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BEIJING (Reuters) -Vessels owned or operated by U.S. firms and individuals – or those built in the United States or that fly the U.S. flag – will be charged additional port fees per voyage starting on October 14, China's transport ministry said on Friday. The fees are a counter-measure against upcoming U.S. port fees, the ministry said. Also starting on October 14, ships built in China – or operated or owned by Chinese entities – will need to pay a fee at their first port of call in the United States. The fees on China-linked vessels are part of a broader U.S. effort to revive domestic shipbuilding and blunt China's naval and commercial shipping power. (Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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MILAN (Reuters) -Stellantis said on Friday its global vehicle shipments rose 13% year-on-year in the third quarter, led by new models and North American demand, in a sign of business recovery after several quarters of declining sales. The French-Italian-American automaker estimated it shipped a total of 1.3 million vehicles in the July-September period. Final data on third-quarter shipments and revenues are due to be released on October 30. Stellantis' brands include Jeep, Peugeot, Fiat, Opel and Ram. North American shipments surged 35% to 403,000 vehicles, partly driven by the launch of the V8-powered Ram 1500 and a normalisation of inventory levels following last year's production cuts, the company said in a statement. This performance suggests that Stellantis, which since June has been led by new CEO Antonio Filosa, might be regaining momentum, and in particular in one of its most critical markets, after grappling with factors including excess inventories and model transitions that weighed on volumes in previous quarters. In Europe, shipments rose 8% year-on-year to 534,000 vehicles, supported by the ramp-up of four new compact models – the Citroen C3, Citroen C3 Aircross, Opel Frontera and Fiat Grande Panda – which were not in production during the same period last year. However, gains were partially offset by weaker demand for light commercial vehicles and lower volumes in some key European countries, Stellantis added. Elsewhere, shipments fell 3% in South America to 252,000 vehicles. Stellantis said this was due to a high figure in the same period of last year, when the company recovered delayed shipments following a flooding in Rio Grande do Sul. (Reporting by Philippe Leroy Beaulieu in Gdansk and Giulio Piovaccari in Milan. Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Mark POtter)

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(Reuters) -Oil prices declined on Friday after settling 1.6% lower in the previous session as the market's risk premium faded after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a plan to end the war in Gaza. Brent crude futures were down 24 cents, or 0.4%, at $64.98 a barrel by 0636 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $61.31. Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement on Thursday in the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war in Gaza. Under the deal, which Israel's government ratified on Friday, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza, and Hamas will free all remaining hostages it captured in the attack that precipitated the war, in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. On a weekly basis, both benchmarks were up around 0.7% after falling steeply last week. Prices climbed about 1% on Wednesday to a one-week high because of the stalled progress on a Ukraine peace deal, a sign that sanctions against Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, could continue. The Gaza ceasefire deal was a major step towards ending the two-year war that has raised the risk of oil supply disruptions, Daniel Hynes, an analyst at ANZ, said in a note on Friday. "This (deal) saw the focus move back to the impending oil surplus, as OPEC proceeds with the unwinding of production cuts," Hynes said. A smaller-than-expected November hike in output agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) on Sunday eased some of those oversupply concerns. "Markets’ expectations for a sharp ramp up in crude supply have not manifested themselves in substantially lower prices," BMI analysts said in a note on Friday. "The most recent rise in production is lower than previously feared contributing to a slight rise in prices for the week," they said. Investors are also worried that a prolonged U.S. government shutdown could dampen the American economy and hurt oil demand in the world's largest crude consumer. (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger)

