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Consumer staples and industrial stocks drag down the FTSE 100
London's FTSE 100 dipped on Monday as industrials and consumer staples stocks weighed. Investors awaited this week's much-anticipated budget from the British government. The blue-chip index ended down by 0.1% while the midcap FTSE 250 gained 0.2%. This was its first positive movement in over two years. As peace talks to end Ukraine's war progressed, stocks of aerospace and defence fell by 1.7%. BAE Systems dropped 3.6% and Babcock International fell 1.6%. Diageo fell 2.2%. Beverage stocks dropped 1.8%. Sub-indexes for personal care, drugs and groceries fell by 1.2%. Marks & Spencer dropped 2.6%. Utilities lost 1.3%. Banking stocks, on the other hand, rose by 1%. Morgan Stanley analysts predicted that net interest income for European banks would grow by 4% in the next year. Standard Chartered grew 2.9% following the analyst's upgrade to "overweight". Barclays gained 2.1% after Morgan Stanley named the bank a top pick. Gold prices rose on higher Fed rate-cut bettings, resulting in a 5.9% increase for precious metal miners. Fresnillo soared by 9.1% while Endeavour Mining grew by 4%. Goldman Sachs began to cover homebuilders with a positive outlook. Vistry rose by 3.8%. EasyJet, a travel and leisure stock, rose 3.6%. Mid-cap index is down around 5% since its peak in October, amid global market weakness. Budget uncertainty has also contributed to the decline. Rachel Reeves, the Finance Minister, is planning to increase taxes by tens or hundreds of billions for the second consecutive time since her election in 2024 to meet her borrowing target. She hopes to avoid a sell-off on the bond market while increasing welfare spending. She will not break her election promise of raising the income tax. Instead, she will increase a variety of other taxes. Global stocks also rose after comments made by a U.S. Federal Reserve representative last week raised expectations of a rate cut in December. Gains followed a sharp drop in equity markets due to concerns about the high valuations of AI stocks. Anglo American rose 0.9% as global miner BHP dropped a last ditch attempt to acquire its rival. (Reporting and editing by Tasimzahid and Alex Richardson in Bengaluru, with Utkarsh Tushr Hathi from Bengaluru)
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Serbia claims to have enough fuel reserves despite sanctions closing a key refinery
The government of Serbia said that it has enough fuel to supply its domestic market. This comes as the NIS oil refinery, which is vital for the country, faces a possible shutdown due to U.S. sanction against its Russian owners. NIS, which provides most of Serbia's energy needs, requested last week a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department to continue operations as its Russian majority owners search for a buyer of their stake. In a press release, the Serbian government stated that they had discussed ways to ensure a steady supply of petroleum products on the market. No reason to be concerned The government released a statement that said, "The economy and the citizens have no cause for concern as there are enough quantities of all petroleum-derived products." In a post on her Instagram account, Energy Minister Dubravka Handanovic stated that she met with representatives of the major oil companies in Serbia including MOL, OMV, and Helleniq Energy to discuss fuel supply. She wrote, "The state will use mandatory reserves in the event of a crisis." Gazprom Neft owns 44.9% and Gazprom 11,3% of NIS. Serbia holds 29.9% of NIS, and the rest is held by small investors. Washington wants to see NIS divest of all Russian assets and has given its owners three months in which to find a buyer. OFAC imposed sanctions on Russia's oil industry in January. However, their implementation with respect to NIS has been repeatedly delayed before taking effect finally on October 8. The banks have ceased processing NIS payments, and the JANAF crude oil pipeline in Croatia has halted delivering crude to the refinery. Djedovic handanovic stated last month that the NIS refinery located outside Belgrade would be unable to function beyond November 25th without new crude supply. Djedovic handanovic, who spoke on Sunday, said that NIS's operational reserves, as well as all the other reserves, totaled 89,825 tons of diesel, and 53,648 tonnes of gasoline. She said last week that the government approved the importation of 38,000 metric tonnes of petrol and 66,000 metric tons diesel for the state reserves. (Reporting and editing by Conor Humphries, Alex Richardson and Aleksandar Vasovic)
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Sources say that Russia's Tuapse Port resumes fuel exports following a two-week suspension.
