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By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday that private data shows the job market remains weak and buttresses the case for further interest rate cuts, but added the U.S. central bank need only move in "cautious" quarter-percentage-point steps as it evaluates the economy. The U.S. jobs report for September has been delayed by the ongoing federal government shutdown, but Waller said that private data reports, like the recent one from payroll processor ADP showing a contraction in employment last month, have been consistent in showing the job market losing steam.  Alternate sources of information on the job market "are not really representative … but they are all telling the same story. The labor market is weak," Waller said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" program. "We need to cut rates. But we need to be kind of cautious about it … Do 25 (basis points), keep going, see how it goes." Waller, reportedly on an evolving short list of candidates to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell next year, said his call for caution stemmed from the contrast between data that show economic growth may be strengthening after a modest first half of the year, and a job market that "is not tight in any way shape or form." "Something has got to give. Either the labor market rebounds to match the GDP growth, or … GDP growth is going to pull back. Whichever way that goes, it's got to affect what you do with policy," Waller said. His view is aligned with the broad consensus at the Fed that rates will continue to fall this year, but contrasts with the call by new Fed Governor Stephen Miran for deep and immediate reductions in borrowing costs. "You adjust as you go, as the data comes in. If you went 75 (basis points) tomorrow, you'd have a bit of a problem if you had the wrong bet," Waller said.  The Fed, which cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point last month, will hold its next policy meeting on October 28-29. Investors anticipate it will reduce rates by a quarter of a percentage point this month, following up with the same-sized reduction in borrowing costs at its final meeting of the year in December. Other policymakers in recent days have revived concerns about persistent inflation and said the Fed may not have much room to lower rates further without risking renewed price pressures. But if the job market is as weak as it seems, "you're not going to get the typical thing people are afraid of … Prices go up. Workers demand higher wages. Those wages get passed through and you get these kind of wild price wage spirals," Waller said. "That's not happening." (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Alison Williams and Paul Simao)

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(Refiles to reflect Koch Industries changed its name to Koch in paragraph 5) By Shariq Khan NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Colonial Pipeline Company, operator of the largest U.S. fuel transportation system, informed employees this week it is planning to cut some jobs, according to two sources familiar with the matter and a company statement. "We shared with our employees this week that a recent review to ensure our organization is best aligned to continue safely meeting our business strategy and priorities will result in changes to various team structures and some individual roles," the company said in response to Reuters queries about the job cuts. The scope of the job cuts could not be learned immediately. Colonial Pipeline declined to say how many jobs would be cut. The changes come just months after New York-based asset manager Brookfield Infrastructure Partners took over Colonial in a deal valued at about $9 billion, becoming the first sole owner of the over 5,500-mile pipeline network since its construction in the 1960s. The company was previously owned by European oil major Shell, investment firm KKR, Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, private U.S. conglomerate Koch's investments arm, and asset manager IFM Investors. Colonial, which moves over 2.5 million barrels per day of fuel from the U.S. Gulf Coast to top consumption centers across the country's East Coast, said the changes will not affect its operations. "The changes do not affect our commitment to providing safe, reliable, and responsible fuel transportation services for more than 50 million Americans daily," it said in the statement. Colonial this year has made efforts to raise the amount of fuel it can move on its network through a combination of operational enhancements and changes to the way products are placed and delivered on its system, although the latter attracted protests from its shippers. (Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York; editing by Diane Craft)

