Oil Prices Surge 3% After Trump Slaps Sanctions On Top Russian Oil Firms

China is pushing ahead with imports of US-sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas, after the White House stopped short of putting additional restrictions on the trade in its latest wave of sanctions.The Iris vessel, carrying a shipment from the blacklisted Arctic LNG 2 facility in Russia, is on its way to the Beihai import terminal in southern China, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. This will be China's 11th shipment of restricted Russian LNG since late-August.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Russia by blacklisting state-run oil giants Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC, citing Moscow's lack of commitment to Ukrainian peace. However, the White House hasn't yet hit companies circumventing sanctions on LNG — a growing source of revenue for Moscow, which aims to triple exports of the superchilled fuel by 2030.The lack of new restrictions on Russian LNG is notable, given that the UK slapped sanctions on Beihai last week. Meanwhile, European Union nations have reached an agreement on a new package of sanctions aimed at Russia that will target 45 entities, including 12 companies in China and Hong Kong.

China had designated Beihai as the sole entry point for shipments from Arctic LNG 2 — a Russian project already sanctioned by the US in 2023. Arctic LNG 2 started delivering the blacklisted fuel to the Asian nation in late August, a move that coincided with a visit to Beijing by Russian President Vladimir Putin.The Iris vessel loaded an LNG shipment from a floating storage unit in eastern Russia in early October, according to ship-tracking data. The fuel in storage was sourced from the Arctic LNG 2 project. The storage facility and Iris have both been previously sanctioned by the US.

At least three more vessels carrying blacklisted Russian LNG are heading to the Beihai terminal, ship data shows. Satellite images taken on Oct. 18 showed an LNG tanker registered to a Hong Kong-based company receiving fuel from a sanctioned Russian tanker near Malaysia.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Gold declined for a third day, edging back in the direction of $4,000 an ounce on concerns a prolonged rally has become overheated.

Spot gold slipped to around $4,090 an ounce in early Asian trading on Thursday, reinforcing a technical reset, while investors also weighed the prospects for a US-China trade deal to relieve some of the geopolitical tensions that have bolstered demand for haven assets. The metal has dropped nearly 6% in the last two sessions from a record high.

Technical indicators have shown that the rally was likely overstretched, with this week's pullback taking some heat out of the market. The so-called debasement trade, in which investors avoid sovereign debt and currencies to protect themselves from runaway budget deficits, has been a driver of gold's growth since mid-August.

Gold is still up about 55% this year, with prices also supported in recent weeks by bets the Federal Reserve will make at least one quarter-point cut by the end of the year.

"After an overstretched rally, gold is behaving like an elastic band that's been pulled too far and is now snapping back hard," said Hebe Chen, an analyst at brokerage Vantage Global Prime Pty Ltd. "Prices holding firm above the $4,000 mark point to a technical reset rather than a fundamental shift, with safe-haven demand and the 'debasement trade' still very much intact."

Traders are also watching potential progress in talks between the US and China following a recent resurgence in tensions between the world's two largest economies. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday predicted an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping would yield a "good deal" on trade – while also conceding that the talks may not happen.

"Markets are taking a balanced stance toward the trade and geopolitical noise — cautious, yet grounded in a realistic sense of optimism," said Chen.

Gold edged lower to $4,095 an ounce at 8:05 a.m. Singapore time. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady. Silver extended a decline after dropping 7.6% in the past two sessions. Palladium gained, while platinum dropped.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Teslahas blown past its last exit from a risky route. The electric-car maker posted better-than-expectedresultson Wednesday. Yet its best growth in years owes much to the impending expiry of customer subsidies in the United States, an industry-wide boon on which its rivals also capitalized. What remains is boss Elon Musk's all-or-nothing bet on autonomy.Third-quarter revenue of $28 billion came in 12% higher than last year and 6% above analysts' expectations, according to Visible Alpha data. Tesla's most important gauge - gross margin adjusted for sales of regulatory credits in its core automotive business - appears to have stabilized at 15.4% after a years-long slide. A 7% year-over-year bump in car deliveries represents the fastest growth since 2023.

The worst, then, might seem to be over. Save for one thing: Tesla did little to drive this bumper quarter. Overall U.S. electric vehicle sales soared 30% year-over-year in the third quarter, Cox Automotivereckons, as buyers rushed to nab tax credits for battery-powered purchases before the Trump administration axed them. Musk's rivals benefitted, too: Ford Motorand General Motorsfurther narrowed their gap to the market leader.

Thomson ReutersGM and Ford are catching up to Tesla in US EV sales

Moreover, profit tanked more than a third as operating expenses jumped 50%. Meanwhile, the long-awaited release of new, "affordable" cars was little more than a slight price cut on existing models that does little to expand the market.In that case, while Tesla's nadir may have passed, so too may its peak, at least as far as the humdrum business of "selling cars" is concerned. It's perhaps no surprise. The company once aimed to shift 20 million cars a year. A new proposed pay package for Musk has effectively ditched that, rewarding him with billions if he reaches that many sales since Tesla's founding.

