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(Reuters) -The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are advancing on an agreement that would allow U.S. chip companies to export semiconductors to Saudi Arabia and a deal could be finalized soon, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. (Reporting by Jasper Ward, writing by Christian Martinez)

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By John Biju and Kavya Balaraman (Reuters) -Gold prices fell over 1% on Thursday, dipping below the $4,000/oz milestone breached for the first time in the previous session, as the dollar pushed higher and gold investors booked profits following a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Silver, spurred by momentum in the gold market, strong investment demand and a persistent supply deficit, rose above $50 per ounce for the first time.  Spot gold fell 1.1% to $3,993.41 per ounce, by 12:38 p.m. ET (1638 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 1.6% to $4,006.40. The U.S. dollar index was up 0.5% and hovered near a two-month high, making dollar-priced bullion more expensive for overseas buyers. [USD/] "Speculators are taking some gold chips off the table as the Gaza ceasefire takes effect since it reduces the temperature in a historically volatile region," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader. Israel and Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire, the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war in Gaza. "Overall, though, the faith in this trade is largely undiminished. However, this rally has been so rapid that no real support comes in until $3,850," Wong said. Bullion surged past $4,000 per ounce for the first time on Wednesday, reaching a record high of $4,059.05. The non-yielding asset, traditionally considered a hedge during geopolitical and economic uncertainty, has gained about 52% this year.  Its rally has been fueled by geopolitical tension, robust central bank buying, rising ETF inflows, expectations of U.S. rate cuts, and tariff-related economic uncertainties. Minutes of the U.S. central bank's September meeting, released on Wednesday, showed Federal Reserve officials agreed that risks to the U.S. job market were high enough to warrant a rate cut, but remained wary amid stubborn inflation.  The Fed resumed its rate-cutting cycle in September, lowering the benchmark rate by 25 basis points. Traders are pricing in a 25 basis point cut in October with another in December, with a 95% and 80% chance, respectively. [FEDWATCH] Silver was 1.3% higher at $49.49 per ounce. The price of the metal has risen more than 70% this year, driven by the same macroeconomic forces fueling gold's rally and tight supply conditions in the spot market. "Silver is playing a bit of catch up at this point, moving more aggressively to the upside than gold in recent sessions," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. Platinum eased 1.7% to $1,635.25 and palladium eased 1.2% to $1,431.58. (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee, Kavya Balaraman and John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Kirsten Donovan and David Gregorio)

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(Reuters) -The U.S. central bank should move cautiously on further interest rate cuts, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said on Thursday in a speech that leaned heavily into the risks of inflation, even as he acknowledged the potential vulnerabilities in a "roughly balanced" labor market. "The FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) should be cautious about adjusting policy so that we can gather further data, update our forecasts, and better assess the balance of risks," Barr said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Economic Club of Minnesota, his first on monetary policy since June. With both upside inflation risks and downside risks to the labor market, the Fed is in a "challenging position" with no risk-free path forward as it sets monetary policy, Barr said, explicitly borrowing the way Fed Chair Jerome Powell phrased the central bank's current quandary.  Barr said he supported the Fed's quarter-of-a-percentage-point reduction to the policy rate last month, but he focused many of his comments on the risks that tariffs pose to inflation, suggesting he is not sold on the need for a series of rate cuts, as financial markets currently expect.  Barr said he forecasts underlying inflation by the Fed's key measure, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, to rise to above 3% by the end of this year, and noted that Fed officials do not expect headline inflation to fall to the central bank's 2% goal until the end of 2027. That would be the longest period of PCE inflation above 2% since a seven-year stretch that ended in 1993, he said. "After the high inflation Americans have endured, two more years would be a long time to wait for a return to our target, and that possibility weighs on my judgment for appropriate monetary policy," he said. (Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Paul Simao)

