2024-10-04 04:14

Platinum, palladium up over 1% U.S. nonfarm payroll data due at 1230 GMT Oct 4 (Reuters) - Gold prices climbed on Friday, supported by safe-haven demand arising from the Middle East conflict, while spotlight shifted towards U.S. payrolls report to gauge the trajectory of the Federal Reserve's policy path. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,662.72 per ounce, as of 0649 GMT, after climbing to an all-time high of $2,685.42 on Sept. 26. Bullion has gained 0.2 for the week. U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% higher to $2,682.90. The dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab eased 0.2%, pulling back from over a one-month high, making greenback-priced bullion less expensive for other currency holders. Geopolitical tensions, particularly concerning Israel and Iran, are supporting gold prices and unless these risks subside, prices are likely to remain near record levels, said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities, Mumbai. The U.S. is discussing strikes on Iran's oil facilities as retaliation for Tehran's missile attack on Israel, President Joe Biden said, while Israel's military hit Beirut with new air strikes in its battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Bullion is considered a safe investment during times of political and financial uncertainty, and thrives in a low-rate environment. The U.S. nonfarm payroll data is due at 1230 GMT. New York Fed President John Williams and Chicago Fed President Austan are also scheduled to speak later in the day. If the NFP report comes in strong, it will be positive for the dollar and then gold prices will see some profit-booking, Kedia added. Traders see a 65% chance of a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut in November, according to CME FedWatch Tool. , opens new tab BMI said in a note it expects gold prices to trade within the range of $2,500 to $2,800 in the coming months. Spot silver inched 0.1% higher to $32.08 per ounce, and has gained about 1.4% so far this week. Platinum climbed 1.1% to $1,001.47 and palladium advanced 1.01% to $1,008.71. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gold-prices-climb-safe-haven-demand-us-payrolls-data-focus-2024-10-04/

2024-10-04 03:04

MUMBAI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is likely to remain anchored near a lifetime low on Friday, hit by concerns over the deluge of foreign money being pulled out of domestic equities and a jump in oil prices due to the Middle East conflict. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated that the rupee will open at 83.97-83.98 to the U.S. dollar, compared with 83.9675 in the previous session and within a whisker of the 83.9850 lifetime low hit a month ago. "For sure, (the dollar/rupee pair) would have opened well past 84 looking at oil, the well-bid dollar and the extent of selling (by foreigners in equities). "However, that is unlikely to happen," a currency trader at a bank said. The "biggest thing" that the Reserve Bank of India has done is dampened how rupee reacts overall to news flow, specially at levels which are considered critical, he said. Brent crude soared 5% on Thursday to extend its weekly advance on worries over supplies due to the Middle East conflict. President Joe Biden said on Thursday the U.S. was discussing strikes on Iran's oil facilities in retaliation to Tehran's missile attack on Israel. Markets are beginning to price in the likelihood of supply disruptions in the Middle East, which accounts for about a third of world supply, ANZ Bank said in a note. FOREIGNERS PRESS EXIT ON INDIAN SHARES Foreign investors took out about $1.8 billion from Indian equities on Thursday, according to provisional data from the BSE, and have now withdrawn more than $3 billion over the last three sessions. Oil prices, Indian regulator's steps to clampdown on equity derivative volumes and China's recent stimulus are reasons cited by analysts for the exodus by foreign investors. KEY U.S. JOBS DATA The September U.S. jobs report, due later in the day, will hold cues on whether the Federal Reserve will deliver one more 50-basis-point rate cut next month or shift to a more measured 25 bps reduction. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 84.08; onshore one-month forward premium at 11 paise ** Dollar index down at 101.88 ** Brent crude futures up 0.1% at $77.7 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 3.84% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $621.4 mln worth of Indian shares on Oct. 1 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $16.6 mln worth of Indian bonds on Oct. 1 Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-hold-near-all-time-low-foreign-outflows-oil-worries-2024-10-04/

2024-10-04 01:59

TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Japan's new economy minister, Ryosei Akazawa, said on Friday that the timing of changes in the Bank of Japan's monetary policy should be aligned with the government's broader goal of exiting deflation. "The timing of various monetary policy changes is very important," Akazawa said in a press conference. "It's important that they are aligned with our policy priorities such as exiting from deflation and growth in wages and investments." He added that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda share this view. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/timing-bojs-policy-change-must-align-with-japans-broader-goal-economy-minister-2024-10-04/