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By Ashitha Shivaprasad LONDON (Reuters) -Silver that flooded into the United States earlier this year due to fears of tariffs on imports is likely to head back to the London physical market, where shortages of available metal drove the spot price above U.S. futures. Traders seeking to avoid potential tariffs have been shipping silver to the United States due to its inclusion on a draft list of U.S. critical minerals in September, part of a push to secure domestic supply chains for key metals. Spot silver was trading around $50.10 per ounce on Friday, after hitting a record high of $51.22 on Thursday, while silver futures on Comex were last at $48.1. That price differential is wide enough to make it profitable for traders to bring silver back to London, analysts said. "There's a genuine shortage of silver (in London), but you've got 500 million ounces sitting in Comex doing nothing," Ryan Mangan, head of global metals and bulks trading at Macquarie said at a briefing on Thursday. Silver inventories on Comex at 526.1 million troy ounces are close to the record high of 531.9 million ounces hit on October 3. "So much silver went to the U.S. that there's now almost four years' worth of domestic demand stockpiled," said Adrian Ash, head of research at online marketplace BullionVault. "In London, lease rates are a little over 11%, which is phenomenal." Silver lease rates refer to the cost of borrowing physical silver and are an indicator of demand. They are high because of low liquidity in London due to a recent jump in demand from silver-backed exchange-traded funds which came on top of previous flows to the U.S., said a precious metals trader. The effect from the tightness in the London market can already be seen in India, where Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company temporarily halted fresh lump-sum investments in its silver ETF-of-fund on Thursday to protect investors. The metals market expects to hear next week from the U.S. probe into potential tariffs on critical mineral imports ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump in April. However, the government shutdown could delay any decision. "I don't think the market will send too much back unless tariff implications are very clear," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader. (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in London; additional reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Pratima Desai and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada's economy posted a surprise 60,400 net job gains in September, almost entirely reversing the losses of the previous month, data showed on Friday, but was not enough to bring down its multi-year high unemployment rate. The jobless rate was at 7.1%, same as the prior month when the rate hit a nine-year high outside of the pandemic years. Analysts polled by Reuters has forecast job gains of 5,000 and the unemployment rate to edge up to 7.2%, Statistics Canada said. Canada's employment gains this year has averaged at about 24,000 jobs per month, almost 10,000 less than seen in the previous two years, as U.S. tariffs have either forced job cuts or dissuaded employers from hiring more. The employment increase in September was completely led by full-time work and it increased in 10 out of 16 industry groups, StatsCan said. However, a few metrics showed the impact of low hiring by companies and increasing slack, or underutilized labor force, in the economy. The unemployment rate among youth or those in the age bracket of 15 to 24 years edged up to 14.7% in September, the highest rate in 15 years. The youths represent around 14% of the total labor force in Canada. Also, the proportion of people working in jobs which are unrelated to their qualification as well as immigrants who were over-qualified for their jobs scaled up, reflecting tough labor market conditions, the statistics agency said. The Bank of Canada has warned that slack was building up in the economy and continued uncertainty and impact of tariffs could lead to further labor market weakness.  A silver lining, however, was in the manufacturing sector which posted its first increase in job gains since January. This sector accounts for almost a tenth of the labor force and has been the worst hit due to U.S. tariffs this year. But September data showed this sector posted the highest jobs gains in absolute numbers at 27,800, a jump of 1.5% from August. Agriculture sector posted an increase of 6.1% and jobs in the natural resources sector increased by 2.2%. The average hourly wage of permanent employees – a gauge closely tracked by the Bank of Canada to ascertain inflationary trends – grew by 3.6% in September on a yearly basis to C$37.87, same percentage increase as last month. (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Dale Smith)