According to LSEG and two industry sources, Russia's Black Sea Port of Tuapse resumed exports of oil products last week, after a suspension for two weeks due to drone attacks by Ukraine. The local refinery also re-started processing crude oil. According to sources and data from ship tracking, the Gambia flagged tanker Sandhya departed Tuapse with 30,000 metric tonnes of gasoil on November 17, and was heading towards the Suez Canal. On November 18, the Satna, a tanker with the Malawi flag, loaded around 30,000 tonnes of gasoil. The traders claimed that the fuel stored in tanks on these two vessels was refined at Tuapse, before it stopped oil processing. Sources also confirmed that the Rosneft controlled Tuapse oil refinery, whose production is largely exported, resumed processing oil on November 21, according to their sources. The Tuapse export-oriented plant has a capacity of processing 240,000 barrels per day of oil. It produces naphtha as well as fuel oil, vacuum gasoline, and high sulphur diesel. Rosneft has not responded to any requests for comment.
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Hydro One invests in Ontario transmission lines with First Nations
Hydro One, a Canadian utility company, announced on Monday that Ontario's energy regulator will amend its transmission license to allow it to build a priority transmission line from Bowmanville to the Greater Toronto Area in order to meet growing demand for power. This move is in response to the growing interest of utilities and investors who want to expand power capacity for energy-hungry projects such as data centers, transmission systems and renewables. Hydro One will construct the 500-kilovolt double-circuit line in partnership the Indigenous Peoples' Body of Canada, First Nations. First Nations can purchase a 50% share in the project. The line should be operational in early 2030s. Last year, Canada announced that it would provide up to C$5 Billion in loan guarantees for Indigenous groups to invest in natural resources projects. Hydro One announced that a section of their existing line would be reconductedored in 2027 and put into service, while a new double-circuit 230-kV line between Lauzon Station and Lakeshore Station is scheduled for 2032. ($1 = 1.4104 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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Mayor says that Russian air defences have destroyed eight drones on their way to Moscow
The city's mayor reported that Russian air defences destroyed eight drones on their way to Moscow, just a day after an attack by Ukraine on a heat and power station had cut off the heating for thousands of people outside the Russian capital. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, 10 Ukrainian drones were downed in three Russian regions, including Moscow and Kaluga, as well as Bryansk which borders Ukraine, on Monday. In a press release, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that emergency services are working on the site of the drones. The drone attack on the Shatura Power Station in Ukraine, located about 120 km east of Moscow (75 miles), forced the authorities to turn on backup power, and to deploy mobile heating systems, to a town of 33,000 residents, where temperatures were hovering around freezing. Recent weeks and months have seen a number of power and heating outages in Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks. Full-scale war This eruption occurred in February 2022. Ukraine also struck some power and heating systems in Ukrainian regions under Russian control and in Russian-controlled regions bordering Ukraine. Kyiv, however, has not yet caused major damage to the electricity and heating stations that serve Moscow and its surrounding region. The area has more than 22,000,000 people. Reporting by Lucy Papachristou, Writing by Andrew Osborn, Editing by Mark Heinrich and Andrew Osborn
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Former Trafigura top nickel trader denies collusion in $600 million fraud
In a London court on Monday, Trafigura’s former chief nickel trader denied accusations by Indian businessman Prateek gupta that he was involved in a $600-million fraud to exchange expensive metals with cheap or worthless ones. Trafigura, a Geneva-based company, sued Gupta more than two years ago. It claimed that he was responsible for a fraud where he and his firms agreed to deliver high-quality nickel 99.8% pure but instead delivered scrap or steel. Gupta based in Dubai has denied that Trafigura employees devised the plan, creating a complex merry go round of transactions which would appear to boost its status in nickel trading. In a written statement, Sokratis ikonomou, the Trafigura nickel trader who was appointed head in 2017 told a London high court trial that he had not devised, known of or participated in such an arrangement. "I find it insulting that you suggest I would compromise my integrity and risk my career in order to come up with and propose such an idea." Trafigura terminated the employment of Trafigura's employee in January 2023, after approximately 16 years. Evidence and Internal Probe Gupta, his lawyers and Trafigura employees produced emails and chats in December 2023. He claims that these are proof that Gupta was not the only one involved in this operation. Trafigura previously stated that it investigated whether its staff had colluded with Gupta but was satisfied with their denials. Gupta stated that Oikonomou had proposed to increase nickel trading between Trafigura, Gupta’s firms and Trafigura to 50,000 tons per year in May 2019. Gupta replied by saying there wasn’t enough high-grade Nickel and suggested to include scrap and alloys. Gupta claimed that Oikonomou refused to trade low-grade Nickel in the open because Trafigura’s bank Citi would finance only high-grade Nickel. Citi declined to comment about the fraud case. Gupta claimed that Oikonomou had proposed a "transit-financing" operation in which Gupta owned or affiliated companies would sell nickels to Trafigura, and other Gupta associated firms would purchase them when they arrived at the ports to ensure that others would not discover the substitute. Trafigura acknowledges that both parties ran a transit finance operation but denies the scheme was designed to trade in secret low-grade metals or nickel. Trafigura also admitted that it had paid for nickel it believed to be pure without verifying the authenticity. However, it said it was an oversight because it did not have valid documents or commodity codes. Gupta is still subject to an asset freeze order, which he unsuccessfully tried to lift in December of 2023. (Reporting and editing by Louise Heavens, Eric Onstad)
