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By Stephanie Kelly LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday, as investors weighed the International Energy Agency's prediction of a supply surplus in 2026 and trade tensions between the United States and China that could curtail demand. Brent crude futures fell 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $62.18 a barrel by 0854 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures eased 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $58.57 a barrel. Both contracts closed at five-month lows in the previous trading session.  The International Energy Agency said on Tuesday the global oil market could face a surplus next year of up to 4 million barrels per day, more than it earlier forecast, as OPEC+ and other producers raise output and demand remains sluggish. "The market is focusing on excess supply amid mixed demand signals. Ebbing geopolitical risks and escalating trade tensions are also adding further pressure on prices," said Emril Jamil, a senior oil analyst at LSEG. The trade dispute between the United States and China, the world's two largest oil consumers, has reignited over the last week, with both countries imposing additional port fees on ships carrying cargo between them. That will raise trading costs and disrupt freight flows, likely lowering economic output. "Oil prices are currently influenced by trade tensions and market risk sentiment," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.  The tensions between the world's two largest economies intensified after China last week announced it would increase rare earth export controls and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to 100% and tighten software export curbs from November 1. "Beyond U.S.-China trade relations and the progress of talks, the key for oil prices now is the degree of oversupply, reflected in changes in global inventories," said Yang An, analyst at Haitong Futures. For a view on U.S. demand, traders await weekly inventory data. U.S. crude oil stockpiles are expected to have risen last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories likely fell, a preliminary Reuters poll showed. Six analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories rose by about 200,000 barrels in the week to October 10. The weekly industry report from the American Petroleum Institute is expected at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Wednesday, and U.S. Energy Information Administration data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Thursday.  Both reports are delayed by a day due to the Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day holiday on Monday. (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in London, Sam Li in Beijing and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; Editing by Sonali Paul, Christian Schmollinger and Barbara Lewis)

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By Aditya Kalra, Nikunj Ohri and Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Apple is lobbying India's government to modify its income tax law to ensure the company is not taxed for ownership of high-end iPhone machinery it provides to its contract manufacturers, an issue seen as a hurdle to its future expansion, sources say. The push coincides with Apple's growing India presence as it diversifies beyond China. Counterpoint Research says iPhone's share in the Indian market has doubled to 8% since 2022. And while China still accounts for 75% of global iPhone shipments, India's share has quadrupled to 25% since 2022. India is the world's second-largest mobile market. Apple's contract manufacturers Foxconn and Tata have pumped in billions of dollars to open five plants, but millions of those expenses go into acquiring pricey machines for iPhone assembly. Experts say Apple potentially faces billions of dollars in additional taxes if it changes its business practices without convincing New Delhi to change a 1961 law covering foreign ownership of equipment used in India. In China, Apple procures the machines used to make iPhones and gives them to its contract manufacturers, and is not subject to tax even though it still owns them. But that's not possible in India as the Income Tax Act would consider such ownership by Apple as a so-called "business connection", making the U.S. firm's iPhone profits liable for Indian taxes, said a senior government official and two other industry sources. Apple executives have held talks with the Indian officials in recent months to tweak the law as it fears the current legislation could hamper its future growth, said the sources. "Contract manufacturers cannot put up money beyond a point," said the first industry source. "If the legacy law is changed, it will become easy for Apple to expand … India can become more competitive globally." Reuters is first to report Apple's concerns and lobbying efforts on the law. Apple did not respond to Reuters questions, and neither did India's IT and finance ministries who are involved in the discussions. INDIA CAUTIOUSLY REVIEWING APPLE REQUEST Smartphone manufacturing is a key plank of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda, and India's deputy IT minister last year privately said China and Vietnam could race ahead as major smartphone export hubs due to their lower tariffs on phone parts. A senior Indian official said "discussions on taxation rules impacting Apple are ongoing", but New Delhi is cautious as any changes to the law could diminish its sovereign right to tax a foreign company. "It's a tough call," said the official, who highlighted that Apple's increased investments are equally important. "India needs investments. We have to find a solution." Apple has since 2023 opened a handful of directly-owned retail stores in India, though it also sells it products through online and offline distributors. Foxconn and Tata have over the years invested more than $5 billion in setting up Apple manufacturing. SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT CAN COST BILLIONS One precedent of Indian law often cited by tax experts involves UK-based Formula One. India's Supreme Court held in 2017 that even though F1 did not own a circuit near New Delhi, it was liable to pay tax on profits for the days when it exerted full control during its Grand Prix India event. If Apple were to own machines inside Indian iPhone factories, it would amount to exerting control under current laws, experts said. "If the activities of Apple constitute a business connection, then the global revenue may be used as a basis to compute the income attributable in India, leading to billions in tax exposure," said Riaz Thingna, a partner at Grant Thornton Bharat LLP. Taiwan's Foxconn is Apple's largest contract manufacturer in India, having shipped products worth $7.4 billion this year by August, compared to $7.5 billion in all of 2024, commercially available customs data shows. The income tax law, however, does not bother Apple's South Korean rival Samsung as almost all of its phones are made in its own Indian factories. The India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), which backs Apple, has in a confidential representation to the government called for changes to the law, saying tax certainty is "paramount for businesses seeking to expand and scale." "Typical CMs (contract manufacturers) are unable or unwilling to invest in such large quantities of specialized equipment … The cost of the equipment can rise to billions of dollars," ICEA said, without naming any company. "In certain cases (it) may also be supplied … free of cost." (Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Nikunj Ohri and Aditi Shah; Additional reporting by Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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(Reuters) -Stellantis is recalling 298,439 vehicles in the U.S. due to a shifter cable defect that could disable the park function and allow the vehicle to roll away, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday. The shifter cable may detach from the transmission, preventing the vehicle from shifting into the park position, the NHTSA said. The recall covers certain 2013-2016 Dodge Dart vehicles, the auto safety regulator said, adding that a remedy is currently under development. Stellantis had to recall over 123,000 Jeep vehicles last month due to the risk posed by detached trim pieces. (Reporting by Ananya Palyekar and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane Venkatraman)

