2025-07-17 00:28
Analysts expect medium-term price drop due to tariff uncertainty Middle East tensions add volatility to oil market Tight crude, product inventories support market LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday, even as global trade tensions appeared to cool, with analysts pointing to low inventories and renewed Middle East risks as factors supporting the market. Brent crude futures were up 31 cents, or around 0.5%, to $68.83 a barrel at 1203 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 61 cents, or 0.9%, at $66.99. Sign up here. U.S. President Donald Trump has said letters notifying smaller countries of their U.S. tariff rates would go out soon, and has also alluded to prospects of a deal with Beijing on illicit drugs and a possible agreement with the European Union. "Near-term prices (are) set to remain volatile due to the uncertainty over the final scale of U.S. tariffs and the resultant impact on global growth," said Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum, adding that prices would likely settle lower in the medium term. The oil market on Thursday was also reacting to a tightened inventory scenario, said John Evans, analyst at PVM Oil Associates. Last week, the International Energy Agency said that oil output increases were not leading to higher inventories, which showed markets were thirsty for more oil. "Oil thinking has been distracted from the Middle East, and the reminders of Israel's attacks into Syria and the drone attacks on oil infrastructure in Kurdistan are timely and once again add a little fizz to proceedings," Evans said. Drone attacks on oilfields in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region have slashed crude output by up to 150,000 barrels per day, two energy officials said on Wednesday, as infrastructure damage forced multiple shutdowns. "For now, oil market indicators continue to suggest the physical market remains tight. But ongoing trade tensions could weigh on oil demand growth prospects and pose downside risks to prices," said UBS commodities analyst Giovanni Staunovo. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-gain-geopolitical-risks-inventory-worries-2025-07-17/
2025-07-17 00:25
SAO PAULO, July 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate on Wednesday approved in a first vote a constitutional amendment to change how the government accounts for court-ordered debt payments starting in 2027, potentially helping it meet fiscal target once considered unattainable. Under the approved text, these payments - the result of court rulings against the government - must be gradually included in the fiscal target calculation each year from 2027 onward, starting with at least 10% of the estimated total. Sign up here. Senators approved the main text in the initial vote on Tuesday evening, with a second round still required before it could become law, as the measure was already cleared by the lower house. However, Senate President Davi Alcolumbre said the final vote will only take place after Congress returns from recess, which starts later this week and will last through the end of July. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-senate-approves-main-text-new-rules-court-ordered-debt-first-vote-2025-07-17/
2025-07-16 23:39
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - The United States is very close to a trade deal with India, while an agreement could possibly be reached with Europe as well, but it is too soon to say whether a deal can be agreed with Canada, President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Real America's Voice on Wednesday. To press for what Trump views as better terms with trading partners and ways to shrink a huge U.S. trade deficit, his administration has been negotiating trade deals ahead of an August 1 deadline, when duties on most U.S. imports are due to rise again. Sign up here. "We're very close to India, and ... we could possibly make a deal with (the) EU," Trump said, when asked which trade deals were on the horizon. Trump's comments come as EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic was headed to Washington on Wednesday for tariff discussions, while an Indian trade delegation arrived in Washington on Monday for fresh talks. "(The) European Union has been brutal, and now they're being very nice. They want to make a deal, and it'll be a lot different than the deal that we've had for years," he added. Asked about the prospects of a deal with Canada, which like the EU, is readying countermeasures if talks with the U.S. fail to produce a deal, Trump said: "Too soon to say." His comment was in line with the assessment of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said earlier on Wednesday that a deal that works for Canadian workers was not yet on the table. Trump also said he would probably put a blanket 10% or 15% tariff on smaller countries. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-india-trade-agreement-is-close-europe-deal-possible-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 23:38
