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Archives: Reuters Articles

Gold rebounds as market’s focus turns to US inflation data

Gold rebounds as market’s focus turns to US inflation data

Gold prices rebounded on Monday after the precious metal’s biggest daily drop in three and a half years in the last session, as investors awaited US inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later this week.

Spot gold was up 0.8% at USD 2,310.81 per ounce as of 1817 GMT. US gold futures settled about 0.1% higher at USD 2,327.

The sell-off on Friday seemed a bit excessive and “bargain hunters are surfacing at this lower price point,” said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures.

“There’s so much data and so many events coming out … so there’s going to be more volatility and more fireworks this week.”

Bullion lost about USD 83 an ounce on Friday, declining 3.5% in its biggest one-day drop since November 2020 after a stronger-than-expected US jobs report dented hopes for a September interest rate cut FEDWATCH and reports that China’s central bank was holding off gold purchases put off investors betting on Chinese demand.

“People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has never been a constant buyer. There have been distinct phases of buying followed by multi-month breaks. But as long as the PBOC doesn’t resume buying, gold prices could trade sideways because the China buying topic is a key market focus,” said Carsten Menke, an analyst at Julius Baer.

Gold’s tentative recovery occurred despite a rise in the dollar and US Treasury yields, with the market’s focus shifting to the release of the US consumer price index report on Wednesday, the same day as the Fed’s policy decision.

The US central bank is not expected to make any change to its policy rate this week, but the focus will be on policymakers’ updated economic projections and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s news conference after the end of the two-day meeting.

Higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Spot silver rose 1.9% to USD 29.72 per ounce and platinum was up 0.8% at USD 973.60, while palladium fell about 0.9% to USD 904.25.

(Reporting by Harshit Verma and Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Arpan Daniel Varghese, Shinjini Ganguli, Paul Simao, and Alan Barona)

 

Nvidia sparks chatter over possible Dow inclusion after stock split

Nvidia sparks chatter over possible Dow inclusion after stock split

Nvidia’s 10-for-1 stock split aimed at luring retail investors has taken effect, sparking speculation over the chances of the artificial intelligence bellwether’s inclusion in the blue-chip Dow index.

The split, aimed at lowering per-share value to make it more affordable for employees and investors, increases the company’s outstanding shares without changing its market valuation.

“A side-effect of Nvidia’s stock split will be to put it in the running to follow Amazon and Apple into the Dow, potentially pushing out fellow chip stock Intel that currently has the lowest weighting,” said Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at digital brokerage eToro.

The stock dipped 0.2% on Monday, after having climbed nearly 27% since the company announced the share split and a strong forecast last month. The dominant AI chip maker also clinched USD 3 trillion in market value last week and surpassed Apple to become the second-most valuable firm in the world, trailing only Microsoft.

“Historically, when we see runs like this into a split, there is often a hangover effect afterwards and I’d expect some buyer exhaustion this week,” Dennis Dick, market structure analyst at Triple D Trading, said on Nvidia shares.

Market analysts said stock splits tend to attract individual investors who trade in smaller lots and have less capital to deploy than institutional investors.

However, Goldman Sachs strategists led by David Kostin said in a note most recent stock splits have not generated a significant increase in retail trading activity, but there have been some notable exceptions such as Amazon’s split in 2022 and Nvidia’s 2021 split.

Moreover, “investors typically assign higher valuations to liquid stocks because of their low trading costs and flexibility in a variety of market environments”, the strategists said.

Over the last several years, trading volumes have briefly increased following stock split announcements but evidenced little change during and after the splits took effect, according to Goldman’s analysis of 45 Russell 1000 stock splits since 2019.

Nvidia’s stock was last trading at USD 120 per share post-split, compared with USD 1,200 on Friday, making it a potential contender for the 30-member price-weighted Dow index.

An S&P Dow Jones Indices spokeswoman late in May said it does not comment or speculate on index additions or deletions.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Arsheeya Bajwa; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

 

S&P 500, Nasdaq post record closing highs; Fed meeting, CPI ahead

S&P 500, Nasdaq post record closing highs; Fed meeting, CPI ahead

NEW YORK – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out record closing highs on Monday, although investors were cautious ahead of this week’s consumer prices report and a Federal Reserve policy announcement.

Providing some support to the Nasdaq and S&P 500, Nvidia shares ended up 0.7%, the session after a 10-for-one stock split. Some investors now believe the chip maker might be included in the blue-chip Dow.

The Consumer Price Index report for May is due Wednesday along with the conclusion of the Fed’s two-day policy meeting.