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By Gregor Stuart Hunter SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Asian stocks fell on Friday as escalating U.S.-China economic tensions and uncertainty about political developments in Japan sapped investor confidence, while commodities took a breather after their recent charge higher. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fluctuated between gains and losses, and was last down 0.4% as its gains for the week evaporated after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild declines.  Shares in Hong Kong were down the most, off 1.8%, while the Australian market slid 0.1% against a backdrop of volatile commodity markets. In South Korea, stocks surged 1.4%, extending gains for the region's best-performing index. The yen strengthened 0.2% against the dollar and the Nikkei stock index tumbled 1%, easing off after sweeping to an all-time closing high on Thursday, as doubts began to emerge on whether prime minister-in-waiting Sanae Takaichi could repeat the pro-market policies of the late Shinzo Abe. Adding to the pressure, Japan's Komeito party will leave the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday. "Political and economic conditions in Japan are quite different today than in 2012 when Abenomics was first launched," analysts at Alpine Macro wrote in a research report. "The lack of a parliamentary majority, an independent BOJ, and voters’ anger with higher inflation should prevent Takaichi from pursuing aggressive reflationary policies." U.S. stock futures found a bottom in Asia, with corporate earnings season for the third quarter due to kick off on Wall Street next week. S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.1%, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, edged 0.1% lower, holding near a two-month high at 99.37. Chinese stocks tumbled, with the CSI 300 down 1.4% after Beijing expanded its rare earths export controls on Thursday, tightening control over the sector ahead of talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.  Beijing also ramped up enforcement of its chip import restrictions, aiming to reduce domestic technology companies' dependence on U.S. products such as Nvidia's artificial intelligence processors, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond fell to 4.1247% compared with its U.S. close of 4.148% on Thursday. Traders' expectations that the Federal Reserve will ease policy at its meeting on October 29 remain solid, with Fed funds futures pricing a 94.6% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Regional markets remain on track for one of their best years in a decade, firmly outstripping gains for U.S. counterparts as President Trump's package of economic policies and tariffs prompts a surge of orders across the region to meet booming demand for AI-linked technology hardware. "Despite strong performance this year and significant improvement in sentiment, positioning remains light, and flows are just returning," HSBC global head of market strategy Murat Ulgen wrote in a research report. TAKAICHI WALKS A TIGHTROPE Japan's TOPIX tumbled 1.9% after Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato voiced concern about "one-sided, rapid moves in the foreign exchange market" that have pushed the yen 3.5% weaker against the dollar since Takaichi's election this weekend.  Data earlier in the day showed wholesale prices rose 2.7% in the year to September, in a sign of persistent cost pressure that will keep markets braced for a possible rate hike by the Bank of Japan when it meets on October 30. The dollar slid 0.2% against the yen to 152.73, around the weakest level for the Japanese currency since February, after Takaichi said on Thursday that the country's central bank is responsible for setting monetary policy but that any decision it makes must align with the government's goal. Traders say her pledge to reassert government sway over the central bank may face a reality check from a weak yen and domestic political considerations, however.  "The market expects the Japanese government to adopt expansionary fiscal policies," analysts from Bank of America wrote in a research report. "However, considerable uncertainty remains about the specifics of the policies up for debate, as well as the extent of the fiscal expansion." COMMODITIES IN FOCUS Gold edged down 0.1% to $3,970.43, extending declines after snapping a four-day winning streak on Thursday, shortly after breaching the $4,000 mark for the first time and with evidence of the ebullience spilling across into other precious metals. Spot silver was up 1.7% at $49.94, retesting the $50 mark after crossing above the boundary for the first time on Thursday. [GOL/] In energy markets, Brent crude slid 0.5% to $64.92 per barrel, after Israel's government ratified a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday, clearing the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli hostages held there shortly after that.  (Reporting by Gregor Stuart HunterEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

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(Reuters) -Stellantis' global shipments rose 13% year-on-year in the third quarter to an estimated 1.3 million units, the automaker said on Friday. Quarterly shipments were up 35% in North America and 8% in the so-called Enlarged Europe area, Stellantis said in a statement. They were down 3% in the South America region, it added. (Reporting by Philippe Leroy Beaulieu in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

