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NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The global oil market is signaling a potential shift, as traders and analysts worry about reduced crude demand and an oversupplied market in the coming months. On Dec. 5, a European Union ban on Russian crude imports is set to start, along with a plan by the G7 nations to force shippers to comply with a price cap on Russian oil sales. In the last week, crude futures contracts have flipped in and out of contango, where the prompt price of a commodity is lower than the future price, which suggests short-term weakness. Offers of Angolan and other West African crude oil to China, a main customer, are a barometer of physical crude demand from the country. In addition, European refiners have found themselves oversupplied with crude as an expected shortage owing to the looming EU ban on Russian oil has yet to materialise.

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - European refiners have found themselves oversupplied with crude as an expected shortage owing to the looming EU ban on Russian oil has yet to materialise. The front-month Brent crude futures spread narrowed sharply this week, reflecting better supply in the physical oil market as fears over the EU embargo on Russian crude begin to subside. Reuters Graphics"There's too much oil around," one European crude trader said. A G7 price cap on Russian crude also comes into effect on Dec. 5. ALTERNATIVES SOURCESTraders said refiners have adjusted to living without Russian crude, which had been a mainstay of Europe's refining system.

☆ Sanctioned oil tanker floating free after stranding in Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S.-sanctioned oil supertanker Young Yong is moving away from shallow waters in Indonesia after more tugboats were deployed on Thursday to free the stranded vessel, shipping data showed. The ten tugboats that had surrounded the ship were also dispersing, data on Refinitiv Eikon and MarineTraffic website showed. The United States has allowed some transactions necessary to dock and anchor the Young Yong safely and make repairs as part of the efforts to free the vessel. The Young Yong was among the vessels sanctioned through its ownership. The supertanker is filled with about 2 million barrels of Venezuelan fuel oil after receiving the cargo through ship-to-ship operations last month, according to vessel monitoring services.

☆ Australia's NAB flags slowing lending growth from rising rates, shares fall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Sameer Manekar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A National Australia Bank (NAB) logo is pictured on an automated teller machine (ATM) in central Sydney September 12, 2014. The country's second-largest lender also warned that economic uncertainty created by rising interest rates owing to soaring inflation could challenge some customers, however, said it expects strong employment conditions and substantial home and business savings helping it weather the impact. NAB forecasts a steep decline in business and housing lending volumes in fiscal 2023 in Australia, with business credit growth seen decelerating to 3.6% from 14.7% in fiscal 2022. NAB, the country's biggest business lender, recorded strong growth in its business and home lending during the year ended September, with windfall benefit from rising interest rates boosting its cash earnings to A$7.10 billion ($4.62 billion). That compares with A$6.56 billion reported a year earlier and analysts' estimate of A$7.08 billion, according to Refinitiv Eikon.

The Indonesian navy has been trying to free the Djibouti-registered ship, Young Yong, which ran aground off Indonesia's Riau Islands on Oct. 26 near a gas pipeline. The Young Yong was among the vessels sanctioned. Capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, the stranded tanker is almost full, according to shipping data on Refinitiv Eikon. allows transactions to free sanctioned oil tanker, Young Yong, which has been stranded in Indonesian waters since Oct. 26CHALLENGESThere are operational challenges in refloating the ship like the risk of an oil spill and strong currents in the surrounding waters, said Jacob Hogendorp, managing partner of Global Salvage Consultancy. He added that part of the cargo onboard Young Yong would likely have to be transferred to another ship before refloating commences.

☆ Australia's NAB beats cash profit estimates on lending growth, rising rates
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Sameer Manekar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies FY cash earnings A$7.10 bln, up 8.3%Full-year total dividend of A$1.51/shareRise in home, business lending boost earningsNov 9 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), the country's second-largest lender, on Wednesday logged a better-than-expected annual cash profit helped by robust home and business lending growth and margins that were supported by rising interest rates. The lender warned that ongoing economic uncertainty, stemming from rising interest rates owing to soaring inflation, could challenge some customers, but was confident of standing strong on the back of strong employment and substantial home and business savings. However, rapidly rising interest rates and inflation could impact household budgets, dampening consumption and overall growth, Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan said. "This outcome reflects continued execution of our strategy including targeted volume growth and a disciplined approach to managing costs while investing for growth," McEwan said. The Melbourne-based bank declared a final dividend of 78 Australian cents per share, compared with 67 Australian cents apiece last year.