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By Chen Aizhu, Trixie Yap and Siyi Liu SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The latest U.S. sanctions on Iranian petroleum exports deal a blow to Chinese refining giant Sinopec by targeting a terminal through which the state major handles one-fifth of its crude oil imports, industry executives and analysts said. The sanctions announced on Thursday further complicate U.S.-China relations, coming ahead of planned talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later this month. The move follows China's decision to tighten controls on rare earth exports and reflects Washington's continued efforts to restrict Iran’s oil trade with its largest customer. Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co. Ltd, half-owned by a Sinopec logistics unit, was among the entities listed by the U.S. Treasury in a round of sanctions that also includes ships transporting Iranian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as an independent Chinese refinery. Rizhao Shihua terminal, in the Shandong province city of Lanshan, was designated for receiving Iranian oil on board sanctioned vessels, the U.S. said. KEY CRUDE HUB UNDER SCRUTINY The terminal, which runs three berths that can service VLCCs, very large crude carriers, is 50%-owned by Sinopec Kantons Holding, a Sinopec-controlled logistics operator, while the remainder is held by local-government-backed Shandong Port Group's Rizhao Port, according to Chinese business portal Qichacha. The majority of crude oil passing through the terminal is handled by Sinopec, according to tanker tracker Vortexa and two industry executives familiar with the port. Sinopec has steered clear of buying Iranian oil, traders and analysts have said. A Sinopec spokesperson did not immediately comment. Calls to Shandong Port Group and Rizhao Port went unanswered and Sinopec Kantons did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The latest measures bring to five the number of sanctioned oil import terminals in the refining hub of Shandong, accounting for half of the province's capacity to handle VLCCs that carry 2 million barrels of oil each. VESSELS MAY SEEK ALTERNATIVE PORTS Shandong, where independent Chinese refiners are clustered, is the largest destination for oil shipments from sanctions-hit Iran, Venezuela and Russia. "Compared to the previous round of sanctions on Chinese terminals, the impact could be larger," said Samuel Kong, senior analyst at FGE, which estimates that only 10-20% of the oil imported at Rizhao is from sanctioned sources. "In the near term, we could see disruptions to discharges around Rizhao, and vessels carrying non-sanctioned barrels might seek alternative ports in Shandong to unload their cargoes." Spot VLCC freight rates for the Mideast-China route gained 3% on Friday, several shipping sources said, buoyed by concerns of congestion or discharge delays resulting from sanctions. Last year, Sinopec imported about 804,000 barrels per day via the Rizhao Shihua terminal, 20% of its total imports, according to Vortexa and one of the industry executives. To avoid using the terminal, Sinopec would be forced to re-direct shipments to other facilities to supply at least two major subsidiary refineries, Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical in Henan province and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical in Jiangsu province. Both plants are connected to the Rizhao terminal via pipelines, the two executives said. These two plants have a combined crude processing capacity of 420,000 bpd. Rizhao terminal indirectly serves several smaller Sinopec refineries along the Yangtze River via pipelines, said a third industry official familiar with Sinopec's refining system. As a workaround, Sinopec may ramp up imports at Ningbo or Qingdao port, or raise throughput at other nearby plants to compensate for possible production cuts at Luoyang and Yangzi, said a second executive, who is close to Sinopec. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu, Trixie Yap and Siyi Liu; Additional reporting by Sam Li in Beijing; Editing by Tony Munroe and Louise Heavens)

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By Divya Rajagopal and Portia Crowe TORONTO/DAKAR (Reuters) -Blasting is scheduled to begin at Barrick Mining's Loulo underground gold mine in Mali on October 15, four months after a court-appointed provisional administration took control of the site, two sources told Reuters. Under the provisional administration, operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex have so far been limited to transporting existing ore stocks to its plant and processing them there. The provisional administrators had planned to resume active mining in September, one of the sources said, but pushed back the start date as they negotiated with subcontractors, some of whom had not been paid since Barrick suspended operations in January. UNPAID BILLS SETTLED, PIT MINE ACTIVITIES STILL SUSPENDED Blasting, which entails breaking down gold deposits using explosives, will resume after the administrators resolved unpaid bills with subcontractors Sandvik and Maxam, the sources said. Activities are, however, not expected to resume next week at the complex's open pit mine, as the main subcontractor operating that site has still not been paid, the first source said. Barrick suspended operations at Loulo-Gounkoto amid fraught negotiations with Mali's military-led government over how to implement a new mining code that increased taxes and gives the state a greater ownership stake in assets. That led a Bamako court