Inkhabar webdesk

By Katya Golubkova and Sam Li TOKYO (Reuters) -Oil prices rose around 1% on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged his country would stop buying oil from Russia, a move that could drain supply elsewhere. Brent crude futures rose 56 cents, or 0.9%, to $62.47 a barrel by 0655 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures climbed 58 cents, or 1%, to $58.85. Both contracts touched their lowest since early May in the previous session on U.S.-China trade tensions and after the International Energy Agency warned of a big surplus next year as OPEC+ producers and rivals lift output amid weak demand. Trump said on Wednesday that India – which taps its top supplier Russia for about one-third of its oil imports – would halt oil purchases from Russia, and the U.S. would next try to get China to do the same as Washington intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow's energy revenues and pressure it to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine. However, India said on Thursday that the country's two main goals were to ensure stable energy prices and secure supply. The foreign ministry statement made no reference to Trump's comment about India's purchases of Russian oil. Some Indian refiners are preparing to cut Russian oil imports, with expectations of a gradual reduction, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said on Wednesday that he told Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato that the Trump administration expects Japan to stop importing Russian energy. India and China are the two top buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports, which are sanctioned by the U.S. and European Union. For months, Modi resisted U.S. pressure to stop buying Russian oil, with Indian officials defending the purchases as vital to national energy security. "At the margin, this is a positive development for the crude oil price as it would remove a big buyer (India) of Russian oil," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. The UK government also announced new sanctions on Wednesday, directly targeting Russia's Rosneft and Lukoil – two of the world's biggest energy companies. The sanctioned entities include four oil terminals, the private refiner Shandong Yulong Petrochemical in China, 44 tankers in the "shadow fleet" transporting Russian oil, and Nayara Energy Limited, a Russian-owned refinery in India. Later on Thursday, investors will be watching for the weekly U.S. inventory statistics release from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) after mixed data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group. U.S. crude and gasoline stocks rose while distillate inventories fell last week, market sources said, citing API figures on Wednesday. Crude stocks rose by 7.36 million barrels in the week ended October 10 and gasoline inventories increased by 2.99 million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by 4.79 million barrels from a week earlier, the sources said. While lower distillate inventories point to stronger demand for diesel, a buildup in crude oil and gasoline stocks suggests demand in the U.S., the world's top oil consumer, remains sluggish. Analysts forecast that U.S. crude stockpiles rose by about 0.3 million barrels last week. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova in Tokyo and Sam Li in Beijing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Jamie Freed, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Kate Mayberry)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

TAIPEI (Reuters) -TSMC, the world's biggest producer of advanced AI chips, forecast fourth-quarter revenue up by as much as 24% as it rides an AI boom that saw it post its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit profit growth, beating estimates. TSMC said it expects robust artificial intelligence demand to continue and maintained its forecast for capital spending at up to $42 billion for 2025, although it flagged a potential business impact from U.S. trade tariffs and currency moves. The Taiwan company, whose customers include Nvidia and Apple, posted a 39.1% jump in third-quarter net profit and said it would be prudent in its business planning going into 2026. Benefiting from surging demand for advanced chips used in AI applications, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said net profit for July-September climbed to T$452.3 billion ($14.76 billion). That was well ahead of a T$417.7 billion LSEG SmartEstimate drawn from 20 analysts. SmartEstimates are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate. TSMC said it believes the AI boom is strengthening and demand is stronger than what it had anticipated three months ago as it forecast next year to remain healthy due to robust demand for AI-related products. Trump's trade policies and threats to put tariffs on semiconductors have created uncertainty for the global chip industry and TSMC. TSMC announced plans for a $100 billion U.S. investment with Trump at the White House in March, on top of $65 billion pledged for three plants in the state of Arizona, one of which is up and running. On Wednesday, top semiconductor equipment maker ASML, for which TSMC is a major customer, said third-quarter bookings beat market forecasts but that it expected a significant fall in demand from China next year. Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday it expected its biggest quarterly profit in over three years, also thanks to the AI boom. Taiwan-listed shares in TSMC have risen 38% so far this year, largely brushing off concerns about tariffs, and ahead of the 20% rise for the broader market. ($1 = 30.6450 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee, Faith Hung and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) -Stocks rose across most of Asia on Thursday, with the chip sector buoyant following a strong rally among U.S. peers overnight and a robust start to Wall Street's earnings season also lifting the mood.  At the same time, simmering trade frictions between Beijing and Washington increased the appeal of safe havens such as gold – which renewed a record high – and undercut the dollar. Crude oil rose from five-month lows after U.S. President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged his country would stop buying oil from Russia, which supplies about one-third of its imports. Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.2%, with chip- and artificial intelligence-related shares boosting the index. The momentum increased after Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC reported record earnings, while also benefiting from political developments that put fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi's bid to become Japan's prime minister back on track. Taiwanese share trading was already closed at the time of TSMC's announcement, ending the day up 1.4% and reaching a record. South Korea's KOSPI jumped 2.2% to its own record peak after the country's chief presidential policy adviser said he was "optimistic" about ongoing talks to finalise a trade deal with the U.S.  Australia's equity benchmark added 0.9% and also reached a record high with poor jobs data raising the odds of central bank easing.  However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7% and mainland Chinese blue chips were flat in a volatile session as investors pondered the path of trade ties with the U.S. European stock futures pointed 0.3% lower. U.S. stock futures were overall flat following a 0.4% gain for the S&P 500 and a 0.6% rise for the tech-heavy Nasdaq overnight. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index surged 3%. "I remain of the belief that the longer-run path of least resistance continues to point firmly to the upside" for equities, said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone. "Though conditions have been choppy, I'd argue strongly that this is another of those occasions where the intraday price action largely represents noise." GOLD SURGE CONTINUES, DOLLAR DIPS Optimism over the AI narrative and signs of economic strength from robust U.S. bank earnings stole the spotlight for stock investors, even with Trump pronouncing late Wednesday that the U.S. is "in a trade war with China" – confirming what markets had already concluded from recent comments from both sides. Gold rose as much as 0.8% in the latest session to reach an unprecedented $4,241.77 per ounce. The dollar sagged for a third straight session, dropping 0.1% against a basket of major peers. It slipped as much as 0.4% to 150.51 yen, putting the psychologically key 150 line briefly in focus, although the pair bounced back to be flat ahead of the open of European markets. Part of that retracement came following news that ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Takaichi was in talks with one of the opposition parties – the right-leaning Japan Innovation Party – for a partnership aimed at securing enough parliament votes to win the premiership in a vote likely to take place next week. The euro added 0.1% to $1.1657, and sterling rose 0.1% to $1.3412. There were some hopeful signs of calming trade tensions, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying an extension of the current tariff reprieve was possible, and that Trump still expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month. "The brinkmanship between the U.S. and China hasn't dissipated yet," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com. "It will only simmer down completely when the Chinese back off the threat of rare earth export curbs and the U.S. reverse the tariff hike to 100% slated for November 1. Until then, trepidation will remain in the markets." Trump's trade manoeuvres also lifted oil off five-month lows, with Brent crude futures up 0.8% at $62.41 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures adding 0.9% to trade at $58.77. On Wednesday, the U.S. president said India would halt oil purchases from its top supplier Russia, and Washington would next try to get China to do the same as it intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow's energy revenues and pressure it to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine. (Reporting by Kevin BucklandEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)