2025-10-09 20:23

Shell completed marine survey in Q2 to determine drilling locations, pipeline design First stage of new license allows parties to negotiate through April 2026 US companies must be included in the project Oct 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has granted an authorization for energy major Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab and Trinidad and Tobago to develop an offshore gas field in Venezuela close to the maritime border, Trinidad's attorney general said on Thursday. The prominent project, aimed to supply Trinidad with Venezuelan gas, has progressed slowly in recent years amid frequent U.S. policy changes towards Venezuela, which has remained under U.S. energy sanctions since 2019. Sign up here. Because Venezuela and state company PDVSA are under U.S. sanctions, foreign companies abiding by the measures need authorizations or licenses to negotiate and develop energy projects there. The Trump administration in April terminated previous licenses granted by former President Joe Biden's government to the Dragon project by Shell and Trinidad's National Gas Company (NGCTT.UL) and to a similar development by BP (BP.L) , opens new tab. The plans are considered essential for securing gas for Trinidad's liquefied natural gas plants and other industries. Shell in the second quarter completed a marine survey at Dragon before a U.S.-set deadline to wind down the license. The exploration work is expected to help determine drilling locations and pipeline design. The new authorization, granted on Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury, is structured in three stages, with the first stage allowing Trinidad and Shell to negotiate the project with Venezuela and PDVSA (PDVSA.UL) through April 2026, but making mandatory the inclusion of U.S. companies in the development. "You have to hit commercial targets for U.S. companies. We don't think those targets are hard to meet. They are reasonable," Attorney General John Jeremie said at a press conference. He declined to disclose the license's financial terms. Previous U.S. authorizations to Dragon have banned any cash payments to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government. BP did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Shell said Trinidad was the license holder, so it referred questions to the government. The U.S. State Department in late September said Washington supported Trinidad's Dragon gas proposal and would make sure it would not provide significant benefit to Maduro's administration. Dragon has proven reserves of some 4.2 trillion cubic feet, making it one of the largest deposits of natural gas in Venezuela and a possible future source of income. With insufficient reserves and output, Trinidad needs the gas to feed its revenue-generating industries, from LNG to petrochemicals. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-grants-license-shell-trinidad-develop-venezuelan-gas-field-official-says-2025-10-09/

2025-10-09 19:26

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab said an outage of its suite of productivity software has been resolved on Thursday. "We identified that a portion of network infrastructure in North America was misconfigured, resulting in impact," Microsoft 365 said on its status page on X. Sign up here. Initial reports had showed issues accessing Microsoft Teams and Exchange Online, it said earlier. The number of users reporting issues with Microsoft 365 had fallen to 136 as of 5.38 p.m. ET, compared with 17,000 earlier, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources. Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary. https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-365-down-thousands-users-downdetector-shows-2025-10-09/

2025-10-09 16:44

MEXICO CITY, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The Bank of Mexico cited stable inflation, a sluggish economy and an easing U.S. Federal Reserve policy in signaling further interest rate cuts, according to minutes from its latest policy meeting released on Thursday. The minutes highlight the stances of the five-member board during its September 25 decision to cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.5%, its lowest level since May 2022. Sign up here. Banxico, as the central bank is known, said it also weighed the behavior of the exchange rate and the possible effects of shifts in global trade policies. Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath, the sole member of the board to vote against cutting the interest rate, highlighted the inflationary risks that could result from Mexico's proposed tariffs on Chinese imports, according to the minutes. The proposed tariffs include a 50% duty on cars from China and other Asian countries, as well as a 35% tariff on steel, toys and motorcycles. "I call once again to proceed with caution," Heath said. While core inflation remains above the bank's target range of 3% plus or minus a percentage point, most Banxico members said it was relatively stable. "Most members highlighted that, in recent readings, inflation has remained below its historical average and has shown a stable behavior," according to the minutes. Mexico's statistics agency released new inflationary data on Thursday, showing that annual headline inflation climbed to 3.76% in the year through September, from 3.57% in August. Core inflation, which is considered a more reliable gauge of price trends because it strips out volatile food and energy prices, also quickened in September, reaching 4.28%. In an updated forecast released on Oct. 1, private sector analysts polled by Banxico raised their projection for year-end core inflation to 4.18%, up from 4.11%. However, the analysts lowered their forecast for headline inflation to 3.85%, down from 3.97%. Banxico is facing a dual challenge as it seeks to keep inflation down, while also spurring economic growth through lower interest rates. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has expressed support for Banxico's interest rate cuts. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/bank-mexico-says-it-will-consider-further-cuts-interest-rate-2025-10-09/

