2025-08-04 06:55
OPEC+ to raise output by 547,000 bpd in September Healthy economy, low stocks support production hike, OPEC+ says India to keep buying Russian oil despite Trump threats, sources say Latest Trump tariffs unlikely to budge, top negotiator says SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Monday, paring earlier losses, as traders expect the market to absorb another large output hike by OPEC+ in September, while worries about disruptions to Russian oil shipments to major importer India also provided support. Brent crude futures climbed 11 cents, or 0.16%, to $69.78 a barrel by 0647 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $67.52 a barrel, up 19 cents, or 0.28%. Both contracts closed about $2 a barrel lower on Friday. Sign up here. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes to regain market share. It cited a healthy economy and low stockpiles as reasons behind its decision. The move, in line with market expectations, marks a full and early reversal of OPEC+'s largest tranche of output cuts, plus a separate increase in output for the United Arab Emirates, amounting to about 2.5 million bpd, or about 2.4% of world demand. "This additional production appears to have little impact because it was so well flagged ahead of time," said Michael McCarthy, chief executive officer of online trading platform Moomoo Australia. It appeared that traders focused on the comments from state OPEC producers that previous additions were easily absorbed, particularly across Asia, he said. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect that the actual increase in supply from the eight OPEC+ countries that have raised output since March will be 1.7 million bpd, because other members of the group have cut output after previously overproducing. Still, investors remain wary of further U.S. sanctions on Iran and Russia that could disrupt supplies. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% secondary tariffs on Russian crude buyers as he seeks to pressure Moscow into halting its war in Ukraine. At least two vessels loaded with Russian oil bound for refiners in India have diverted to other destinations following new U.S. sanctions, trade sources said on Friday and LSEG trade flows showed. This puts about 1.7 million bpd of crude supply at risk if Indian refiners stop buying Russian oil, ING analysts led by Warren Patterson said in a note. This would potentially erase the expected surplus through the fourth quarter and 2026 and provide OPEC+ the opportunity to start unwinding the next tranche of supply cuts totalling 1.66 million bpd, they added. However, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday the country will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump's threats. Concerns about U.S. tariffs impacting global economic growth and fuel consumption are also hanging over the market, especially after U.S. economic data on jobs growth on Friday was below expectations. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday that the tariffs imposed last week on scores of countries are likely to stay in place rather than be cut as part of continuing negotiations. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-little-changed-after-opec-proceeds-with-september-output-hike-2025-08-03/
2025-08-04 06:39
TOKYO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - JFE Holdings (5411.T) , opens new tab, parent of Japan's second-biggest steel maker, posted 7.1 billion yen ($48 million) in net profit on Monday for the three months ended on June 30, down 74% from a year earlier and missing analysts' forecasts. An LSEG poll of analysts had expected JFE Holdings to report 16.1 billion yen in quarterly net profit. The company recorded 27.5 billion yen in profit in the same period of last year. Sign up here. It said its crude steel production for the period was 5.28 million metric tons, down from 5.48 million tons a year ago, while it also faced weaker export profitability and was hit by foreign exchange fluctuations. JFE Holdings kept its profit forecast for the year ending next March unchanged at 75 billion yen. In a separate statement on Monday, JFE said that, together with India's JSW Steel (JSTL.NS) , opens new tab, it will invest 120 billion yen to expand production capacity at two plants in India. The investment will increase output of cold rolled grain-oriented electrical steel - a specialised product used in transformers, generators and motors - to 350,000 tons per year. One of the plants is set to start full production in 2027, and the other has current capacity of 50,000 tons annually. The expansion aims to help satisfy rising demand from new power infrastructure, the growth of renewable energy use and an increase in the number of data centres in India, JFE said. ($1 = 147.8000 yen) https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japans-jfe-holdings-first-quarter-profit-down-74-misses-forecasts-2025-08-04/
2025-08-04 06:30
BERLIN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil will advocate for a quota system on steel exports to be included in the EU's trade deal with the United States at a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Scott Bessent, later on Monday, he told a radio broadcaster. "There is talk of a quota system for steel, and it would be good if there were one," Klingbeil told Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday before his planned meeting in Washington. Sign up here. There are a number of chapters that have not yet been finalised in the trade deal struck, said Klingbeil, and steel is a particularly important issue for the German economy and jobs. "I will test out what steps the American government is prepared to take and what the solution might look like," said Klingbeil, even though the EU is responsible for negotiations. The EU's trade deal with Trump in July was greeted with a mix of relief and anger, with tariffs set at 15% for most products but negotiations continuing for certain sectors, including steel and aluminium, which carry tariffs of 50%. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had said on Friday the EU will negotiate with the United States on steel, with a focus on quotas that can be exported without too high tariffs. Klingbeil also urged quick clarification of other outstanding details in the trade dispute, including the investments promised by the EU and in the energy sector. "It should happen in the next few days," he said. https://www.reuters.com/business/german-finance-minister-push-steel-quotas-washington-trip-2025-08-04/
2025-08-04 06:26
Aug 3 (Reuters) - Tropical storm Dexter has formed over the western Atlantic and is forecast to move away from the U.S. coast and stay north of Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday. The tropical storm was about 300 miles per hour (480 kilometers) west north-west of Bermuda, with packing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (70 kph), the Miami-based forecaster said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/tropical-storm-dexter-forms-over-western-atlantic-nhc-says-2025-08-04/
2025-08-04 05:52
