2025-09-09 00:08

Eight OPEC+ members to lift output by 137,000 bpd from October Russia hits Ukraine with biggest air attack of war Trump says European leaders to visit US over Russia-Ukraine war HOUSTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Monday, recovering some of last week's losses, after producer group OPEC+ opted for a modest output hike and investors priced in the possibility of more sanctions on Russian crude. OPEC+ flagged plans to further increase production from October, but the amount was less than some analysts had anticipated. Reuters reported earlier this month that members were considering another hike. Sign up here. "The market had run ahead of itself in regard to this OPEC+ increase," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. "Today we're seeing a classic sell the rumour, buy the fact reaction." Brent crude settled up 52 cents, or 0.79%, to $66.02 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 39 cents, or 0.63%, to $62.26 a barrel. Both benchmarks had risen more than $1 earlier in Monday's session. Prices fell more than 2% on Friday as a weak U.S. jobs report dimmed the outlook for energy demand. They lost more than 3% last week. OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies, agreed on Sunday to further raise oil production from October. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, cut the official selling price for the Arab Light crude it sells to Asia a day after OPEC+ producers agreed the output hike. "Riyadh and its allies signaled a decisive pivot: defending market share now outweighs defending prices," Rystad Energy Chief Economist Claudio Galimberti said in a note on Monday. "By allowing supply back into a market moving toward surplus, OPEC+ is playing offense, not defense. Traders have been put on notice," he added. OPEC+ has been increasing production since April after years of cuts aimed at supporting the oil market. The latest decision comes despite a likely looming oil glut in the Northern Hemisphere winter months. The eight members of OPEC+ will lift production from October by 137,000 barrels per day. That, however, is much lower than increases of about 555,000 bpd for September and August and 411,000 bpd in July and June. The impact of the latest increase is expected to be relatively low, because some members have been over-producing. So the higher output level would likely include barrels that are already in the market, analysts said. OPEC on Monday released a compensation schedule from six of its members covering the period from last month and until June next year to make up for producing above their targets. The schedule indicates that in total the members need to deliver monthly cuts ranging from 190,000 bpd to 829,000 bpd to comply with output targets. MORE RUSSIA SANCTIONS? U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia, the closest he has come to suggesting he is on the verge of ramping up sanctions against Moscow or its oil buyers over the war in Ukraine. "Expectations of tighter supply from potential new U.S. sanctions on Russia are also lending support," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities. New sanctions on buyers of Russian oil could disrupt crude flows, energy trader Gunvor's [RIC:RIC:GGL.UL] global head of research and analysis, Frederic Lasserre, said on Monday. Russia launched its largest air attack of the Ukraine war over the weekend, setting the main government building on fire in central Kyiv and killing at least four people, Ukrainian officials said. Trump said on Sunday that individual European leaders would visit the United States on Monday and Tuesday to discuss how to resolve the conflict. In a note over the weekend, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab said it expects a slightly larger oil surplus in 2026 as supply upgrades in the Americas outweigh a downgrade to Russian supply and stronger global demand. It left its Brent/WTI price forecast unchanged for 2025 and projected the 2026 average at $56/$52 a barrel. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-settles-up-after-opec-opts-modest-output-hike-2025-09-07/

2025-09-09 00:03

Sept 9 (Reuters) - Transpower said on Tuesday it had applied to New Zealand's Commerce Commission for approval of its NZ$1.1 billion (US$653.40 million) plan to upgrade the high voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity link between the country's North and South Islands. The project involves replacing three aging submarine electricity cables, adding a fourth cable to boost transfer capacity and constructing new cable termination stations on both sides of Cook Strait. Sign up here. The decision follows surveys indicating the cables are deteriorating as expected and will need replacement by the early 2030s. "Moving ahead with this critical infrastructure project means Kiwis can continue to access the lowest cost electricity generated across both islands," CEO James Kilty said. He added that the initiative would support competition among electricity generators and exert downward pressure on power prices. The HVDC link , opens new tab, operational since 1965, is a cornerstone of New Zealand's electricity system, ensuring reliable and stable power supply across the country. The state-owned entity expects the upgraded link will play a greater role in balancing the variable electricity output from solar and wind farms, enabling the transfer of power generated by hydro stations, thermal backup plants and batteries to communities and businesses. The proposal, involving stakeholders such as major industrial power users, local lines companies, electricity generation firms and retailers, will be reviewed by the Commerce Commission, the company said. Additionally, Transpower plans to seek approval in 2026 for a related project to replace the system controlling electricity flow. ($1 = 1.6835 New Zealand dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/new-zealands-transpower-plans-653-million-upgrade-key-north-south-islands-power-2025-09-09/

