2025-10-22 21:36

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft as his frustration grows with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war. The U.S. Treasury Department said it was prepared to take further action as it called on Moscow to agree immediately to a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022. Sign up here. "Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions." The sanctions are a major policy shift for Trump, who had not put sanctions on Russia over the war and instead relied on trade measures. Trump imposed additional 25% tariffs on goods from India in retaliation for it purchasing discounted Russian oil. Trump has not imposed such measures on China, another major buyer of Russian oil. A $60 price cap on Russian oil imposed by Western countries after Russia's invasion has shifted Russia's oil customers in recent years from Europe to Asia. Trump's measure on Wednesday followed Britain's sanctioning of Rosneft and Lukoil last week. The Russian embassy in Washington and the Russian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sanctions. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-announces-sanctions-russian-oil-companies-rosneft-lukoil-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 21:19

BRUSSELS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The European Union is drafting measures to control prices in its new carbon market, in response to governments' concerns that the emissions-cutting scheme could increase fuel bills, the bloc's climate chief said in a letter seen by Reuters. The policy is designed to impose a price from 2027 on planet-heating emissions produced by heating and transport fuels, to encourage the shift to electric vehicles and cleaner home heating systems. Revenue from the scheme would be spent on helping people pay bills, subsidise electric cars and energy-saving home renovations. Sign up here. However, some governments fear the measure will stoke opposition to climate change policies from citizens, if it is perceived as raising their bills. A group of 19 countries including the Czech Republic, France and Germany asked Brussels this year to introduce stricter price controls to address this. "I understand the concerns regarding uncertainties on future price levels and price volatility in ETS2 (the upcoming carbon market) and share those to a large extent," EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said, in a letter responding to the demands. The new EU carbon market is designed so that if the CO2 price hits 45 euros, extra CO2 permits will be released into the market to tame prices. PROPOSAL TO DOUBLE NUMBER OF PERMITS RELEASED Hoekstra said the Commission will propose doubling the number of permits released in this scenario to potentially reach up to 80 million per year in 2027, 2028 and 2029. "This will more decisively address unwarranted price rises and improve market confidence, which is key to plan decarbonisation investments," said the letter, dated October 21. The Commission will also propose launching carbon permit auctions early, in 2026, to provide governments with funds to kick-start investments to help people shift to cleaner technologies. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Wednesday welcomed the plans, but said he wanted Brussels to go further and delay the carbon market's launch. EU countries' leaders will discuss the bloc's new climate target for 2040 at a summit on Thursday, with a focus on what funding or policies are needed to ensure businesses and citizens can meet the goal. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eu-plans-price-controls-new-carbon-market-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 21:03