Admittedly impressive growth in the company's other businesses, selling grid-scale batteries and services to drivers, isn't enough to support its $1.4 trillion valuation. The remainder is, as always, Musk's grandest plans: turning every car into an automated chauffeur, and deploying the humanoid Optimus into factories - though his talk on Wednesday of building a "robot army" over which he should exert influence will send some chills.Some of those visions are getting less outlandish, though. Alphabet'sWaymo has a robo-taxi business in operation right now. General Motors, earlier on Wednesday, said it would release its own "eyes-off" system in 2028. The difference is in approach. Rivals augment in-car cameras with LiDAR or radar, utilizing extra sensors - at extra cost - to navigate the road. Musk has stubbornly stuck to a cheaper, cameras-only approach.

This is a difficult technological nut to crack, though the CEO said in a call with investors that Tesla taxis should soon operate without any humans at the steering wheel. In fact, he boasts that production will ramp up in anticipation of an autonomous future. At this point, he needs to be right. All other options are disappearing in the rear-view mirror.

Automaker Tesla said on October 22 that it generated roughly $28.1 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2025, roughly 6% above analysts' expectations, according to Visible Alpha data.Revenue from the company's core automotive business came in 7% above estimates, at $21.2 billion. Excluding sales of regulatory emissions credits, the unit's gross margin reached 15.4%, versus an anticipated 14.9% and continuing its climb from a low point at the beginning of the year.

Source: TradingView

Andrew Cuomo sought to cast Zohran Mamdani as a frontrunner unprepared to actually be mayor of the largest US city in the final debate before New York City's mayoral election.The former New York governor is seeking to overturn a double-digit polling deficit with just two weeks left in the campaign."The issue is you have no experience, you have accomplished nothing," Cuomo told Mamdani in the second and final debate before the Nov. 4 election. Early voting in the election begins Saturday.

Mamdani, the 34-year-old Queens state lawmaker and democratic socialist, shocked New York City's establishment when he won the Democratic primary for mayor in June, besting Cuomo by more than 12 points in a race where nearly every poll predicted Cuomo would win. Cuomo is running on an independent ballot line in the November election.Mamdani, leading in both polls and political betting markets, cast Cuomo as a failure in Albany who couldn't bring change to the city.

"The issue is we've experienced your experience," Mamdani told Cuomo, in one of many tense moments between the pair.A Quinnipiac University poll taken in early October showed Mamdani leading Cuomo 46-33, with Sliwa earning 15% of voters' support. Most polls taken since the June 24 Democratic primary have shown Mamdani with a comfortable, double-digit lead, which he has maintained even in the weeks after incumbent Mayor Eric Adams announced he would withdraw from the race late last month.

The debate comes as some Republicans and prominent donors are calling upon GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, to exit the race, helping improve former governor Andrew Cuomo's odds against Mamdani. Sliwa has insisted he will not exit the race, despite the pressure he faces to step aside. Earlier this week the five chairs of New York City's county Republican organizations issued a letter supporting Sliwa and urging him to remain in the race.

Sliwa, the third candidate on stage, was often overshadowed as Cuomo and Mamdani launched barbs at one another. Yet he showed no signs of leaving the race.Instead, Sliwa cast himself as the only option for voters uncertain about a pair of flawed alternatives."Zohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin," Sliwa said. "And Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City."

Source: Bloomberg Europe

A Sudden U-Turn in U.S. Policy

Sanctions Likely to Pressure but Not Cripple Moscow

Global Market Reaction and Risk

Ukraine's Endorsement and Escalating Conflict

Implications and Outlook

Source: Bloomberg

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said his government's first budget will reduce economic and security reliance on the United States and cut wasteful spending.

Carney, who was elected in April, stressed that his government's maiden budget will be about both austerity and big investments as he seeks to protect the Canadian economy from what he has called a crisis brought on by a newly protectionist U.S.

"The decades-long process of an ever-closer economic relationship between the Canadian and U.S. economies is over," Carney said in a televised address to a group of university students.

"Many of our former strengths — based on close ties to America — have become our vulnerabilities," he said.

As U.S. tariffs batter Canada's steel, aluminum and auto sectors, Carney pledged to double the country's non-U.S. exports over the next decade. The diversification will bring in an additional C$300 billion, he claimed.

Carney, under pressure to spur growth and assert Canada's sovereignty, has promised a massive scale-up in defense spending and housing infrastructure.

But he has also lost revenue due to tax cuts, scrapped retaliatory tariffs to try to strike a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, and spent on relief measures for tariff-hit industries, straining government coffers.

His government has asked all ministries to cut spending.

In his address, he said the budget will present a strategy to cut wasteful expenditures and drive efficiency.

"When we have to make difficult choices, we will be thoughtful, transparent, and fair," he said.

Economists forecast the government's fiscal deficit for the year 2025/26 will be between C$70 billion and C$100 billion, one of the largest in decades and a massive jump from the projected C$43 billion for the fiscal year that ended March 2025.

The budget, which will be presented on November 4, will help to catalyze "unprecedented" investments in Canada over the next five years, Carney said. He plans to balance the operating budget in three years and said he will include a climate strategy.

But the budget, a major test for Carney, cannot be passed unless his minority government gathers support from some opposition members.

In an outreach effort, Carney met with leaders from other political parties on Wednesday including the main opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who has urged restraint on the deficit.

"We won't play games. We won't waste time. And we won't hold back. We will do what it takes," Carney said in his remarks.

Source: Reuters