2025-09-08 23:12

Indonesia aims to import one million dairy cows over 5 years Government calls on private sector to fund cow imports Scheme aims to more-than-quadruple Indonesia dairy herd Cow imports key to Prabowo school meals, self-sufficiency push KUNINGAN, Indonesia, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The once-empty barns of the Laras Ati milk cooperative are filled with the recent arrival of more than 200 pregnant spotted Holstein-Friesian cows from Australia under Indonesia's ambitious plan to ratchet up milk production. The centrepiece of a programme to provide free meals to 83 million children and expectant mothers, the plan calls for importing a million dairy cows over five years, at a cost of nearly $3 billion, to lift the size of the country's dairy herd more than four-fold from 220,000 now. Sign up here. With limited fiscal space, Jakarta is pressing private companies to fund the imports - an unorthodox approach causing concern amongst the business community in Southeast Asia's largest economy, according to scheme participants and documents seen by Reuters. The spokesperson for Indonesia's Presidential Communication Office and state secretariat minister did not respond to requests for comment. Progress has been slow since its launch in December, with just 11,375 dairy cows imported by the end of July, all from Australia thus far, against a target of 200,000 for the year, government data shows. The slow pace has cast doubt over the expanded rollout of the free meals plan, which was the biggest pledge made to voters by President Prabowo Subianto as he swept to power in last year's election, experts said. A lack of cattle means the world's fourth-largest country by population relies mostly on milk powder imported from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Prabowo's policy platform also pushes for greater self-sufficiency for the archipelago. Helmed by the agricultural ministry, the plan called for businesses - many without direct dairy experience - to pay for and import cows that are brought into the care of cooperatives such as Laras Ati in West Java. The idea, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono said in June, is to import live cattle to decrease the need to import milk and meat. "It's not the government that will allocate funds to import live cattle," he said in a statement. "There is a significant demand for meat and milk, so we are opening the opportunity for many investors," he said. PRESSURE TO PARTICIPATE Last November, shortly after Prabowo took office, the agriculture ministry sent a communique to over 200 private businesses asking them to commit voluntarily to import cattle to support the free meals programme, industry sources said. The commitment was for 20 cows per year from 2025 through 2029. Reviewed by Reuters, the communique was also sent to more than a dozen multinational companies. Ministry data said 196 businesses committed to bringing in cows as of May. Sources familiar with the matter have said that most of the companies have no prior experience dealing with live cattle. Four people involved in the programme, speaking on condition of anonymity due to concern they could face government backlash, said the companies felt compelled to participate fearing the consequences of not doing so, such as facing delays in securing import licences for their core businesses, including frozen meats and milk powder. Documents and correspondence reviewed exclusively by Reuters illustrate such consequences for one company, whose import commitment earlier this year was below the expected 20 cow "minimum" that companies had been advised to fund. The correspondence, via text messages, showed an official of the company inquiring with a government official about an inordinate delay in the approval of an import licence recommendation despite its commitment to import cattle. The government official asks for the import commitment to be raised to 20 cows. The company official complies and resends the licence recommendation request, which is then approved in a matter of days. The details of the company and ministry are being withheld to protect the company official from what they feared would be further backlash. The Directorate General of Animal Husbandry and Animal Health at Indonesia's agriculture ministry did not reply to requests for comment. DAIRY NEOPHYTES Arip Setiadi, who heads the Laras Ati co-op about 250 kilometres (155 miles) southeast of Jakarta, said the agriculture ministry called investors as well as dairy cooperatives into a meeting in March. "They told us, importers and cooperatives, to collaborate in increasing the dairy cow population and milk production," Setiadi, 42, said during a recent visit to his farm, located in a region where half the cattle population was wiped out by a foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2022. Of the cows at Laras Ati, 160 were bought by 16 members of the Indonesian Association of Animal Protein Entrepreneurs (APPHI), with no cattle experience, which is why the herd is managed by the co-op. Another 160 bought by APPHI members were moved to the KAN Jabung cooperative in East Java. Achmad Fachmi, head of APPHI, said that businesses are under obligation to adhere to government regulations and policies in their operations. The association represents businesses in cold chain distribution, including meat and dairy products. He added that close discussions were held with the ministry, expressing "our hopes that by running this programme, we will be supported in terms of the licensing process" for their core businesses. Each cow costs the buyers around 45 million rupiah ($2,800), which includes the import price as well as six months' worth of expenses for items including transport, feed, and vaccines. Under the scheme, cattle purchasers and the cooperatives will share revenues, with the buyers expected to recoup their investment in about three-and-a-half years, APPHI figures. Several industry experts expressed scepticism over the structure of the plan as well as the country's readiness to manage a massive influx of cattle. "As an exporter we have responsibilities with animal welfare. The infrastructure there doesn't support all that," said Adam Petty, founder of Dairy Livestock Exports, an Australian exporter of dairy heifers that ships thousands of animals a year, including to Indonesia. Rochadi Tawaf, an adviser with Indonesia's Cattle and Buffalo Breeders Association and a lecturer in animal husbandry at Padjadjaran University, questioned the reliance on inexperienced firms. "If the programme is given to entrepreneurs with no track record of success in the dairy business, it won't produce results," he said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/dairy-duty-indonesia-presses-businesses-find-million-cows-2025-09-08/

