2025-08-28 23:59
HOUSTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Miner Gold Reserve (GRZ.V) , opens new tab said on Thursday that its subsidiary Dalinar Energy submitted an improved bid for the parent of refiner Citgo Petroleum in a court-organized auction of shares, whose winner is expected to be decided next month. The company "has materially increased its proposed purchase price, arranged for additional financial support, and increased the certainty of its bid in non-economic ways," it said in a release. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/gold-reserve-says-it-submitted-improved-bid-citgo-petroleums-parent-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 23:57
Waller supports 25 bps cut at September meeting Anticipates additional rate cuts over next 3-6 months Sees labor market weakening, inflation stable Aug 28 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Thursday said he wants to start cutting U.S. interest rates next month and "fully expects" more rates cuts to follow to bring the Fed's policy rate closer to a neutral setting, stepping up his call to lower short-term borrowing costs. "Based on what I know today, I would support a 25 basis point cut" at the upcoming September 16-17 meeting of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, he told the Economic Club of Miami. Sign up here. "While there are signs of a weakening labor market, I worry that conditions could deteriorate further and quite rapidly, and I think it is important that the FOMC not wait until such a deterioration is under way and risk falling behind the curve in setting appropriate monetary policy." Waller said he did not think the Fed would need to cut rates more than a quarter point next month, though he said that view could change if the Labor Department's August jobs report, due out next Friday, points to a substantially weakening economy, and inflation remains well-contained. However, he said "the time has come to ease monetary policy and move it to a more neutral stance," which he said was around 3%, some 1.25 to 1.50 percent points below the current policy rate range of 4.25%-4.50%. "I don't believe that policy has fallen substantially behind the curve, but one way to signal that I don't intend to allow that happen is to talk about where we go after September," he said. "As I stand here today, I anticipate additional cuts over the next three to six months, and the pace of rate cuts will be driven by the incoming data." Answering questions after his prepared speech, Waller said that means "it could be a sequence of cuts; it may be a couple, then you may want to pause...we know we want to head towards neutral; it's just a question how fast we get there." Any upward price pressures from tariffs should peak by the end of this year or early next, he said. "I fully expect more rates cuts as the labor market continues to soften; growth is probably still going to be slow in the second-half of the year," he said. "Because monetary policy tends to work with these kind of long lags, you don't want to wait." Waller and Fed Governor Michelle Bowman both dissented on July 30 from the Fed's decision to keep short-term borrowing costs unchanged, citing their worries about the labor market weakening. Both were appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump and are said to be under consideration as possible successors to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Trump has been publicly pressuring to lower interest rates dramatically. In another move widely seen as part of an effort to exert more control over the Fed, Trump earlier this week announced he was firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook over what he said was possible mortgage fraud, a move Cook says is illegal and is suing to stop. The Fed did lower the policy rate by a full percentage point last year, starting in September before Trump was elected and continuing after his November election win. It has held rates steady this year, citing worries that Trump's higher tariffs could reignite inflation that is still running above the Fed's 2% goal. Powell last week appeared sympathetic to some of Waller's reasoning, noting a sharp downturn in job growth to a monthly average of just 35,000 since May, even while the unemployment rate remains a low 4.2%. Rising downside labor market risks, Powell said, may warrant "proceeding carefully" with a policy adjustment. Analysts and financial markets took those remarks as a strong indication that the Fed would cut rates in September and proceed gradually from there. Waller on Tuesday cited analysis by Fed staff showing that, apart from the temporary effect of tariffs, inflation is running close to the Fed's 2% goal. That, along with well-anchored longer-term inflation expectations and rising chances of an undesirable weakening in the labor market, means he feels even more strongly than in July that the Fed should be cutting rates now. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/feds-waller-sees-rate-cuts-over-next-3-6-months-starting-september-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 23:56
BRASILIA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's Foreign Ministry has ordered government trade body Camex to start analyzing whether a local reciprocity law could be used against the United States, two sources from the ministry said on Thursday. The law, passed earlier this year by Brazil's Congress, establishes a legal framework for Brazil to respond to potential unilateral trade measures targeting its goods and services, including countermeasures such as tariffs. Sign up here. The move would represent an escalation by Latin America's largest economy in reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports. Brazil had so far initiated dispute consultations in the World Trade Organization. The launch of the process came as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva authorized the use of the law against the U.S., the sources said. Camex has 30 days to present a report on the matter. If it approves the use of the reciprocity law, a government working group will decide which areas Brazil should target in its measures against the U.S., the sources said. They added that the U.S. is expected to be informed on Friday about the start of the process. Brazil's Ministry for Development, Industry, Trade and Services that oversees Camex did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on imports of Brazilian goods this month, as Trump decried what he called unfair trade practices and accused Brazil of a "witch hunt" against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial on charges of plotting a coup. Products such as orange juice and aircraft, which are among Brazil's major exports, were exempted from the higher duties. Brazilian government officials have publicly complained about lack of room to negotiate the tariffs with the U.S. counterparts. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-starts-formal-process-assess-us-tariff-retaliation-say-sources-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 22:50
