Japan's Service Sector Extends Gains In September, PMI Shows

Gold headed for a seventh weekly advance, as the US government shutdown added another layer of uncertainty for investors seeking signals on the Federal Reserve’s monetary-easing path.

Bullion held near $3,860 an ounce, after ending Thursday slightly lower as traders booked profits following a five-day rally that pushed prices to a record earlier in the session. The torrid pace of the advance has left gold vulnerable to pullbacks, with technical indicators showing it’s been trading in overbought territory for the past month.

With the US shutdown set to delay Friday’s government payroll report, investors have become reliant on private data for crucial clues about an already murky economic outlook. Figures from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday showed US employers dialed back hiring plans in September and announced fewer job cuts.

The blackout will also make it harder for central bankers to interpret the economy’s direction, Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said this week. Money markets are still almost fully pricing a quarter-point cut at the end of the month, and are widely expecting another in December. Lower borrowing costs tend to benefit non-yielding precious metals.

Gold has soared more than 45% this year in a rally that’s seen successive all-time highs, with prices now on track for the biggest annual gain since 1979. The precious metal has been supported by central-bank buying and rising holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded funds, as the Fed resumed interest-rate cuts.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Danielle Smith Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces plans to submit an application for a new oil pipeline to northwestern British Columbia, in Calgary, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol Mark Carney Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers remarks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby Pierre Poilievre in Ottawa Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a meeting of the Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, before Monday's return of the House of Commons, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

The CEO of North America’s largest energy infrastructure company says Canada can “absolutely” be an energy superpower — but federal government regulations are standing in the way.In an exclusive broadcast with CTV’s Power Play, Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel says Canada has the tools to dominate the global energy landscape, with supplies of uranium, natural gas, oil, and gold.“We have everything set up,” he told host Mike Le Couteur. “The only thing that’s stopping us is ourselves.”

On Wednesday, Alberta announced it will commit $14 million to support a new pipeline to northwestern B.C. The province is leading a technical advisory group involving three major pipeline companies — Enbridge, South Bow and Trans Mountain — which will provide counsel on the proposal, though none of those companies would be obligated to be involved in the project.While Alta. Premier Danielle Smith says she hopes the pipeline will make the federal government’s next phase of major projects, B.C. Premier David Eby has sharply criticized Smith, telling reporters the proposal “is not a real project.”

Danielle Smith Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces plans to submit an application for a new oil pipeline to northwestern British Columbia, in Calgary, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol

He notes it would require a lifting of the federal government’s oil tanker ban, which he says is “foundational” for British Columbians who value the province’s coast.Ebel says that while Enbridge would “entertain the possibility” of becoming a project proponent, the current regulatory conditions are a barrier.“You’re not going to build a pipeline to nowhere, so if the tanker ban is there, why would you build a pipeline to the west coast?” he said.

Enbridge has been involved in many pipeline projects proposals in the past, including the ill-fated Northern Gateway pipeline project from Alberta to B.C., which was cancelled in 2016.“I don’t think you have to look too far to see concrete, real examples of Enbridge and other pipelines being willing to be the proponent of a pipeline, if the conditions are set. Capital will go to where the conditions are set, and today, the conditions are not set for that pipeline to exist,” Ebel said.On April 30, Enbridge wrote a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on behalf of leading energy companies, outlining an action plan to support investment in the Canadian energy sector. Among the requests was an elimination of the emissions cap and industrial carbon levy to allow the sector to “reach its full potential.”

Mark Carney Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers remarks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

The company wrote another open letter on Sept. 15 with the same requests, writing that though the launch of the federal government’s new Major Projects Office is a “crucial step in the right direction” in becoming an energy superpower, regulations still impede that vision.When asked by Le Couteur if it matters whether it’s a blanket removal of all these regulations to enable Canada to become an energy superpower, Ebel says having “bespoke regulation is not a great way to formulate capital and bring it together.”

