2025-07-18 19:18

US stocks edge into the red after Friday's crop of US economic data Wall Street had hit records after solid data on Thursday Oil up as investors weigh impact of fresh EU sanction on Russia Alphabet, Tesla among companies to report earnings next week NEW YORK/LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - U.S. equities were slightly lower on Friday, a day after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq scored record closes, as investors looked ahead to corporate earnings and monitored the latest U.S. tariff threats as they digested economic data, while the dollar weakened and U.S. Treasury yields fell. U.S. consumer sentiment improved in July and inflation expectations declined, but households still saw substantial risk of price pressures increasing in the future, the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers released on Friday showed. Sign up here. Another report showed U.S. single-family homebuilding dropped to an 11-month low in June as high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty hampered home purchases, suggesting residential investment contracted again in the second quarter. On Thursday, news of stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales and jobless claims data suggested modest improvements in economic activity, helping to push equities higher. On Friday, the mood dimmed after the Financial Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a minimum tariff of 15% to 20% in any deal with the European Union, was unmoved by the latest EU offer to reduce car tariffs, and would keep duties there at 25% as planned. "Tariff headlines this afternoon reminded investors that volatility is likely to persist through the start of August." said Lindsey Bell, Chief Investment Strategist at 248 Ventures. "Investors may be taking some money off the table going into the weekend given lingering tariff uncertainty and a market that has a premium valuation after reaching new highs." She noted that these concerns were on display in shares of American Express (AXP.N) , opens new tab and Netflix (NFLX.O) , opens new tab, which both fell after solid earnings reports and forecasts as both companies had extended valuations ahead of the results. Still, many investors had high hopes for upcoming earnings and were making bullish bets ahead of July equity option expirations, said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. "Today's action is all about option expiration as investors make bets on the meat of earnings season, which comes in the next few weeks when all the growth and technology companies report," said Zaro, noting that beyond earnings, investors want to benefit from a strong performance trend in megacap names. "There's a fear of missing out." On Wall Street at 02:32 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 218.65 points, or 0.49%, to 44,265.84, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab fell 5.42 points, or 0.09%, to 6,291.94 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab rose 1.58 points, or 0.01%, to 20,887.80. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab rose 0.74 points, or 0.08%, to 927.03. Earlier, Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index closed down 0.01%, and was off 0.06% for the week. In currencies, the U.S. dollar slipped on the day but was still angling for a weekly gain, as investors weighed signs that tariffs may be starting to fuel inflation pressures and monitored Federal Reserve policy as Trump increases pressure on Chair Jerome Powell. The euro pared some gains after the FT report on a toughening U.S. stance on European import tariffs. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.04% to 98.47. The euro was up 0.24% at $1.1623 versus a $1.1671 high for the session so far. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar strengthened 0.1% to 148.75 as polls showed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition was in danger of losing its majority in an election on Sunday. U.S. Treasuries prices rose, dragging their yields lower, after comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller pushed for a rate cut later this month, while technical buying also contributed to the move higher. In contrast, most officials who have spoken publicly have indicated a desire to hold rates steady and traders are betting on a 95.3% probability that rates will stay where they are after the month-end meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch , opens new tab tool. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 3.7 basis points to 4.426%, from 4.463% late on Thursday while the 30-year bond yield fell 1.9 basis points to 4.9947% from 5.014%. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 4.6 basis points to 3.871%, from 3.917% late on Thursday. In commodities, crude oil futures held steady as mixed U.S. economic news offset worries the European Union's latest for its war in Ukraine could reduce oil supplies. U.S. crude settled down 0.3%, or 20 cents at $67.34 a barrel while Brent ended at $69.28 per barrel, down 0.35% or 24 cents on the day. Gold prices rose on Friday as a weaker U.S. dollar and ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, while platinum prices eased after reaching their highest level since 2014. Spot gold rose 0.41% to $3,352.13 an ounce and spot. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-6-pix-2025-07-18/

