2025-10-13 22:07
Oct 13 (Reuters) - Oil tanker operator DHT Holdings (DHT.N) , opens new tab said on Monday that its fleet does not fall under the scope of China's new special port fees targeting U.S.-linked vessels. China has imposed fees on U.S. ships that visit its ports, effective October 14, as a countermeasure to U.S. port fees on China-linked ships. Sign up here. China's move targets U.S. built, flagged and operated ships, as well as companies with 25% or more of their shares or board seats held by U.S.-domiciled investment funds. DHT said "each vessel in the company's fleet is directly owned by a non-U.S. entity, was built in a non-U.S. jurisdiction, does not fly the U.S. flag and is operated from management companies in Monaco, Norway, Singapore and India." Additionally, U.S. nationals only represent 20% of the composition of the company's board, it said. DHT added that it was not aware of U.S. shareholders or reporting groups that control over 25% or more of DHT's shares or voting rights. However, the company cautioned that it cannot accurately verify the ownership of each individual shareholder. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/dht-says-its-fleet-has-no-us-links-after-chinas-new-port-fee-move-2025-10-13/
2025-10-13 21:55
Oct 13 (Reuters) - Russian forces attacked Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with guided bombs on Monday, knocking out power to 30,000 customers in three districts, local officials said. Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said Russian forces used guided bombs to attack Nemyshlianskyi and Slobidskyi districts in the southeast and Shevchenkivskyi district in the north of the city. Sign up here. Mayor Ihor Terekhov, interviewed on local television, said the three bombs damaged a hospital and hit power transmission lines. Nearly 30,000 customers had been hit by power cuts. He said four people had been injured, most by flying glass, with some patients being transferred to different wards. "Unfortunately, the hospital was quite badly damaged and there were patients inside. Four people were injured to various degrees and about 200 windows were smashed," Terekhov said. "Attacks are generally on energy targets - generation transmission, the power network. The aim is to have the power transmission network stop working." In recent weeks, Russian forces have concentrated their attacks on targets associated with Ukraine's electricity grid and gas industry as winter approaches in the more than 3-1/2-year-old war. A mass attack on Kyiv and other centres last week left more than a million households and businesses temporarily without power across the country. Water supplies were also disrupted. In the city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Donetsk region, one of the prime targets of Russia's slow advance through the area, a Russian drone attack on Monday killed two people in their car, the head of the city's military administration said. Russia's Defence Ministry on Monday said its forces had captured two new villages in their drive through eastern Ukraine - one in Donetsk region and the other near Kupiansk in the northeast, a largely destroyed city under attack for months. But the first corps of Ukraine's National Guard said it had repelled a new attempt by Russian forces to make advances near the town of Dobropillia in Donetsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials have reported successes by the military around Dobropillia, near the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-attack-ukraines-kharkiv-cuts-power-30000-officials-say-2025-10-13/
2025-10-13 21:37
Q3 iron ore shipments miss analyst expectations Oyu Tolgoi ramp-up boosts copper output Second straight record quarter of bauxite production Oct 14 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) , opens new tab, (RIO.L) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it needs a strong year-end finish to meet its iron ore shipment target, even as Chinese demand gathered pace as global economies front-loaded investment ahead of looming tariffs. Iron ore prices have surged to their highest levels since February, driven by targeted infrastructure stimulus in China that boosted steel production, Rio said, with China’s iron ore imports hitting a record high in September. Sign up here. Rio said it shipped 84.3 million tons from its operations in Western Australia during the third quarter, narrowly missing the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 85.5 million tons. Four cyclones in the region disrupted iron ore operations early this year, prompting Rio to forecast its 2025 iron ore shipments at the lower end of its guidance range of 323 million to 338 million metric tons. "A strong Q4 performance is required as the system remains tightly balanced and has limited ability to mitigate further losses," the world's largest iron ore miner said. Australian-listed shares in Rio gained up to 3.6% in early trading on Tuesday to reach the highest level since late September, reflecting a broader rally among iron ore miners. Peers BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab and Fortescue (FMG.AX) , opens new tab gained more than 2% each. Rio said China had entered the third quarter grappling with persistent deflation, sluggish manufacturing, weak exports and ongoing property market woes. Still, Beijing remains focused on hitting its 5% annual economic growth target, leaning on targeted support for infrastructure and technology rather than broad-based stimulus, the company added. Rio also noted China had diversified its iron ore supply sources, boosting purchases from smaller iron ore suppliers, with the major iron ore producers’ combined shipments remaining flat on the year. The quarter was the first under new CEO and former head of iron ore Simon Trott, who in August announced a simplification of the company's structure into three divisions: global iron ore, aluminium and lithium, and copper. Rio said it remained committed to safety after a fatality at its Simandou operarations in Guinea, where iron ore shipments are set to start before year-end. Like its peers, Rio is ramping up the production of copper, which is expected to be in high demand during the transition to greener forms of energy. Rio produced record copper at its Oyu Tolgoi operations in Mongolia where the miner remains on track to boost copper output by more than 50% this year. The miner reported a second consecutive record quarter of bauxite production and lifted its full-year estimate to a range of 59 million tons to 61 million tons, on the back of strong performance at the Amrun bauxite mine in northern Australia. https://www.reuters.com/business/rio-tintos-third-quarter-iron-ore-shipments-rise-6-sequentially-2025-10-13/