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(Reuters) -Alphabet's Waymo plans to launch its fully driverless ride-hailing service in London in 2026, the robotaxi firm said on Wednesday, as it looks to expand its footprint to major international cities. Waymo has grown slowly but steadily over the years in the United States despite tough regulations and expensive technology. Now, it is picking up speed through partnerships with ride-hailing platforms and fleet operators at a time when Tesla is rolling out its long-promised robotaxi service in the country. Earlier this year, Waymo started collecting data in Tokyo, Japan and testing its vehicles operated by human drivers in cooperation with Japanese taxi firm Nihon Kotsu and with Go, which operates a mobile app for hailing taxi rides. In London, Waymo said it will collaborate with vehicle financing firm Moove as it prepares for the rollout, and is actively engaging with local and national regulators to secure necessary approvals. Waymo vehicles are now on the way to London, where safety drivers will start testing the vehicles before fully autonomous operations begin next year, a Waymo spokesperson said. Waymo currently serves more than 250,000 paid trips every week with about 1,500 vehicles in U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Arizona, Atlanta, Georgia and Austin, Texas. Waymo has partnered with Moove to handle its fleet operations, facilities and charging infrastructure in Phoenix and next year in Miami, Florida. Ride-hailing firm Uber, which offers Waymo vehicles on its app in Atlanta and Austin, announced in June plans to trial fully driverless rides in the UK from spring 2026 through its partnership with AI startup Wayve. Commercializing autonomous vehicles has proven difficult in the U.S. amid setbacks for several companies, including General Motors' Cruise, due to collisions, recalls and federal investigations. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Leroy Leo and Lincoln Feast.)

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By Nathan Vifflin and Toby Sterling (Reuters) -ASML, the world's biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, reiterated on Wednesday it expects to benefit from booming AI investment, even as it warned Chinese demand was expected to significantly drop next year. CEO Christophe Fouquet said Europe's largest tech firm by market capitalization was seeing "continued positive momentum around investments in AI." That boom was helping customers both in advanced logic chips – those used in smartphones and AI datacenters – and advanced memory chips also needed for AI. Shares, which have surged 37% since the start of September, were up 3.2% in morning trading to 873.80 euros. The results follow a flurry of mega deals between AI firms and chipmakers, notably plans by OpenAI in the past month to build $1 trillion or more in data centre capacity. That portends more demand for chips, which make up around half the cost of data centres. Net bookings, the most closely-watched earnings figure, were 5.40 billion euros ($6.27 billion) in the third quarter, versus analysts' consensus estimate of 5.36 billion euros. CHINA DECLINE FOLLOWS BOOM YEARS ASML said it expects Chinese sales to fall "significantly" next year, after having made up nearly half of company sales in 2024 and a third so far in 2025. CFO Roger Dassen said on a media call the decline was a "normalization" and not due to stockpiling amid the U.S.-China trade war. U.S.-led export restrictions mean ASML cannot sell its most advanced tools in China, a point of contention between the superpowers, with China recently tightening control of exports of rare earth metals. ASML said it would not be affected by those restrictions in the short term. ASML said sales will be, at worst, flat in 2026, from around 32.5 billion euros ($37.82 billion) in 2025. "We believe the bearish view of a worse than expected 2026 will be put to rest and the market will focus on the extent the company can grow in 2027", JPMorgan analysts said. ASML's lithography tools, key for making chip circuitry, are sold to TSMC of Taiwan – which makes most AI chips for Nvidia – and to other logic chip firms such as China's SMIC and Intel . It also serves memory chip makers like Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. The company reported third-quarter net income of 2.12 billion euros, in line with the 2.11 billion euros analysts expected, according to LSEG IBES data.          ($1 = 0.8607 euros) (Reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham, Kim Coghill and Bernadette Baum)

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