☆ Taiwan’s virtual beauty brand struggles on Wall Street debut
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —Taiwan’s latest entrant to Wall Street has had a rough ride since it went public a week ago. Perfect Corp. lends its technology to beauty and fashion brands. Perfect Corp. founder and CEO Alice Chang said she spoke to CNN Business while wearing the company's "digital makeup" on a conference call. The question was: “How can I link the virtual beauty with the real world beauty?” Chang recalled. Perfect Corp. is one of a handful of Taiwanese companies to list in the United States in recent years, according to Dealogic data.

HOUSTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A unit of Italian oil company Eni (ENI.MI) has been assigned two 1-million-barrel cargoes of Venezuelan diluted crude oil for November loading, according to a document from state-run PDVSA seen by Reuters on Monday. The cargoes mark the resumption of an oil-for-debt deal authorized by the U.S. government earlier this year as an exception to sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector. Eni plans to take the Venezuelan crude onboard the Suezmax tankers Africa and Gladiator. Africa was in Venezuelan waters on Monday waiting to load, while Gladiator is scheduled to depart from U.S. waters to Venezuela after discharging a previous cargo, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel monitoring data. Between June and July, Eni received a total of 3.6 million barrels of DCO.

☆ James Hardie cuts fiscal 2023 profit view as inflation clouds housing market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 8 (Reuters) - James Hardie Industries (JHX.AX) on Tuesday lowered its earnings forecast for fiscal 2023 for the second time, as the world's largest fibre cement maker saw volumes across all three key regions tumbling amid uncertainties around a slowing housing market. Demand in the housing market has tapered down owing to an aggressive policy tightening by global central banks to contain decades-high inflation, making it less affordable for consumers to take out mortgages. The Australia-listed firm now expects full-year adjusted net income between $650 million and $710 million, down from $730 million to $780 million. "We see a weakened housing market for the remainder of our fiscal year, softening volumes in all three regions we participate in," James Hardie Chief Executive Aaron Erter said. James Hardie decided to skip the payment of an interim dividend and instead announced a share buyback program for up to $200 million, commencing immediately through to Oct. 31 2023.

☆ China's exports unexpectedly shrink in October, badly missing expectations for growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING — China's exports fell by 0.3% in October from a year ago, missing Reuters expectations for a 4.3% increase. The decline in U.S.-dollar terms last month marked the first year-on-year drop since May 2020, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Imports fell in October by 0.7% in U.S.-dollar terms, also missing expectations for slight growth of 0.1%. The yuan weakened by nearly 3% against the U.S. dollar in October, according to Refinitiv Eikon. In yuan terms, exports rose by 7% and imports by 6.8%, customs data released Monday showed.

☆ Most Gulf markets drop as cenbanks toe hawkish Fed line
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Ateeq Shariff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

read more read moreSaudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the region's two largest economies, both increased rates by 75 basis points. The Saudi central bank, also known as SAMA, lifted its repo and reverse repo rates to 4.5% and 4%, respectively. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (<.TASI>) dropped 0.8%, hit by a 1.6% fall in Al Rajhi Bank (<1120.SE>) and a 2.1% drop in Riyad Bank (<1010.SE>). Since Oct. 27, SNB market-cap has shed 25.74 billion riyals ($6.85 billion), according Refinitiv Eikon Data. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (<.EGX30>) rose 0.2%, helped by a 1.2% gain in Commercial International Bank Egypt (<COMI.CA>).

LNG prices recently have cooled with Europe's gas storage levels rising to over 90% of target capacity and a slow start to winter. In Asia, however, a declaration of force majeure on gas supplies by Malaysian state-energy company Petronas (PETR.KL) has LNG customers in Japan scrambling for alternative cargoes. A total of 88 tankers carrying 6.27 million tonnes of LNG departed in October from U.S. ports, mostly heading to Europe, the data showed. LNG shipments from U.S. ports fell slightly to 6.27 million tonnes in October, with more cargoes going to Asia, where customers of Malaysian liquefied gas scramble to source alternative supplies. The shutdown of the second-largest U.S. LNG export plant has hit many customers, including Japan's biggest LNG buyer, JERA, which last week said it will book a $751-million loss mostly due to higher purchase costs.