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By Maggie Fick LONDON (Reuters) -AstraZeneca broke ground on a new plant in Virginia on Thursday and said it would spend $4.5 billion on the facility as drugmakers look to respond to President Donald Trump's call for more medicines to be made in the U.S. and at lower costs. The site in Albemarle County, about 120 miles (193 km) southwest of Washington, will be the Anglo-Swedish company's largest manufacturing facility worldwide. The investment is part of AstraZeneca's plan announced in July to spend $50 billion to expand U.S. research and manufacturing by 2030. AstraZeneca said on Thursday the plant will create 600 highly skilled jobs, and 3,000 more will be created for its construction.  DRUGMAKERS LOOK TO RAMP UP U.S. MANUFACTURING The company also said it was expanding plans for the site to include production of blockbuster cancer medicines along with future weight-loss and metabolic drugs. It said it would spend $500 million more than initially planned. The groundbreaking was attended by a senior Trump administration health official, Dr Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "I congratulate AstraZeneca for their investment and invite other foreign manufacturers to follow suit," he said. ANALYSTS ASK: ARE INDUSTRY MOVES LARGELY POLITICAL? Trump has, using the threat of imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, extracted a range of concessions from the industry.  Last week U.S. drugmaker Pfizer announced at the White House that it would slash drug prices in Medicaid for low-income people and for new drugs in exchange for relief on tariffs, setting a tone for drugmaker peers to match. Analysts say such moves may have little impact on overall revenues and that the impact on prices will also be limited, raising questions over whether they are largely political. ASTRAZENECA CEO SORIOT NAVIGATES TRUMP'S DEMANDS ON INDUSTRY AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who earlier this year described his firm as a "very American company", has looked to balance Trump's demands on the sector. Last month, the company announced a full listing of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange and said it would soon sell diabetes and asthma drugs direct to U.S. patients at discounts of up to 70%. On Thursday, Soriot said the Virginia facility would "strengthen America's national security and health sovereignty", after earlier this year criticising European governments for not spending more on medicines. ​ (Reporting by Maggie FickEditing by Adam Jourdan and Nia Williams)

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By John Biju and Kavya Balaraman (Reuters) -Gold prices eased on Thursday as some investors booked profits, but remained above $4,000 per ounce, as expectations of U.S. interest-rate cuts and persistent global uncertainties drove demand for the safe-haven asset.  Silver, spurred by momentum in the gold market, strong investment demand and an ongoing supply deficit, breached the psychological barrier of $50 per ounce for the first time. Spot gold fell 0.5% to $4,019.30 per ounce, by 1207 pm ET (1607 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.9% to $4,035.30. "Speculators are taking some gold chips off the table as the Gaza ceasefire takes effect since it reduces the temperature in a historically volatile region," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader. Israel and Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire, the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war in Gaza. "Overall, though, the faith in this trade is largely undiminished. However, this rally has been so rapid that no real support comes in until $3,850," Wong said.   Bullion surged past $4,000 per ounce for the first time on Wednesday, reaching a record high of $4,059.05. The non-yielding asset, which is traditionally considered a hedge during geopolitical and economic uncertainty, has gained more than 54% this year.  Its rally has been fueled by geopolitical tension, robust central bank buying, rising ETF inflows, expectations of U.S. rate cuts, and tariff-related economic uncertainties.  Minutes of the U.S. central bank's September meeting, released on Wednesday, showed Federal Reserve officials agreed that risks to the U.S. job market were high enough to warrant a rate cut, but remained wary amid stubborn inflation.  The Fed resumed its rate-cutting cycle in September, lowering the benchmark rate by 25 basis points. Traders are now pricing in a 25 basis point cut in October with another in December, with a 95% and 80% chance, respectively. [FEDWATCH] Silver was 2.6% higher at $50.13 per ounce. The price of the metal has risen more than 69% this year, driven by the same macroeconomic forces fueling gold's rally and tight supply conditions in the spot market. "Silver is playing a bit of catch up at this point, moving more aggressively to the upside than gold in recent sessions," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. Platinum eased 0.2% to $1,659.10 and palladium rose 1.8% to $1,476.24. (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee, Kavya Balaraman and John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Kirsten Donovan)

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By Arathy Somasekhar HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices edged slightly lower on Thursday after Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement to cease fire in Gaza. Brent crude futures were down 36 cents, or 0.6%, at $65.88 a barrel at 11:42 a.m. ET (1542 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 30 cents, or 0.5%, at $62.25. Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war in Gaza. Under the ceasefire deal, 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. "Crude futures are in a corrective phase as the Israel/Hamas conflict looks to be ending," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. 'WIDE-RANGING' IMPLICATIONS FOR OIL MARKETS "The peace agreement is a major breakthrough in recent Middle Eastern history – its implications for oil markets could be wide-ranging, from the possibility of a decrease in the Houthis' attacks in the Red Sea to an increase in the likelihood of a nuclear deal with Iran…" Rystad Energy's Chief Economist Claudio Galimberti said in a note. The OPEC+ group, made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, agreed on Sunday to a November output hike that was smaller than market expectations, easing oversupply concerns. Prices had gained around 1% on Wednesday to reach a one-week high after investors viewed stalled progress on a Ukraine peace deal as a sign that sanctions against Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, would continue for some time. Meanwhile, total weekly U.S. petroleum products supplied, a proxy for U.S. oil consumption, rose last week to 21.99 million barrels per day, the most since December 2022, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in London, Florence Tan in Singapore and Georgina McCartney in Houston. Editing by Mark Potter, Jane Merriman, Nick Zieminski, William Maclean)