The central bank, which will release updated economic and policy projections, is expected to hold interest rates steady. Investors will look for clues on when the US central bank may begin to cut interest rates.

“This is an important week for the market in terms of comments and messaging from the Federal Reserve,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist, LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“In addition to that, you’re going see Wednesday morning the CPI report. Anything related to the economy and anything related to inflation is viewed by the market through the lens of the Federal Reserve.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.05 points, or 0.18%, to 38,868.04, the S&P 500 gained 13.8 points, or 0.26%, to 5,360.79 and the Nasdaq Composite added 59.40 points, or 0.35%, to 17,192.53.

Traders dialed back expectations for rate cuts in September after Friday’s stronger-than-expected jobs data for May, with the odds of a reduction at 50%.

“I feel like it’s going to be pretty muted as people try to hedge themselves for what they might see on Wednesday,” said Alex McGrath, private wealth advisor at NorthEnd Private Wealth.

Apple shares dipped 1.9% on the first day of the iPhone maker’s annual developer conference. Investors are eager for updates on how it is integrating artificial intelligence into its offerings.

Among the day’s gainers, Southwest Airlines jumped 7% after activist investor Elliott Investment Management disclosed it has built up a USD 1.9 billion position in the company.

Diamond Offshore Drilling shares climbed 10.9% after oilfield services company Noble said it would buy the smaller rival in a USD 1.59 billion deal. Noble shares rose 6.1%.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.06-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.01-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 177 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 10.39 billion shares, compared with the 12.80 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

(Additional reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and David Gregorio)

 

US yields rise as inflation data, Fed meeting eyed

US yields rise as inflation data, Fed meeting eyed

NEW YORK – US Treasury yields were mostly higher on Monday as investors awaited key inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement later in the week, following a stronger-than-expected jobs report on Friday.

Yields jumped on Friday following the payrolls report from the Labor Department, reversing declines earlier in the week after other data indicated the labor market could be cooling.

On Wednesday morning consumer price index (CPI) data will be released. Signs that inflation may be easing could alter market expectations for the Fed’s path of interest rates.

The central bank is scheduled to release its policy statement on Wednesday afternoon at the close of its two-day meeting and will also give its economic projections.

“Within an environment where investors really don’t know which way this is heading, people are really getting anxious for the Fed meeting,” said Jim Barnes, director of fixed income at Bryn Mawr Trust in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

“It seems that everybody is itching for a rate cut, but it’s not justified as of yet. And so they’re clinging on Wednesday morning, CPI data, hoping that’ll give us more direction and additional commentary from the Fed later on that afternoon, trying to get some clarity.”

The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note on Monday rose 4.3 basis points to 4.471%.

The yield on the 30-year bond US30YT=RR gained 4.9 basis points to 4.597%.

The Fed is widely expected to keep rates steady at this week’s meeting, while the probability of a cut of at least 25 basis points at the September meeting is roughly 50%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, down from nearly 60% a week ago, as the strong jobs report raised some uncertainty about the timing of a rate cut.

Ahead of the Fed meeting, bond investors, worried about persistently sticky inflation, have reduced their exposure to longer-dated US Treasuries.

An auction of USD 58 billion in three-year notes on Monday was described as weak by analysts, with a below-average demand of 2.43 times the notes on sale and a high yield of 4.659%.

The US Treasury Department will also sell USD 39 billion in 10-year notes on Tuesday and USD 22 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday.

A closely watched part of the US Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was at a negative 41.88 basis points.

The two-year US Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, edged 1.7 basis points higher to 4.887%.

The breakeven rate on five-year US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.304% after closing at 2.291% on June 7.

The 10-year TIPS breakeven rate was last at 2.314%, indicating the market sees inflation averaging about 2.3% a year for the next decade.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Leslie Adler)

 

Playing the waiting game, Japan stirs

Playing the waiting game, Japan stirs

Asian markets look set to remain on the defensive on Tuesday, kept in check by rising bond yields, political shockwaves in Europe, a buoyant dollar, and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision later in the week.

That’s not necessarily a blanket outlook across the continent though – Japanese equities got the week off to a solid start, shrugging off a spike up Japanese Government Bond yields after revisions to first quarter GDP were stronger than expected and the yen fell broadly.

The economic calendar on Tuesday is light, with only South Korean current account figures, Philippines trade numbers, and Australian business confidence on tap.

Japan’s GDP revisions on Monday will have boosted sentiment towards Japan and raised expectations that the Bank of Japan will press ahead with policy normalization at its policy meeting later this week.

The 10-year JGB yield jumped 4.5 basis points on Monday, its biggest rise in two months and enough to reverse half of last week’s decline.