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US copper exchange inventories hit all-time high
The U.S. Comex exchange has approved warehouses that have copper inventories exceeding 400,000 short tonnes for the first. A favorable price arbitrage is continuing to attract metal into the United States. The London Metal Exchange's (LME) copper prices are around $10,760 for a metric ton. Comex copper prices, however, are 5 cents a pound, or about $11,023 metric tons. This means arbitrage shipments into the United States can be profitable. Comex copper stocks As of November 21, data from the exchange showed that there were 402,876 short tonnes (365,483 tons metric) - a record breaking number. The previous record was 399,458 in January 2003, after quadrupling. Inventory levels soared in March, as traders raced to send metal to the United States in advance of President Donald Trump's proposed import tariffs. The 50% tariffs on imported copper were eventually lifted for refined copper. Inventory levels have not decreased, but instead risen because of the ongoing review of U.S. imports of copper. By the end of 2026, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will provide Trump an update on the domestic copper market. Traders are stockpiling copper in the United States to prepare for a possible U.S. duty on refined imports. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's estimates, the U.S. refined consumption of copper was 1,58 million metric tonnes in 2024. This means that Comex stocks are equivalent to nearly one quarter the annual demand for the U.S. The number of people on the LME is also higher than the total. The Shanghai Futures Exchange, in the top copper consumer China, is the main metals market, with 155,750 tons. At 110,603 tons.
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Serbia claims to have sufficient fuel reserves despite sanctions closing down a key refinery
The government of Serbia said that it has enough fuel to supply its domestic market. This comes as U.S. sanctions against the Russian owners of the NIS refinery threaten the facility's closure. NIS, which provides most of the needs of the country, requested last week a license from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to continue its operations as its Russian majority owners search for a buyer of their stake. In a press release, the Serbian government stated that they had discussed how to maintain stable supplies of petroleum products on the market and the energy situation within the country. No reason to be concerned The government released a statement that said, "The economy and the citizens have no cause for concern as there are enough quantities of all petroleum-derived products." Gazprom Neft owns 44.9% and Gazprom 11,3% of NIS. Serbia holds 29.9% of NIS, and the rest is held by small investors. Washington wants to see NIS divest of all Russian assets and has given its owners three months in which to find a buyer. OFAC imposed sanctions on Russia's oil industry in January. However, their implementation with respect to NIS has been repeatedly delayed before taking effect finally on October 8. The banks have ceased processing NIS payments, and the JANAF crude oil pipeline in Croatia has halted delivering crude to the refinery. Dubravka Handanovic, Serbia's Energy Minister, said on October 29 that the NIS Refinery, which is located outside of Belgrade, would not be able operate past November 25 without new crude oil supplies. Djedovic handanovic, NIS's director of operations, said that the NIS operational reserve and all other NIS reserves totaled 89.825 tons diesel and 53.648 tons gasoline. She said last week that the government approved the importation of 38,000 metric tonnes of petrol and 66,000 metric tons diesel for the state reserves. (Reporting and editing by Conor Humphries; Aleksandar Vasovic)
Portugal to experience flight cancellations on 12th December
A union official warned on Monday that Portugal will see widespread flight cancellations on December 11. This is due to a general strike in protest of proposed reforms to the labor laws.
"It will very difficult to operate flight on December 11." "Only a few flights will operate at Portuguese airports," said Ricardo Penarroias of the SNPVAC, which represents airline cabin crews.
The union announced on Monday that it will join the general strike planned for December 11th. This was called by unions earlier in the month over proposals to simplify dismissals and make working hours more flexible. Typically, public sector employees join general strikes. This includes teachers and workers in the transport and health sectors.
SNPVAC represents approximately 5,000 cabin staff, the majority of whom are at TAP Air Portugal which is currently in the midst of a privatisation. Rest of the work is at Ryanair, EasyJet, and Azores Airlines.
Penarroias said that 82% of the union workers who attended an assembly on Sunday voted in favor of joining the strike.
According to him, the notice of strike had been sent as per law to the airline and the Labour Ministry. The government must decree minimum service during the strike.
Portugal's centre-right minority government announced plans for a major overhaul of the labour laws in September. Later, it said that it was open for dialogue. However, the two largest umbrella unions in Portugal called a general strikes. (Reporting and editing by Joan Faus, Cynthia Osterman and Sergio Goncalves)
(source: Reuters)