U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a five-day wining streak...
U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a five-day wining streak following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting. The Dow DJIA, -0.50% finished off 171.69 points, or 0.5%, to 33,980.32. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.72% retreated 31.16 points, or 0.7%, to 4,274.04. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.25% shed 164.43 points, or 1.3%, to 12,938.12. The Fed minutes showed that senior Fed officials were worried that elevated inflation could become entrenched if the central bank was perceived as not doing enough. On the other hand, many expressed concerns that the Fed could tighten rates by a greater degree than would be necessary.
U.S. oil futures finished higher for the first time in four sessions Wednesday, buoyed by hefty weekly declines in domestic crude and gasoline inventories. Prices on Tuesday had fallen by more than 3% to their lowest finish since January. September WTI crude CLU22, 1.44% rose $1.58, or 1.8%, to settle at $88.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Energy Information Administration estimated a draw in oil inventories of 7.1 million barrels for the week to August 12.
This compared with a build of 5.5 million barrels reported for the previous week. A day earlier, the American Petroleum Institute estimated a modest crude draw of 448,000 barrels for the week to August 12.
In gasoline, the EIA estimated an inventory draw of 4.6 million barrels for last week, which compared with a 5-million-barrel decline for the previous week.
Factories in southwest China shut down, rolling blackouts imposed as reservoirs run low
BEIJING (AP) — Factories in China’s southwest have shut down and a city imposed rolling blackouts...
BEIJING (AP) — Factories in China’s southwest have shut down and a city imposed rolling blackouts after reservoirs to generate hydropower ran low in a worsening drought, adding to economic strains at a time when President Xi Jinping is trying to extend his hold on power.
In Sichuan, which has 94 million people, water levels at hydropower reservoirs are down by as much as half this month, according to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economics and Information Technology.
The power company in Dazhou, a city in Sichuan with 3.4 million people, imposed 2 1/2-hour power cuts this week and expanded that Wednesday to three hours, according to the Shanghai news outlet The Paper. The newspaper Securities Times said office buildings in Chengdu, the provincial capital, were told to shut off air conditioning.
Australian energy company Santos and joint venture partner Repsol have decided to proceed with the $2.6...
Australian energy company Santos and joint venture partner Repsol have decided to proceed with the $2.6 billion Pikka oil development in Alaska, which is expected to add 80,000 barrels per day to the oil market beginning in 2026. "The project will add further diversification to our portfolio and reduces geographic concentration risk," said Santos CEO Kevin Galllagher, noting that the project will have net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions.