The BOJ is widely expected to hold off following up on its historic 10-basis point rate hike in March – its first since 2007 – for at least a few months more.

Japanese swap markets aren’t fully pricing in another 10 bps of tightening until the BOJ’s September meeting, and are currently pointing towards a total 25 bps of rate hikes between now and the end of the year.

Instead, the BOJ is more likely this week to discuss cuts in its JGB purchases as part of efforts to unwind monetary stimulus and reduce its USD 5 trillion balance sheet.

But the yen will need more from the BOJ if it is to avoid falling back into the 158-160 per dollar zone that prompted two bouts of intervention from Tokyo recently. The yen on Monday slipped back below 157.00 per dollar.

The currency’s near-term fate, however, is probably in the dollar’s hands, and the greenback is on quite a ride right now. Last week, it was languishing at a two-month low against a basket of major currencies, but rebounded following Friday’s US jobs report, and on Monday touched a one-month high.

Record closing highs on Wall Street and buoyant Treasury yields should continue to underpin the dollar, and that’s a combination that will probably weigh on emerging market assets more broadly.

If sentiment towards Japan is brightening, investors remain cool towards Chinese assets.

The CSI 300 index of blue-chip shares and Shanghai Composite index both slumped on Friday to a six-week low. Chinese markets were closed on Monday so there could be outsized moves at the open on Tuesday as investors play catch-up for two global trading sessions.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday:

– South Korea current account (April)

– Philippines trade (April)

– Australia business confidence (May)

(Reporting by Jamie McGeever)

 

Indexes end down after strong jobs data

All three major US stock indexes closed lower on Friday after the US monthly jobs report suggested that any interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve may come later rather than some investors has been expecting.

Stocks, however, rose for the week, with Nasdaq gaining more than 2%.

Traders reduced bets for a rate cut in September following the data, which showed stronger-than-expected job gains for last month.

“The Fed may see these (jobs) numbers as an obstacle for cutting rates in September,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist, LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Utilities were down the most of the major S&P 500 sectors.

 

Stocks retreat, Treasuries flail as US rate cut hopes wither

Stocks retreat, Treasuries flail as US rate cut hopes wither

NEW YORK/LONDON, June 10 – Global stocks pulled back from an all-time high on Friday after surprisingly strong U.S. monthly jobs data dimmed hopes that the Federal Reserve would soon follow euro zone and Canadian interest rate cuts, causing Treasury yields to shoot higher.

The world’s largest economy added 272,000 jobs last month, beating the 185,000 hires predicted by economists and derailing an investor consensus that the jobs market had slackened just enough to push consumer prices lower.

“This is a strong report, and it suggests that there are no signs of any cracks in the labor market,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

“It’s a plus for the economy and a plus for corporate earnings, but it’s a negative in terms of the prospects of a rate cut perhaps as early as September.”

Diminished hopes for a near-term Fed move weighed on stocks, which closed lower after a choppy session. The MSCI’s world share index dropped 0.3%, after touching a record high of 797.48 points.

Wall Street finished in the red. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% after hitting an all-time high of 5,375.08 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite also lost 0.2%.

The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield, a benchmark for borrowing rates globally, leapt over 15 basis points after the jobs report, to 4.4335%, its biggest one-day jump in about two months.

The two-year yield, which tracks interest rate expectations, climbed nearly 17 basis points to 4.8868%, following six straight days of declines until Thursday. Bond yields rise as prices fall.

Money market pricing just after the payrolls data implied traders saw the Fed only starting to cut rates from their 23-year high of 5.25-5.5% by November. US interest rate futures also lowered the chances of the Fed’s cutting rates by 25 basis points in September to 56%, down from around 70% on Thursday, according to LSEG’s Fedwatch.

A September move had been strongly expected earlier in the day, particularly after the European Central Bank made a widely expected decision to cut its deposit rate from a record 4% to 3.75% on Thursday.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday became the first Group of Seven nation to trim its key policy rate, following cuts by Sweden’s Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank.

Following the jobs report, euro zone rate pricing also went into reverse, with traders now pricing 55 bps of cuts in the region this year, down from 58 bps before the data.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 share index, which has gained almost 10% year-to-date, lost 0.2%.

Euro zone bonds were also lackluster on Friday, with Germany’s 10-year Bund yield rising 8 bps to 2.618%.

Elsewhere, the dollar rose 0.8% against a basket of currencies, having been set for a weekly loss before the jobs data. The euro dropped 0.8% to USD 1.0802 a day after a slight gain.