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(Reuters) -Stellantis' global shipments rose 13% year-on-year in the third quarter to an estimated 1.3 million units, the automaker said on Friday. Quarterly shipments were up 35% in North America and 8% in the so-called Enlarged Europe area, Stellantis said in a statement. They were down 3% in the South America region, it added. (Reporting by Philippe Leroy Beaulieu in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

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(Reuters) -China has intensified enforcement of its import restrictions on U.S. chips, including Nvidia's artificial intelligence processors, the Financial Times reported, as Beijing sharpens its focus on promoting home-grown semiconductor production. Chinese customs officials were dispatched to key ports to conduct strict checks on semiconductor shipments, the newspaper said on Friday, citing unidentified sources. China customs officials did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment, while an Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment on the report. The newspaper said the inspections targeted Nvidia's H20 and RTX Pro 6000D, designed to adhere to U.S. export controls, initially. The checks have been extended to include all advanced semiconductor products that breach U.S. export curbs, the report said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The extent to which China has access to Nvidia's world-leading chips has been a key point of friction between the U.S. and China. The Financial Times newspaper had previously reported that at least $1 billion worth of Nvidia's top AI chips were smuggled and sold in China in the three months from May. Reuters could not independently verify the report. Nvidia has a new AI chip 'RTX6000D' tailored for the Chinese market, Reuters reported last month, but it has seen only lukewarm demand with some major tech firms opting not to place orders. In August, U.S. President Donald Trump flagged the possibility of allowing Nvidia to sell more advanced chips in China. Authorities in China have previously accused Nvidia of violating anti-monopoly law. They have also ordered top tech firms to halt purchases of Nvidia's AI chips and cancel existing orders, FT reported in September. Despite advances by Huawei and other Chinese chip firms in recent years, people involved in engineering operations at Chinese tech firms say Nvidia's chips perform better. (Reporting by Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu)

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By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) -The Gates Foundation and the Pan American Health Organization are both working on ways to make weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro more accessible in lower-income countries, the global health groups told Reuters. In separate interviews, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and PAHO director Dr Jarbas Barbosa said for the first time that their organizations were each seeking strategies to remedy the unequal availability of the highly effective but expensive treatments. About 70% of the roughly one billion people with obesity live in low and middle-income countries which may struggle to meet the costs of tackling the epidemic and associated health problems like diabetes and heart disease. In response to a question about the treatments, Gates said his Foundation would take any drug that was effective in high-income countries "and figure out how to make it super, super cheap so that it can get to everyone in the world". For example, it is currently working with Indian drug manufacturer Hetero to help bring cheaper copies of a new HIV prevention drug to the market in lower-income countries for $40 a year. LOW-COST COPIES     From next year, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's blockbuster Wegovy drug, semaglutide, comes off patent in countries including China and India. Generic manufacturers are already working on low-cost copies. The brand-name weight-loss drugs are primarily sold in wealthier countries, where prescriptions cost hundreds of dollars per month. The Gates Foundation could also potentially support clinical trials to test how these medicines affect different populations and provide the data needed to broaden access, Gates said.     Any entry into obesity would represent a new arena for the Gates Foundation, which remains focused on fighting the deadliest diseases in low-income countries, like malaria. Obesity's role in chronic illness has created a new urgency around addressing rising global rates, although it is still not the biggest problem facing most of the countries where the Foundation operates, Gates said.     The World Health Organization estimates that the economic costs of overweight and obesity will reach $3 trillion by 2030 if nothing is done to contain it. WHO recommended in draft guidelines this year using weight-loss drugs as an obesity treatment for adults, but criticized their manufacturers over cost and lack of availability.     Its Americas arm, PAHO, manages a fund that helps push down medicine prices by guaranteeing bulk orders on behalf of its 35 member states. Using the fund, which is financed by the member states, is an option for weight-loss drugs, Barbosa told Reuters. He said it could also help manufacturers clear regulatory requirements rather than applying in each country for approval.     "We are starting the conversation," he said, adding that PAHO is developing recommendations for how best to use the drugs and plans to speak to Novo, Lilly and generic drugmakers within the next couple of weeks.     Eli Lilly declined to comment. Novo Nordisk said in a statement that it recognised the "unmet need" for its treatments.     "We are deeply committed to serving patients around the world," the Danish company said. (Editing by Michele Gershberg and Catherine Evans)