July 17 (Reuters) - Australia's Santos (STO.AX) , opens new tab on Thursday narrowed its full-year forecast for output to reflect flood-related operational disruptions at Cooper Basin, one of its key producing regions, while it posted a 2.1% fall in second-quarter sales revenue. The country's second-largest gas producer — which is also the target of an $18.7 billion takeover bid led by Abu Dhabi's national oil company — now expects to produce 90-95 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in 2025, compared with its previous projection of 90-97 mmboe. Sign up here. In May, more than 200 wells in the Cooper Basin were "underwater" due to flooding in South Australia, which resulted in a 15% decline in output, according to the firm's chief. Santos reported sales revenue of $1.29 billion for the three months ended June 30, compared with $1.31 billion a year earlier and the Visible Alpha estimate of $1.23 billion. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-santos-narrows-2025-production-forecast-cooper-basin-floods-weigh-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 22:57
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he would love for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to resign but acknowledged that many have said it would disrupt the markets if the president were to remove him. Trump made the comments in an interview with the Real America's Voice network aired on Wednesday. Sign up here. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Trump has criticized Powell on an almost daily basis in recent days for being "too late" to cut interest rates. The White House and some Republicans have recently expressed criticism of cost overruns in a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed's historic headquarters in Washington. The criticism has confirmed the view that the Trump administration is actively exploring those costs as a possible avenue to try to fire the Fed chief well before his term as chair ends in May 2026. There has been no evidence of fraud, and the Fed has pushed back on criticism of its handling of the project. KEY QUOTES "I'd love if he wants to resign, that would be up to him. They say it would disrupt the market if I did," Trump said in the interview in which he later reiterated criticism related to the costs of the renovation of the Fed's headquarters. A Fed spokesperson had earlier pointed to Powell's repeated statements that he has no intention of resigning and would not if asked to do so. CONTEXT Powell, who was nominated by Trump in late 2017 to lead the Fed and then nominated for a second term by then-President Joe Biden four years later, has said he intends to serve out his term as Fed chief, which ends on May 15. Trump said earlier on Wednesday he is not planning to fire Powell. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-would-love-fed-chair-powell-resign-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 22:34
MEXICO CITY, July 16 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico and Central America unit (WALMEX.MX) , opens new tab reported a 10% decrease in its second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, below analysts' forecasts, citing a slower-than-anticipated recovery in consumer spending even as its sales rose 8%. Net profit was 11.23 billion pesos ($598 million) in the three months through June, below the nearly 13-billion-peso forecast of analysts polled by LSEG, while revenues rose 8% year-on-year to reach 246.25 billion pesos - slightly above analysts' estimate of 246.07 billion pesos. Sign up here. "We are starting to see a gradual pickup in sales. However, the recovery has been slower than expected with consumer confidence having mixed results in the quarter and with uncertainty still present," Walmex Chief Executive Officer Ignacio Caride said in a presentation of the results. "I am happy about the progress of our strategy even though I'm not happy with our current results," Caride said. Analysts had predicted a strong quarter for retailers, boosted by the annual Hot Sale promotional period, which began later in May this year and came after many workers received annual profit-sharing bonus payments, boosting spending power. Walmex is Mexico's largest retailer and operates Walmart and Sam's Club stores in the country as well as the low-cost supermarket chain Bodega Aurrera. During the quarter, it opened 25 new stores, mostly in Mexico. Walmex said sales growth was led by Bodega Aurrera and Sam's Club, whose "value proposition remains very relevant to our customers during these complicated times." It added that the company's own brands improved customer perception of its prices, and shoppers also embraced a campaign featuring Lilo & Stitch products, ahead of a live-action movie that released in Mexico toward the end of May. The company reiterated its forecast of 6% to 7% growth in consolidated revenue for 2025, and said it expected a gradual increase in growth in the second half of this year. "We are seeing a slower-than-expected consumption recovery, but we don't see any fundamental change in what we forecasted for the full year," Walmex's management said in a statement. ($1 = 18.7654 Mexican pesos at end-June) https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/walmarts-mexico-unit-posts-10-dip-q2-profit-even-sales-rise-2025-07-16/