2025-10-09 16:05

MEXICO CITY, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) , opens new tab on Thursday rejected Mexican mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico's (GMEXICOB.MX) , opens new tab bid for its retail unit in the country, known as Banamex, opting instead to push forward with a previously agreed-upon deal. Grupo Mexico surprised last week when it made an unsolicited $9.3 billion offer for Banamex, more than two years after it had backed away from negotiations. Sign up here. The news rocked local markets, wiping off billions in the firm's market capitalization. Shares in Grupo Mexico climbed more than 4.5% on Citi's statement Thursday that it rejected the bid. Citi last month announced that it would sell a 25% stake in Banamex to Mexican billionaire Fernando Chico Pardo, chairman of airport operator ASUR (ASURB.MX) , opens new tab, for around $2.3 billion. The lender then planned to hold a public offering for the rest of the unit, it said at the time, while also gauging the interest of other local magnates. Citi on Thursday said that it believed that deal was the best option to divest from Banamex responsibly and maximize value for shareholders. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/citi-rejects-grupo-mexico-bid-banamex-unit-2025-10-09/

2025-10-09 15:50

Options market shows strong bullish sentiment For individual stocks, call options outnumber puts by widest margin in four years S&P 500's rally lowers index volatility, individual stock volatility rises Barclays euphoria indicator suggests potential for diminishing returns NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - At a time when investors could worry about tariffs, growth, and shifting Federal Reserve policy, their biggest fear looks to be missing out on further stock market gains, options data showed. With stocks hitting new highs, traders in the options market are lapping up call options with near-record fervor. Sign up here. For individual stocks, trading in call options, typically bought to express a bullish view, exceeds volume in puts, options that express bearish views, by the largest margin in about four years, according to a Reuters analysis of Trade Alert data. "It's all upside exuberance at this point," Greg Boutle, head of U.S. equity & derivative strategy at BNP Paribas, said. The rush into bullish single-stock options is driving unusual moves in important options-market metrics. The S&P 500's rally to record highs has knocked the index's one-month volatility to a near-record low of 6.7%, even as investors' expectations for how much individual stocks will swing, as shown by the Cboe S&P 500 Constituent Volatility Index, have climbed to a more than five-month high. For single stocks, measures of skew, a gauge of demand for downside protection versus upside speculation, have been turned on their head, as typical worries about drops in stock prices have been overtaken by concerns of missing out on further gains. The share of stocks trading with an inverted skew has risen dramatically over the past few months, Stefano Pascale, head of U.S. equity derivatives research at Barclays, said. "It's a typical sign of euphoria," Pascale said. A BIT LIKE THE LATE 1990S The Barclays Equity Euphoria Indicator, which measures investor sentiment intensity based on derivatives flows, shows continued heightened bullish sentiment among retail investors. The one-month moving average of the indicator sits at about 14.3%, nearly three standard deviations above its long-term average. Much of this investor optimism is concentrated in the same high-flying names that have driven this year's stock market rally. "Investor demand for single-stock calls has been extremely strong, especially across AI, semiconductors, and metals," Chris Murphy, co-head of derivative strategy at Susquehanna Financial Group, said. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up about 19% for the year, compared with a 15% rise for the S&P 500. Meanwhile, AI-linked stocks, including Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab and Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab, are up about 38% and 45%, respectively. With the market more than recovering from its April tariff-related swoon, investors have been emboldened to increase equity allocations. Some who were slow to join the rally are now using options to make up for lost time, strategists said. Strong bullish flows into these names also tend to unleash a virtuous cycle: the more investors buy call options that confer the right to purchase the stock at a predetermined price and time, the more options dealers, who sell those contracts, have to buy the underlying stocks as they move higher to hedge their own exposure. "We're definitely seeing a lot of that, especially in the AI-related names," Barclays' Pascale said, noting such strong bullish options flows can trigger market dynamics seen during the meme stock frenzy in recent years. For BNP's Boutle the euphoric trading conditions are reminiscent of "late-cycle exuberance." "We have this kind of environment that is starting to feel a little bit late 90s-esque," he said, referring to the dot com bubble that burst in 2000. ARE STOCKS OVERSTRETCHED? For investors, the key question remains how long these conditions can last. History shows once an outsized share of stocks starts exhibiting signs of euphoria, it usually heralds diminishing forward returns. In particular, the Barclays euphoria indicator shows once a stock exhibits these signs for a few sessions, subsequent stock performance is often negative on average. High levels of euphoria have historically preceded pauses in the market's momentum, a Barclays analysis showed. "If you're starting to see overstretched positions and evidence that there is euphoria ... it's kind of bad news," Pascale said. CHASING THE MARKET, GUARDEDLY Still, there is no telling exactly how long these conditions can last. "One of the lessons we learned from the late 90s is that even if you think it's a bubble ... these things can run a lot harder, a lot faster, and being short too early or uninvested can equally be very painful," BNP's Boutle said. That leaves investors aiming for a balance between chasing the rally further and ensuring their portfolios can weather a turn in market sentiment. "We speak to people at the moment as much about hedging the upside as we do the downside," Boutle said. https://www.reuters.com/business/fear-missing-out-trumps-other-worries-euphoria-grips-us-stock-options-traders-2025-10-09/

