Western Europe

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...

People familiar with the plant's operations reported that Valero Energy Corporation's Port Arthur refinery, which produces 385,000 barrels per day (bpd), suffered a partial blackout on Tuesday night due to Tropical Storm Edouard. Sources said that the refinery's smaller AVU 147 crude distillation units were shut down due to the power outage at the south end of the plant. The larger AVU 146 CDUs were operating on minimum crude processing levels. CDUs start the fuel production process by breaking crude oil down into feedstocks that are used in the units which make gasoline, diesel, lubricating oil, and feedstocks to make...

The music publishing divisions of Sony Music 'and 'Warner Music sued Anthropic at the federal court in California for allegedly using their copyrighted compositions as a basis to train Claude AI models. Sony and Warner stated in their complaint filed on Friday that Anthropic had pirated hundreds song lyrics and sheet songs from The Beatles to Taylor Swift to Michael Jackson to train Claude to respond to human prompts. This lawsuit is part of a series of similar cases filed by copyright holders, including publishers, authors, music labels, and news outlets, against tech companies for using their work in AI...

Niger's military regained the control of an important military airbase after a day-long mutiny by soldiers. This is the latest challenge for military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani, as his government struggles to contain insurgent jihadists. The attack highlighted tensions in Niger's armed services, who have repeatedly suffered battlefield losses fighting West Africa's al Qaeda affiliates and Islamic State. Early Saturday morning, gunfire and explosions echoed throughout Niamey. This included the area around the military base and the presidential palace. On Sunday, three security sources said that the government forces had retaken Niamey's airbase following hours of fighting. Residents reported that the...

Niger has regained control over a major military airbase located in Niamey, following an attack on Saturday by mutinous troops. This is the latest challenge for military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani in his struggle to contain the jihadist insurgency. The attack revealed tensions in Niger's armed services, who have repeatedly suffered battlefield losses fighting West Africa's al Qaeda affiliates and Islamic State. Early Saturday morning, gunfire and explosions erupted in Niamey. This included the military airbase as well as the area around the presidential palace. The airbase, located in the same complex of Niamey’s civilian airport, is home to military aircraft,...

Brazil's oil export tax is in a state of uncertainty after a local court ruled to suspend the levy and the Foreign Trade Chamber approved extending it for another 60-days. These contradictory moves have left the future of 12% tax unclear, and the oil companies are challenging it. This could lead to a legal battle between the Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva administration and the oil producers. Sources familiar with the issue said that the Foreign Trade Chamber?Camex had approved the extension of tax due to expire September 9. A 'federal court' had granted an injunction to suspend the tax...

Canada's Alimentation "Couche-Tard" announced on Wednesday that it was launching a voluntary offer for all the shares of Polish convenience-store chain Zabka, at 32 zlotys per share. This is in line with their earlier plans. The offer is expected to run until September 25 and is 2.3% above Zabka's last closing price on the Warsaw stock exchange of 31.28 Zlotys. It values the company at approximately 32.6 billion Zlotys (approximately $8.8 bn). Couche-Tard announced in 'July' that it would buy Zabka, the Canadian convenience store operator’s largest deal to date. Last year, they had rejected a $46 Billion offer for...

The Elysee Palace announced on Monday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had visited Paris and agreed to build a manga-themed amusement?park near Paris?. The Elysee said that the project, which is based on the popular Japanese manga and anime series Dragon Ball Z, would be built in Cergy-Pontoise to the northwest of Paris, and was expected to create 22,000 jobs. Macron advisers claim that the idea came about after French President Emmanuel Macron discovered a common interest in Dragon Ball Z with Saudi Crown Prince during Macron's trip to Saudi Arabia 2025. The project will be funded by...

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...

Powerus, a U.S. drone manufacturer and radar maker, announced on Thursday that it had signed a contract for approximately $22.3 million to supply counter-drone technologies aimed at protecting oil infrastructure in the Middle East. According to the company, the system would track, detect and classify drone threats. It would then feed information to a central hub located at the customer site, giving 'operators an overall picture of aerial activity within the area. Powerus declined to disclose the name of the customer or the exact deployment sites. The contract demonstrates the growing demand for counter-drone defences in the Middle East where...

The Norwegian company Equinor announced on Thursday that it had signed a contract for a period of three years to supply oil from western Europe's largest producing field Johan 'Sverdrup. Equinor announced that the contract will begin in September and allow for deliveries between 5 million metric tonnes and more than nine million tons. The deal is flexible, and allows for different Norwegian grades. However, Johan Sverdrup’s medium-heavy oil?is an excellent substitute for Russian Urals which historically Lithuanian or Polish refineries were designed to process. Since Russia's war against Ukraine began in?2022, European nations have slowly stopped using Russian energy....

A record low smelter treatment term, a year of underperformance by mines and a scramble to get metal at the London Metal Exchange. If you think this is the description of the copper markets, then think again. Zinc is under pressure now, even though copper may face a structural shortage in the future. LME zinc for three months hit a four-year-high of $3,990 per ton on Monday. LME stocks have remained low throughout the year. The registered inventory is 100,525?tons but nearly a third are in the form?cancelled warrants? awaiting physical loading-out. The time-spreads will be emphasized in a similar...