“I think what you would be better off doing is creating the conditions across the entire country that will allow capital to come and these projects to be pursued,” he said.In a statement to CTV News, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson did not express explicit support for Alberta’s proposal to be the proponent of a pipeline, but said the province has the “right to do so.”“We have an active and constructive dialogue with Alberta and will always look for ways to advance shared priorities,” part of the statement read.

Pierre Poilievre in Ottawa Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a meeting of the Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, before Monday's return of the House of Commons, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has continued to criticize the federal Liberal government, saying Carney needs to “get out of the way” for a pipeline to be built.When it comes to federal leadership, Ebel says he believes Carney recognizes that it’s a competitive world and Canada has the products, but government regulation is standing in the way of taking advantage of global demand.“On election night, I believe he said, ‘Build, baby, build.’ I think those words matter. I love that enthusiasm. I think he recognizes we have been uncompetitive for the last 10 years, and he knows that changes have to be made,” Ebel said. “I support him in that, and look forward to those changes actually coming to fruition.”

Source: BNN BIoomberg

Capacity prices — a cost that is ultimately paid for by electricity consumers — surged in PJM’s last two July capacity auctions.

An Amazon Web Services data center near single-family homes on July 17, 2024, in Stone Ridge, Virginia. Data center load resulted in $16.6 billion in capacity auction revenue in the PJM Interconnection’s last two capacity auctions, according to a report released on Oct. 1, 2025, by the grid operator’s market monitor

PJM holds capacity auctions to help ensure that it has adequate power supplies to meet future needs. In the last auction, PJM bought capacity for a one-year period that starts on June 1. The grid operator is preparing to hold its next auction in early December to buy capacity for a year beginning on June 1, 2027.

Monitoring Analytics contends it is “misleading” to say that PJM’s recent capacity market results simply reflect tightening supply and demand.“The current conditions are not the result of organic load growth,” it stated. “The current conditions in the capacity market are almost entirely the result of large load additions from data centers, both actual historical and forecast.”Also, the “extreme uncertainty” in data center load forecasts is unprecedented and “raises questions about the meaning of clearing a capacity auction based on those forecasts,” Monitoring Analytics said.

In June, the market monitor recommended requiring new data centers to supply their own generation instead of tapping into existing power supplies in PJM.“The impact of the uncertain forecast of data center load on other customers would be limited or eliminated” by the requirement, Monitoring Analytics said in the report.PJM is in the middle of a fast-track stakeholder process to develop new rules for adding large data centers to its system with a goal of filing a proposal before the end of the year at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

As part of the process, PJM is proposing to bolster its load forecasting for data centers and other large loads, according to an Oct. 1 presentation from PJM staff. Under the proposal, state utility commissions could review and provide feedback on large load adjustments before they are included in PJM’s load forecast.Utilities would also have to ask if any data center proposals in their service territory are duplicative proposals. Staff suggested requiring large load customers to post financial security for the capacity they plan to buy in an auction.

PJM has dropped a proposal for “non-capacity-backed load” that was widely opposed by its stakeholders, according to the presentation.On the issue of a price cap and floor for PJM’s capacity auctions, the last auction would have been $3.2 billion, or 20%, higher except for a cost cap that grew out of an agreement between the grid operator and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, according to the market monitor’s report.

The impact of data center development on PJM’s auction results will increase sharply in the 2028/2029 base capacity auction scheduled for June, when the maximum and minimum price caps in the agreement expire, Monitoring Analytics said.Separately, the Union of Concerned Scientists this week found that utility ratepayers in PJM will pay about $4.4 billion for data center-related transmission projects that were approved in 2024 with similar results expected this year.

Source: Zero Hedge

Japan’s jobless rate rose to its highest in over a year, signaling a slight loosening of the labor market as speculation swirls over a Bank of Japan rate hike in the near term.The unemployment rate rose to 2.6% from 2.3% in July, the Ministry of International Affairs reported Friday, against a median economist expectation of 2.4%. Separate data from the labor ministry showed that the job-to-applicant ratio ticked down to 1.20 from 1.22, meaning that there were 120 job openings for every 100 job seekers. That was the lowest number of job openings since 2022.