Aug 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing September 4 to consider President Donald Trump's nominee to the Federal Reserve Board, Stephen Miran, it said in a notice issued Thursday. Miran, who chairs the president's council of economic advisers, has called for sharply lower interest rates given what he says is no inflation impact from tariffs, and for remaking Fed governance to give the president far stronger control over the U.S. central bank, including the right to fire its leadership at will. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-fed-pick-miran-get-senate-hearing-sept-4-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 22:41
Weekly jobless claims fall; corporate profits rebound in Q2 Snowflake surges on AI-driven revenue forecast HP Inc gains on upbeat Q3 revenue S&P 500 +0.32%, Nasdaq +0.53%, Dow +0.16% Aug 28 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notched record high closes on Thursday after Nvidia's quarterly report fell short of investors' high expectations but confirmed that spending related to artificial intelligence infrastructure remains strong. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab dipped 0.8% after Sino-U.S. trade uncertainties prompted the leading AI chip designer to exclude potential China sales from its quarterly forecast late on Wednesday. Sign up here. Investors viewed Nvidia's report, including a 56% surge in quarterly revenue, as confirmation that demand related to AI technology remains strong, supporting a rally in AI-related stocks that has propelled Wall Street to record highs in recent years. Other AI heavyweights gained, with Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab adding 2%, Amazon (AMZN.O) , opens new tab up 1% and chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab rising almost 3%. "Nvidia is such an outlier that to say it was a disappointing print is only against the bar of borderline impossible expectations," said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategy analyst at Baird. "It's clear that the primary structural driver of this market, which is AI, is not going anywhere or cooling down." The S&P 500 climbed 0.32% to end the session at 6,501.86 points, reaching a record high close for a second straight day. The Nasdaq gained 0.53% to 21,705.16 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16% to 45,636.90 points, exceeding its previous record high close on August 22. Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by communication services (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab, up 0.94%, followed by a 0.68% gain in energy (.SPNY) , opens new tab. Nike (NKE.N) , opens new tab slid 0.2% after the sports apparel seller said it was cutting less than 1% of its corporate workforce as it struggles to reclaim market share lost to rivals. Reducing worries of a slowing economy, weekly jobless claims were lower than expected, while a separate report showed corporate profits rebounded in the second quarter. Expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates to shore up economic growth have contributed to Wall Street's recent gains. Investors on Friday will focus on Personal Consumption Expenditures data. Any signs of inflation increasing could temper broad expectations for easing at the Fed's policy meeting in September. Traders are pricing in more than an 80% chance of an interest rate cut next month, according to CME Group's FedWatch. On Thursday, Fed Governor Lisa Cook filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. President Donald Trump's attempt to remove her from office earlier this week. Data analytics company Snowflake (SNOW.N) , opens new tab surged 20% after raising its forecast for fiscal 2026 product revenue, citing AI demand. HP Inc (HPQ.N) , opens new tab rose 4.6% after beating quarterly revenue estimates on growing demand for AI-powered personal computers. Packaging food company Hormel Foods (HRL.N) , opens new tab tumbled 13% after issuing a downbeat quarterly profit forecast. Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) , opens new tab by a 1.2-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 28 new highs and five new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 117 new highs and 52 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 13.8 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 16.7 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/sp-500-dow-score-record-high-closes-nvidia-results-buttress-ai-rally-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 22:22
Mechel says industry economics are under heavy strain Sector battered by low prices, sanctions and strong rouble MOSCOW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Mining company Mechel (MTLR.MM) , opens new tab reported worsening losses on Thursday and said it had suspended output at one of its mines, a sign of a deep crisis affecting Russia's coal industry. The sector is struggling with a host of problems including low coal prices, international sanctions and the strength of the rouble, which makes its exports less competitive. Officials say about 30 enterprises, producing a total of around 30 million metric tons a year, are at risk of bankruptcy. Sign up here. The government agreed a set of measures in May to support the sector, including by deferring tax payments. But coal companies' combined net losses soared to 185.2 billion roubles ($2.29 billion) in the first half of the year from 7.1 billion roubles a year earlier, the Rosstat statistics service said. In its half-year report, Mechel said: "Under the current circumstances, we have decided to suspend production of unprofitable product types, partially redirecting resources toward products that are more in demand in today's realities." The company said it had temporarily suspended operations at one mine and certain open-pit coal mine sections. It said it was substantially cutting output of unprofitable coal grades as part of a plan to streamline production and investment. Mechel said the economics of the industry have come under severe strain due to declining coking coal concentrate prices, rising operational costs, rouble appreciation, and sanctions-related constraints. Its coal output in the first half of 2025 dropped 28% to 3.66 million tons, while coking coal concentrate sales fеll 15% to 1.7 million tons and thermal coal sales declined 21% to 1.37 million tons. At a time of high interest rates, the company's situation is further complicated by its net debt burden of 252.7 billion roubles. In May, it received a three-year deferral on payment of arrears in tax, fees and insurance premiums totalling 13.8 billion roubles. Mechel posted a half-year loss of 40.5 billion roubles, up from 16.7 billion roubles a year earlier, and said it was continuing to negotiate with creditors on further deferrals on paying back the principal on its debt. ($1 = 80.8455 roubles) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-mechel-halts-some-coal-operations-industry-faces-crisis-2025-08-28/