ORLANDO, Florida, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, as a Reuters report that the U.S. is considering curbs on a wide range of exports to China ratcheted up U.S.-Sino trade war fears and added to the gloom surrounding Netflix's earnings miss. More on that below. In my column today, I look at what is driving U.S. Treasury yields lower. In short, investors are all in on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's view that employment risks trump inflation risks. Sign up here. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Today's Key Market Moves Today's Talking Points * U.S.-Asian heavyweights trade talks heat up U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent head to Malaysia to meet Chinese officials, with the U.S.-Sino trade war at an extremely delicate phase, especially after Reuters' exclusive report on potential U.S. controls on exports to China. Will Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet face to face in South Korea next week? Meanwhile, Japan's government led by new prime minister Sanae Takaichi is finalizing a purchase package, including U.S. pickups, soybeans and gas, to present to Trump when he visits Japan next week. And India is reported to be close to agreeing a deal to slash U.S. tariffs on Indian imports to 15%-16% from 50%. * U.S. Big Tech's legal clouds Netflix on Tuesday blamed its Q3 profit miss on a $619 million charge linked to a tax dispute in Brazil, and on Wednesday Apple was hit with a complaint to EU antitrust regulators by two civil rights groups over the terms and conditions of its App Store and devices. This could pose another headache for Apple, which was fined 500 million euros in April. The sums for both companies aren't cripplingly large, but they aren't helpful, and shares in both underperformed the broader market on Wednesday. * Earnings power The U.S. third-quarter earnings season is going up through the gears, with around 90 companies in the S&P 500 reporting this week and some 180 next week. So far, around 87% have reported 'beats', running well above the average over the last 30 years of around 67%. As ever, there have been some standout beats and misses. Netflix's shares plunged 10% on Wednesday after its miss, enough to drag the broader market lower even before the latest U.S.-China trade twist. With benchmark indices still near all-time highs, are they more vulnerable to misses than beats? Plunging Treasury yields signal investors hear Powell loud and clear The slide in Treasury yields in the face of record-high stock prices, tight credit spreads, and sticky inflation suggests investors have accepted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's steer that policy is being driven by employment, not inflation. So much so, there's a risk that a self-sustaining feedback loop takes hold, whereby labor market concerns depress yields, exacerbating fears that the economy is slowing, which could, in turn, maintain the downward pressure on yields. Investors, starved of official economic data during the three-week-long government shutdown, get one rare bit of guidance on Friday, CPI inflation. The trouble is, it's not the data they want. Friday's report is expected to show that core annual inflation held steady at 3.1% in September. That's more than a percentage point above the Fed's 2% target. Annual core CPI has been 3% or higher almost every month for nearly five years. The bond market is likely to greet this with a shrug. The two-year Treasury yield last week fell to its lowest point since August 2022, reflecting investors' belief that the Fed will cut interest rates again next week, in December, and into next year. The 10-year yield is now below 4.00%, clocking its lowest daily closing level in more than a year on Tuesday. So even if inflation comes in on the firm side, this is unlikely to spark a jump in yields. ASSESSING THE FRAGILE LABOR MARKET With no official economic data in the three-week government shutdown, investors have been filling in the gaps with their own gloomy scenarios. If there's any one thing they've been stewing on, it is the slump in job growth. Although the dramatic drop in job creation has until now mostly been offset by shrinking labor supply, it is alarming. Goldman Sachs economists on Monday outlined five main reasons why job creation was shrinking so rapidly: a slowdown in immigration; reduction in government hiring and funding; adoption of artificial intelligence technology; tariff-related costs and trade uncertainty; and macroeconomic risks. They reckon underlying trend payrolls growth now is just 25,000 a month, some 125,000 per month fewer than their projections in January. It is also well below the "breakeven" pace of job growth needed to stabilize the unemployment rate, which they put at around 75,000. And that's on the high side of breakeven estimates. Anton Cheremukhin, economist at the Dallas Fed, puts it around 30,000, down from around 250,000 only two years ago. The problem is a low breakeven level of job growth may help cap the unemployment rate from rising too fast too soon, but it masks a deeper fragility in the labor market. It won't take much of a deterioration for slender net job growth to turn into net job losses. MESSAGE IN A BARREL The Fed is clearly aware of this risk, with Chair Powell indicating last month that the fear of rapid labor market deterioration was largely behind the decision to resume cutting interest rates even with inflation above the 2% target. And both the Fed and investors may have other reasons to look past the still-elevated inflation rate. For one, there's the signaling from the oil market. Granted, the connection between crude price and inflation is weaker than it used to be, but it shouldn't be ignored. Oil is languishing at five-month lows, with Brent crude near $60 a barrel. That's down around 15% from the same period last year. Most energy analysts, including those at the International Energy Agency, are forecasting a persistent imbalance between supply and demand in the coming year, both because of increased production and weakening demand. If Eurasia Group analysts are right, this glut could push prices as low as $55 a barrel by the end of this year, which would be a five-year low. Moderate oil prices have exerted downward pressure on inflation almost all year. Cheaper crude won't bring inflation back to the Fed's 2% target, of course, but it is one more factor that can help explain why the Fed and investors have shifted their focus from inflation to the creaky labor market. What could move markets tomorrow? Want to receive Trading Day in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for my newsletter here. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/global-markets-trading-day-graphic-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 20:37

TSX ends up 0.3% at 29,982.98 Energy adds 1.5% as oil settles 2.2% higher Consumer staples gain 0.8% Teck Resources shares fall 1.8% after earnings report Oct 22 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index clawed back some recent declines on Wednesday as higher oil prices boosted energy shares, but the move was limited as trade tensions rose. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 94.16 points, or 0.3%, at 29,982.98. On Tuesday, the index posted its lowest closing level since October 10 as gold's sharpest single-day drop in five years pressured metal mining shares. Sign up here. Wall Street lost ground on Wednesday as investors assessed mixed earnings and reports that the Trump administration is considering curbs on exports to China made with U.S. software. "Comments on trade didn't help," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor of the Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth. "Everybody is waiting for this market to pull back." The TSX has advanced 21.25% since the start of the year and notched a record closing high as recently as last Wednesday. Energy (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab rose 1.5% as the price of oil settled 2.2% higher at $58.50 a barrel on growing U.S. energy consumption. Industrials (.GSPTTIN) , opens new tab also notched gains, adding 0.5%, and consumer staples (.GSPTTCS) , opens new tab ended 0.8% higher. The operator of Canada's Trans Mountain pipeline and oil shippers are in talks to resolve a shipping cost dispute that has deterred usage of Canada's only east-west pipeline and hindered the government's plan to sell it. The materials group, which includes metal mining shares, was up 0.1%. The price of gold fell 0.5%, adding to the previous day's decline. Still, gold was up about 57% since the start of the year as mounting economic and geopolitical uncertainty alongside expectations of further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve supported demand for the precious metal. Gold rose "too high, too fast," Small said. Teck Resources TECKb.TO , opens new tab beat third-quarter profit estimates, lifted by higher copper and zinc prices. Still, its shares ended 1.8% lower. https://www.reuters.com/business/tsx-futures-fall-precious-metals-extend-losses-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 20:35