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By Nell Mackenzie LONDON (Reuters) -Eisler Capital's decision to close its flagship multi-strategy hedge fund as soaring staff costs eroded trading profit exposes the difficulty London-based funds face when trying to grow rapidly and replicate bigger, entrenched U.S. players, investors and industry insiders say. They warn that flows in the $4 trillion hedge fund sector will increasingly be absorbed by incumbents – likely leaving an industry that runs on public pension and retirement money concentrated in the hands of a few big firms with an outsized impact on financial markets. Eisler said last week that it would shut just four years after it pivoted to try and emulate the kind of business model used by the most renowned U.S. headquartered multi-strategy hedge funds such as Citadel, Balyasny and Millennium Management that trade different strategies under one roof. Crucially, Eisler also changed how it charged investors, adopting a pass-through fee structure, where costs take a bite out of trading returns. At Eisler, this meant that on top of a 15-20% performance fee, investors paid the hedge fund's expenses and compensation costs, an investor document seen by Reuters showed.   Eisler's turnover climbed by over 40% between 2023 and 2024, a Reuters analysis of the hedge fund's publicly reported accounts showed. But its staff costs grew much faster, over 900% in five years, outpacing its ability to retain profit and leaving investors with smaller and smaller net returns.  "Multi-strats strike me as the final frontier…what percentage take of gross profits can we squeeze investors on without losing them?" asked hedge fund investor Harald Berlinicke, CIO of Berlin-based Max-Berlinicke-Erben Family Office. "It's not an easy balancing act to get right for a new kid on the block as the sky-high fees the established players can charge gives them an edge in terms of attracting the right talent."  A representative for Eisler Capital declined to comment. Citadel, Balyasny and Millennium also declined to comment. In its last investor letter in October, Eisler highlighted the burden of compensation costs.  Portfolio managers are the most expensive they have ever been, three recruitment professionals, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters. They mentioned direct knowledge of star fund managers hired in New York and London this year on salaries of over $100 million, which can prove costly for investors if not offset by stellar trading returns.  BLAME THE MODEL? Investors in pass-through funds receive less than half of the trading spoils, according to Barclays research. While they may have been content with that when multi-manager funds were outperforming the wider industry, net returns have now fallen just short of peers with fixed charges, Barclays said in a July client note. Pass-through fees have, however, traditionally been too rich for some European pension funds. "In Europe, some of the world’s largest and most prestigious pension funds have stated they prefer to invest in lower net returning managers with lower fees than higher net returning managers with higher fees," said Michael Oliver Weinberg, deputy CIO of a family office and previously at Dutch pension fund manager APG.  London is home to large and well-performing hedge funds, not necessarily all multi-strats but still successful, including Rokos Capital Management and Marshall Wace.   The partial pass-through model, seen with Man Group's 1783 Strategies fund, operates as a product included in a wider group of funds, some with lower fees.  Man Group, Rokos Capital Management and Marshall Wace declined to comment.  Berlinicke said that while some investors may give established pass-through funds the benefit of the doubt, that might not be true for newer entrants given the level of the fees.  Meanwhile, one effect of the growing sway of multi-strategy funds was that stock price swings on earnings days in 2024 were the largest since at least 2016, a Reuters analysis showed.  NEW YORK, NEW YORK  New York has been the centre of the multi-manager model with pass-through fees and that won't change, investors said.  London, the second largest hedge fund centre, has 171 hedge fund managers, compared to 911 in New York, a city which has accounted for roughly 85% of hedge funds consistently for the last five years, data from hedge fund research firm PivotalPath shows.  Other centres such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also emerging as rivals.  "Crowding in markets has always been something to watch out for," said Berlinicke. "The question is whether large players grow and will that be a problem for markets? Possibly, if they dominate strategies or certain parts of the market."  (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Kirsten Donovan)

