2025-05-30 06:17

May 30 (Reuters) - British energy regulator Ofgem on Friday said three gas operators have agreed to pay a combined 8 million pounds ($10.78 million) for failing to meet emergency response targets within required timescales. Cadent Gas Limited, Scotland Gas Networks Plc (SGN Scotland) and Southern Gas Networks Plc (SGN Southern) will make the payment to the regulator's Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund, which funds projects to support energy consumers. Sign up here. ($1 = 0.7422 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/three-uk-gas-operators-pay-108-million-over-emergency-response-failures-2025-05-30/

2025-05-30 06:16

Woodside's project could emit 4.3 billion tons of carbon Australia sees gas as transitional fuel Extension 'slap in the face' for Pacific nations, Vanuatu says SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - Australia's approval of a 40-year extension for a huge gas project has overshadowed its bid to host a United Nations climate summit next year and tarnishes its green credentials, experts and two Pacific climate ministers said. This week's decision by the centre-left government, which took power in 2022 with a mandate for climate reform, clears Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf project to run until 2070, subject to a final review. Sign up here. The step was hailed by the company and the energy industry, which see continued operation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants as a cleaner alternative to fuels such as coal. But it was criticised by climate ministers from Tuvalu and Vanuatu, who say the project's emissions could put at risk their nations' very existence, as well as by climate scientists worried about Australia's role in global emissions. "It’s just a staggering number of extra emissions," said Malte Meinshausen, a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne. Woodside estimates the extension will pump out a further 4.3 billion tons of carbon emissions over the plant's lifetime. That is equivalent to 200 years of combined emissions from 14 Pacific island nations, says the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, backed by 11 Pacific island nations and territories. "This goes beyond politics," said Tuvalu's Climate Minister Maina Talia. "It is about the moral clarity to stand with those most affected by climate change." The comment signals possible fallout for Canberra from Pacific island neighbours, such as Tuvalu and Vanuatu, in its bid to co-host the United Nations' COP31 climate summit next year with the region. Australia projects it will cut emissions to 42.7% below 2005 levels by 2030, on the path to a globally agreed target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Gas from the North West Shelf is primarily destined for export markets, meaning that most emissions will not count towards Australia’s domestic net zero target. But Meinshausen, a contributor to past reports by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said Australia could not ignore its role in supplying fossil fuels causing global warming. "It's like the drug dealer’s excuse saying, 'Well, we sell this stuff, but somebody else burns it,'" he said. "That doesn't work anymore in a world where you want to have a responsibility for your actions and being part of the international solution to climate change." In a statement, Australian Environment Minister Murray Watt, who unveiled the extension on Wednesday, said he would not comment further until the review process , opens new tab was complete. GREEN TRANSITION Australia sees gas as a transitional fuel on its path to full use of renewable sources of energy. "I think the penny is starting to drop with many around the importance of gas," Woodside Chief Executive Meg O’Neill told reporters after the decision. Extending the project has been a politically sensitive issue for the incumbent Labor Party, which was seen as hostile to gas when it took power but has since warmed to the industry. The decision was delayed until after a state election in Western Australia and a federal poll won decisively by Labor, which took seats from the environmentalist Greens, who had strongly opposed extension of the project. A regional diplomatic bloc of 18 countries, the Pacific Islands Forum, is backing Australia's bid to co-host the U.N.'s Conference of the Parties COP31 climate summit next year, with a decision seen imminent, despite some critical views. Before the project decision, Talia had called for Australia to block the extension if it wanted to co-host COP31 with the Pacific. After the decision, Vanuatu Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu called the extension "a slap in the face" for Pacific island nations, while speaking to Australian state broadcaster ABC. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/australias-bet-natural-gas-endangers-its-climate-credentials-experts-say-2025-05-30/