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Citigroup on Thursday rejected Mexican mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico's bid for its retail unit in the country, known as Banamex, opting instead to push forward with a previously agreed-upon deal. Grupo Mexico surprised last week when it made an unsolicited $9.3 billion offer for Banamex, more than two years after it had backed away from negotiations. The news rocked local markets, wiping off billions in the firm's market capitalization. Shares in Grupo Mexico climbed more than 4.5% on Citi's statement Thursday that it rejected the bid. Citi last month announced that it would sell a 25% stake in Banamex to Mexican billionaire Fernando Chico Pardo, chairman of airport operator ASUR, for around $2.3 billion. The lender then planned to hold a public offering for the rest of the unit, it said at the time, while also gauging the interest of other local magnates. Citi on Thursday said that it believed that deal was the best option to divest from Banamex responsibly and maximize value for shareholders. (Reporting by Raul Cortes and Kylie Madry; editing by Cassandra Garrison)

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(Reuters) -Harvard University said on Wednesday that its graduate medical school has entered a licensing agreement with Microsoft, granting the tech company access to its consumer health content on specific diseases and wellness topics. Microsoft will pay Harvard a licensing fee, a university spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the agreement was made through Harvard Health Publishing, the consumer health division of Harvard Medical School. The agreement comes as part of the company's broader strategy to reduce its dependence on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news earlier in the day, said the partnership will help enhance Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant with health-related content. The latest version of Copilot, expected to launch as early as this month, will utilize content from Harvard Health Publishing to provide answers to user questions on medical and wellness topics, the university said. Copilot has so far relied primarily on OpenAI's models to power tools across its productivity suite, including Word and Outlook. Microsoft has recently begun integrating Anthropic's Claude and is also developing its own AI models, as it looks to diversify its artificial intelligence strategy. (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Additional reported by Mrinmay Dey; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Alan Barona and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Copper production from Chilean state-run miner Codelco tumbled 25% in August, data from copper commission Cochilco showed on Thursday, after a deadly collapse stunted output from its most-profitable mine. Codelco's El Teniente mine was forced to halt production after the July 31 accident that killed six people. The miner has estimated that the collapse dented output by around 33,000 metric tons. For the month, the miner's total output slipped to 93,400 tons. Meanwhile, production at BHP's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine, was nearly stable at 105,100 tons. At Collahuasi, another major copper mine jointly run by Glencore and Anglo American, output fell 27% to 35,400 tons on lower-grade ore. (Reporting by Kylie Madry and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)

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By Maggie Fick and Mariam Sunny (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk said on Thursday it would buy U.S.-based Akero Therapeutics for up to $5.2 billion to gain access to a promising liver disease drug candidate, in the first major deal by the Danish drugmaker's new CEO to spur growth. Mike Doustdar, who took the helm at the Wegovy maker in July, has signaled a focus on new, highly effective obesity and diabetes drugs that can also treat related cardiometabolic conditions such as MASH, rather than expanding into other areas. Akero's drug candidate, efruxifermin, is currently in late-stage trials for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). "We view this deal, coupled with recent internal restructuring at Novo, positively as Doustdar works to bring the ship back on course," said BMO Capital analyst Evan Seigerman. Under Doustdar, tasked with stemming market share losses to U.S. rival Eli Lilly, the company last month said it would cut 9,000 jobs. HIGH GROWTH POTENTIAL Efruxifermin has shown potential in reversing liver scarring in MASH patients in earlier studies. Doustdar called it "an important building block" for future growth, especially as Novo prepares for the loss of exclusivity on semaglutide, the active ingredient in blockbuster drug Wegovy, starting next year in regions like India and China. Lukas Leu, a portfolio manager at Novo Nordisk shareholder ATG Healthcare, said it was encouraging to see Novo seal a major deal and expand in a high-growth area, where rivals such as Roche and GSK have also made recent moves. In August, Wegovy became the first GLP-1 drug to receive accelerated approval for MASH in the U.S., where the disease affects around 5% of adults. Novo has discontinued its MASH candidate, zalfermin, which belonged to the same class of treatments as efruxifermin. DEALS GETTING BIGGER Akero marks a significant increase in deal size for Novo, as its recent biotech acquisitions in metabolic diseases typically ranged between $1 billion and $2 billion. "They need to start acquiring assets and expanding their pipeline," Leu said, adding that he remains cautious given the stock is "still in the doghouse". Novo shares have risen 11% since Doustdar's appointment, but remain down nearly 40% for the year, reflecting investor concerns over Wegovy's U.S. prescription trends. The Akero deal includes an upfront cash payment of $54 per share held, totaling about $4.7 billion, a 16.2% premium over Akero's last closing price. An additional $6 per share will be paid if efruxifermin secures full U.S. approval by June 2031. Akero's shares rose over 16% in afternoon trading, while Novo shares slipped 1%. Novo plans to finance the acquisition through debt and expects to close the deal by the end of the year. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Essi Lehto, Leroy Leo and Sriraj Kalluvila)

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