Oil price jumps after US sanctions Russia’s Rosneft and Lukoil; White House considers software curbs on China – business live
The oil price has jumped after the US has sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil companies to increase pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine,The White House’s new measures against Rosneft and Lukoil are the US’s first sanctions against Russia since Trump’s return to office in January,All assets belonging to the two companies in the US have been frozen, and US companies and individuals will be barred from doing business with them,Significantly, the US is also threatening secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that do business with Rosneft and Lukoil – which could include banks that facilitate sales of Russian oil in China, India and Turkey,India state refiners are reported to be reviewing their purchases of Russian oil barrels to ensure that no supply will be coming directly from Rosneft and Lukoil.
Following the US move, Brent crude is up 3.8% at $64.95 per barrel, on top of a 2% rise on Wednesday.That lifts the oil price away from the five-month low of $60 hit on Monday, which had fuelled hopes that inflationary pressures were easing.Shares in Tesla dropped by almost 4% in early Frankfurt trading this morning, after the electric carmaker missed Wall Street expectations for quarterly profits.
Earnings fell despite record vehicle sales, thanks to a rush to buy electric vehicles before a US tax credit for them disappeared.Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at interactive investor, explains:Tesla shares are under pressure in Frankfurt after investors shrugged off a 12% increase in third quarter revenue to $28.10 billion, beating analysts’ expectations.Instead, they were disappointed by its earnings per share which hit 50 cents, below forecasts for 54 cents.Net income also plunged by 37% year-on-year to $1.
37 billion driven by lower electric vehicle prices.Tesla is also dealing with higher costs associated with investments into AI and robotics and pressure from the expiration of tax credits for EVs from the White House.”Trade war news: China’s commerce ministry has announced that Vice Premier He Lifeng will hold four days of economic and trade talks with US officials in Malaysia, starting tomorrow.The meeting will take place in Kuala Lumpur, and run from 24 October to 27 October.China’s state news agency Xinhua adds:The two sides will hold consultations on important issues in China-U.
S.economic and trade ties in accordance with the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries during their phone calls this year, a ministry spokesperson said in a statementShares in oil companies are rising, tracking the jump in crude prices, pushing London’s stock market back towards a record high.BP (+3%) and Shell (+2.2%) are among the top risers on the blue-chip FTSE 100 index in early trading.The FTSE 100 is up 30 points, or 0.
3%, at 9544 points, not far from the record high of 9577 points reached two weeks ago.Overnight, Elon Musk has pleaded with Tesla investors to ratify his upcoming $1trn pay package.The last few minutes of Tesla’s Q3 earnings call with shareholders was devoted to the controversial proposal, which will be voted on by investors next month.Musk claimed that the deal, which would hand him instalments of company shares if he hits ambitious targets, was about giving him increased voting control, rather than the money (!), saying:“The point is..
there needs to be enough voting control to give a strong influence.But not not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane.”Other major tech company achieve this control through “supervoting stock”, a class of shares which gives founders more influence – but that’s not possible once a company (such as Tesla) has already floated on the market.Musk also blasted the proxy advisory services who have advised shareholders to block the pay deal.Like I said, I just don’t feel comfortable building a robot army here and then being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis who have no freaking clue.
I mean, those guys are corporate terrorists,Musk then claimed it was dangerous that many index funds and passive funds, who hold Tesla stock, vote along the lines of whatever Glass Lewis and ISS recommend,The European Union is also tightening the screws on Russia’s energy economy,EU countries have formally adopted a 19th package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine that includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports,The package was approved last night after Slovakia dropped its block.
The EU’s LNG ban will take effect in two stages, Reuters reports:Short-term contracts will end after six months and long-term contracts from January 1, 2027.The full ban comes a year earlier than the Commission’s proposed roadmap to end the bloc’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels.The new EU package also adds new travel restrictions on Russian diplomats and lists 117 more vessels from Moscow’s shadow fleet, mostly tankers, bringing the total to 558.The listings include banks in Kazakhstan and Belarus, the [EU] presidency said.Here’s Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid on the jump in the oil price:Overnight, the biggest market move has come from oil prices, after the US Treasury announced sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies, citing “Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine”.
These are the first material US sanctions against Russia introduced since Trump re-entered the White House in January and mark a sharp shift in tone compared to a week ago, when the two sides had talked about a possible meeting in Budapest between Trump and Putin.And with increased risks of oil supply disruption, Brent crude is +3.10% higher overnight at $64.53/bbl, extending a +2.07% gain yesterday, which if sustained would be its biggest 2-day jump since July.
The oil price has jumped after the US has sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil companies to increase pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine.The White House’s new measures against Rosneft and Lukoil are the US’s first sanctions against Russia since Trump’s return to office in January.All assets belonging to the two companies in the US have been frozen, and US companies and individuals will be barred from doing business with them.Significantly, the US is also threatening secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that do business with Rosneft and Lukoil – which could include banks that facilitate sales of Russian oil in China, India and Turkey.India state refiners are reported to be reviewing their purchases of Russian oil barrels to ensure that no supply will be coming directly from Rosneft and Lukoil.