☆ U.S. tech giants face pressure from Europe's telcos to pay for building the internet
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Michael Bocchieri | Getty ImagesIn Europe, the battle between U.S. Big Tech companies and telecommunications firms has reached fever pitch. In May 2022, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said she would look into requiring Big Tech firms to pay for network costs. In South Korea, companies have similarly lobbied politicians to force "over-the-top" players like YouTube and Netflix to pay for network access. Tech companies, naturally, don't think they should pay for the privilege of sending their traffic to consumers. There's also the matter of why internet users pay their providers in the first place.

☆ Large explosion in Taiwan's CPC Dalin oil refinery, no injuries
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Oct 28 (Reuters) - An explosion hit Taiwan's state-backed CPC Dalin Refinery in the southern city of Kaohsiung on Thursday night, videos and images from the Fire Department showed with heavy fire seen above the plant, officials said, adding nobody was hurt in the incident. The city's fire department said flames were put out early on Friday and no one was injured or trapped as per an initial investigation. CPC spokesperson Ray Chang said there was "very limited impact" on the company's output, as it has several other such units in its facilities across the island. The unit, which has a capacity of 40,000 barrels per day according to Refinitiv Eikon, is used to remove sulphur from oil products. The incident happened during routine maintenance at the plant, the city government said.

Net profit for the three-months ending Sept. 30 rose to 910 million crowns ($87.57 million) from a year-ago profit of 169 million, Norwegian said. Norwegian Air shares were up 8.5% at 0912 GMT, beating a flat Oslo benchmark index (.OSEBX), though share are still down 17% over the past year, lagging a benchmark down by 6% over the same period. "We have a flexibility with our fleet that means we can reduce our capacity by up to 30%," Chief Executive Officer Geir Karlsen told Reuters. Norwegian Air Sweden Boeing 737-800 plane SE-RRJ approaches Riga International Airport in Riga, Latvia January 17, 2020. ($1 = 10.3139 Norwegian crowns)Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Mike HarrisonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"East of Suez is sending everything they can ship... it's just a question of how much China exports in November," a Europe-based trader said. Exports from India and the Middle East for October to northwest Europe were at around 480,000 tonnes and 834,000 tonnes respectively, compared with 361,000 tonnes and 511,310 tonnes a month ago, the data showed. The trader estimated that Europe may import about 3 million tonnes (750,000-850,000 barrels per day) from east of Suez in November, of which the Middle East could account for two-third of the volume. Traders expect the bulk of supplies to Europe to come from India and the Middle East, on shorter shipping times. Already soaring diesel prices in the United States have led traders to divert several cargoes heading from the Middle East to Europe to the New York harbour area, further constraining supplies in Europe.

☆ French strikes delay price recovery of crude grades in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Rowena Edwards | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oct 19 (Reuters) - Strikes at French oil refineries have given temporary relief to volatile crude markets in Europe but created delayed demand for future months when refined product supply is set to be tight. The outages have significantly reduced demand for grades of crude in Europe that typically feed France's refineries, and weighed on prices. France also imported around 100,000 bpd of crude produced in the North Sea before the start of strike action, according to Energy Aspects. It relied on the Ekofisk North Sea crude grade, produced at a field in Norway where French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) has equity, traders said. Walkouts also ended last week at Exxon Mobil's (XOM.N) 140,000 barrel per day (bpd) Fos-Sur-Mer and 240,000 bpd Port Jerome-Gravenchon oil refineries.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Rosneft moves into tanker chartering as EU ban looms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Nidhi Verma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Some of the G7 countries are working to introduce a price ceiling on Russian oil though it is not yet clear how this will work in practice. FIRST CHARTER The three sources said Rosneft is using its Rosnefteflot subsidiary to handle the shipping costs for buyers. The volumes have steadily increased and in October Rosneft chartered almost 1 million tonnes, mainly via Rosnefteflot, based on trade sources and Refinitiv Eikon data. That represents nearly 40% of the planned 2.5 million tonnes of Rosneft Urals crude tanker exports scheduled for October, according to Refinitiv Eikon and traders' data. Unlike Russia's second biggest oil company, Lukoil, and oil producer Gazpromneft, Rosneft does not have a chartering arm.