Authorities reinforce flood defences, update evacuation plans All of Beijing on highest flood preparedness level Three dead, four missing at Hebei wellness retreat, Xinhua reports BEIJING, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Beijing on Monday warned residents in all city districts to brace for a new round of heavy rainfall, telling them to avoid going out, a week after catastrophic floods killed dozens in the deadliest deluge to hit the Chinese capital since 2012. Up to 200mm (7.9 inches) of rain could hit parts of Beijing over a six-hour period from midday, weather forecasters warned. The city of 22 million people receives on average 600mm of rainfall each year. Sign up here. The warning comes as authorities rush to reinforce ageing flood defences, fine-tune weather forecasts and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from raging flood waters across the country, including at least three at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province. At least 44 people died in Beijing after heavy rains from July 23 to 29. Most of the dead were people unexpectedly trapped by rapidly rising waters at a nursing home in Miyun district on the city's northeastern outskirts. The fatalities led authorities to admit to shortcomings in their contingency plans for extreme weather. By noon on Monday, Beijing had placed all of its 16 districts on the highest level of preparedness, in the first citywide state of readiness since July 28, shutting parts of the Great Wall and other outdoor leisure venues and halting operations of below-ground businesses. The risk of flash floods and landslides is "extremely high", authorities said. In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flooding in living memory. Fangshan district was the worst-hit, with one resident reporting a rise in floodwaters , opens new tab of 1.3 metres in just 10 minutes. Beijing's topography has been described by some as a rain "trap", with its mountains to the west and north capturing moist air and amplifying any ensuing rainfall as a result. WELLNESS RETREAT As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through "Beijing Valley", a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four still missing, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. Around 40 people had gathered on July 27 for an event at the site, where organisers directed them into tents pitched on low-lying land next to a river bend, Caixin Media reported. By 2 a.m. the next morning, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble towards the camp's only exit. The site bore similarities to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children were swept to their deaths last month by floodwaters after the Guadalupe River burst its banks amid torrential rain. In China's southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered after a large-scale search operation involving more than 1,300 rescuers. The five people, who went missing on Friday night, were "swept away by water" following heavy rainfall in recent days, Xinhua reported on Sunday. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/beijing-expands-storm-alert-fatal-floods-keep-city-edge-2025-08-04/
2025-08-04 05:48
Asian stock markets: S&P 500 and European futures bounce, Nikkei slips US jobs shock leads markets to price in more rate cuts Dollar flat after Friday's sharp reversal Oil slips as OPEC+ increases production SYDNEY, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Share markets found some much needed support in Asia on Monday as the heightened prospect of lower borrowing costs helped soothe concerns about the U.S. economy, though the long-term credibility of U.S. policy remained in doubt. A buy-the-dip mentality led to a bounce in Wall Street and European stock futures, and allowed the dollar to stabilise after Friday's U.S. payrolls-induced retreat. Sign up here. Treasuries ran into some profit-taking after their huge gains, but fund futures still imply an 85% chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates in September and ease by 100 basis points or more by this time next year. The prospect of a shift in rates was the only silver lining to a dire payrolls report in which downward revisions left the three-month average of jobs growth at 35,000 from 231,000 at the start of the year. "The report brings payroll growth closer in line with big data indicators of job gains and the broader growth dataset, both of which have slowed significantly in recent months," said analysts at Goldman Sachs. "Taken together, the economic data confirm our view that the U.S. economy is growing at a below-potential pace." Neither did the reaction of President Donald Trump instil confidence, as the firing of the head of Labor Statistics threatened the credibility of U.S. economic data. Likewise, news that Trump would get to fill a governorship position at the Federal Reserve early added to worries about the politicisation of interest rate policy. Analysts assume the appointee will be loyal to Trump alone, though the president did grudgingly concede that Fed Chair Jerome Powell would probably see out his term. "It opens the prospect of broader support on the Fed Board for lower rates sooner rather than later," said Ray Attrill, head of FX research at NAB. "Fed credibility, and the veracity of the statistics on which they base their policy decisions, are both now under the spotlight." Markets have essentially already eased for the Fed, with two-year Treasury yields down almost 25 basis points on Friday in the biggest one-day drop since August last year. DOLLAR DENTED The drop in global yields seemed to help equities, with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both bouncing 0.4%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures gained 0.6%, while FTSE futures rose 0.5% and DAX futures 0.4%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab firmed 0.7%, aided by a 1.1% rally in South Korean (.KS11) , opens new tab stocks. Japan's Nikkei (.N22%) , opens new tab fell 1.4%, in part weighed by Friday's rebound in the yen, while Chinese blue chips were flat. Wall Street has taken comfort in an upbeat results season. About two-thirds of S&P 500 companies have reported, and 63% have beaten forecasts. Earnings growth is estimated at 9.8%, up from 5.8% at the start of July. Companies reporting this week include Disney (DIS.N) , opens new tab, McDonald's (MCD.N) , opens new tab, Caterpillar (CAT.N) , opens new tab and some of the large pharmaceutical groups. The dismal U.S. jobs data did put a dent in the dollar's crown of exceptionalism, snuffing out what had been a promising rally for the currency. The dollar was a shade firmer at 147.79 yen , having shed an eye-watering 2.3% on Friday, while the euro held at $1.1574 after bouncing 1.5% on Friday. The dollar index was pinned at 98.801 , having tumbled from last week's top of 100.250. Sterling was restrained at $1.3281 as markets are 87% priced for the Bank of England to cut rates by a quarter point at a meeting on Thursday. The BoE board is expected to remain split on easing, while markets still favour two further cuts by the middle of next year. In commodity markets, gold was little changed at $3,357 an ounce , having climbed more than 2% on Friday. Oil prices extended their latest slide as OPEC+ agreed to another large rise in output for September, which completely reverses last year's cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day. Brent futures dropped 0.2% to $69.52 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures fell 0.1% to $67.24 per barrel. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-3-2025-08-04/