Four sources said that the top?global aluminum producers offered Japanese buyers a premium of $310-$325 per metric tonne for primary metal shipments in October and December, down by 18%-22% on the current quarter. Japan is the largest importer of light metals, and the premiums it agrees to each quarter for primary metal shipments over the London Metal Exchange cash price are the benchmarks in the region. Japanese buyers had agreed to pay a premium of $395 per ton for the period July-September The increase was between 12% and 13% compared to the previous quarter. A source from a Japanese trading...

BHP's commercial officer Rag Udd will step down by the end of January in order to pursue a career outside the company. This was revealed in a memo sent out on Tuesday. The miner is now left with a difficult role -- negotiating iron-ore deals with China. Some analysts and investors had considered Udd as a candidate for the "top job" at BHP. Brandon Craig, who started in July, was given the position. According to the memo, Udd will have been working at BHP in Singapore for 30 years by the time he leaves. Udd?was responsible for BHP's negotiation with...

IG Metall - Germany's largest union - warned on Monday that it would resist any attempts by Volkswagen to undo a restructuring package previously agreed. However, the union did not threaten strikes in advance of a critical board meeting scheduled for the end of this week. Since July, Volkswagen's management has been at odds with its unions over what could be the biggest overhaul of the automaker to date. This includes?plant closings, the carving-out and 50,000 more layoffs. It would be less than two-years after the most recent package, which was reached following months of intense talks and warning strikes,...

Market participants were waiting for the remarks of Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole Symposium, hoping to gain insight into the central banks future interest rate policy. By 0652 GMT, spot gold had not changed much from $4,603,91 per ounce. The price of gold reached a three-month-high of $4,696.18 after the U.S. Treasury announced support measures for bonds with long-term maturities. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $4 657.10. Matt Simpson, senior analyst at StoneX, stated that the case for Warsh leaning hawkish was greater than for him to not do so. This could lead to gold...

The price of gold fell on Friday, as investors waited for the remarks made by Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh at a Jackson Hole symposium. Gold spot fell 0.5%, to $4,580.19 an ounce at 0438 GMT. The price of gold reached a three-month-high of $4,696.18 after the U.S. Treasury announced support measures for bonds with long-term maturities. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.7% to $4.632.40. Matt Simpson, senior analyst at StoneX, stated that the case for Warsh leaning hawkish was greater than "the case against him". This could lead to a further decline in gold from its cycle highs, Matt Simpson...

The gold?prices eased Wednesday as they were on track to end a three-session winning streak. However, the focus now shifts to the U.S. Inflation data that will be released later in the afternoon for any indications on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. Spot gold dropped 0.8% by 1114 GMT to $4,618.03 an ounce, after prices rose to their highest level since May 14, on Tuesday, following the U.S. Treasury Department?s recent bond buyback announcement. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.4% to $4673.90. Nikos Tzabouras is a senior market analyst at Jefferies owned Tradu.com. He said that gold prices were subdued...

London's zinc market is still a hazardous place for bears. Metal that was expected to drop in price this year has risen. The London Metal Exchange's (LME) 3-month zinc reached a new four-year high of $3,858 a metric ton on Tuesday morning. The relentless rally has been accompanied by an abrupt contraction of the LME time spreads. This is particularly worrying for holders of zinc short positions. The premium for cash Metal?over a three-month delivery The price of a ton has dropped to $131, which is a significant drop from last October's record high of $323. The tightening market this...

Gold prices eased Tuesday, after reaching a high of more than three months earlier in the session. Profit-taking and an 'a?firmer dollar? curbed gains before U.S. Inflation data and comments from Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh. After reaching its highest level since the 14th of May, spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,634.76 an ounce at 0937 GMT. U.S. Gold futures fell 0.2% to $4689.70. Gold's movement today is due to profit-taking, as the dollar has recovered some of the losses from last week that were caused by the buyback announcement," Saxo Bank's Ole Hansen explained. He was referring to U.S....

The gold price fell?on Tuesday, after reaching its highest?levels? in more than three month earlier that day. Investors' attention shifted towards upcoming U.S. data on inflation and Kevin Warsh's speech this week. As of 0334 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.2%, at $4,640.39 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures remained steady at $4,696.00. Tony Sycamore, IG's market analyst, said: "We expect gold dips to be supported by buyers who are looking for gold. We also expect gold to move up towards the next resistance level at $4,900/$5,000." The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it would double its liquidity support buyback...

After trade talks broke down over the weekend, President Donald 'Trump' sought to increase pressure on Canada. He warned that U.S. Tariffs on all?trucks? and automotive parts coming from Canada would increase to 50% on January 1. The deal would have reduced the top line tariff rate for Canadian cars and light duty trucks from 25% down to 15%, and the tariffs of aluminum and steel would have been cut from 50% down to 25%. However, the deal fell apart on Friday due to disagreements over whether or not the U.S. relief on tariffs would apply to medium and heavy-duty...

The price of copper rose on Monday as a rise in the number of cancelled warrants and metals marked for delivery at the London Metal Exchange stimulated buying. Meanwhile, the lower U.S. dollar boosted the positive sentiment towards industrial metals priced in dollars. Benchmark 'copper' on the LME was 0.2% higher, at $14240 per metric ton. Last week, prices of metals used in construction and power industries reached $14,396. This is the highest price since January's $14,527.50 high. Industry sources say that the cancellations 0#MCUSTXLOC> are mostly stored in LME warehouses in Asia and the U.S., in free-trade zones. They...