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(Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Friday after four straight sessions of declines but were on track for their steepest weekly fall since late June due to market expectations that the OPEC+ group could hike output further despite oversupply concerns. Brent crude futures gained 43 cents, or 0.7%, to $64.54 a barrel by 0500 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed by 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.89 a barrel. On a weekly basis, Brent has plunged 8%, while WTI is 7.4% lower. OPEC+ could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November, triple the increase for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share, sources told Reuters this week. "If OPEC+ do go ahead and announce a 500,000 bpd increase this weekend, it's likely a big enough increase to send crude oil lower again, initially to support at $58.00, before a test of this year's lows (of around) $55.00," said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG.    Potentially higher OPEC+ supply, slowing global crude refinery runs due to maintenance and a seasonal dip in demand in the months ahead are set to accelerate oil stock builds in the U.S. and elsewhere, analysts say. The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week as refining activity and demand softened. "We believe September marked a turning point, with the oil market now heading towards a sizeable surplus in Q4 2025 and into next year," JPMorgan analysts said in a note. The Group of Seven nations' finance ministers said on Wednesday they will take steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who are continuing to boost purchases of Russian oil. (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Jamie Freed and Jacqueline Wong)

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By Laura Matthews and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) -The long-awaited resumption of the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle is likely to cheapen hedging of dollar exposure for foreign investors and increase their motivation to guard more of their U.S. assets against further currency weakness. In September, the U.S. central bank lowered interest rates by an expected 25 basis points to 4.00-4.25% on labor market concerns and indicated more cuts would follow later this year. That cut narrows the interest-rate differential between the U.S. and other developed countries, which helps to lower the hedging costs for foreign pensions, sovereign funds and other institutional investors, managers and analysts said. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index is down about 10% this year, partially driven by foreign investors increasing hedging activity on worries about the impact of U.S. trade and tariff policies on their U.S. assets, market participants said. "There are some people that are watching it, that have been waiting for the resumption of the cutting cycle by the Fed," said Van Luu, global head of solutions strategy for fixed income and foreign exchange for Russell Investments in London. "Now they are inclined to raise the hedge ratio, and they're waiting for the right moment or they're waiting for some kind of catalyst." Hedging is a way to limit losses on an existing portfolio by using financial instruments such as derivatives to create an offsetting position. Since it often involves selling dollars via forwards or swaps, any rise in hedging activity can spell additional weakness for the beleaguered greenback. NEW-FOUND NEED TO HEDGE High hedging costs and a bullish view on the buck were two major factors suppressing FX hedging ratios in recent years, according to a June report from the Bank for International Settlements. Years of dollar strength meant foreign investors could leave U.S. assets unhedged since it boosted their overall returns and was a source of diversification. Now that's set to change. With the greenback down significantly this year and with more potential weakness on the horizon, hedging could help blunt the hurt from unfavorable FX moves. Markets are pricing in about two more quarter-point rate cuts this year, which could incentivize investors who want to ramp up their hedges but have found the cost to do so a deterrent. GUARDING MORE BUSINESS AGAINST CURRENCY SWINGS Foreigners currently have more than $30 trillion invested in U.S. stocks and bonds, according to Morgan Stanley, $8 trillion of which is held by European investors. Rising concerns over Fed leadership, its independence, and U.S. policy uncertainty have helped keep pressure on the dollar, even as U.S. stocks have rallied. The S&P 500 is up about 14% for the year, near a record high. "The strong gains in U.S. (stock) market and the very sharp U.S. dollar falls are unusual but they’re not unheard of – we think an increase in hedging is part of the reason for this divergence," said Steve Dooley, head of market insights at Convera in Melbourne. A July research note from Deutsche Bank showed that equity investors in Germany and Austria have increased their hedge ratios to 60-70% from 20-30% at the start of the year. A new report from the Danish central bank showed that insurance companies and pension funds are shielding more than three quarters of their dollar investments from currency swings. The Deutsche note stated that some high-profile pension funds plan to top up those ratios after the summer. "I think foreign investors are still inclined to hedge away their dollar exposure," Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie in New York, said. "So they will come out again at some point in the next few weeks … you're going to see another round of dollar hedging by foreign institutions," he said. Research from MillTechFX also shows that 86% of European corporates are currently hedging their forecastable currency risk, up from 67% in 2023, with their mean hedge ratio rising to 49% from 43%.  Joseph Hoffman, chief executive officer at Mesirow Currency Management, said the shift among international investors is not mainly about short-term interest-rate advantages, but is driven "more by a bearish structural view on the dollar rooted in the Fed’s policy, heightened political uncertainty, and persistent fiscal deficits." WHAT'S MY COST? Still, a lower cost of hedging will likely draw those investors who may have held off boosting hedges due to price considerations. For instance, the 4% annual hedging cost for investors in Japan and Switzerland, based on current interest rates, remains a big hurdle. It costs other euro-based investors around 2% annually. "I think there's like a psychological level that if the hedge cost goes to 1% or below, which is on the horizon for EUR investors over the next 12 months, people wouldn't worry about it as such," said Russell's Luu. (Reporting by Laura Matthews and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley and Andrea Ricci)

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By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Oracle said on Thursday that customers of its E-Business Suite of products "have received extortion emails," confirming a warning first issued on Wednesday by Alphabet's Google. In a blog post, the California-based tech company said its investigation found that hackers had made potential use of previously identified software vulnerabilities and urged customers to upgrade their products. Oracle did not immediately respond when asked how many clients were affected. Google has described the hacking campaign as "high volume," but declined to go into detail. Cynthia Kaiser, the head of cybersecurity firm Halcyon's Ransomware Research Center, previously told Reuters that her company had seen extortion demands ranging from millions to tens of millions of dollars, with the highest coming in at $50 million. In a message to Reuters, the ransomware group tied by Google to the extortion campaign, cl0p, said Oracle had "bugged up," but added: "We not prepared to discuss details at this time." The group's members and location are not publicly known. But security researchers have long identified the group as Russia-linked or Russian-speaking. It is a ransomware-as-a-service group, meaning that it hires out its software and infrastructure for other cybercriminals in return for a cut of the proceeds. Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro previously described cl0p as "a trendsetter for its ever-changing tactics." (Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)

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