2025-09-16 22:19
QUITO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - (This Sept. 16 story has been corrected to fix Dundee Precious Metals' stock market code and the company name throughout) Tens of thousands of residents and local leaders in Ecuador's central Azuay province took to the streets on Tuesday to demand the suspension of a mining project by Canada's Dundee Precious Metals, which they say will affect a vital water reserve. Sign up here. The government of President Daniel Noboa had granted Dundee an environmental license to start building the Loma Larga gold mine there, but as community pressure mounted, the country's energy minister in August suspended the start of construction work until Dundee Precious Metals (DPM.TO) , opens new tab, which recently changed its name to DPM Metals, provides an environmental management plan. Provincial authorities reject the project, saying it will affect the region's 3,200-hectare Quimsacocha reserve and its surrounding paramos - highland moors that act as giant sponges and supply the bulk of drinking water to major cities there. Authorities estimated that over 90,000 people marched in the provincial capital of Cuenca on Tuesday, chanting "Hands off Quimsacocha!" and "Water is worth more than anything!" "We want the national government to revoke the environmental license," Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora said. "The streets of Cuenca are roaring ... and they will have to listen to us." DPM declined to comment on the protesters' demands. Despite Ecuador's significant gold and copper reserves, just two mines are operating in the country - projects owned by Canada's Lundin Gold (LUG.TO) , opens new tab and EcuaCorriente, which is held by a Chinese mining consortium. Noboa, meanwhile, stepped back from the project, saying responsibility for what happens next lies with the local authorities. "The municipality and prefecture must take responsibility," he said in a radio interview on Friday, saying if DPM takes them to an arbitration court that would have to go. "There is a very high probability (the project will not go ahead), but there is also a probability that there will be problems in the future." Strong community opposition, environmental concerns and legal uncertainty in Ecuador have contributed to a relative lack of mining projects. In Azuay, residents have rejected mining projects at the ballot box and courts have ruled in their favor to block mining projects in the area. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/tens-thousands-protest-dundees-ecuador-mine-project-near-key-water-reserve-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 21:49
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Trump administration will appeal the court decision blocking President Donald Trump's bid to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the White House said on Tuesday. “The President lawfully removed Lisa Cook for cause. The Administration will appeal this decision and looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-administration-appeal-court-decision-blocking-firing-fed-governor-cook-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 21:49
Wall Street stocks edge lower in choppy trading Investors bet on further Fed cuts Gold at record high, dollar weakens European shares fall Oil prices gain more than 1% NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - An index of world equity markets edged higher in choppy trading after hitting a record high on Tuesday ahead of the widely expected start of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cutting cycle, while U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar fell. MSCI's all-country index (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab was a shade higher by 0.04% after rising as far as 978.74, a record high. Wall Street stocks erased earlier session gains and finished lower, with utilities and real estate making the most losses while energy and consumer discretionary shares led the gains. Sign up here. The Dow Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 0.27% to 45,757.90, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab fell 0.13% to 6,606.76 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab fell 0.07% to 22,333.96. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab dropped 1.14%, led by declines in financials, real estate and industrials stocks. "Today is more of a sideways move than anything else," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide. "It felt like yesterday where we had a little bit of a surge and today a little bit of a pullback. But the reality is this is all just waiting to see what happens tomorrow afternoon." The Fed is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 4.00%-4.25% range at the end of its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. Stephen Miran was sworn into his Fed position on Tuesday morning, after the U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed him to the central bank's Board of Governors ahead of its policy meeting. A U.S. appeals court separately declined to let President Donald Trump fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 0.6 points to 4.028%. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 2.6 basis points to 3.51%. "You've had a really incredible run in the past couple of weeks: five out of the last six weeks positive ... record highs pretty much across the board. To me this is just a pause and a sideways, wait-and-see movement rather than a significant drop," Hackett said. Bets on Fed cuts have in turn kept pressure on the dollar, which on Tuesday fell to its lowest since July 4 against a basket of currencies . The dollar weakened 0.64% against the Japanese yen to 146.45 and fell 1.04% to 0.786 against the Swiss franc . The euro traded at its highest since September 2021 against the dollar. It was last up 0.87% at $1.1862. Sterling climbed to its highest in more than two months at $1.365. The dollar index fell 0.714% to 96.653, its lowest level since July 1. Gold rose as the dollar weakened. Spot gold rose 0.36% to $3,692.10 an ounce. Oil prices rose as markets weighed a potential disruption of supplies from Russia due to Ukrainian drone attacks on its ports and refineries. Brent crude futures rose 1.5% to settle at $68.47 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $64.52, up 1.9%. (This story has been refiled to remove the word 'as' from the headline) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-corrected-wrapup-5-graphic-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 21:41
