China Halts New BHP Iron Ore Cargoes Amid Pricing Dispute

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Monday he expects U.S. economic growth to continue at about a 1.5% pace for the rest of 2025, while warning the job market could face stress without central bank support.

Speaking at a Bank of Finland conference in Helsinki, Jefferson explained his support for the quarter-point interest rate cut at the Fed’s September 16-17 meeting as balancing inflation risks with emerging labor market concerns.

"The labor market is softening, which suggests that, left unsupported, it could experience stress," Jefferson said. He anticipates inflation will begin easing back toward the Fed’s 2% target after this year.

Jefferson highlighted significant uncertainty in his economic outlook, primarily due to the evolving policies of President Donald Trump’s administration and their potential effects on employment and inflation.

While the impact of tariffs on inflation and the broader economy has been less pronounced than some economists predicted, Jefferson expects these effects "will further show in coming months."

Source: Yahoo Finance

Sustained Momentum in Emerging Markets

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Source: Bloomberg

Chinese authorities have green-lit reserve reports from two major lithium producers operating in the mining hub of Yichun, easing concerns around output disruptions at a time when the sector’s excess capacity is under close government scrutiny.Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., whose Jianxiawo mine has been halted since last month, has now received the reserve approval, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named as they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. That brings the site one step closer to a mining permit and to a restart, though there is no guarantee, they said.

Gotion High-Tech Co. Ltd., which has continued to produce through the period, has also won the approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources, it told Bloomberg News on Monday.The two miners were among eight asked by authorities in Yichun, in the southern Chinese province of Jiangxi, to submit reports on reserves by the end of September, following an audit that uncovered administrative shortcomings. The lithium hub has been in the spotlight in recent months as supply concerns led to heightened price volatility for the vital battery metal.

The Jianxiawo mine has been the center of the turmoil, after CATL, the world’s largest manufacturer of EV batteries, said in August that it would suspend operations after failing to extend an expired mining permit. Earlier this month, news that executives were now asking employees to ready the resumption of work triggered a slide in lithium stocks and in the price of the material.Gotion has separately received approval for its mining design and ecological restoration plans at its Yichun site, it said. Its lithium unit is currently allowed to mine at the company’s discretion on production needs, it added.

CATL declined to comment. Yichun’s local government didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

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Source: Bloomberg

The US is hurtling toward a government shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans seemingly no closer to agreeing on a plan to fund federal operations and both sides blaming each other for the stalemate.

With just hours to go until a midnight deadline, the impasse over spending threatens to paralyze many US government operations for only the 14th time in modern history, causing the suspension of services for Americans and paychecks for federal workers. Political fallout could be widespread for both President Donald Trump and Democrats ahead of next year’s critical midterm elections.

Although last-minute spending deals have averted several other threatened shutdowns in recent years, the stakes are especially high now, with the White House threatening to fire employees rather than furlough them, and Democratic leaders under intense pressure from progressives in the party to stand up to Trump.

“They wouldn’t back off on any of these crazy demands,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, told Fox News late Monday.

Democratic leaders, similarly, accused Republicans of ignoring repeated pleas for bipartisan negotiation. “Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, adding: “It’s up to the Republicans whether they want a shutdown or not.”

Lawmakers appeared no closer to a deal Monday after a meeting at the White House only served to underscore their deep divide. Democrats have sought an extension of health-care subsidies and a reversal of Medicaid funding cuts that were part of Trump’s signature tax legislation enacted earlier this year. Republicans, meanwhile, are insisting on what they call a clean continuing resolution — without an array of controversial policy measures — that would extend government funding until Nov. 21.

Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune told reporters the Democrats’ push amounted to a “hostage taking.” While there is an opportunity to discuss potential health care premium tax credit changes with Democrats, Thune said, “we can’t even have that discussion until we keep the government open.”

If the president was seeking to curry Democratic votes, it wasn’t immediately apparent. Trump, who last week canceled a planned sit-down Democratic leaders, on Monday evening posted a poorly-dubbed video on social media of Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, set to mariachi music, suggesting the pair wanted to import new voters who “can’t even speak English.”

Trump ally Sean Hannity, on Fox News, suggested to Johnson that there was no chance Trump would give into any of the Democrats’ demands, and Johnson agreed. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Democrats cheered party leaders in a closed-door meeting Monday evening that appeared to rally the troops.

A shutdown would be the first since 2018-2019, when funding for the government lapsed for five weeks, including over New Year’s Day, during Trump’s first term. Federal agencies have drawn up plans for operating essential government services, so far without detailing plans for the kind of mass firings the White House has threatened.

Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress — as well as the White House — they appear to need the support of at least seven more Senate Democrats to clear procedural hurdles and pass a funding bill.

One possible path being discussed late Monday involves a potential compromise that would extend health care tax credits but phase down the amounts in the second and third year.

Still, GOP lawmakers expressed confidence that, even if the government shut down briefly, Democrats would eventually cave.

“A 600-pound man is more likely to pass up a donut than the Democrats are to shut down the government for any length of time, because they love the government as much as a 600-pound man loves a donut,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina.

Graham said he expected a “brief” shutdown while Republicans and Democrats find “common ground.” He noted that Republicans have previously tried to use shutdowns to extract policy concessions, only to eventually give up and fund the government without getting anything in return.

“It may be popular, but shutting the government down is not the answer to popular legislation,” Graham said. “I’ve learned that the hard way.”

Source: Bloomberg Europe

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Source: CNBC