☆ Stocks in this key market are outperforming the S&P 500 — and it's not where you might expect
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It has not been a good year for the S & P 500 . But one index is beating the S & P 500, according to investment veteran Jeffrey Kleintop — and it's not one you might expect. The MSCI United Kingdom Index, which includes large and mid-cap U.K. stocks, is down about 5% and 22% this year, in sterling and dollar terms respectively, according to Eikon data. "Analysts' consensus S & P 500 EPS estimate for 2022, at about $224, has been declining since June. Kleintop noted that a key reason for U.K earnings strength is the British pound's weakness against the U.S. dollar this year.

☆ Qantas shareholders take cautiously to the skies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, Oct 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shareholders have become accustomed to bad news from airlines. So it’s only fitting that Qantas Airways’ (QAN.AX)prediction on Thursday of bumper earnings prompted a somewhat muted response. The $6 billion Australian carrier reckons its underlying pretax profit for the six months to the end of December will be between A$1.2 billion and A$1.3 billion ($753 million and $815 million). But it implies investors are factoring in just A$130 million of additional earnings on an annual basis, after applying the stock’s almost 10 times forward earnings multiple and assuming a constant tax rate. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Oil futures have risen over 7% since to five-week highs, as the move was seen as putting a floor under the market. However, the U.S. oil options market skewed toward buying of put options, used to either bet on or protect against downside movement. Trading volumes for U.S. crude futures puts and calls for November delivery gained over 40% to Wednesday, the day of the OPEC+ meeting, from Tuesday, data from CME Group showed. On Thursday and Friday, volumes in puts totaled 15,579 and 25,771, respectively, while volumes in calls totaled 16,087 and 42,291, CME Group data showed. In the futures market, crude spreads widened on Friday, with near-term contracts rising at a faster rate than later-dated contracts.

☆ No reprieve for Asian currencies as Fed's rate hikes continue, EIU says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Asian currencies will likely continue weakening for another quarter — if not more, as U.S. interest rates rise, the Economist Intelligence Unit said. The EIU said it expects further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in November and December, although "the risk is rising that rate increases will occur at a faster pace than we currently anticipate." The contrast between the Fed's tightening and the monetary easing in some Asian economies, such as Japan and China, means the U.S. dollar would be more buoyant and there will be more downward pressure on Asian currencies. "As the Federal Reserve signals a more hawkish approach to monetary policy to curb inflation, Asian currencies extended their losses against the US dollar in September," the economics group said in an analysis on Thursday. "We expect that the pressure facing Asian currencies will last for another quarter, if not longer."

☆ Peloton races tough economic cycle
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TORONTO, Oct 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Peloton Interactive (PTON.O) is pedaling as fast as it can. The maker of connected bikes plans to cut 500 more jobs, or about 12% of its workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal. And even though McCarthy has steadily trimmed the cash burn, free cash flow was a hefty negative $412 million in the three months to June 30. Peloton, whose market value has plummeted 90% in a year, is coming precariously close to the end of a wild ride. (By Sharon Lam)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterFollow @Breakingviews on Twitter(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.

☆ Russian unemployment rate hits record low, economic data paints mixed picture
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

After 11 consecutive weeks of deflation and for the first time since early May, consumer prices rose in the week to Sept. 26. That rise comes less than two weeks after the central bank cut its key rate to 7.5%, but suggested the monetary easing cycle might soon be over. Next month's data may shed some light on the impact of President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilisation order on the workforce. Rosstat also said real wages in Russia fell 3.2% year on year in July, the same decrease as the month before. Average nominal wages earned by Russians rose year-on-year to 62,200 roubles ($1,083) but fell from 66,572 roubles in June.

☆ UK swaps one cost-of-living crisis for another
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But the budget plans of new Prime Minister Liz Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng may cause a world of pain for mortgage borrowers. Surging interest rates will crimp spending and hurt the housing market, further undermining Truss and Kwarteng’s growth plans. Capital Economics reckons at Monday’s implied levels, mortgage costs could reach their highest level relative to borrowers’ income since 1990. Rather than having to bail them out, regulators and politicians may push lenders to offer repayment holidays or cut interest rates. It will find it equally difficult to let mortgage borrowers suffer alone.

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