Following the US move, Brent crude is up 3,8% at $64,95 per barrel, on top of a 2% rise on Wednesday,That lifts the oil price away from the five-month low of $60 hit on Monday, which had fuelled hopes that inflationary pressures were easing,Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Trade worries have resurfaced after the Trump administration confirmed it is considering new restrictions on software exports to China.The possible restrictions could cover a wide range of software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, in retaliation for the clampdown on rare earth exports to the US.This would open up another flank in the US-China trade war, undermining hope that Washington and Beijing could succeed in cooling the situation.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has told reporters that “Everything is on the table,” later when asked about limits on software exports to China, after Reuters reported the plan.Bessent explained:“If these export controls, whether it’s software, engines or other things happen, it will likely be in coordination with our G-7 allies.
”This suggestion has knocked markets across the Asia-Pacific region today – China’s CSI 300 index has lost 0.75%, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 is down almost 1%.11am BST: CBI industrial trends1.30pm BST: Chicago Fed National Activity Index2pm BST: Bank of England’s Swati Dhingra speech at the Central Bank of Ireland ESCB Cluster 2 academic conference2.30pm BST: Bank of England’s Jonathan Hall speech on “Balancing financial stability and growth: the BoE Financial Policy Committee’s mandate and the search for a social optimum”
Fide to investigate Kramnik over attacks on Naroditsky as chess reels from player’s death
The International Chess Federation (Fide) said on Wednesday it is examining former world champion Vladimir Kramnik’s public attacks on Daniel Naroditsky, the American grandmaster whose sudden death at 29 has stunned the chess world and laid bare fissures in the sport’s digital age.Naroditsky, among the most visible faces of chess’s pandemic-era renaissance, was one of the most popular players and teachers of his generation, a Stanford-educated prodigy who won the Under-12 world championship, became a grandmaster at 18 and went on to amass more than 800,000 followers across Twitch and YouTube. Known by his nickname Danya, the California-born Naroditsky’s mix of patience, humor, generosity and gift for communication made him a standard-bearer of chess’s online boom, helping to bring vast new audiences to a centuries-old pastime.In recent years, the explosion of online chess has fueled a parallel surge in cheating accusations, as players gained access to powerful computer engines capable of suggesting perfect moves in real time. The ecosystem became both democratized and combustible
Australia beat England by six wickets at Women’s Cricket World Cup – as it happened
I’ll leave you with Raf Nicholson’s match report. Goodnight!Yeah, very happy. The spinners did a fantastic job with the ball, we had a bit of a shaky start with the bat but then Bels and Ash were just world-class. It was clinical. I feel for Bels a bit, not getting a hundred – she thoroughly deserved it
Australia bring back bad memories for England at Women’s World Cup
Ever get the feeling of deja vu? In Indore on Wednesday, Australia took up where they had left off at the MCG in January: Alana King bowled unplayable balls, Annabel Sutherland and Ash Gardner piled on the runs, and one side left the other for dust. It is the World Cup instead of the Ashes, but the result – a six-wicket win for Australia, with 57 balls to spare – was horribly familiar.Sutherland’s contribution to this World Cup had been limited to merely being the leading wicket-taker. On Wednesday, she again showcased her variations, getting a hint of away movement to clip the top of Amy Jones’s off stump, before removing Tammy Beaumont and Emma Lamb with her slower ball. Her three for 60, and a 10-over spell from King that went for 20, ensured that England put just 244 on the board
The forgotten story of the US soldiers who integrated baseball before Jackie Robinson
Far from the diamonds of America, a little-known chapter of the journey toward integrating baseball was taking place in war-ravaged Europe just over 80 years ago.It took place at a tournament held to entertain soldiers in the months after the end of the second world war. The team who won the GI World Series in September 1945 were unlike any of the other competitors: they had an integrated roster, including two stars from the Negro Leagues: Willard Brown and Leon Day.“They are two legendary players who have not gotten their just due,” says Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. “People just don’t know about the team that won a GI championship
England delay team reveal for latest T20 with weather forcing training indoors
England’s preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session before their third game against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be being learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself in a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said
Claudia Moloney-MacDonald: ‘Winning the World Cup was monumental – much bigger than us’
Saying the team comes first is one thing. Actually meaning it, and backing up that simple statement with action, is quite another. When the England wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald says the team were more important than personal ambition during the Women’s Rugby World Cup, you can’t escape the feeling she really means it.There is no better illustration of England’s squad depth than the fact Moloney-MacDonald was not a regular starter in August and September. She returned from a hamstring injury to face Samoa in the pool stage, scoring in England’s 92-3 win, but did not make John Mitchell’s matchday squad again as the hosts plotted a path to victory
Attacks on UK cabinet secretary ‘stink of political cowardice’, union leader says
Rayner’s return gives a lift to Labour’s gloomy backbenchers
Tory plans to deport some people who are legally in UK are ‘grotesque’, says Labour – as it happened
Deporting legally settled people is ‘broadly in line’ with Tory policy, says Badenoch’s office
Chancellor hoping shift in tone on Brexit will ring true for key groups of voters
Caerphilly byelection could signal ‘fundamental realignment’ of Welsh politics