2025-10-13 21:17
Options market sees 'put' buying in bitcoin, ether Volatility spikes across the board Post-crash, bitcoin flows holding up well Investors shifting flows to bitcoin from altcoins -analyst NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Following the largest crypto liquidation in history last Friday, options market investors are bracing for more volatility and further declines in bitcoin and ether, aggressively positioning in trades that offer protection against another potential freefall. Market participants said the crypto sector on Friday saw more than $19 billion in liquidations across leveraged positions as panic selling and low liquidity triggered sharp swings. The plunge came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced late on Friday a 100% tariff on Chinese imports and threatened export controls on critical software. Sign up here. Crypto analysts said this was the largest wipeout in a 24-hour period in the market's history, nine times larger than the February 2025 crash and 19 times bigger than the March 2020 meltdown and the FTX collapse in November 2022. Bitcoin fell as low as $104,782.88 during the October 10-11 period, down more than 14% from its high of $122,574.46 on Friday. It was last up 0.6% at $115,718.13. The world's largest cryptocurrency hit a record high above $126,000 on October 6. Ether, the second biggest digital currency, dropped 12.2% to a low of $3,436.29 on Friday. It last changed hands at $4,254, up 2.4% on the day. Altcoins took an even bigger hit as HYPE (-54%), DOGE (-62%), and AVAX (-70%) all experienced steep drawdowns before recovering to post more modest losses. Trump over the weekend softened his rhetoric on China, however, noting that "it will all be fine" and the U.S. did not want to "hurt" China. That helped the crypto recovery. China on Sunday blamed the U.S. for the escalation, but did not roll out further countermeasures. "Last Friday, you saw volatility just jump across the board, not only for short-dated, but also for long-dated maturities. The sentiment around short-dated volatility is that more people are worried about downward turns," said Sean Dawson, head of research at Derive.xyz in Canberra. Data from Derive.xyz, a crypto options trading platform, showed heavy "put" buying from traders in bitcoin and ether, which suggested hedging against potential downside risks. In bitcoin, there were hefty purchases of puts conferring the right to sell bitcoin at strike prices of $115,000 and $95,000 for the October 31 expiry, according to Dawson. There was also a sharp reversal from call buying to call selling at the $125,000 strike for the October 17 expiry, suggesting a bearish short-term view. Calls in the options market reflect expectations that the price will increase. For ether, Nick Forster, Derive.xyz co-founder, said traders focused on the $4,000 strike for the October 31 expiry and $3,600 strike for the October 17 expiry. He also noted substantial buying of $2,600 puts for the December 26 expiry. Those strikes, he said, are indicative of growing bearish sentiment through year-end. Despite the meltdown, Willy Woo, a leading onchain crypto analyst with more than a million followers on X, noted that bitcoin investor flows have been holding up well and may be the reason it fared better than expected against a sharp decline in stocks. In contrast, Woo said he saw a large drop in ether flows while Solana continued a decline. He believes that capital in altcoins is likely rotating into bitcoin rather than leaving the system. Altcoins, also known as alternative coins, refer to cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin, which are often treated as high-risk, high-reward investments. Some altcoins deliver massive returns, but many fail or lose liquidity. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is widely viewed as a "blue-chip" crypto asset, widely-held by institutions. "The good news is that this (crash) has cleaned out the excessive leverage and reset the risk in the market, for now," said Nic Puckrin, crypto analyst and co-founder of The Coin Bureau. "However, bitcoin now faces another uphill battle to break past key resistance levels that will allow it to reach a meaningful new all-time high this year." https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/after-record-crypto-crash-rush-hedge-against-another-freefall-2025-10-13/
2025-10-13 21:07