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By Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) -Beijing is stacking up its bargaining chips ahead of expected U.S.-China talks when Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping visit Seoul this month, announcing new export controls to tighten its grip over high-tech manufacturing supply chains. The two superpowers look to be struggling to move beyond their current tariff truce – a 90-day pause from August 11 that ends around November 9 – with officials from both sides continuing to meet to discuss issues predating last month's Madrid summit, widely seen as a breakthrough for its Tiktok deal, which would see the U.S. take a stake in one of China's most successful companies overseas. HOW THE TRADE WAR UNFOLDED On February 4, Trump implemented an additional 10% tariff on imports from China demanding Beijing do more to stop the flow of fentanyl precursors into the U.S. China hit back with levies on some U.S. commodities, farm equipment and automobiles, as well as probes into several American businesses.  In April, Trump singled out China for tariffs exceeding 100% following his sweeping "Liberation Day" duties, while pausing the reciprocal tariffs he placed on some other countries the White House also deemed to be trading unfairly with the U.S. China retaliated, and over the next few weeks, both sides continued raising duties on each other's goods – peaking in May – before agreeing on May 12 to their first 90-day pause, which also saw U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods fall from 145% to 30% and Chinese tariffs on American products drop from 125% to 10%. There have been two more 90-day extensions since then, the latest agreed on August 11. CRITICAL MINERALS  On Thursday, along with the addition of five new elements to its control list, Beijing unexpectedly announced export curbs on certain types of artificial diamonds and artificial graphite anode materials – other areas where China is the top producer – used in the production of semiconductors, quantum devices and advanced electronic systems. Those curbs are set to take effect from November 8, just a day before the current truce expires. Xi and Trump are expected to meet on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit prior to that.  China, the world's largest rare earths producer, has been tightening its control over these critical minerals, used in everything from lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors to aircraft engines, LED TVs, camera lenses, and much more. Earlier controls announced in April caused shortages around the world, before a series of deals with Europe and the U.S. eased the supply crunch. SEMICONDUCTORS  One reason China has tightened its control over critical minerals is the U.S. has sought to limit its access to advanced semiconductors, critical for powering artificial intelligence models and applications. U.S. lawmakers say that without these restrictions, China could reverse-engineer or independently develop advanced semiconductor technologies faster than the U.S., enabling China to not only dominate the industry but also gain a military edge. China has repeatedly called on the Trump administration to remove such curbs, accusing Washington of trying to contain its legitimate economic development.  TAIWAN Sensing that the Trump administration might be open to a deal that goes beyond traditional trade talks, there are reports that Beijing has renewed efforts to push Washington to alter the language the United States uses when discussing its position on Taiwanese independence. China for a while now has wanted the U.S. to say "we oppose Taiwan independence," rather than the current version, which is that the U.S. "does not support" the independence of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.  BALANCED TRADE Beijing also demands that the Trump administration remove the additional tariffs and ease restrictions limiting Chinese firms' ability to invest in the world's No.1 economy – a major source of friction that has not been resolved.  Chinese companies' investments in the U.S. face intense scrutiny over concerns about technology transfer, cybersecurity, and dual-use military application, particularly in AI, aerospace, biotech, semiconductors and telecommunications.  On the flip side, U.S. politicians have talked up a deal that would see China commit to buy more Boeing jets and raised the fact that the world's biggest buyer of soybeans has yet to book any U.S. soybean cargoes.     FENTANYL Despite Trump's 20% fentanyl tariffs imposed in early 2025 to pressure China into curbing the flow of chemicals driving America's deadly opioid crisis, Beijing has yet to publicly unveil any dramatic move to meet his demands. But China in June did announce that it had added two precursors to its list of controlled chemicals and arrested or prosecuted some 2,000 people for drug-related money laundering. The Trump administration has not budged. (Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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