2025-08-27 18:15

Aug 27 (Reuters) - KoBold Metals, the mining company backed by U.S. billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has received seven permits to search for lithium and other minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it said on Wednesday. The Central African country signed a deal with KoBold in July, allowing the U.S. miner to initiate a large-scale mineral exploration programme. Sign up here. The agreement also positioned KoBold to acquire Manono, considered one of the world's largest deposits of lithium, which is used in electric vehicle batteries. “Our exploration efforts across all seven new licenses will be focused on lithium," a company official told Reuters. According to data published on the country’s mining registry website, four of the permits are located in Manono territory in Tanganyika province, while three others are located in Malemba Nkulu territory in Haut-Lomami province. The licenses allow for the exploration of around a dozen minerals, including lithium, coltan, and rare earths. The Manono lithium deposit is at the centre of a dispute between the Congolese government and Australia-based AVZ Minerals (3A2.H) , opens new tab over the authorities' failure to grant a mining permit. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kobold-metals-granted-seven-congo-lithium-exploration-permits-2025-08-27/

2025-08-27 18:08

Aug 27 (Reuters) - Folgers coffee maker J.M. Smucker (SJM.N) , opens new tab missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, hurt by a rise in commodity costs as U.S. tariffs weighed. Higher inflation has prompted packaged food companies such as J.M. Smucker and Conagra Brands (CAG.N) , opens new tab to raise product prices in a bid to offset elevated input costs, which have worsened due to tariff-led expenses since the start of the year. Sign up here. The rise in prices has led to weaker product demand for J.M. Smucker, whose shares fell about 7% following the results. The company, which imports green coffee majorly from Brazil and Vietnam, had warned in June that the commodity's heavy exposure to tariffs would hurt its profitability. The Jif peanut butter maker buys about 500 million pounds of green coffee each year and could face the brunt of 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports, which were raised in July from a prior level of 10%. J.M. Smucker's cost of products sold in the three months ended July 31 rose 23% to $1.64 billion, leading a quarterly loss of $43.9 million on a GAAP basis. The company posted adjusted profit of $1.90 per share for the first quarter, missing analysts' average estimate of $1.93 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. It had reported a profit of $185 million a year ago. However, J.M. Smucker raised its annual net sales growth forecast to a range of 3% to 5%, up from a prior view of 2% to 4%. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/jm-smucker-misses-quarterly-profit-estimates-high-coffee-prices-weigh-2025-08-27/

2025-08-27 13:53

Spending on war in Ukraine, high interest rates slowing economy Official forecast was 2.5% for 2025 Russia also cuts forecast for industrial production Russia's key interest rate is at 18% MOSCOW, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Russia sees economic growth in 2025 slowing to 1.5%, far below the earlier 2.5% forecast, as high interest rates imposed to reduce inflation have stifled borrowing, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Russia's war economy grew robustly at 4.1% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024, far faster than G7 countries, despite multiple rounds of Western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but it is slowing sharply this year. Sign up here. Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov warned in June that Russia was on the brink of slipping into recession unless monetary policy changed. Russia's highest military spending since the Cold War has stoked inflation, which prompted the central bank to raise its key interest rate to 21% in October, the highest level since the early years of President Vladimir Putin's rule in 2003. The central bank cut to 20% in June and then to 18% in July, but the economy is still shackled by the cost of credit and labour shortages, according to analysts. Siluanov told Putin that the Economy Ministry now saw growth of at least 1.5% this year. The official forecast for 2025 was 2.5%. "If this year we see rather tough conditions for the implementation of monetary and credit policy, we see that the rate of economic growth will nevertheless be no less than 1.5 percent this year, at least according to the assessment of the Economy Ministry," Siluanov said. "A balanced budget will give more opportunities to the central bank to soften monetary and credit policy, which means that credit resources will be more accessible." Reuters in January reported exclusively that Putin had grown increasingly concerned about distortions in Russia's wartime economy, particularly with a cut to investment by major companies due to high interest rates. GROWTH OR STAGNATION? During Putin's first two terms as president from 2000 to 2008, the size of Russia's economy soared to $1.7 trillion from less than $200 billion in 1999. But Russia's nominal GDP is now just $2.2 trillion, about the same level it was in 2013, the year before Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. "There are a lot of nuances in terms of ensuring economic growth," Putin told Siluanov and other key government ministers. He said there was a constant debate between the government, central bank and experts about the key interest rate and the situation in the economy. First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told Putin that manufacturing industry would grow about 3% - below an earlier forecast of 4.3% - and that industrial production would be about 2% - below an earlier forecast of 2.6%. Russian GDP grew by 1.1% in the second quarter of 2025 compared with 4.0% growth in the same period last year, federal statistics service Rosstat said earlier this month. According to the International Monetary Fund, Russia's economy is now expected to expand by 0.9% this year, compared with its previous view of 1.5% growth. With the economy slowing but Russia still spending vast sums on the war in Ukraine, Moscow will probably have to raise taxes and cut spending. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/russia-slashes-2025-economic-growth-forecast-15-25-2025-08-27/