2025-07-18 19:15

Argent LNG, Baker Hughes, Hunt Energy form coalition for Syria energy masterplan Masterplan includes oil, gas exploration and power generation Syria's energy infrastructure needs billions in investment Focus on areas west of Euphrates under Syrian government control DAMASCUS, July 18 (Reuters) - U.S.-based firms Baker Hughes (BKR.O) , opens new tab, Hunt Energy and Argent LNG will develop a masterplan for Syria's oil, gas and power sector, Argent LNG CEO Jonathan Bass said on Friday, in a partnership aimed at rebuilding energy infrastructure shattered by 14 years of civil war. The move marks a swift turnaround as U.S. companies enter a country previously under one of the world's tightest sanctions regimes that U.S. President Donald Trump lifted at the end of June. Sign up here. The companies plan to help explore and extract oil and gas and produce power to help get the economy running as the government seeks to put Syria back on the map. The plan comes after a dash by other companies, many from Gulf Arab states, to sign deals to bolster Syria's power generation and ports infrastructure. Details of the plan have not been previously reported. "We are initiating the development of a comprehensive masterplan for energy and power generation in Syria, based on a preliminary assessment of opportunities for near-term improvements in generation capacity and service delivery," Bass told Reuters via phone. "Our efforts aim to support the revitalization of the energy sector in coordination with relevant stakeholders,” he added. "This includes potential activities across the value chain—from exploration and production to electricity generation, including combined-cycle power plants," he said, declining to elaborate further. Argent LNG, which is developing a liquefied natural gas export facility in Louisiana, in January signed a non-binding agreement to supply Bangladesh up to 5 million metric tons of the fuel annually, the first major U.S. LNG supply deal since Trump began his second term. Reuters received no immediate response to emailed questions to global energy services provider Baker Hughes, while Texas-based oil and gas company Hunt Energy declined comment. The plan is to begin with areas west of the Euphrates River, under control of the Syrian government. Syria's east, where much of its oil is produced, remains controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led armed group that Washington has urged to integrate with the new authorities in Damascus following the ouster of former Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad. After 14 years of war, Syria's electricity sector is severely damaged, generating only 1.6 gigawatts of electricity, down from 9.5 GW before 2011. Billions of dollars of investment are needed to fix the sector, so the cash-strapped state is looking at private investment or donors to foot the bill. In May, Syria signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar's UCC Holding to develop $7 billion worth of power generation projects, including four combined-cycle gas turbine power plants and a 1,000-MW solar power plant in southern Syria. 'GROWING INTEREST' In a post on LinkedIn on Thursday, Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh said the three U.S.-based companies were forming a coalition to invest in Syria and develop the country's energy sector. "This visit signals a growing interest among American companies and investors in engaging with Syria," he said. Bass, Hunt Energy CEO Hunter L. Hunt, and a senior executive at Baker Hughes arrived in Syria on a private jet on Wednesday morning and were meeting with Barnieh when Israel conducted a series of airstrikes on Damascus that shook the city, Bass said. "It was big," said Bass, who has been working on the energy project since visiting Damascus and meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in April. He was part of both state-led and informal efforts to lobby Trump to meet with Sharaa. The landmark meeting took place in mid-May with a big push from the leaders of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Trump announced the end of Syria sanctions. As they are slowly phased out, investor interest in Syria has grown. A week of violence in the southern province of Sweida, however, has darkened the mood in the country and left at least 321 people dead, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, a human rights group. "To work in Syria, there are potholes, there are ditches, it has craters," said Bass. "If you don't have the team that's willing to accept craters, don't come." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-firms-develop-syria-energy-masterplan-after-trump-lifts-sanctions-2025-07-18/

