2025-09-09 19:54

Brent, US crude rise 0.6% US assurance to Qatar, fears of supply glut cap oil's gains Oil also supported by smaller-than-expected OPEC+ output hike EIA says oil prices to drop sharply in months ahead on rising inventories NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Tuesday after the Israeli military said it carried out an attack on Hamas leadership in the Qatari capital Doha, an expansion of its military actions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled 37 cents, or 0.6%, higher at $66.39 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also climbed 37 cents, or 0.6%, to close at $62.63 a barrel. Sign up here. Both benchmarks had gained almost 2% shortly after the Israeli attack on Qatar, but gave up the majority of those gains later as the United States assured Doha that such a thing would not happen again on its soil. "Both the U.S. and Qatar have made it clear they are not seeking further escalation, while the muted reaction from other (Gulf Cooperation Council) members reinforces the view that the risk of a wider regional flare-up remains contained," said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy. "For now, geopolitical risk premiums are easing rather than building," Leon said. Oil prices also pared some gains because the attack did not create any immediate supply disruption, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. The oil benchmarks were trading higher prior to the attack on Qatar, supported by the latest oil output increase from OPEC+ being smaller than anticipated, expectations that China will continue stockpiling oil and concerns over potential new sanctions against Russia. Capping oil's gains, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said it expects global crude prices to be under significant pressure in the months ahead due to rising inventories. Physical oil markets also appeared to be softening, with prompt spreads weakening heavily in the Atlantic basin, StoneX analyst Alex Hodes said. Softer prompt physical markets are typically an indicator of weak demand. "The fact that the market did not respond with such an escalation (in the Middle East) is an indication of how weak the market is in my opinion," Hodes said. U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week, market sources said, citing a report by the American Petroleum Institute. Official EIA data on U.S. stockpiles is due on Wednesday at 10:30 am ET. Traders are also expecting the Federal Reserve, which meets next week, to cut U.S. interest rates. Lower rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and can boost economic growth and demand for oil. U.S. employment data for the 12 months through March was revised lower more sharply than expected on Tuesday, prompting traders to bet that the Fed will cut short-term rates next week and continue, with more in store this year to shore up the labor market. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-settles-higher-after-israeli-attack-qatar-2025-09-09/

2025-09-09 19:52

LOS ANGELES, Sept 9 (Reuters) - More than 50 shipping containers fell from a berthed ship into the water at California's Port of Long Beach on Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the nation's second-busiest seaport said. No injuries were reported. Sign up here. The containers fell from the Portugal-flagged Mississippi while it was berthed at the Pier G container terminal. The Mississippi arrived in Long Beach from China's Yantian port. Cargo operations at the terminal were temporarily suspended as crews worked to secure the containers, public information officer Art Marroquin said. The incident is being investigated, Marroquin said. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dozens-containers-tumble-into-sea-california-port-2025-09-09/

2025-09-09 19:47

WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety alert on Tuesday to airlines over risks from lithium batteries in aircraft passenger compartments, citing a large number of serious incidents. The FAA recommended airlines adopt risk mitigation strategies, including clear messaging to address potential fire risks tied to lithium batteries carried by passengers and crew members and review firefighting procedures and training. Sign up here. There have been 50 lithium-ion battery smoke, fire or extreme heat incidents reported this year in the U.S., the FAA said, and some of those have resulted in diversions or injuries. An Aug. 5 incident involved a passenger cell phone on an American Airlines (AAL.O) , opens new tab flight to Madrid from Dallas that overheated and began emitting smoke. The passenger sustained injuries, and there was damage to the aircraft floor and the flight was delayed, the FAA said. During a July 12 flight from Chicago to Portland, Oregon, a passenger’s laptop overheated and began emitting smoke. The laptop was placed in a bag in a bathroom but the flight was diverted to Casper, Wyoming. Others have involved cargo planes with laptops or other batteries in shipments. The FAA last week proposed a $60,000 fine against LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) , opens new tab for allegedly violating the hazardous materials regulations. The FAA cited a January 2024 undeclared and improperly packaged shipment of five lithium-ion batteries from Seoul to Los Angeles. FedEx (FDX.N) , opens new tab personnel discovered the shipment when it emitted flames in its sorting facility in Irvine, California.  https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-faa-issues-safety-alert-risks-posed-by-passenger-lithium-batteries-planes-2025-09-09/