2025-08-27 13:38

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Wednesday it is likely interest rates can fall at some point but policymakers will need to see what upcoming data indicate about the economy to decide if it's appropriate to make a cut at the September 16-17 meeting. "Every meeting is, from my perspective, live" for a change in the benchmark policy rate, Williams said in a CNBC interview. "Risks are more in balance. We are going to just have to see how the data play out." Sign up here. The Fed will get another jobs report and new information on consumer price inflation before its next meeting, data that could now weigh heavily on a decision to cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point from the current 4.25% to 4.5% range the central bank has kept since December. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the current economic outlook coupled with rising risks to the labor market "may warrant adjusting our policy stance." Powell's language led markets to bet heavily on a September rate cut, though comments by other officials since then, including Williams, a permanent voter on interest rate policy, have leaned more on coming jobs and inflation data to confirm whether a rate cut is appropriate now. Williams said he had no comment about the allegations raised by President Donald Trump against Fed Governor Lisa Cook. But of Cook he said "she has always brought integrity and a commitment to the Federal Reserve's mission." While not directly addressing Trump's attempt to fire her, a matter likely headed to court, he said "the structure of the Federal Reserve is...designed to have independent policymakers who are making decisions that affect the economy over the longer term, away from short-term political pressure. And I think that's really, really important." https://www.reuters.com/business/feds-williams-says-needs-see-how-data-play-out-consider-september-cut-cnbc-2025-08-27/

2025-08-27 12:51

Aug 27 (Reuters) - A unit of U.S. energy company Sempra (SRE.N) , opens new tab will supply 2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas from the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 development project to EQT Corp (EQT.N) , opens new tab for 20 years, the companies said on Wednesday. Commercial activity in the U.S. LNG sector has been increasing rapidly after President Donald Trump lifted a moratorium on new liquefied natural gas export permits soon after taking office in January. Sign up here. Sempra has inked agreements with several companies to supply the superchilled fuel from its Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project. Last week, it agreed to supply ConocoPhillips (COP.N) , opens new tab with 4 mtpa of LNG. The company in July signed a deal with Japan's biggest power generator JERA to supply 1.5 million tonnes of LNG, after Sempra's Port Arthur Phase 2 project in Texas won U.S. approval to export liquefied natural gas to markets in Europe and Asia. Sempra still expects to make a final investment decision on the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project in 2025. LNG companies typically reach an FID on projects once they have secured enough supply deals to obtain the necessary financing for construction. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eqt-buy-lng-sempras-port-arthur-phase-2-project-2025-08-27/

2025-08-27 12:39

European stocks calm after French selloff Investors await pivotal Nvidia earnings after Fed drama Dollar recovers even as Fed independence worries linger LONDON/SINGAPORE, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar recovered on Wednesday even as investors worried about attacks on Federal Reserve independence, while European shares edged higher after a sharp drop the day before, with the focus now turning to earnings from AI leader Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab. Concerns for U.S. Federal Reserve independence swirled as a lawyer for Fed Governor Lisa Cook said she would file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's move to fire her on Monday. Sign up here. Even so, the dollar rebounded from its drop in the previous session and was up 0.3% against a basket of currencies at 1210 GMT. "If you think about near-term policy and the impact, despite thinking that inflation can become unanchored when you have a less independent central bank, Cook has been dovish overall," said Justin Onuekwusi, chief investment officer at St. James's Place. "I think what concerns markets overall is the persistent rhetoric on the Fed that can put the future independence of the central bank into question," said Onuekwusi, adding that markets appeared complacent about the attendant risks to policymaking. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield , which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, hit its lowest since May at 3.645%. But the yield on the 30-year bond , which bore the brunt of Tuesday's selloff, rose 2 basis points to 4.93%. Those moves widened the yield curve measured by the gap between two and 30-year yields further to around 128 bps, nearing its widest since early 2022 . Trump has repeatedly criticised Fed Chair Jerome Powell and policymakers for not cutting interest rates. Market watchers interpreted Powell's comments at the Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium last week as indicating cuts could be on the way. That has led to investors raising their bets on a rate cut next month, with traders pricing in an 84% chance of the Fed moving in September and expecting more than 100 bps of easing by June 2026. "I think investors are focused more on the upcoming payroll print and what that means for a September rate move," said Ben Bennett, APAC investment strategist at Legal and General Investment Management. Europe's STOXX 600 index was trading 0.2% higher after a nearly 1% drop on Tuesday, when French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's gamble to win backing for his deeply unpopular debt-reduction plan backfired. Bayrou's move to call a confidence vote on September 8 has raised the risk that the euro zone's second-largest economy could soon face another government collapse. However, French bonds calmed and stocks rose (.FCHI) , opens new tab following a sharp selloff on Monday and Tuesday. "What is key is whether or not we will be able to have a budget by the end of the year," said AXA chief economist Gilles Moec. For the time being, markets were pricing in a repeat of last year, when the French government ultimately pushed through a budget, but market reaction could change if a new snap election was called, he added. The euro and sterling dropped against a stronger dollar, with the euro falling to $1.1574, its lowest since August 6. NVIDIA U.S. stock futures were trading around 0.1% higher. , The focus is turning to earnings from Nvidia later on Wednesday, which will set the tone for how tech-concentrated U.S. equity indexes, which have reached near record highs, will trade. The company has been at the forefront of a market recovery from April's lows, crossing the $4 trillion market capitalisation mark in July to become the world's most valuable company as investors continued to bet on the global demand for AI infrastructure. Data showed options traders are pricing in about a $260 billion swing in Nvidia's market value after the firm reports earnings, where its business in China will be watched after an unusual profit-sharing deal with the Trump administration. Caught in the crossfire of a Sino-U.S. trade war, the fate of Nvidia's China business hangs on where the world's two largest economies land on tariff talks and chip trade curbs. In Asia, Japan's long-dated government bond yields rose to fresh all-time highs following a weak result in the Bank of Japan's regular debt purchase operations. In commodities, spot gold was 0.5% lower after touching a two-week high in the previous session. Oil prices edged up, with the market on alert for fresh developments in the war in Ukraine and investors weighing hefty new U.S. tariffs on India, the world’s third-biggest crude consumer. Both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up around 20 cents at $67.43 and $63.47 respectively. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-4-2025-08-27/