U.S. stock futures flat, while oil and bitcoin prices rise amid uncertainties
U.S. stock futures gained Sunday, after the S&P 500...
U.S. stock futures gained Sunday, after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday at all-time highs.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 72 points, or 0.2%, late Sunday, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures also advanced as investors remained in wait-and-see mode, as the government shutdown has put the release of much economic data, including monthly jobs numbers, on hold.
Bitcoin notched a new record high Sunday,topping the $125,000 mark as investors turn to the so-called debasement trade, seeking out the perceived safety of crypto and gold to hedge against fears of a falling dollar amid increased economic uncertainty caused by the government shutdown. The price of gold also edged higher Sunday, as did the ICE U.S. Dollar Index , which measures the greenback against a basket of rival currencies.
US Drillers Report Oil and Gas Rigs Unchanged For the Week | Oklahoma Plus One
(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week kept the number of oil and...
(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week kept the number of oil and natural gas rigs virtually unchanged, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday. The rig count, including a miscellaneous category, an early indicator of future output, was steady at 549 in the week to October 3. Baker Hughes reported that the total count was down 36 rigs, or 6.2% below the same time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell by two to 422 this week, while gas rigs rose by one to 118. Miscellaneous also gained one rig, to 9.
The oil and gas rig count declined by about 5% in 2024 and 20% in 2023 as lower U.S. oil and gas prices over the past couple of years prompted energy firms to focus more on boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt rather than increasing output. Even though analysts forecast U.S. spot crude prices would decline for a third year in a row in 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would rise from a record 13.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 to around 13.4 million bpd in 2025.
On the gas side, EIA projected a 61% increase in spot gas prices in 2025 would prompt producers to boost drilling activity this year after a 14% price drop in 2024 caused several energy firms to cut output for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for the fuel in 2020. EIA projected gas output would rise to 106.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025, up from 103.2 bcfd in 2024 and a record 103.6 bcfd in 2023.
BP has extended its partnership with Transocean, exercising a one-year...
BP has extended its partnership with Transocean, exercising a one-year option worth $232 million for the Deepwater Atlas drillship in the American Gulf. The move builds on previous multi-year contracts and further secures work for Transocean into 2030, though the specific project has not yet been disclosed.
Hamas partially agrees to Trump’s Gaza plan, but wants to negotiate
Hamas ...
Hamas said yesterday it would agree to release all remaining hostages and give up power over the Gaza Strip, but that it wanted to negotiate further details of the 20-point peace plan President Trump unveiled this week alongside Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier in the day, Trump had given the group an ultimatum to accept the plan by Sunday, but following Hamas’s statement, Trump said, “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” and called on Israel to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!” Netanyahu’s government then said it was preparing to implement the “first stage” of the plan.
Trump admin halts $2.1b for Chicago transit as shutdown continues. Trump’s...
Trump admin halts $2.1b for Chicago transit as shutdown continues. Trump’s budget director, Russ Vought, said yesterday that the administration is withholding the money pegged for extending Chicago’s Red Line L train, making it the latest freeze on funds to a Democrat-led city since the federal government shut down. The administration has now frozen at least $28 billion in funding for Democratic cities and states, Reuters reports, as Trump seeks to target his opponents’ priorities during the shutdown. He has also threatened to fire federal workers. The shutdown is likely to last at least through the weekend after Democrats, who are demanding funding for Obamacare subsidies, rejected a Republican-backed bill to fund the government yesterday.
The US killed four people whom Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as “male narcoterrorists,” in a fourth attack on what officials say are drug-smuggling boats from Venezuela. Questioned about the lawfulness of the strikes, the administration told Congress this week that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Jeff Bezos said AI represents an “industrial bubble” that makes it hard for investors to tell the good ideas from the bad ones, but that the tech is real and will benefit society.
One of the two victims killed in an attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur appears to have been accidentally shot by police, authorities said.
A fire broke out at a Chevron oil refinery near Los Angeles, potentially threatening California’s fuel supply.
Apple and Google dropped apps from their stores that could be used to anonymously track ICE agents after the Justice Department demanded Apple do so.
NBC’s content will remain on YouTube TV after NBCUniversal and Google clinched a multiyear distribution agreement.