2025-09-09 19:46

Investors await key US inflation reports this week Fed's dovish policy to lead to dollar's cyclical lows -analyst US rate futures show high chance of rate cut this month US payrolls revisions at -911,000 in April 2024-March 2025 NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar gained against most currencies on Tuesday except against the yen, recovering from losses the previous session, as investors consolidated positions ahead of key inflation reports this week. U.S. producer price inflation data is due on Wednesday followed by the consumer price inflation reading on Thursday. The data points will be in focus to gauge the impact of tariffs on prices in the world's largest economy. Sign up here. The greenback briefly dropped after a report showing downward revisions of nearly a million fewer jobs to previous government estimates for the April 2024 to March 2025 period. That suggested a far weaker labor market than what initial numbers showed in that 12-month period. But the payrolls data was largely shrugged off. In afternoon trading, the euro fell 0.5% against the dollar to $1.1707 , pushing the dollar index 0.4% higher at 97.78 . Earlier in the session, the dollar index fell to a seven-week low. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar rose 0.6% to 0.7976 franc after earlier hitting a six-week trough. Even though the dollar gained on Tuesday, Elias Haddad, senior markets strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in London said the big theme right now is that the more recent dovish turn in Federal Reserve policy "will lead to the U.S. dollar to new cyclical lows." "The big reason is that the Fed will now prioritize its maximum employment mandate over price stability because monetary policy is moderately restricted. Any rally, or any relief rally in the U.S. dollar is not sustainable." Tuesday's data on jobs revisions placed that employment mandate in focus. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the payrolls numbers were revised down by 911,000 jobs in the 12 months to March. In previous 12-month period through March 2024, the level of employment was slashed by 598,000 jobs. According to Action Economics, the downward revision was the largest figure on record, topping the -824,000 reading in March of 2009 and the -818,000 figure in March last year. The revision implies job reductions of 76,000 per month for the 12-month time frame. "The only thing growing faster than job-growth skepticism is the pressure on the Federal Reserve to finally sneak in some interest rate cuts because nothing says economic cooling (more than) jobs turning into ghost stories," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point in El Segundo, California. "Payroll revisions just turned the job story from fairy tale to audit trail ... the biggest reality check in years, which is another way of saying the jobs fairy just clawed back a lot of cheer," he added. Midafternoon on Tuesday, U.S. rate futures priced in a 92% chance of a 25 basis-point cut later this month, and an 8% probability of a 50-bp easing. Elsewhere, sterling fell 0.5% to $1.3521 , while the commodity-linked currencies -- the Australian , New Zealand , and Canadian dollars , all slid against the greenback. Some analysts said a strong U.S. Treasury three-year auction also contributed to the dollar's rally. The auction showed a strong outcome, offsetting the disappointing results from August. The auction priced well and notched record end-user demand, Action Economics analysts said. "Something that might have contributed would have been strong auction behavior today, there's been a pretty consistent rally across the Treasury curve in the last week or so," said Julia Hermann, global market strategist, at New York Life Investments. Later this week, the focus will be on the euro zone, with the European Central Bank widely expected to keep rates unchanged at its policy meeting on Thursday. Economists were split last month on the likelihood of further rate reductions by the ECB, but sentiment has shifted with recent data showing inflation holding close to the 2% target and unemployment at a record low. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-dollar-bounces-back-after-sharp-selloff-ahead-inflation-test-2025-09-09/

2025-09-09 19:44

Bahrain first Middle Eastern country to support deep-sea mining Impossible Metals files 170-page application with International Seabed Authority Environmental review process to cost $70 million Company hopes for finalized ISA rules within five years Sept 9 (Reuters) - Bahrain has sponsored deep-sea mining firm Impossible Metals' application for a mining permit with the International Seabed Authority, becoming the first Middle Eastern country to support the fledgling industry as part of an economic diversification push. Privately held Impossible Metals last Friday filed a 170-page application with the Jamaica-based ISA for a permit to mine part of the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone that contains polymetallic nodules filled with manganese, copper, nickel and other building blocks of electric vehicles and electronics. Sign up here. Any country can allow mining in its territorial waters. The United Nations-backed ISA was authorized by a 1980s treaty to permit and regulate mining in international waters, although it has yet to finalize rules. A company wishing to apply for a permit must have a sponsor country, as Nauru has done with The Metals Co (TMC.O) , opens new tab and Beijing has done for several Chinese companies. Supporters of deep-sea mining say it would lessen the need for land-based mining. Detractors say more research is needed to determine how the practice could affect oceanic ecosystems. California-based Impossible Metals said it has developed a robotic device with a large claw that uses artificial intelligence to reduce environmental impacts. Bahrain, with an economy tied to oil, has not made any financial commitments to Impossible Metals but could potentially fund a metals refinery in the future, the company's CEO, Oliver Gunasekara, said. "What's exciting about Bahrain is that they have capital and they have energy," Gunasekara told Reuters. The ISA said it plans to issue a statement on Wednesday about the company's application. The Bahrain embassy in Washington was not immediately available to comment. The permit process will require the company to conduct a five-year environmental review that will cost the company $70 million, Gunasekara said, adding that he hopes the ISA finalizes deep-sea mining rules within that timeframe. Impossible Metals has also applied for a permit with U.S. officials to mine around American Samoa. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity/bahrain-sponsors-deep-sea-mining-firm-impossible-metals-international-permit-2025-09-09/

