be funded by shareholder contributions. Additional structures will be considered as the project progresses. The company said that "once this process is completed, it will be clear on the amount of investment." (Reporting and editing by Alexander Smith; Olivia Kumwenda Mtambo)
San Diego mosque shooting leaves five dead, including two suspects
Police said that two teenage gunmen opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California on Monday, killing three men, including a security guard. The police found the suspects dead from apparent self-inflicted wounds.
According to San Diego Police chief Scott Wahl, all of the children attending the day school - which is part of the mosque complex in San Diego County - are safe and accounted for. The shooting erupted just before noon PDT (or 1900 GMT) on Wednesday.
Wahl confirmed that the FBI had been called in to help with the investigation of the incident.
Law enforcement officers from across the country were called to the Islamic Center. They found the bodies of three men who had been shot outside the building. One of them was a security guard, whom Wahl credits with helping prevent more bloodshed.
The chief of police said that a short time later, two male teenagers aged 17 and 19 were found dead in a car in the middle of a street. They had apparently shot themselves, he explained.
Investigators are still trying to piece together what triggered the shooting, and how violence spread.
A landscaper was also shot at in an apparent separate shooting, but police have not said whether or not a connection has been ruled out. The landscaper wasn't injured, Wahl reported. Reporting by Mike Blake, San Diego; Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman and Andrew Hay, Los Angeles; Editing and proofreading by Rosalba and Chizu O'Brien.
(source: Reuters)