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets Sign up here. Jamie McGeever is enjoying some well-deserved time off, but the Reuters markets team will still keep you up to date on what's happening in markets. The biggest U.S. banks will report third-quarter results on Tuesday, at the vanguard of the S&P 500 earnings parade over the next few weeks. I'd love to hear from you, so please reach out to me with comments at [email protected] , opens new tab Today's Key Reads Today's Key Market Moves STOCKS: Major U.S. indexes rebounded sharply, led by chipmakers like Broadcom and AI-related tech stocks, after President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone that eased worries about a trade war with China. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab was up 1.6% in late trade. The Nasdaq (.IXIC) , opens new tab was up 2.2%. SHARES/SECTORS: Information Technology is the top-performing S&P 500 sector on the day, followed closely by Consumer Discretionary. FX: The U.S. dollar steadied after Trump dialed back trade tensions with China, while political developments in France and Japan undermined the euro and the yen. BONDS: Bond markets were closed for Columbus Day. COMMODITIES: Oil prices recovered from Friday's five-month lows as talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October appeared to be back on. The renewed U.S.-China trade spat vaulted gold above $4,100 an ounce for the first time. CRYPTO: According to market players on Monday, Friday's late wipeout in cryptocurrencies was the largest liquidation ever, amounting to over $19 billion of leveraged positions. On Monday, bitcoin was down 0.60% to $114,375.22 while ethereum declined 0.54% to $4,120.42. Today's Key Talking Points Trump chills out on China Just as suddenly as Trump's familiar-sounding threat to impose 100% tariffs on China for curbing exports of rare earths sent Wall Street into freefall on Friday, de-escalation on Monday invited a rush of renewed stock buying that looked to put record territory back in play. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Network that the president was back on track to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month as originally planned. While Monday was a normal day for stock markets, bond traders were off for Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day. The federal holiday came as many government workers are already furloughed while the shutdown drags on, and some could be out of a job when Congress ends it and agrees on a spending bill. There is no sign that Democrats and Republicans will find common ground this week, meaning indicators like producer prices, retail sales and weekly jobless claims will not be released and join the list of important, but probably stale, data like September payrolls that will someday be released in a flood. But Tuesday promises to be busy nevertheless with JPMorgan Chase JPM, Goldman Sachs GS, Citigroup C and Wells Fargo WFC releasing earnings to kick off the third-quarter reporting season. Also Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks in Philadelphia on economic conditions and monetary policy, with data-starved traders even more keen to get a read on how the Fed will make a decision to ease again, or not, when it is missing weeks of information on the economy. Gold: The Fear Trade Gold is perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the upwelling of recriminations between Trump and Xi. It rose above $4,100 an ounce for the first time on Monday, even after they turned the heat down, with traders betting that more Fed easing by year-end will make zero-yield bullion more appealing. With central banks buying and investors availing themselves of ETFs, there appear to be enough positives to keep the rally going. Silver also hit a record above $52 an ounce. What could move markets tomorrow? 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. Trading Day is also sent by email every weekday morning. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-trading-day-2025-10-13/
2025-10-13 20:47
WTI backwardation narrows to 47 cents, lowest since Jan 2024 OPEC+ hikes output, feeding worries of supply glut Demand at prompt falls on physical builds, maintenance HOUSTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. crude oil futures ended Monday's trading at their smallest premium since January 2024 over the seventh-month contract, as OPEC+ ramps up supply while seasonal refinery maintenance in the U.S. pressures demand for prompt barrels. Narrowing backwardation, the market term for immediate deliveries fetching a premium over later deliveries, suggests investors are making less money selling their oil in the spot market because near-term supply is perceived to be ample. Sign up here. A reversal of the spread from a premium to a discount would put U.S. oil futures in a contango for the first time since last January. WTI crude futures for November delivery settled at $59.49 per barrel on Monday, while the May 2026 contract settled at $59.02 per barrel, creating a 47 cent premium for prompt barrels , the narrowest since January 16 last year. "This narrowing is indicative of excess supplies in the near term, and then concerns that when demand increases in the future, supplies will get tighter again," said Andrew Lipow, president of consultancy Lipow Oil Associates. "We are seeing increased supply from OPEC+, which combined with reports of more oil in floating storage is putting pressure on the front end of the curve, as well as seasonal refinery maintenance in the U.S.," Lipow added. OPEC+, made up of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, has increased its oil output targets by more than 2.7 million barrels per day this year, equating to about 2.5% of global demand, stoking supply glut concerns. This is flattening the WTI curve as the market is now pricing in less tightness in early 2026 balances, Shohruh Zukhritdinov, a Dubai-based oil trader said. Meanwhile, U.S. refinery utilization on a four-week average fell for the fourth straight week to 92.5% in the week to October 3, to its lowest since the first week of June, considered the start of the U.S. summer driving season, according to the Energy Information Administration. "Physical builds and refinery slowdowns equate to less need to pay up for prompt barrels," Zukhritdinov said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-oil-futures-backwardation-narrows-20-month-low-mounting-fears-glut-2025-10-13/