2025-07-18 18:57

Waller in favor of immediate rate cut due to economic slowdown concerns Trump has demanded huge reduction in rates, criticized Fed chief Powell's leadership G20 finance leaders' communique emphasizes importance of central bank independence WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller, an advocate for an immediate interest rate cut, said on Friday he would accept the job as head of the U.S. central bank if asked by President Donald Trump, but so far Trump has not contacted him about it. "In 2019 the president contacted me and said, 'Would you serve?' And I said yes," Waller told Bloomberg Television, referring to Trump's appointment of him to the Fed's Board of Governors. "If the president contacted me and said, 'I want you to serve,' I would do it. But he has not contacted me." Sign up here. Trump has launched a barrage of nearly daily criticism at Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the central bank's reluctance to cut rates due to concern the administration's trade and tariff policies will increase inflation. Waller favors a rate cut at the Fed's upcoming July 29-30 meeting because he feels the tariffs are likely to have a limited impact on inflation, and he is concerned the economy and private-sector hiring are starting to slow. Though the unemployment rate is low, Waller said underlying data "are not indicating a super healthy private-sector labor market," and the Fed should "get ahead" of a possible hiring slowdown. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady in the 4.25%-4.50% range at its upcoming meeting. Only Waller and another Trump appointee, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, favor a cut that soon, though eight of their colleagues have indicated a reduction in the policy rate could happen in September. Waller, who has said explicitly that his rate stance is "not political," has been credited by economists for making a cogent case for lower rates, even as administration officials have tried to amplify pressure on Powell over cost overruns in a renovation of the Fed's headquarters in Washington. Trump, who feels rates should be slashed to levels more aligned with a recession, has repeatedly said Powell should resign. Powell has vowed to remain Fed chief until his term expires in May. Waller "is not talking about cost overruns on the Eccles Building or lowering the cost of government finance or 'regime change,' but he is talking about the shifting balance of risks in the economy," Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research, wrote in an analysis that argued appointing Waller to succeed Powell was "the most obvious way" for Trump to boost his impact at the Fed. CASTING CALL As a sitting Fed governor, Waller would have an immediate vote and voice on policy if tapped to succeed Powell. Others mentioned as possible nominees include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, and Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor and perennial critic of the central bank since leaving its Board of Governors in 2011. In an extended television interview this week, Warsh said the Fed needed "regime change." As it stands, Bessent, Hassett or Warsh could not join the central bank's seven-member board until Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's seat expires in February. Bessent said this week a "formal process" was underway to choose a successor to Powell, who was elevated from governor to the Fed's top job by Trump in 2018 but quickly fell out with the president in a similar dispute over interest rates. While Waller, a former economics professor and research director at the St. Louis Fed, acknowledges that cutting rates in September rather than in two weeks wouldn't matter much to the economic outcome, the Fed's reluctance to reduce rates has stoked Trump's anger since he returned to office in January. The president seemed ready to try to fire Powell earlier this week. Though his ability to do so is legally doubtful, the lingering threat of a move against the Fed chief has made the economic logic for or against a rate cut seemingly secondary to the debate about the implications of Trump's actions for the Fed's independence in setting monetary policy. Central banks' ability to focus on inflation in setting rates and not, for example, to help finance government spending, as Trump says he wants, is widely accepted as a staple of sound economic management and the best way to keep inflation in check. Finance leaders from the Group of 20 countries, including a representative from the U.S. Treasury, issued on Friday a final communique stressing the importance of central bank independence following a two-day meeting in Durban, South Africa. "Central banks are strongly committed to ensuring price stability, consistent with their respective mandates, and will continue to adjust their policies in a data-dependent manner. Central bank independence is crucial to achieving this goal," the communique said. Key Republican members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, which would have to confirm a new Fed chief or governor, also emphasized the point this week. Powell has made building strong ties in Congress a key aspect of his tenure as Fed chief. "It really is best for the economic conditions in our country that the markets understand that the Fed really is independent. And I think that will pay dividends for the administration," Republican Senator Mike Rounds told reporters this week. "I personally have a good working relationship with the chairman. I'm going to continue to have that. And I respect the independence that he is trying to maintain." https://www.reuters.com/business/waller-says-hes-willing-to-lead-fed-if-trump-asks-no-contact-so-far-2025-07-18/

2025-07-18 18:52

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. government sided with Argentina's effort to put on temporary hold a court order that it turn over its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF (YPFDm.BA) , opens new tab to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion judgment won by two investors. In a filing late Thursday night, the government told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the public interest supports resolving the dispute on the merits, "free from the rushed compulsion of an unstayed turnover order and any negative effects it may have on U.S. foreign relations with Argentina." Sign up here. The investors, Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management, separately urged the Manhattan-based appeals court to reject a stay of U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska's June 30 turnover order while Argentina appeals. They said the appeal would likely fail, and Argentina's "strategy of delay and obstruction" against collecting the $16.1 billion judgment, which the country is also appealing, justified the turnover. The investors nonetheless said if the appeals court is not inclined simply to deny a stay, it should return the case to Preska to let Argentina propose alternative collateral or set conditions to avoid "irreversible outcomes" during its appeal. "Plaintiffs have no interest in having the shares become unrecoverable in the (unlikely) event Argentina prevails on appeal, and no interest in running an oil company, and so would accept reasonable conditions to ensure the share transfer can be easily unwound if necessary," the investors' lawyers said. Representatives for Argentina had no immediate comment outside business hours. Argentina has said it would suffer irreparable harm and its economy could be destabilized if it gave up its stake in YPF, the country's largest energy company. It has until July 22 to respond to the investors' filing. Petersen and Eton Park are represented by litigation funder Burford Capital (BURF.L) , opens new tab, which has said it expected to receive 35% and 73% of their respective damages. The litigation arose from Argentina's 2012 decision to seize the YPF stake from Spain's Repsol (REP.MC) , opens new tab without making a tender offer to minority shareholders. Preska awarded the $16.1 billion judgment in September 2023. The U.S. government expressed its position in a proposed friend-of-the-court brief, which mirrored a position it first took last November during the Biden administration. It said Petersen and Eton Park opposed its motion to file the brief. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-sides-with-argentina-ypf-dispute-investors-suggest-alternative-collateral-2025-07-18/