2025-09-09 19:33

Revision estimate comes days after weak August nonfarm payrolls Job growth was stalling before Trump's tariffs, estimate shows BLS revision estimate linked to birth-death model problems WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy likely created 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than previously estimated, the government said on Tuesday, suggesting that job growth was already stalling before President Donald Trump's aggressive tariffs on imports. The preliminary annual benchmark revision estimate to the closely watched payrolls data from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics followed on the heels of news last Friday that job growth almost stalled in August and the economy shed jobs in June for the first time in four and a half years. Sign up here. The revision estimate is equivalent to 76,000 fewer jobs per month. It implied that nonfarm payroll gains averaged about 71,000 per month, instead of 147,000. Economists had expected the estimated revision to be between 400,000 and 1 million jobs. "This means labor market momentum is being lost from an even weaker position than originally thought," said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. In addition to being hobbled by uncertainty stemming from trade policy, the labor market has also been pressured by the White House's immigration crackdown, which has undercut labor supply. A shift by businesses to artificial intelligence tools and automation also is curbing demand for workers. Once a year, the BLS compares its nonfarm payrolls data, based on monthly surveys of a sample of employers, with a much more complete database of unemployment insurance tax records, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. A final benchmark revision will be released in February along with the BLS' employment report for January. Government statisticians will use the final benchmark count to revise payroll data for the months prior to and after March. Economists have attributed the revisions to the "birth-and-death" model, a method the BLS uses to try to estimate how many jobs were gained or lost because of companies opening or closing in a given month. These companies are not initially available for sampling. Though economists at Goldman Sachs agreed the labor market had softened materially, they cautioned the revision estimate was too excessive. They noted the QCEW was prone to upward revisions and might have difficulties accounting for unauthorized immigrants. "Our own model of net job gains from firm births and deaths, one of the key points of uncertainty in monthly payrolls growth that the benchmarking process corrects for, suggests a downward revision of around 550,000, or 45,000 per month, via that channel," they wrote in a note. "While the BLS' birth-death adjustment for nonfarm payrolls was probably too generous in second half of 2024, we estimate that the overstatement has since narrowed to around 10,000 jobs per month, cautioning against extrapolating too much from the benchmark revision." Last year, the preliminary estimate was for payrolls to be revised down by 818,000 jobs in the 12 months through March 2024. Payrolls were in the end only downgraded by 598,000. 'ACCURATE, INDEPENDENT AND TRUSTED' Leisure and hospitality employment was estimated to be revised down by 176,000 jobs over the 12 months through March. Trade, transportation, and utilities payrolls could be slashed by 226,000 positions, while professional and business services employment was projected to be reduced by 158,000 jobs. Manufacturing employment could be lowered by 95,000 jobs. Government employment was estimated to be cut by 31,000 positions. Modest upgrades were estimated for only the transportation and warehousing, and utilities industries. U.S. financial markets were little moved by the report. Economists continued to expect the Federal Reserve would resume cutting interest rates next Wednesday, with a quarter-point reduction, after pausing its easing cycle in January because of uncertainty over the impact of tariffs. With the consumer price data on Thursday expected to show inflation pressures building in August, the estimated revisions could fan fears of stagflation. The monthly employment report is based on data derived from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program, which surveys about 121,000 businesses and government agencies, representing about 631,000 individual worksites. The QCEW data is derived from reports by employers to the state unemployment insurance programs, and represents about 95% of total employment. Sharp downgrades last month to May and June employment figures totaling 258,000 jobs angered Trump, who fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her, without evidence, of faking the employment data. Trump has nominated E.J. Antoni to replace McEntarfer. Antoni, who has penned opinion pieces critical of the BLS and even suggested suspending the monthly employment report, is viewed as unqualified by economists across the political spectrum. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters the revision estimate vindicated Trump. "And this makes it very clear that President Trump inherited a much worse economy," Leavitt said. "And it also proves that the Federal Reserve is holding our monetary policy far too restrictive." The BLS, like other statistical agencies, has suffered from years of inadequate funding under both Democratic and Republican administrations. The National Association for Business Economics on Monday urged "policymakers, business leaders, and the economics community to stand with BLS and ensure that America's statistics remain accurate, independent, and trusted worldwide." "Any political retaliation due to today's release will harm the ability for BLS to provide timely and unbiased statistics," said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-payrolls-benchmark-revision-estimate-suggests-labor-market-weaker-than-2025-09-09/