2025-09-04 07:13
Gold hit record high of $3,578.50/oz on Wednesday US non-farm payrolls data due on Friday Silver eases after hitting its highest since Sept. 2011 Sept 4 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Thursday, as investors booked profits after bullion scaled an all-time peak on rising bets for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut, while investors awaited the key U.S. jobs data on Friday. Spot gold fell 0.6% to $3,538.56 per ounce as of 0637 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery dipped 1.1% to $3,596.20. Sign up here. Bullion hit a record high of $3,578.50 on Wednesday. "We've seen a bit of profit-taking, but gold is still in a bull market at this point in time. Rate-cut expectations and worries over the Federal Reserve's independence are going to add to safe-haven demand," GoldSilver Central MD Brian Lan said. The U.S. Labor Department said on Wednesday that job openings fell more than expected to 7.181 million in July. Several Fed officials said labour market concerns continue to mirror their beliefs that rate cuts are imminent. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he thinks the central bank should lower rates at its next meeting this month. The focus now shifts to the U.S. non-farm payrolls data that could offer more clarity on the Fed's monetary policy path. Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment. "Should private investors diversify more heavily into gold, we see potential upside to gold prices to well above our $4,000 mid-2026 baseline. As a result, gold remains our highest-conviction long recommendation," Goldman Sachs said. Adding to market jitters, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. might have to "unwind" trade deals it has reached with the European Union, Japan, South Korea and others, if it loses a Supreme Court case over tariffs. Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.8% to $40.85 per ounce, after hitting its highest since September 2011 on Wednesday. Platinum slipped 1% to $1,407.10 and palladium shed 0.8% to $1,138.11. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-slips-record-high-profit-taking-key-us-data-eyed-2025-09-04/
2025-09-04 07:08
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The South African rand was steady in early trade on Thursday, as investors focused on U.S. jobs data due this week. At 0628 GMT, the rand traded at 17.7025 against the dollar , about 0.2% weaker than Wednesday's close. Sign up here. Analysts say the commodity-backed currency has not performed well recently, as it has remained range-bound even after gold prices hit an all-time peak. Like other major producers of precious metals, South Africa often benefits from higher gold prices. The U.S. dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies as investors awaited U.S. non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. With the Fed focused on the labour market, the report will set the tone for the near-term rate outlook after data on Wednesday showed job openings fell to a 10-month low in July, although layoffs remained relatively low. Traders will also continue to assess a court ruling that found most of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal. "This development means that the USD will remain constrained and the ZAR will remain resilient through the foreseeable future," said ETM Analytics in a research note. "The USD is losing its safe-haven appeal because of the level of uncertainty the Trump administration's tariff policies have exerted on global trade," the note said. South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond was flat in early deals, with the yield at 9.645%, the same level as its previous close. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-african-rand-steady-focus-us-jobs-data-2025-09-04/
2025-09-04 07:05
Sugar sector supports 300,000 jobs Farmers struggling with cheap imports, low global prices Trump's 30% tariff on South African goods weighs on exports KWADUKUZA, South Africa, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Nkosinathi Msweli's sugar cane farm in KwaDukuza - a rural, largely poor region on South Africa's eastern coast - has for three decades been a solid, albeit small, economic success story, employing eight full-time staff and 30 seasonal workers. But cheap sugar imports were already eating into his earnings when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a steep tariff on South African imports, creating what Msweli called a "double whammy" that now leaves the 53-year-old facing tough choices. Sign up here. "All in all, I will have to cut about 20 workers from this current season," he told Reuters, as he watched his labourers chop cane from soot-blanketed fields. "The person that is here in the field maybe has 10 lives that he's supporting." South Africa's sugar industry, valued at around 25 billion rand ($1.42 billion), directly and indirectly supports over 300,000 jobs in a country with one of the world's highest rates of unemployment. And