2025-10-09 15:38

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Gold's unprecedented ascent this week to the $4,000 an ounce milestone and beyond puts it on course for its best year since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, solidifying its status as a barometer for global geopolitics and the economy. Bullion's 53% gain so far this year follows a stellar 27% rise in 2024. Sign up here. The steady upward trajectory has been driven by a rush to the asset considered a safe store of value as investors seek cover from uncertainties spurred by conflicts in the Middle East, between Russia and Ukraine, political developments in the U.S., Japan and France, all supplemented by bets for more U.S. interest rate cuts. "Gold is performing its important role as a bellwether or a barometer, which gauges when things just aren’t right," said Ross Norman, an independent analyst. Spot gold steadied at around $4,025 per ounce on Thursday, hitting pause after surging to an all-time high of $4,059.05 on Wednesday, as investors assessed an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. "Having cleared the $4,000 hurdle, by rights gold should pause for breath. That said, it has not shown much restraint year to date," Norman said. Bullion has logged multiple record highs this year, shattering analyst expectations, also underpinned by expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts since that would translate into reduced opportunity cost of holding assets such as gold, which pays no interest or dividends, while also weakening the dollar. Market participants see chances of two more rate cuts this year, with the CME FedWatch tool showing a 95% chance of a 25 basis-point cut during the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting on October 29. A continued rise in central bank purchases as a means to diversify assets, along with increased flow into gold-backed exchange-traded funds, has also boosted gold's status. Globally, inflows into gold ETFs have hit $64 billion year-to-date, according to World Gold Council data, flipping from outflows of about $23 billion over the last four years. Gold-backed ETFs in the second-biggest bullion consumer India, meanwhile, registered their largest monthly inflow in September, taking assets under management to a record $10 billion. And there is more room to go, market participants said. "Investor appetite isn’t slowing down... this upward trajectory suggests more room for expansion, and less reason for it to drop," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com. Silver, meanwhile, was trading at $51 per ounce, after hitting its all-time high of $51.22 earlier in the session. The metal has gained 72% this year, driven by the same factors driving gold and supported by underlying market tightness. "Silver has also benefited as investors cast their sights across the precious metals complex amid the broader safe-haven play," said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Nemo.money. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/golds-rush-above-4000oz-cements-status-global-bellwether-2025-10-09/