Q3 profit rises on gas volumes Exploring over 10 Bcf/d project opportunities KMI sees LNG demand up 28 Bcf/d by 2030 Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan (KMI.N) , opens new tab posted a rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher volumes of natural gas transported through its pipelines. The U.S. LNG sector is witnessing a resurgence in commercial activity driven by expectations of rising exports as new terminals come online following President Donald Trump's January decision to lift a pause on new permits. Sign up here. "Total demand for natural gas is expected to grow ... We are also actively exploring more than 10 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of opportunities to serve the natural gas power generation sector," CEO Kim Dang said. "Our internal projections estimate 28 Bcf/d increase in natural gas demand by 2030," which will be driven primarily by growth in LNG exports, as well as power demand and exports to Mexico, Dang added during a post-earnings call. The company, which moves roughly 40% of the country's total natural gas output, said the project backlog stood at $9.3 billion, with about $500 million of projects placed in service during the quarter offset by a roughly equivalent amount of projects added. The company said it transported about 47,461 billion British thermal units of natural gas per day in the quarter, compared with 44,827 billion Btu per day last year. However, its total delivery volumes, which also include refined products such as jet fuel and diesel fuel, fell to 2.11 thousand barrels per day during the quarter ended September 30, from 2.15 thousand barrels per day last year. Kinder Morgan's CO2 segment, which includes enhanced oil recovery operations and renewable natural gas projects, saw weaker results due to lower CO2 and D3 RIN (renewable fuel credit) prices. The Houston, Texas-based company said its net income came in at $628 million for the three months ended September 30, compared with $625 million a year earlier. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pipeline-operator-kinder-morgan-posts-higher-third-quarter-profit-2025-10-22/

2025-10-22 20:20

Indexes down: Dow 0.71%, S&P 500 0.53%, Nasdaq 0.93% Trump mulls curbs on US software-enabled exports to China Netflix drops after earnings miss Texas Instruments slips after dour Q4 forecast Tesla revenue beats expectations NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday as a wave of mixed earnings, including Netflix's disappointing results, dampened risk sentiment as investors assessed reports that the Trump administration is considering curbs on exports to China made with U.S. software. All three major U.S. stock indexes extended their losses after the report, with weakness in tech (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab and communication services stocks (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab weighing the Nasdaq down the most. Sign up here. The new export curbs, which would include a wide array of goods ranging from laptops to jet engines, are some of the measures being considered in retaliation against Beijing's latest round of rare earth export restrictions, and mark yet another escalation of trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he thinks he will have a "very successful meeting" with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but also said perhaps the encounter in South Korea later this month will not happen. The Washington-Beijing trade dispute "has been ongoing and probably will continue until the potential meeting with Trump and Xi," said Tom Hainlin, a national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. "Add to that, some tech companies reported some disappointing numbers." "But it’s been a pretty good earnings season, and (stocks are) not that far off all-time highs," Hainlin added. "We wouldn’t tell investors to change their allocations based on a day like today." On that front, Netflix (NFLX.O) , opens new tab slid 10.1% after the streaming company missed quarterly profit expectations, raising concerns about stretched valuation. Texas Instruments (TXN.O) , opens new tab posted lower-than-expected revenue and profit forecasts, dragging the chipmaker's shares down 5.6%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (.SOX) , opens new tab, which has outperformed the broader market this year driven by artificial intelligence fervor, tumbled 2.4%. The chip index touched a record high on Monday. Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab, the first of the "Magnificent Seven" group of artificial intelligence-related momentum stocks to post third-quarter earnings, posted better-than-expected revenue as tax credit expiry drives U.S. sales of electric vehicles. Its shares edged 0.5% lower in extended trading. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG.O) , opens new tab jumped 13.9% following the company's third-quarter earnings beat. AT&T (T.N) , opens new tab fell 1.9% even as it added more wireless subscribers than expected for the third quarter. Third-quarter earnings season is well underway, with 86% of the companies that have reported beating Wall Street estimates. Analysts currently expect third-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth, on aggregate, of 9.3% year-on-year, an improvement over the 8.8% annual growth estimate as of October 1, according to the most recent data from LSEG. "You earn high valuations by achieving those expectations, and in general companies have so far been meeting or exceeding those expectations," Hainlin said. "And those that haven’t are not being rewarded by investors with patience." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 334.33 points, or 0.71%, to 46,590.41, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 35.95 points, or 0.53%, to 6,699.40 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab lost 213.27 points, or 0.93%, to 22,740.40. Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, industrials (.SPLRCI) , opens new tab fell the most, with energy (.SPNY) , opens new tab enjoying the biggest percentage gain. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.47-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 142 new highs and 63 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,362 stocks rose and 3,275 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.4-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 45 new highs and 116 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 24.76 billion shares, compared with the 20.60 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/wall-st-futures-struggle-netflix-results-put-investors-guard-2025-10-22/