Gold Slips But Remains Elevated on Geopolitical Tensions, Economic Uncertainty — Market Talk

Europe's oil equities rise in opening European trade. Britain's BP leads the gainers, rising 1.4% while Shell moves up 0.9%.France's TotalEnergies, Spain's Repsol and Italy's Eni are all up around 0.5%. The share rises came despite Brent oil trading down slightly at 63.59 a barrel. It had rallied 1.5% yesterday on heightened geopolitical tensions after Russian drones entered Poland. However, a near 4 million barrel increase in U.S. inventories limited gains, with fears of oversupply putting downward pressure on prices, Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya writes.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)

(13:06 GMT) Darden Restaurants Price Target Cut to $240.00/Share From $245.00 by Keybanc

U.S. natural gas futures are returning some gains and looking to test support around $3/mmBtu. Near term, the battle between high and rising storage levels is pitted against a supportive technical outlook, Eli Rubin of EBW Analytics says in a note. While near-term caution is warranted, in the medium term weather headwinds may fade with October forecasts chillier than the five-year average and higher prices further out the curve likely restraining production, he says. "Technicals remain supportive and a bullish EIA surprise tomorrow reigniting upside cannot be ruled out." Nymex natural gas is off 3.1% at $3.019/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

Silver traded above $41 per ounce on Wednesday, hovering near 14-year highs, after weaker-than-expected US producer price data strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve will resume rate cuts at its meeting next week.

Both headline and core PPI declined 0.1% in August, against forecasts for a 0.3% increase, led by a steep drop in margins for machinery and vehicle wholesaling.

The figures came on the heels of disappointing labor market data earlier this month, prompting markets to price in multiple Fed cuts this year.

Attention now turns to Thursday’s consumer inflation report for further policy clues.

Safe-haven demand was also supported by heightened geopolitical risks, including President Donald Trump’s call for the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on China and India to pressure Russia, escalating unrest in the Middle East, and Poland’s interception of Russian drones that breached its airspace during a major attack on western Ukraine.

• Equinor Chairman Jon Erik Reinhardsen said the company has an "open mind" about the structure of its partnership with Danish wind developer Orsted, including the possibility of combining their renewable assets, according to Bloomberg.
• Combining the two firms' wind assets "is one of many options," Bloomberg said, citing an interview with Reinhardsen on the sidelines of the Pareto Securities energy conference in Oslo on Wednesday.
• "We are basically in the first real crisis of the offshore wind industry, with a strong inflation, regulatory challenges and, not least, what we've seen in the U.S. lately," Reinhardsen told Bloomberg.

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Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

Gold climbed to a near-record $3,650 per ounce on Wednesday after an unexpected decline in US producer prices reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will resume rate cuts at next week’s meeting.

Both headline and core PPI fell 0.1% in August, defying forecasts for a 0.3% rise, driven by a sharp drop in machinery and vehicle wholesaling margins.

The data followed weak labor market reports earlier this month that have led markets to price in multiple Fed cuts this year.

Investors now await Thursday’s consumer price inflation report for further guidance.

Geopolitical risks also underpinned demand for safe-haven assets, as US President Donald Trump urged the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on China and India to pressure Russia over the war in Ukraine, unrest in the Middle East escalated, and Poland said it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace during a major attack in western Ukraine.