in a nation where agricultural land ownership is still dominated by a white minority - a legacy of South Africa's apartheid past - its nearly 26,000 small farmers, who work alongside 1,100 large-scale growers, are predominantly Black. A combination of market factors and politics, however, is exposing the sector to growing headwinds. South African farmers are struggling to compete with cheap imports, including from neighbouring Eswatini, which benefits from preferential access under a regional customs treaty. Depressed global prices resulting from large harvests in major producers like India and Brazil have, meanwhile, added to the pain. And Trump's 30% tariff on imports from South Africa is set to deal a blow to exports. South Africa had previously benefited from a duty-free quota for 24,000 metric tons of sugar exports to the U.S. market under Washington's flagship trade initiative for the continent, the African Growth and Opportunities Act. While accounting for a relatively small 5% of total sugar exports, the South African Cane Growers' Association said the U.S. has served as a premium market that offered high prices, helping to sustain domestic jobs. The scale of potential job losses remains unclear. But the industry association is urging the government to secure a trade deal with Washington that would safeguard exports to the United States. "If we don't have good trade relationships with the U.S., it's going to be detrimental, not just to our sector, but to many others as well," said Pratish Sharma, a member of the association's board. Any deal, if it comes, will likely be too late for this season, however. And as Msweli calculates the costs, he knows there's suffering on the horizon. "All this is going to cause starvation and hunger," he said. ($1 = 17.5632 rand) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/south-africas-sugar-farmers-face-double-whammy-trump-tariffs-cheap-imports-2025-09-04/
2025-09-04 06:55
OPEC+ to consider raising oil production further, sources say OPEC+ meeting set for Sunday US crude stocks rose last week, sources say Sept 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices declined by 1% on Thursday, extending the more than 2% decline of the previous session, as investors and traders looked ahead to a weekend meeting of OPEC+ where producers are expected to consider another increase in output targets. Brent crude fell 62 cents, or 1%, to $66.96 a barrel by 0641 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 64 cents, or 1%, to $63.33 a barrel. Sign up here. Eight members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies - known together as OPEC+ - will consider further increases to production in October at a meeting on Sunday, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters, as the group seeks to regain market share. "The market seems to be absorbing the supply increases relatively well during 3Q high season, but the test for oil prices will be potential inventory build-ups during the winter months," said Suvro Sarkar, DBS Bank energy sector team leader. "We do not see too many positive drivers at this point, assuming geopolitical issues stay contained. Support for oil prices could diminish hereon," he added, expecting Brent prices to trade closer to $60-$65 per barrel in the near to medium term. OPEC+ had already agreed to raise output targets by about 2.2 million barrels per day from April to September, in addition to a 300,000 bpd quota increase for the United Arab Emirates. Over the past few months, despite the accelerating production increases, Middle Eastern oil prices have remained the strongest regional prices globally. This has bolstered the confidence of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members to boost output, according to a Haitong Securities' report. Weighing further on prices were some shaky U.S. macroeconomic data overnight that cast doubts on the strength of demand in the world's biggest oil consumer, some analysts said. Weak price drivers for oil include "weak labour market conditions in the U.S.... most of the decline in July's job openings came from the acyclical parts of the job market, such as healthcare, which has been a major driver of job growth in 2025," said OANDA senior market analyst Kelvin Wong. Markets are also awaiting government data on U.S. crude stockpiles due on Thursday, a day later than usual because of a U.S. holiday on Monday. U.S. crude stocks rose by 622,000 barrels in the week ended August 29, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Wednesday. The API estimate for a U.S. build in crude stocks went against analysts polled by Reuters who estimated, on average, that U.S. crude inventories fell by 2 million barrels. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-extends-losses-by-1-opec-consider-another-output-hike-2025-09-04/
2025-09-04 06:44