2024-10-04 00:41

Brent crude posts biggest weekly gains since Jan 2023 Israel conducts air attack on Beirut, Iran calls on allies to step up anti-Israel struggle Biden says he would consider alternatives to striking Iranian oilfields if he was in Israel's shoes Oil analysts caution prices could stay elevated until Middle East conflict is resolved Spare OPEC+ output capacity, ramp-up in Libya output limit oil's gains NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday and settled with their biggest weekly gains in over a year on the mounting threat of a region-wide war in the Middle East, although gains were limited as U.S. President Joe Biden discouraged Israel from targeting Iranian oil facilities. Brent crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $78.05 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 67 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $74.38 per barrel. Israel has sworn to strike Iran for launching a barrage of missiles at Israel on Tuesday after Israel assassinated the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah a week ago. The events had oil analysts warning clients of the potential ramifications of a broader war in the Middle East. Oil prices jumped nearly 2% during the session but pulled back sharply after Biden said that if he were in Israel's shoes he would consider alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields. On Thursday, oil benchmarks surged over 5% after Biden confirmed the U.S. was in talks with Israel over whether it would support a strike on Iranian energy infrastrucutre. On a weekly basis, Brent crude gained over 8%, the most in a week since January 2023. WTI gained 9.1% week-over-week, the most since March 2023. An attack on Iranian energy facilities would not be Israel's preferred course of action, JPMorgan commodities analysts wrote on Friday. Still, low levels of global oil inventories suggest that prices are set to be elevated until the conflict is resolved, they added. Citing data from ship-tracking service Kpler, they said that inventories are below last year's levels when Brent was trading at $92 and at 4.4 billion barrels are the lowest on record. Brokerage StoneX forecasts oil prices could jump between $3 and $5 per barrel if Iranian oil infrastructure is targeted. On Friday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared in public for the first time since his country launched the missile attack. He called for more anti-Israel struggle. Iran will target Israeli energy and gas installations if Israel attacks it, the semi-official Iranian news agency SNN quoted Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi as saying. Iran is a member of OPEC+ with production of around 3.2 million barrels per day or 3% of global output. The group's spare production capacity should allow other members to boost output if Iranian supplies are disrupted, limiting oil price gains, Rystad analysts said on Thursday. Supply fears have also eased in Libya. The country's eastern-based government and Tripoli-based National Oil Corp on Thursday said all oilfields and export terminals were being reopened after a dispute over leadership of the central bank was resolved. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/oil-edges-up-middle-east-conflict-supply-outlook-limits-gains-2024-10-04/

2024-10-04 00:39

Krathon downgraded to a tropical depression Kaohsiung works to clear flooding, downed trees Transport mostly resumed, some flights still cancelled Death toll remains at two, both on east coast KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Southern Taiwan worked on Friday to clear up damage from flooding and high winds after Typhoon Krathon slammed into a major port city, while most of the rest of the island resumed work and financial markets re-opened. Krathon, now downgraded to a tropical depression, hit land in the southwestern city of Kaohsiung, inundating streets, blowing out the windows of some buildings and scattering debris amid record-breaking winds. While the rest of Taiwan resumed work, the governments in Kaohsiung and neighbouring Pingtung county declared a fourth successive day off work as they scrambled to pump away floodwaters, remove fallen trees, and clear roads. "We hope as fast as possible to resume transport, water and electricity supplies, so work and life can get back to normal," Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai told reporters. The city government said it was tackling more than 2,000 trees that had fallen on roads, but reported only two injuries. Workers used cranes to remove downed trees and traffic signs in Kaohsiung, a city and surrounds of 2.7 million people, with some roads blocked, forcing diversions of traffic and pedestrians. "Sandbags didn't work. The wind pressed the water in anyway," said Clark Huang, 49. "Fortunately it lasted only a couple of hours and then we started cleaning up." Engineer Tsai Ming-an was cleaning up his home after floodwaters about 20 cm (7.8 inches) high washed through the entire ground floor. "I have never seen winds like that," said the 51-year-old. "It was so bad." Typhoons almost always hit Taiwan's mountainous and sparsely populated east coast which faces the Pacific Ocean, but Krathon, unusually, struck its flat west coast. Nearly 100,000 households, almost all in Kaohsiung and Pingtung, still had no power on Friday, while 129,000 households in Kaohsiung lacked water supply. The fire department said the death toll remained at two, both men killed on the east coast before the typhoon made landfall, with one person missing and 667 injured. The typhoon had no impact on TSMC's (2330.TW) , opens new tab operations, the world's largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. Taiwan re-opened its north-south high speed rail line, as well as most ordinary rail routes except for two branch lines, but disruptions to air transport continued, with cancellations of 15 international and 88 domestic flights. Workers at Kaohsiung port were clearing some freight containers blown off their stacks to make sure operations went unaffected, the transport ministry said. Kaohsiung airport suffered damage to two air bridges, while the airport on the outlying Orchid Island had landing aids washed away, though both remained open, the ministry added. The government also said it was investigating the cause of a Pingtung hospital fire that broke out as the typhoon was bearing down, killing nine people. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-clears-up-slowly-re-opens-after-hit-typhoon-krathon-2024-10-04/

2024-10-04 00:36

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he will not negotiate in public when asked if he had urged Israel not to attack Iran's oil facilities. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Israel has been weighing options to respond to Tehran's ballistic missile attack on Tuesday. The U.S. said then it would work with Israel to make sure Iran faced severe consequences. Biden earlier in the day contributed to a surge in global oil prices when he said Washington was discussing strikes on Iran's oil facilities. A U.S. official later said Washington does not believe Israel has decided yet how to respond to Iran. Biden on Wednesday said the U.S. did not support any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites. KEY QUOTES "I don't negotiate in public," Biden told reporters when asked if he was telling Israel not to attack Iran's oil facilities. Asked if he worried an Israeli strike on Iran’s oil facilities would raise oil prices, he said; "If a hurricane hits, prices are going to go up. I don’t know; who knows." Biden was also asked why he had not spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days. He replied: "Because there’s no action going on right now." CONTEXT During a year of cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 2,000 people in Lebanon, most in the past two weeks, and displaced more than 1.2 million people there. Israel began a ground incursion in Lebanon this week, saying its aim is to defeat Hezbollah and return some 60,000 evacuated Israelis to their homes in the north. Israel is also waging a war in Gaza in which nearly 42,000 people have been killed and nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million population displaced. That followed a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-declines-public-negotiation-israels-stance-iranian-oil-sites-2024-10-04/