2025-05-30 05:50

US inflation eased in April Investors expect tariffs to remain in some form Dollar poised for monthly gain against Japanese yen NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - The dollar was mixed on Friday but on track for the first monthly gain against the Japanese yen this year as investors factored in the likelihood of trade tariffs remaining in some form, even as U.S. President Donald Trump faces a court battle over his authority to impose them. A federal appeals court temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of Trump's tariffs on Thursday, a day after a U.S. trade court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them. Sign up here. While the exact level of tariffs that will remain on trading partners is unknown, traders expect the levies to persist in some form. “We're going to have some tariffing. Maybe not as exciting as was announced on April the 2nd, but we're still going to get it,” said Steve Englander, head of global G10 FX research and North America macro strategy at Standard Chartered Bank NY Branch. “The one thing that the court ruling may have done is limited the amount of shocks that Trump can unleash with a headline or with a comment at a press conference,” Englander said. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Thursday that the Trump administration will seek to enact tariffs through other means if it ultimately loses the court fights over its trade policy. Investors are concerned that tariffs will slow growth and reignite inflation, though deals to drop tariff increases on China and the European Union as they negotiate trading terms have reduced pessimism over the U.S. economic outlook. The dollar briefly bounced on Friday after Trump said that China had violated an agreement on tariffs with the United States. A day earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks between the U.S. and China were “a bit stalled.” Trump later on Friday said he will speak to China's President Xi Jinping and hopefully work out their differences on trade and tariffs. Tariffs are seen as a key source of revenue as Congress works on a bill to reduce some income taxes. The dollar showed little reaction to data on Friday showing that U.S. consumer spending increased marginally in April as a rush to beat higher prices from import duties slowed, while inflation eased during the month. A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed sharply in April as the boost from the front-running of imports ahead of tariffs faded. “Nothing in the data was such a clear surprise relative to expectations that would generate a definitive market move,” said Englander. May’s jobs report due for release next Friday will be closely watched for any indications that the labor market is weakening, after data on Thursday showed a bigger-than-expected jump in jobless claims in the latest week. "Further USD weakness needs weaker data," Bank of America analysts Athanasios Vamvakidis and Claudio Piron said in a report on Friday. "If somehow the US economy keeps defying gravity, we would expect investors to start ignoring the policy noise and go back to buying US assets, supporting the USD; US exceptionalism would be back. However, if the US economy has a proper landing, we would expect the USD to weaken further to new lows for the year," they said. The euro was last down 0.12% at $1.1356. It is on pace for a 0.27% monthly gain, the smallest since February. German inflation eased further in May, bringing it closer to the European Central Bank's 2% target and bolstering the case for an interest rate cut next week. The dollar weakened 0.21% to 143.88 Japanese yen . The greenback is on track for a monthly increase of 0.6% against the Japanese currency, the first green month since December. Core inflation in Japan's capital hit a more than two-year high on persistent rises in food costs, data showed on Friday, keeping the central bank under pressure to hike interest rates further. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dollar-poised-fifth-straight-monthly-drop-trade-fiscal-uncertainty-2025-05-30/

2025-05-30 05:45

India dealers offer $31/oz discount this week Premiums of $0.30-$1.30/oz charged in Hong Kong May 30 (Reuters) - Physical gold demand in India was subdued this week, as an uptick in domestic prices and a winding up of wedding season kept buyers at bay, while premiums slipped in top consumer China. This week, Indian dealers were offering a discount of up to $31 an ounce over official domestic prices, inclusive of 6% import and 3% sales levies, down from last week's discount of up to $49. Sign up here. "The wedding season is wrapping up and the monsoon has kicked in, so jewellers are expecting a seasonal dip in demand. That's why they're holding off on making new purchases," said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank. Domestic gold prices were trading around 94,900 rupees per 10 grams on Friday after hitting a one-month low of 90,890 rupees earlier this month. In China, bullion changed hands at par to a $15 premium an ounce over the global benchmark spot price, compared with premiums of $16-$30 last week. "Shanghai Gold Exchange drawdowns have eased to the lows of this year while imports in the last few weeks have been exceptionally high, suggesting the Chinese domestic market may be overstocked just now," said Ross Norman, an independent analyst. China's total gold imports via Hong Kong nearly tripled month on month in April, hitting their highest level in more than a year, Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department data showed on Monday. "Gold bullish bets remain predominant on the SHFE despite lower trading volume," said Hugo Pascal, a precious metals trader at InProved. In Hong Kong, gold was sold at a premium of $0.30 to $1.30, while in Singapore gold traded between at-par prices and a $2.50 premium. In Japan, bullion was sold at par to a premium of $0.50. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/asia-gold-india-gold-demand-lags-prices-rise-wedding-buying-cools-2025-05-30/