2025-09-08 22:45

Labour PM Stoere secures second term in power Stoere will face tough choices on oil investments, wealth fund Right-wing populists score best-ever result OSLO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Norway's minority Labour Party government won a second term in power on Monday while the populist right achieved its best-ever election result, official results showed, in a ballot dominated by concerns over rising living costs and wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Incumbent Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere's Labour and four smaller, left-leaning parties won 87 seats, above the 85 needed for a majority, with 99% of ballots counted. Sign up here. Stoere, 65, will remain heavily reliant on his smaller allies, however, to pass major legislation such as fiscal budgets. To get their backing, he will likely face tough discussions over issues such as tax hikes for the wealthy, future oil exploration, and divestments by Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund from Israeli companies. "Stoere will continue as prime minister, but with a much more difficult parliamentary situation, in which he is dependent on five parties to govern," Jonas Stein, an associate professor in political science at the University of Tromsoe, told Reuters. Despite the left's victory, Monday's ballot showed a shift further to the right among conservative voters, with the populist, anti-immigration Progress Party of Sylvi Listhaug, 47, making its best-ever showing in an election. Progress secured 48 seats in the 169-seat parliament, more than double its allocation from four years ago, as the party's promise of large tax cuts appeared to have resonated with many voters. Listhaug, a onetime firebrand who cites Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher as her role models, campaigned on what she said was wasteful public spending on areas such as international aid and subsidies to green energy. "Young people today are much more right-wing than earlier. I think the Progress Party has won a huge part of the youth vote, especially among young men," said Eirik Loekke, a fellow at Civitas, an Oslo-based liberal think-tank. None of the right-wing parties that won seats, including former Prime Minister Erna Solberg's Conservatives, have sought the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, unlike some of their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. SAFE HANDS Stoere welcomed the results, playing down any shift to the right. "This is a signal to outside Norway that social democracy can also win despite a right-wing wave," he told a jubilant crowd of Labour supporters chanting "four more years". Voter concerns over the conflict in Ukraine and an aggressive Russia, which shares a border with Norway in the Arctic, have given a boost to the left in recent months after former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, 66, joined Stoere's cabinet. Many Norwegians saw the decision as a safeguard in case of a new armed conflict, given Stoltenberg's decade-long tenure - until October of last year - as head of the western military alliance. Some 59% of Norwegians believe a new war in Europe is likely within the next decade, up from 55% last year, according to a survey by the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Also looming large in the final weeks of the election was the war in Gaza, with Stoere's smaller allies calling for Norway's $2 trillion sovereign fund, the world's largest and a major source of the country's wealth, to divest further from Israeli companies. Since June 30, the fund has divested from more than two dozen Israeli companies, following media reports that it had built a stake in a jet engine company that provides maintenance for Israeli fighter jets. Some parties on the left have questioned whether the country is in effect contributing to violations of international law by investing in companies active in the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel denies contravening international rules. Also at stake in the election is the future path of the oil industry in Norway, which replaced Gazprom as Europe's top gas supplier after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Norway's role is set to grow further as the European Union plans to phase out the use of Russian gas by 2027, but some of Stoere's junior allies want to gradually phase out oil exploration, which could limit new gas fields. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-ruling-labour-party-wins-reelection-while-populists-score-gains-2025-09-08/