Brent crude oil futures lost 0.6% to USD 79.36 per barrel. The stronger dollar weighed on spot gold, which dropped 3.6% to USD 2,290.59 an ounce.

(Editing by Christina Fincher, William Maclean, Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)


Wall Street stocks close slightly lower; jobs data strong but rates still high

Wall Street stocks close slightly lower; jobs data strong but rates still high

NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) – Wall Street stocks ended slightly lower on Friday in choppy trading after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data pointed to a robust economy but prompted worries the Federal Reserve may wait longer to cut interest rates than many investors had hoped.

The U.S. economy generated about 272,000 jobs in May, far more than the 185,000 analysts had forecast, according to a Labor Department report. The unemployment rate inched up to 4%.

The benchmark S&P 500 slipped immediately after the report while U.S Treasury yields climbed as traders slashed bets on a September rate reduction. The index recovered and briefly hit a fresh intraday record high as investors noted the data pointed to underlying economic health.

It finished slightly lower, with the utilities, materials, and communication services stocks among the biggest drag. Financials and technology advanced ahead of others.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.32%, Nasdaq rose 2.38%, and the Dow added 0.29%.

“This tells you there’s certainly not going to a cut in the short term, and with the bond yields going back up it’s putting a lot of pressure on the risk-on trade, which is probably small caps,” said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New Orleans.

“It’s just a function of interest rates and maybe a little higher for longer, and people have to recalibrate for that type of environment,” he added.

Traders now see a 56% chance of a September rate reduction, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool. Investors will eye U.S. inflation data next week and the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which ends on June 12.

“No one expects the Fed to cut (rates next week), but will they open the door for a cut as soon as September is the big question on everyone’s mind,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson Group, adding he still sees a September reduction on the table.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 87.18 points, or 0.22%, to 38,798.99, the S&P 500 lost 5.97 points, or 0.11%, to 5,346.99 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 39.99 points, or 0.23%, to 17,133.13.

GameStop slumped 39% in volatile trading just as stock influencer “Roaring Kitty” kicked off his first livestream in three years. The gaming retailer had announced a potential stock offering and a drop in quarterly sales.

Other so-called meme stocks, including AMC Entertainment AMC.N and Koss, fell 15.1% and 17.4%, respectively.

Nvidia slipped, on track to extend the previous session’s losses, with its valuation again dipping below the $3 trillion mark.

Lyft shares rose 0.6%, following a forecast of 15% annual growth in its gross bookings through 2027 after markets closed on Thursday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.72-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,177 stocks rose and 3,064 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.6-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 34 new highs and 149 new lows.

Total volume of shares traded across U.S. exchanges was about 10.75 billion, compared with the 12.7 billion average over the last 20 trading days.

(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; additional reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and David Gregorio)

BOJ may drop clues on bond tapering plan next week, sources say

TOKYO, June 10 – Bank of Japan policymakers are brainstorming ways to slow its bond buying and may offer fresh guidance as early as next week, sources familiar with its thinking said, in what would be a first key step to reducing its almost $5 trillion balance sheet.

While details are not finalised, the central bank could trim monthly purchases or clarify plans to proceed with a slow but steady taper with a focus on preventing abrupt yield spikes, the four sources said.

Any such decision could lay the groundwork for the BOJ, which lags way behind counterparts in tightening monetary policy, to shrink its 750-trillion-yen ($4.8 trillion) balance sheet that is nearly 1.3 times the size of Japan’s economy.

The topic will likely take centre stage at the BOJ’s next policy meeting on June 13-14. The board may delay a decision, however, if Japan’s bond market faces renewed volatility, they said.

“The BOJ has already decided to taper at some point, so it’s only a question of timing,” said one of the sources.

“Much will depend on market conditions at the time, as the key would be to avoid causing market turbulence,” another source said, a view echoed by two more sources. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

At next week’s meeting, the BOJ is expected to maintain short-term interest rates in a 0-0.1% range as it awaits more data showing wage hikes broadening and inflation durably at its 2% target, the sources said.

Conditions seem to be falling into place for tapering. After hitting a 13-year high of 1.1% last week, the 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield is now below 1%, in line with falling U.S. Treasury yields.

But market risks persist, including Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls data and the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting on Wednesday.

‘CONSTRUCTIVE AMBIGUITY’

In March, the BOJ ended eight years of negative interest rates and yield curve control (YCC), a policy that caps the benchmark 10-year yield around 0% with huge bond buying.

But it pledged to keep buying roughly 6 trillion yen worth of government bonds per month – just enough to maintain its balance sheet.

Three months after that decision, the board will debate whether markets are ready for a full-fledged tapering in bond purchases, the sources said.

