Oil steadies as mixed US economic and tariff news offset new Russia sanctions
(Reuters) - Crude oil futures were little changed on...
(Reuters) - Crude oil futures were little changed on Friday on mixed U.S. economic and tariff news and worries about oil supplies following the European Union's latest sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Brent crude futures fell 24 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $69.28 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 20 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $67.34.
That put both crude benchmarks down about 2% for the week.
In Europe, the EU reached an agreement on an 18th sanctions package against Russia over its war in Ukraine, which includes measures aimed at dealing further blows to Russia's oil and energy industries.
"New sanctions on Russian oil from the U.S. and Europe this week were met by a muted market reaction," analysts at Capital Economics said in a note. "This is a reflection of investors doubting President Trump will follow through with his threats, and a belief that new European sanctions will be no more effective than previous attempts."
The EU will also no longer import any petroleum products made from Russian crude, though the ban will not apply to imports from Norway, Britain, the U.S., Canada and Switzerland, EU diplomats said.
U.S. stocks end mixed Friday, but S&P 500 and Nasdaq book weekly gains
The U.S. stock market ended mixed on Friday, with the...
The U.S. stock market ended mixed on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite logging weekly gains as companies reported their latest quarterly earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142.30 points on Friday to close 0.3% lower at 44,342.19.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.57 point, or less than 0.1%, to finish nearly flat at 6,296.79.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 10.01 points, eking out a gain of less than 0.1% to notch a fresh record high at 20,895.66.
Big Tech stocks mostly rose on Friday, but the S&P 500's 11 sectors ended the trading session mixed. Investors continued to monitor tariff-related risks, with consumer-price-index data released earlier this week showing some early signs of inflationary pressures from tariffs.
The S&P 500 finished Friday just shy of its all-time high on Thursday, with a weekly gain of 0.6%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The technology-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.5% on the week, after rising for a fifth straight day. The Dow had a slight weekly loss of 0.1%, booking back-to-back weekly losses.
Talen Energy Corp. agreed to acquire two combined-cycle gas turbine...
Talen Energy Corp. agreed to acquire two combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants in the PJM power market for approximately $3.5 billion net, according to a July 17 press release. The Moxie and Guernsey transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Talen is purchasing Caithness Energy’s Moxie Freedom Energy Center in Pennsylvania and Caithness’ and BlackRock’s Guernsey Power Station in Ohio. The purchase price comes out to $3.8 billion gross.
Moxie is a 1,045-megawatt (MW) CCGT located 3 miles from Talen’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant. Guernsey is a 1,836-MW CCGT near Columbus, according to Talen’s investor relations presentation.
FTC Nixes Orders Banning Hess, Sheffield from Chevron, Exxon Boards
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) set aside previous orders barring...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) set aside previous orders barring oil executives John Hess and Scott Sheffield from serving on the boards of Chevron and ExxonMobil.
The FTC voted 3-0 to reopen and set aside a final consent order issued in January 2025 in conjunction with Chevron’s pending $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp.
The commission also voted 3-0 to toss out a similar order barring Sheffield from the Exxon board, in conjunction with Exxon’s $64.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources last year.
The Biden-era FTC signed off on the mega-mergers between the oil and gas giants—but banned Chevron and Exxon from nominating, designating or appointing Hess or Sheffield to their respective boards of directors.
Uber inks $300+ million deals for new robotaxi service
The global ride-hailing leader is getting serious about autonomous vehicles....
The global ride-hailing leader is getting serious about autonomous vehicles. Uber announced it’s investing $300 million in EV-maker Lucid and a similar amount in tech startup Nuro to launch a new robotaxi program that could compete with Waymo. The goal is to deploy 20,000 autonomous EVs over the next six years, starting in 2026 in a “major US city.” The deals with Lucid and Nuro underscore Uber’s strategy to outsource its robotaxi technology rather than develop it in-house as it seeks to become the go-to service for autonomous rides. Uber’s stock was mostly unchanged following the news, but Lucid’s soared nearly 40%.