Sept 16 (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday its team at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine heard shelling close to the site and observed black smoke rising from three nearby locations. The team from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog was informed that multiple artillery shells struck an area outside the plant's perimeter, around 400 m (437 yards) from its off-site diesel fuel storage facility, the IAEA said in a statement. Sign up here. "While there were no reports of casualties or equipment damage, the incident once again underlined the constant dangers to nuclear safety and security," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said. There were no statements on the incident from either Russian or Ukrainian officials. Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, in the first weeks after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Each side routinely accuses the other of undertaking actions that endanger nuclear safety at the plant. Incidents of shelling occur frequently. The plant's reactors are shut down, but the nuclear fuel inside them still needs to be cooled. Last week, a Moscow-appointed governor of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said a Ukrainian drone detonated in the air by the plant. Staff had earlier reported two attacks over the previous week on a training centre near the plant's reactors. The IAEA, which urges both sides to avoid actions posing a threat to the facility, has monitors stationed permanently at the Zaporizhzhia plant and at Ukraine's three other nuclear plants. https://www.reuters.com/world/iaea-says-shelling-reported-near-ukraines-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 21:39
EPA proposes two primary options of 50% and 100% reallocation Biofuel industry pushing for maximum but refiners balking at cost Industry representatives say EPA's proposal fails to provide clarity Sept 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued a proposal for reallocating to large refineries the biofuel blending obligations waived under the Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) program, offering two primary options of 50% and 100%. Additionally, the agency said it will ask for comment on other potential volumes, such as 25%, 75% or none at all. Sign up here. The proposal's failure to narrow down potential options is destined to extend the latest clash between Big Oil and Big Farm over the issue, as both industries vie for influence over U.S. energy and agricultural policy. Biofuel groups want full reallocation to ensure the small refinery waivers do not dent demand for products like corn-based ethanol, while refiners oppose reallocation citing costs. Industry officials from both sectors called the EPA proposal a "punt" and said the 45-day comment period will be crucial. "With every option on the table, we didn’t get much clarity today," said one of the officials, who asked not to be named criticizing the agency. The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard requires refiners to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the country's fuel pool each year or buy credits called RINs from those who do. But it also allows smaller refiners to apply for waivers under the SRE program if they can show the requirements would cause them financial hardship. The EPA in August cleared a backlog of more than 170 SRE requests dating back to 2016 — a sweeping move that required it to come up with the plan to account for waived obligations. The EPA was only required to come up with a plan to reallocate exempted gallons dating back to 2023, however, because RINs generated for previous years have already expired. The EPA proposal said 2.18 billion RINs worth of blending obligations will have been exempted from 2023 through 2025. "We support EPA’s proposed option to fully reallocate 2023-2025 SREs and believe such an approach will ensure intended levels of renewable fuel consumption are maintained over the long-term," said Geoff Cooper, head of the Renewable Fuels Association biofuel trade group. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/us-epa-keeps-all-options-open-biofuel-reallocation-proposal-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 21:20
Sept 16 (Reuters) - A 60/20/20 portfolio strategy that includes 20% gold is a more resilient inflation hedge at a time when U.S. equities are offering historically low upside over Treasuries and investors are demanding higher yields for long-term bonds, Morgan Stanley (MS.N) , opens new tab Chief Investment Officer Mike Wilson said on Tuesday. A 60/40 portfolio, which typically has 60% of its holdings in stocks and the remaining 40% in fixed income, counts on moves in the two asset classes to offset one another, with stocks strengthening amid economic optimism and bonds rising during turbulent times. Sign up here. Wilson, however, favors a 60% allocation to equities and 20% each to fixed income and gold . Within bond markets, the prominent Wall Street bear prefers shorter-duration Treasuries of five years over the 10-year notes to capture rolling returns along the yield curve. "Gold is now the anti-fragile asset to own, rather than Treasuries. High-quality equities and gold are the best hedges," Wilson told the Reuters Global Markets Forum , opens new tab. The strength of a dual hedge lies in the contrast: both hedge inflation, but equities are growth-linked risk-on bets, while gold rallies as a safe-haven when real rates fall in downturns. U.S. stocks have rebounded from near bear-market levels following President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement on April 2, with the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab and Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab hitting several new highs in September - a historically weak month for equities. Spot gold prices, meanwhile, surged past $3,700 an ounce to a record high on Tuesday, buoyed by mounting expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve this week. "The lows in April will prove to be great for many stocks. The moves we have seen since then in some of the most beaten down areas (have) already been remarkable," Wilson said. "Alpha is making a comeback since Liberation Day," he added. Alpha is the excess return over a benchmark to describe an investment strategy’s ability to beat the market. Meanwhile, fund managers warned that Treasuries are losing some appeal as skepticism over the Fed's independence is beginning to weigh on long-end yields. (Join GMF , opens new tab, a chat room hosted on LSEG Messenger: https://lseg.group/3KFHrhe , opens new tab) https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/morgan-stanley-cio-favors-602020-portfolio-strategy-with-gold-inflation-hedge-2025-09-16/