2025-07-18 18:18

US dollar down 0.3% Indonesia still negotiating details on trade deals Bullion falls over 1% in previous session July 18 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Friday as a weaker U.S. dollar and ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, while platinum prices eased after reaching their highest level since 2014. Spot gold rose 0.4% to $3,351.18 per ounce, as of 0153 p.m. EDT (1753 GMT), after falling 1.1% in the previous session. Sign up here. U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% higher at $3,358.3. "In the precious metals space, there are gains across the board, courtesy of a weaker dollar," said Marex analyst Edward Meir. The dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab was down 0.3%, making gold cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. "Concerns around growth in U.S. debt and further tariff updates are likely to keep gold in focus, and for now the floor looks well supported," said Suki Cooper, Precious Metals Analyst, Global Research at Standard Chartered Bank. On the tariff front, Indonesia is still working out the details of its new trade deal with the U.S., while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Japan's Prime Minister a "good agreement" is possible. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not planning to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell but left the option open and again criticized him for not cutting interest rates. Market participants are anticipating two U.S. rate cuts by the end of this year, totalling 50 basis points. Gold thrives during economic uncertainty, and lower interest rates boost investor demand as it is a non-yielding asset. Spot platinum fell 2% to $1,428.65 per ounce, after hitting its highest since August 2014 earlier in the day. "We expect an easing in Chinese physical investor and jewellery demand to lead to a pull-back in the price of platinum in Q3 2025," said David Wilson, Senior Commodities Strategist, BNP Paribas Markets 360. Palladium dropped 1.6% to $1,259.09, while silver gained 0.3% to $38.23. Despite long-term concerns from electric vehicle growth and recycled supply, sentiment on palladium in China is positive, with catalyst loadings likely to rise ahead of China 7 emissions legislation from 2028, said Dr. Jonathan Butler, Head of Business Development & Strategy at Mitsubishi Corp. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/safe-haven-gold-gains-global-uncertainty-weaker-dollar-2025-07-18/

2025-07-18 17:59

July 18 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) , opens new tab has agreed to sell its U.S. onshore wind business to U.S.-based LS Power, as part of its ongoing divestment strategy, the energy major said on Friday, without disclosing a deal value. bp Wind Energy will be owned and operated under power and energy-focused investment and operating company LS Power's Clearlight Energy. Sign up here. BP has come under criticism from investors for its underperformance in recent months, leading to a strategy revamp with promises to cut debt, increase cash flow and a major pivot back to oil and gas after an ill-fated foray into renewables. The company is targeting $3 billion to $4 billion in disposals by the end of this year. It has pledged to divest $20 billion worth of assets by 2027 under CEO Murray Auchincloss' plans. "The absence of consideration in the press release is unusual given the potential size of the transaction," HSBC analyst Kim Fustier said. "This may suggest that the portfolio could be worth less than typical multiples for onshore wind assets," Fustier said, adding that another disposal will likely be needed to reach the disposal target this year. BP struck a deal with Apollo Global Management (APO.N) , opens new tab in March to sell its stake in a firm invested in the TANAP gas pipeline linking Azerbaijan and Turkey for $1 billion. The deal comprises 10 operating wind assets with a combined gross generating capacity of 1.7 gigawatts, BP said. The acquisition will increase Clearlight Energy’s operating fleet to about 4,300 megawatts, LS Power said. Shares of the London-listed company were up 1.9%, with other energy companies also tracking a rise in oil prices. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/bp-sell-us-onshore-wind-business-ls-power-undisclosed-sum-2025-07-18/