Exact death toll not available, Taliban administration says About 84,000 affected, thousands displaced, says aid agency Funding cuts, Taliban policies worsen aid situation KABUL/MAZAR DARA, Afghanistan, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Rescue workers battled to pull bodies from the rubble of homes razed in Afghanistan's earthquakes this week, as time runs out for survivors, who face a bleak future with global aid agencies warning of dwindling funds for food, shelter and medicines. Search operations ran late into Wednesday in the quake-hit mountainous eastern areas as more bodies were dug out, the Taliban administration said, adding that the death toll had crossed 1,457 but exact numbers had yet to be compiled. Sign up here. "Everything we had has been destroyed," said Aalem Jan, a survivor in the worst affected province of Kunar. "Our house collapsed, and all our belongings and possessions were lost. The only remaining things are these clothes on our backs." The first earthquake of magnitude 6, one of Afghanistan's deadliest in recent years, unleashed widespread damage and destruction in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar on Sunday, when it struck at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles). A second quake of magnitude 5.5 on Tuesday caused panic and interrupted rescue efforts as it sent rocks sliding down mountains and cut off roads to villages in remote areas. About 3,400 more have been injured and more than 6,700 homes have been destroyed, authorities have said. The United Nations has warned the toll could rise with people still trapped under rubble as time runs out for survivors. Humanitarian needs are "vast and growing rapidly", said aid group the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). "Up to 84,000 people are directly and indirectly affected, with thousands displaced," it added, citing initial figures. Entire households were wiped out in some villages in Kunar province. Survivors desperately searching for family members sifted rubble, carried bodies on woven stretchers and dug graves with pickaxes in the wait for aid to arrive. Visuals from Reuters TV showed trucks, some laden with sacks of flour and others men with shovels, travelling to remote villages on higher slopes. Authorities also airdropped dozens of commando forces at sites where helicopters could not land. Resources for rescue and relief work are tight in the South Asian nation of 42 million people pulverised by war, poverty and shrinking aid, where harsh weather presents a further challenge. U.S. President Donald Trump's funding cuts to foreign aid and donor frustration over the Taliban's restrictive policies towards women and its curbs on aid workers have worsened Afghanistan's isolation. The World Health Organisation pointed to a funding gap of $3 million, saying it was critical to keep medicines, trauma kits, and essential commodities flowing amid rising demand. The U.N. World Food Programme has funding and stocks to support the survivors for just four more weeks, its country head, John Aylieff, told Reuters on Wednesday. Jacopo Caridi, his counterpart at the Norwegian Refugee Council, called for donors to step up for the long haul, going beyond life-saving relief to ensure Afghans a chance at a future beyond perpetual emergency. "The earthquake should serve as a stark reminder: Afghanistan cannot be left to face one crisis after another alone," he added. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/afghanistan-earthquake-death-toll-rises-survivors-face-aid-crunch-2025-09-04/
2025-09-04 06:17
BEIJING, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Chinese lithium producer Qinghai Salt Lake (000792.SZ) , opens new tab said on Thursday that compliance investigations in Qinghai province into mining licences for the metal used in making electric vehicle batteries are part of a new trend of stricter supervision in the sector. The investigations into mining licenses are part of a harder line being taken by regulators, Qinghai Salt Lake said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, in response to investor questions about the subject. Sign up here. Qinghai Salt Lake said its own mining business is "fully compliant, and production and operation are stable." In July, local officials ordered Zangge Mining (000408.SZ) , opens new tab to shut a mining unit in Qinghai province for "non-compliance". And in August, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) (300750.SZ) , opens new tab said it shut a unit in Jiangxi province because of an expired licence. While provincial officials have provided few details about the sudden crackdown, it coincides with a broader campaign against overcapacity in Chinese industry that was initiated in early July by President Xi Jinping. The prospect of lower mining output triggered a huge rally in lithium prices in August. Prices have since retreated, however, after a miner secured a license in the lithium hub of Yichun in Jiangxi province last week, easing fears that more production would be suspended. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinese-lithium-miner-says-industry-under-stricter-supervision-2025-09-04/