While August’s figures showed a slight tempering of the job market, the data still point to overall firmness amid an ongoing labor shortage. That longer term trend has pressured companies to raise wages to attract and retain workers, helping to extend wage growth. Stable wage gains along with steady inflation remain a key condition for the BOJ to stay on its gradual tightening path.The BOJ board is scheduled to give its next policy decision on Oct. 30, with market expectations for a rate hike growing. After two board members dissented against last month’s rate hold and even a dovish member communicating a hawkish stance, more traders are betting on a hike at the end of the month.

Earlier this year Japan’s largest firms pledged wage increases exceeding 5% during annual labor negotiations, marking the steepest gains in over three decades. The next round of wage talks is expected to begin later this month, with attention focused on whether businesses can maintain momentum despite concerns over a US-led tariff war weighing on corporate performance.Chronic labor shortages are becoming a serious threat to business operations. From January to August this year, 237 companies filed for bankruptcy as a result of lack of labor, up about 22% from the same period last year, according to Tokyo Shoko Research. Many of them cited the inability to meet rising wage demands, the report said.

In response, many firms are turning to foreign workers. A record 2.3 million foreign workers were in Japan’s job market as of October last year, filling gaps left by the domestic workforce.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Israel faced international condemnation and protests on Thursday after its military intercepted almost all of about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and took captive more than 450 foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats showed armed Israeli soldiers in helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled in life vests with their hands up.

A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Thunberg, the most prominent of the passengers, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in cities across Europe as well as in Karachi, Buenos Aires and Mexico City to protest Israel's capturing of the activists two years into its assault on Gaza. Italian unions called a general strike for Friday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the organiser of the voyage, said on X that more than 450 volunteers had been detained. Earlier it said some of them were transferred to one large cargo vessel before being taken ashore.

One boat, the Marinette, was "still sailing strong," flotilla organizers said on a live video stream that showed the crew piloting the boat. Organizers said the Marinette was about 80 nautical miles from Gaza on Thursday night, and about 10 nautical miles from where Israel began intercepting other boats in the flotilla.

FLOTILLA MEMBERS COULD BE EXPELLED NEXT WEEK

Thunberg, 22, best known for her environmental protests, had pre-recorded a video that was released on her behalf after her ship was boarded.

"If you are watching this video, I have been abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces," she said. "Our humanitarian mission was non-violent and abiding by international law."

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he expected the members of the flotilla to be expelled from Israel on Monday and Tuesday and sent to European capitals on charter flights.

The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement it was taking all the people it had captured from the flotilla ashore at Ashdod, and that all were "safe and in good health."

"One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance," the ministry said. "If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented."

Map shows the location and status of boats comprising the Global Sumud Flotilla on way to Gaza.

TURKEY CONDEMNS 'THUGGERY' DIRECTED AT FLOTILLA

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticised Israeli aggression, saying it showed Israel's government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.

"I condemn the thuggery directed at the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set out to draw attention to the barbarity of children dying of hunger in Gaza and to deliver humanitarian aid to the oppressed Palestinians,” he said in a speech to officials from his AK Party in the capital Ankara.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged Israel to immediately release South Africans who were on the flotilla, including former President Nelson Mandela's grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela.

The activists were expected to be transferred to the immigration authority upon arrival in Ashdod, from where they will be moved to Ketziot Prison in southern Israel before they are deported, said Suhad Bishara, the director at Adalah, a human rights organisation and legal centre in Israel.

HIGH PROFILE OPPOSITION TO GAZA BLOCKADE

The flotilla, which set sail in late August, was transporting medicine and food to Gaza and consisted of more than 40 civilian vessels with parliamentarians, lawyers and activists in a high-profile display of opposition to Israel's blockade of Gaza, which many have said amounts to violations of the Genocide Convention.

Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt. Israel is defending itself against charges of genocide in the International Court of Justice and broader global opprobrium, arguing its actions have been in self-defense.

As the flotilla sailed across the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.

HAMAS EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR ACTIVISTS

Israel's navy had previously warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade, and asked organisers to change course. It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza.

The flotilla is the latest seaborne attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war.

In a statement, Hamas, which governs Gaza, expressed support for the activists and called Israel's interception of the flotilla a "criminal act", calling for public protests to condemn Israel.

The U.S. and Israel announced a new proposal to end the conflict this week that includes Hamas surrendering. U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he would temporarily oversee governance of Gaza under his plan, gave Hamas a few days to respond, and warned of continued escalation if Hamas refused.

The boats were about 70 nautical miles off Gaza when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching. The organisers said their communications, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats, had been scrambled.

Israel began its Gaza offensive after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive has killed over 66,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say.

Source: Reuters

Japan stands a good chance of having its first woman prime minister or its youngest leader in the modern era after a vote on Saturday to pick the head of the nation’s ruling party.

The front-runners in the potentially historic Liberal Democratic Party election are conservative nationalist Sanae Takaichi, 64, and her more moderate rival Shinjiro Koizumi, 44. Opinion polls suggest Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, may also be a contender.

They are among five candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is stepping down after a series of electoral defeats.

The next leader is likely to become premier as the LDP is the biggest group in parliament, but that is not assured as the party – which has run Japan for almost all the postwar period - lost its majorities in both houses under Ishiba.

RULING PARTY IN CRISIS

Takaichi pledges to jolt the economy with aggressive government spending that could spook investors in an economy with one of the world's biggest debt loads. She has raised the possibility of redoing an investment deal with U.S. President Donald Trump that lowered his punishing tariffs.

Farm minister Koizumi, son of former premier Junichiro Koizumi, as well as the other candidates, say they would trim taxes to help households cope with rising living costs but otherwise hew more closely to Ishiba's economic restraint.

Whoever wins Saturday's vote will inherit a party in crisis and a sluggish economy.

Dissatisfaction with the LDP is pushing many voters, especially disillusioned younger people, to opposition parties such as an upstart anti-immigrant far-right party.

"Koizumi and Takaichi offer two quite different approaches to that renewal," said Tina Burrett, a political science professor at Tokyo's Sophia University. Koizumi is seen as someone who could forge consensus with other parties while Takaichi would shake up "a world of rather grey politicians", she said.

If chosen, Koizumi would be a few months older than Hirobumi Ito when he became Japan's first prime minister in 1885, under the nation's prewar constitution.

LAWMAKERS VS RANK AND FILE

Koizumi leads among the 295 LDP lawmakers who will vote for party leader, followed by Hayashi and Takaichi, according to an Asahi newspaper report on Wednesday. But Takaichi is ahead of both of them among rank-and-file party members who will get an equal number of votes in the first round on Saturday, a Nippon Television survey found.

If, as seems likely, the election goes to a second round, the advantage could shift as the vote of grassroots LDP members would fall to 47.

Takaichi, an ally of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has the most expansionist economic platform of the LDP candidates. She has promised to double the size of the economy in a decade with heavy state investment in new technologies, infrastructure, food production and other areas of economic security.

She has said she would carry over Ishiba's trade agreement with Trump, in which Japan agreed to invest $550 billion in the U.S. in return for lower tariffs on automobiles and other Japanese products, but mentioned the possibility of renegotiation if the deal proves to be unfair.

Cabinet ministers Hayashi and Koizumi have defended the deal.

For whoever wins, one of their first acts as premier is expected to be hosting Trump in Tokyo at the end of October, Reuters has reported.

Domestically they face the tall task of rejuvenating a party increasingly seen as out of touch with voters, said James Brown, a politics professor at Temple University in Tokyo.

"There's every possibility that we'll be returning to this issue of yet another election for the leadership of the country before too long," Brown said.

Source: Reuters