2025-05-30 05:41

All major stock market indexes have had a strong month Crude and gold prices weaken Dollar index on course for fifth straight month of losses NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Global stocks finished down on Friday but notched a weekly gain and the biggest monthly increase since late 2023, despite markets having been roiled by uncertainty over the Trump administration's tariff policies. Sentiments were initially buoyed at the start of the week by signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and Europe, after President Donald Trump delayed planned tariffs on imports from the EU. Investor focus then shifted to earnings of artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, which reported better-than-expected results mid-week. Sign up here. But markets were briefly shaken following an unexpected ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade striking down Trump's so-called Liberation Day tariffs, triggering a court drama that saw an appellate court temporarily reinstate them. Trump said on Friday that China had violated an agreement with the U.S. to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for critical minerals, and issued a new veiled threat to get tougher with Beijing. "It's been quite a week," said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert.NXT. "Within four days we got a compressed version of what we've had for the entire month, which is the tug-of-war between forces that drove markets higher last year and the prior year - that being AI and technology growth stocks - and then this looming challenge we have with all these administration tariffs." On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished lower, dragged down by weaknesses in technology, energy and consumer discretionary stocks. The Dow ended higher after erasing early losses. All three indexes finished the week and the month higher, with the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq index registering their biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 0.13% to 42,270.07, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab fell 0.01% to 5,911.69 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab fell 0.32% to 19,113.77. European shares (.STOXX) , opens new tab finished higher by 0.14%, notching a weekly gain and adding 4% for the month of May. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab closed up 0.74% overnight, ending the week lower but gaining nearly 5% for the month - making it the biggest monthly gain since September 2024. MSCI's main world index (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab ended down 0.07% to 879.63, but gained 1.32% for the week and 5.53% in May - the biggest monthly gain since November 2023. "We would have thought prior to this week that markets were becoming numb to this discussion of tariffs and a lot it has been factored in, but apparently that's not the case," Malek added. Data showed on Friday that U.S. consumers increased their spending marginally in April, and the closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 0.1% last month, in line with expectations. Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell had their first face-to-face meeting on Thursday. "Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook," a Fed statement said afterwards. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 2.6 basis points to 4.398%. The 30-year bond yield rose 0.2 basis points to 4.9254% after reversing earlier losses. The dollar was higher against major peers including the euro and on track for a monthly gain against the Japanese yen. The dollar weakened 0.15% to 143.95 against the yen , while the euro was down 0.12% at $1.135050. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.14% to 99.394. It was on track for a fifth straight month of losses, weighed down by tariff uncertainty. Oil prices settled down, as investors weigh a potentially larger OPEC+ output hike for July. Brent crude futures settled down 0.39% at $63.90 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished down 0.25% at $60.79 a barrel. Gold prices slipped as the dollar edged higher. Spot gold fell 0.7% to $3,292.78 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 0.9% lower at $3,315.40. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-05-30/

2025-05-30 05:29

India diesel volumes to Southeast Asia to hit at least 600,000 t in May, data and sources say Asian markets under slight pressure as India exports head east Start of monsoon season in India may drive exports next month, sources say May 30 (Reuters) - India's diesel exports to Southeast Asia for May are set to hit the highest in at least four years, according to shiptrackers and three trade sources, as traders eyed higher profits in Asia while higher freight costs deterred shipments to Europe. Increased diesel from India, one of the largest suppliers in the region, is cooling spot premiums for the fuel in Asia and pressuring derivatives markets, while tightening the fuel's availability in Europe and supporting prices there. Sign up here. Shipments on the India-Southeast Asia route climbed to 600,000 metric tons (4.47 million barrels) or more this month, shiptracking data from LSEG, Kpler, Vortexa and two trade sources showed. Such levels were last seen at the end of 2021, Kpler data showed. Most volumes were destined for Singapore or Malaysia, the data showed. Meanwhile, Indian diesel bound for Europe in May was estimated at 500,000 tons, LSEG data showed. "The re-direction of Indian diesel barrels east has had a two-fold effect," said Sparta Commodities analyst James Noel-Beswick. "First, it has flooded the Singapore market, leading to a swift rebound in local inventories and applying downward pressure on diesel spreads since late April," he said. For Europe, the drop in Indian supplies has prompted June ICE gasoil prices to rise, he added. Asian cash premiums for 10-ppm sulphur diesel fell to seven-week lows of 20 cents per barrel early this week while refining margins have been struggling to hold above $16 per barrel, LSEG data showed. ARBITRAGE The average discounts for the east-west price spread for April and May were at $22 and $20 per ton, respectively, LSEG data showed, with traders saying such levels were slightly more profitable for sellers to sell east instead of west. Lower shipping costs also helped push more Indian supply to Southeast Asia, they added. Cost for chartering a medium-range vessel carrying 40,000 tons of diesel on the India-Northwest Europe route jumped to $2.35 million in the past week, equivalent to $59 per ton, up from $2.05 million last month, SSY Tanker data on LSEG Workspace showed. In comparison, shipping fees for a similarly-sized vessel on the India-Singapore route were less than $1 million, the data added. India's diesel production also rose in May after Reliance Industries restarted a crude unit at the Jamnagar refinery, leading to more exports, said Vortexa's head of APAC analysis Ivan Mathews. Next month, India will probably export more diesel as local demand is set to fall during the monsoon season, two Singapore-based trade sources said. One of them estimated that demand could drop by 500,000 tons or more. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-may-diesel-exports-se-asia-hit-multi-year-high-higher-margins-2025-05-30/