2025-09-08 22:44

Robinhood, AppLovin jump on S&P 500 inclusion plans EchoStar jumps on spectrum licenses deal with SpaceX Barclays, StanChart revise Fed rate cut projections S&P 500 +0.21%, Nasdaq +0.45%, Dow +0.25% Sept 8 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq notched a record high close on Monday, lifted by a rally in Broadcom, while the S&P 500 also gained as investors bet the Federal Reserve will soon lower borrowing costs to shore up economic growth. Investors expect multiple interest rate cuts this year after a troubling nonfarm payrolls report on Friday added to concerns about a weakening U.S. job market. The report, which had dragged down Wall Street in the previous session, has stoked fears of a potential slowdown in the world's biggest economy. Sign up here. Traders have fully priced in at least a 25 basis point interest rate cut when the Fed wraps up its two-day policy meeting on September 17, with interest rate futures reflecting a 10% chance of a 50 basis point cut, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. "The focus is on next Wednesday's Fed rate cut. The market is greedy. It's already discounted 25 basis points. Now, if people are buying because they expect 50, well, that's not going to happen," warned Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Numerous brokerages have revised calls for Fed interest rate cuts. Barclays now anticipates three cuts of 25 bps each in 2025 compared with two earlier, while Standard Chartered expects a 50-bps trim in September - double its earlier projection. Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab climbed 3.2%, extending its rally since the chipmaker said last Thursday it expects sharp artificial intelligence-related revenue growth. Its market capitalization has reached $1.6 trillion, and it is Wall Street's seventh most valuable company. The S&P 500 climbed 0.21% to end at 6,495.15 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.45% to 21,798.70 points, its highest close ever. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25% to 45,514.95 points. The S&P 500 is up about 10% so far in 2025, and the Nasdaq has climbed about 13%. Six of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led by utilities (.SPLRCU) , opens new tab, down 1.07%. The S&P 500 technology index (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab rose 0.67%. This week, investors will keep a close watch on inflation data and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' benchmark payroll revision for further clues on the U.S. economic health and to see if they could strengthen the case for a bigger rate cut. "The growth scare from the labor market is going to overwhelm even hot inflation because the Fed right now is viewing any tariff-induced inflation as a one-time price increase," said Jeff Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at Clearbridge Investments. Among other stocks, retail trading platform Robinhood Markets (HOOD.O) , opens new tab jumped 16% and marketing platform AppLovin (APP.O) , opens new tab soared 12%, with the two companies set to join the S&P 500, effective September 22. EchoStar (SATS.O) , opens new tab rallied 20% after the telecommunications services firm agreed to sell wireless spectrum licenses to SpaceX for its Starlink satellite network for about $17 billion. Other telecommunications companies fell, with AT&T (T.N) , opens new tab and Verizon (VZ.N) , opens new tab both down more than 2% and T-Mobile (TMUS.O) , opens new tab losing almost 4%. Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) , opens new tab by a 1.0-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 18 new highs and eight new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 136 new highs and 95 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 16.2 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 16.1 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/business/nasdaq-notches-record-high-close-traders-focus-rate-cuts-2025-09-08/

2025-09-08 22:39

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Social platform Discord was down for tens of thousands of users on Monday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. As of 6:19 pm ET, there were 93,800 reports of people facing issues. Sign up here. The company's status page said it is investigating an issue where some guilds are unavailable to some members. "This issue has worsened and is causing widespread availability issues. We are working as quickly as possible to restore traffic," the status page showed. Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary. https://www.reuters.com/technology/discord-down-over-90000-users-us-downdetector-shows-2025-09-08/