The latest Market Talks covering Energy markets. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1831 ET - It looks less likely that aspiring uranium miner Deep Yellow can fully fund a final investment decision on its Tumas project in 4Q, given the current state of the equities market, says Macquarie. "Even if this were possible, the dilution from these share price levels would be excessive," Macquarie says. It thinks a delay is justified to preserve long-term value. Such a move would likely be taken positively by the market, Macquarie adds. It has an "outperform" call on Deep Yellow, and trims its price target by 2.5%, to A$1.95/share. Deep Yellow ended Wednesday at A$0.865, its lowest level since April 2025. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1630 ET - Crude futures post gains with a Houthi attack on the headquarters of Saudi Aramco and further strikes on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz keeping geopolitical risk premium high. Heightened tensions "are apt to curtail tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz while at the same time, demanding an even larger risk premium to account for the possibility of renewed disruptions through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. U.S. inventory data on Thursday are expected to show a small crude stock build and declines in gasoline and diesel, according to a WSJ survey of analysts. The report will likely reflect the impact on offshore production from Hurricane Isaias. Output was almost fully restored by Wednesday, according to the Marine Mineral Administration. WTI settles up 1% at $95.09 a barrel and Brent gains 0.4% to $106.06.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1538 ET - U.S. natural gas futures give back most of yesterday's gains with production recovering and market focus turning to the EIA's weekly storage report due on Thursday. Analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey expect a 75 Bcf inventory injection, which is smaller than the five-year average and would lower the storage surplus to 53 Bcf from 68 Bcf the previous week. Firm LNG demand and higher natural gas use for electricity as solar and wind generation weaken are supportive, Gelber & Associates says in a note. "Colder weather this weekend should also lift heating consumption, although the same cooldown removes air-conditioning demand farther south and leaves the national demand outlook mixed."Nymex natural gas settles down 2.6% at $3.198/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1504 ET [Dow Jones]--Canadian productivity is set to improve despite the trade war with the U.S. and after years of lackluster productivity growth, Oxford Economics' Tony Stillo argues. The economist says a long-overdue pickup in business capital expenditure, plus major public infrastructure investments and a growing boost from AI, should underpin stronger productivity growth in the coming decade. That is even with U.S. tariffs and trade policy uncertainty. Canada has seen an average 0.3% annually in real gross value added per worker over 2016-2025, but Canada is an inflection point and growth is expected to be 1.1% annually over 2026-2035, Stillo says. (robb.stewart@wsj.com; @RobbMStewart)
1407 ET - Gold and silver futures settle lower after U.S. consumer price inflation for September landed above estimates, increasing market expectations for a Fed interest-rate rise this month and pushing the U.S. dollar higher. Continuing attacks in the Persian Gulf add pressure by lifting oil prices, "sustaining the risk that energy-led inflation complicates the Fed's path," Kaynat Chainwala of Kotak Neo says in a note. Front month gold settles down 1.6% in New York at $4,084.80 a troy ounce. Silver falls 6.1% to $55.55 a troy ounce, its lowest close in almost 11 months. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1354 ET - Air Canada is set to face margin pressure from higher-than-expected jet fuel costs, according to National Bank of Canada analyst Cameron Doerksen. He notes in a report that jet fuel averaged C$1.55 a liter in 3Q, up from C$1.46 in 2Q. By comparison, Air Canada's internal guidance assumed fuel would average C$1.38 a liter in 3Q and C$1.29 in 4Q. While higher fuel expenses will weigh on 3Q profitability, Doerksen says "the bigger headwind concern is for 4Q as the current spot price of jet fuel is C$1.89/liter." Although Air Canada expects to recover about 60% of higher fuel costs through higher passenger yields in 3Q and roughly 100% in 4Q, Doerksen thinks the airline is unlikely to fully offset the higher fuel costs during the period. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1318 ET - Tomorrow's weekly report from the EIA is expected to show an increase in the average daily production of ethanol in the U.S., according to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones. They forecast that average production may land anywhere from 1.065 million barrels a day to 1.095 million barrels a day. That's versus 1.053 million barrels a day reported by the EIA last week. The report is being released tomorrow, a day late due to the Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day holiday observed this past Monday. Most active corn futures on the CBOT are down 0.7%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1306 ET - The Intercontinental Exchange says that it will launch a suite of livestock futures to compete with similar offerings from the CME. This week, the ICE says that it will launch live cattle futures, feeder cattle futures, and lean hog futures. The contracts are scheduled to begin trading on Dec. 7, says ICE in a notice. Analysts see the new offering as a direct challenge to the CME's longstanding dominance in livestock futures. "The decision to enter livestock represents a significant competitive development, particularly as market participants evaluate execution costs, trading technology, liquidity, and alternative hedging opportunities," says PJ Quaid of StoneX in a note. In its notice, the ICE adds that June 2027 will be the first month that it will offer a physically delivered live cattle contract. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1027 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are lower with the market giving back most of the previous day's gains. Much of yesterday's rise was likely technically driven as the November contract bounced off the 20-day moving average at $3.10/mmBtu, Eli Rubin of EBW Analytics says in a note. A brief cold front expected in the Northeast at the weekend offers immediate-term physical upside, he says. "Gas prices may continue to test higher short term, but bearish long-term fundamentals in the most likely scenario are little changed." Nymex natural gas is off 3.1% at $3.182/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1020 ET - Major Gulf stock markets end mixed Wednesday, with Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index falling 1.7%, the steepest decline among the four markets, while Qatar's QE Index loses 0.7%. Dubai's benchmark index gains 0.6%, while Abu Dhabi's adds 0.4%. Saudi stocks led the declines after the kingdom's Energy Ministry reported an attack on a Saudi Aramco building in Dhahran Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings says Saudi Arabia's alternative oil-export infrastructure, substantial government assets and flexibility to adjust Vision 2030 spending provide buffers against the conflict's economic effects. The ratings firm expects the kingdom's economy to contract 0.9% this year before growing 8.2% in 2027 as oil production recovers. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)
1016 ET - Oil futures are higher as Houthi strikes on Saudi targets, attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and continuing Russia-Ukraine strikes keep the market on edge despite the amount of oil making it out of the Persian Gulf. "Traders will remain focused on oil flows coming out of the Middle East along with diesel supplies that are supposedly moving from Russia," Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note. "Near-term futures seem to be pricing in a higher probability of a major military conflict coming back to the Middle East." WTI is up 1.3% at $95.40 a barrel and Brent gains 0.2% to $105.91 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1002 ET - Inflation is still gas-powered right now, but the pressures are filtering into other categories, including apparel and autos, LPL Financial's Jeffrey Roach says in a note. Gas prices rose 9.1% in September, which accounted for more than half of the monthly increase in consumer prices, he says. But that category is highly volatile and can reverse quickly, the economist says. Core inflation meanwhile rose 0.3%, pushing the annual rate up to 2.6% from 2.4% the prior month. That core measure needs to consistently run in the 0.1% to 0.2% range before markets can conclude that inflation pressures are contained, Roach says.
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