A further cut would mean the BOJ moves to quantitative tightening (QT), reducing a balance sheet that is now five times the Fed’s in ratio-to-GDP terms.

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has repeatedly said the bank will eventually slow bond purchases, a stance he reaffirmed on Thursday, but has given no clues on timing.

The topic was debated at the BOJ’s April policy meeting with some members calling for reduced bond buying or guidance on how the bank would do so, according to a summary from the meeting.

Underscoring their desire to start tapering, Ueda and his deputy Ryozo Himino both said on Tuesday that bond yields ought to be driven by market forces.

Himino, however, also said the BOJ needed to be wary of “discontinuity” and unintended consequences.

The BOJ could gradually reduce bond buying, while making clear it stands ready to step in with emergency purchases if bond yields rise too quickly, the sources said.

However, for the BOJ, tapering is made harder by markets becoming accustomed to its heavy-handed intervention that has kept borrowing costs ultra-low.

A dire fiscal situation also means the BOJ must avoid sharp yield spikes that would boost financing costs for Japan’s huge public debt.

As such, the BOJ likely won’t follow the Fed, which set a fixed schedule to shrink its balance sheet under a pre-determined plan from a peak of nearly $9 trillion yen to $7.4 trillion as of March.

Preferring a more discretionary approach, the BOJ will likely offer looser guidance on tapering, instead of providing a detailed timetable spanning years, the sources said.

“Constructive ambiguity is key here,” said former BOJ official Nobuyasu Atago. “The BOJ will probably choose language that leaves itself flexibility to adjust the pace of tapering, while allowing long-term yields to rise gradually.”

Oil settles higher on hopes Fed will track European Central Bank rate cuts

Oil settles higher on hopes Fed will track European Central Bank rate cuts

HOUSTON – Oil settled up 2% on Thursday after the European Central Bank opted to cut interest rates, spurring hopes that the Fed will follow suit, and OPEC+ ministers reassured investors the latest oil output agreement could change depending on the market.

Brent crude futures settled USD 1.46 higher or 1.86% at USD 79.87 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up USD 1.48 or 2% at USD 75.55.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank went ahead with its first interest rate cut since 2019, citing progress in tackling inflation but cautioning the fight was far from over.

Denmark’s central bank then lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.35%.

Analysts in the US saw the European rate cuts as a likely precursor to Fed rate cuts.

Lower fuel costs and an easing of post-pandemic supply snags have helped drive inflation down to 2.6% in the 20 countries using the euro, from 10% in late 2022.

Investors are now less certain than they were a few weeks ago that inflation has retreated enough for the ECB to institute a major easing cycle. In the US, economists predict the Federal Reserve will cut rates in September, according to Reuters’ May 31-June 5 poll.

“Today the ECB rate cuts are helping, and casting a view that the Fed will finally follow suit here in the US as well which is supportive, but both central banks are cutting in the face of a slowing economy which is not necessarily supportive of oil demand,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, and first-quarter unit labor costs rose by less than previously thought, the Labor Department said.

While this shows a cooling labor market, it is unlikely to push the Fed to start rate cuts.

Meanwhile, trading house Trafigura’s chief economist Saad Rahim said the OPEC+ decision to phase out some output cuts, combined with strong fuel supplies, has driven oil prices lower.

OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, agreed on Sunday to extend most production cuts into 2025 but left room for voluntary cuts from eight members to be unwound gradually.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Thursday that OPEC+ can pause or reverse production increases if it decides the market is not strong enough.

And Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the group might adjust the deal if necessary, adding that the post-meeting price drop was caused by misinterpretation of the agreement and “speculative factors”.

“Oil markets have overreacted to the mildly negative OPEC+ meeting outcome. Demand indicators have certainly softened somewhat recently, but are not falling off a cliff,” Barclays analyst Amarpreet Singh wrote in a note.

Elsewhere, a merchant vessel reported that an explosion took place near it in the Red Sea on Thursday about 19 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port city of Mokha, British security firm Ambrey said.

The vessel fit the target profile of Yemeni Houthi militants, Ambrey said in a note. Militants have attacked ships off the country’s coast for several months in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in Gaza.

The vessel was en route from Europe to the United Arab Emirates.

“This puts more risk on top of a market that was already nervous,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group. “And if it turns out to be an oil tanker, this will probably raise the stakes,” he added.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston, Deep Vakil in Bengaluru, Robert Harvey in London, and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; Additional reporting by Colleen Howe in Beijing; editing by Varun H K, Jason Neely, David Gregorio, Lisa Shumaker, and Deepa Babington)

 

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