in June to appoint provisional administrators, led by former Malian health minister Soumana Makadji, to restart operations at the complex. Loulo mine has since produced some 1.07 metric tons of gold from ore stocks that had been mined before the suspension, the second source said. A spokesperson for Mali's mines ministry declined to comment. Makadji and spokespeople for Barrick, Sandvik and Maxam did not immediately respond to requests for comment. BARRICK, MALI TALKS CONTINUE, ARBITRATION DECISION EXPECTED Negotiations between Barrick and the Malian government have continued intermittently throughout the year, with a round taking place in August. Weeks later, Barrick announced the sudden departure of CEO Mark Bristow. The parties are also in international arbitration at the World Bank's arbitration court, which is expected to rule on the legitimacy of the provisional administration this month, according to a source aware of the development.  The World Bank's arbitration body did not respond to requests for comment. Mali's industrial gold production fell 32% year-on-year to 26.2 tons at the end of August, weighed down by the Barrick suspension, according to a mines ministry document seen by Reuters last week. (Reporting by Divya Rajagopal and Portia Crowe; Editing by Veronica Brown and Joe Bavier)

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By Chen Aizhu, Trixie Yap and Siyi Liu SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The latest U.S. sanctions on Iranian petroleum exports deal a blow to Chinese refining giant Sinopec by targeting a terminal through which the state major handles one-fifth of its crude oil imports, industry executives and analysts said. The sanctions announced on Thursday further complicate U.S.-China relations, coming ahead of planned talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later this month. The move follows China's decision to tighten controls on rare earth exports and reflects Washington's continued efforts to restrict Iran’s oil trade with its largest customer. Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co. Ltd, half-owned by a Sinopec logistics unit, was among the entities listed by the U.S. Treasury in a round of sanctions that also includes ships transporting Iranian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as an independent Chinese refinery. Rizhao Shihua terminal, in the Shandong province city of Lanshan, was designated for receiving Iranian oil on board sanctioned vessels, the U.S. said. KEY CRUDE HUB UNDER SCRUTINY The terminal, which runs three berths that can service VLCCs, very large crude carriers, is 50%-owned by Sinopec Kantons Holding, a Sinopec-controlled logistics operator, while the remainder is held by local-government-backed Shandong Port Group's Rizhao Port, according to Chinese business portal Qichacha. The majority of crude oil passing through the terminal is handled by Sinopec, according to tanker tracker Vortexa and two industry executives familiar with the port. Sinopec has steered clear of buying Iranian oil, traders and analysts have said. A Sinopec spokesperson did not immediately comment. Calls to Shandong Port Group and Rizhao Port went unanswered and Sinopec Kantons did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The latest measures bring to five the number of sanctioned oil import terminals in the refining hub of Shandong, accounting for half of the province's capacity to handle VLCCs that carry 2 million barrels of oil each. VESSELS MAY SEEK ALTERNATIVE PORTS Shandong, where independent Chinese refiners are clustered, is the largest destination for oil shipments from sanctions-hit Iran, Venezuela and Russia. "Compared to the previous round of sanctions on Chinese terminals, the impact could be larger," said Samuel Kong, senior analyst at FGE, which estimates that only 10-20% of the oil imported at Rizhao is from sanctioned sources. "In the near term, we could see disruptions to discharges around Rizhao, and vessels carrying non-sanctioned barrels might seek alternative ports in Shandong to unload their cargoes." Spot VLCC freight rates for the Mideast-China route gained 3% on Friday, several shipping sources said, buoyed by concerns of congestion or discharge delays resulting from sanctions. Last year, Sinopec imported about 804,000 barrels per day via the Rizhao Shihua terminal, 20% of its total imports, according to Vortexa and one of the industry executives. To avoid using the terminal, Sinopec would be forced to re-direct shipments to other facilities to supply at least two major subsidiary refineries, Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical in Henan province and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical in Jiangsu province. Both plants are connected to the Rizhao terminal via pipelines, the two executives said. These two plants have a combined crude processing capacity of 420,000 bpd. Rizhao terminal indirectly serves several smaller Sinopec refineries along the Yangtze River via pipelines, said a third industry official familiar with Sinopec's refining system. As a workaround, Sinopec may ramp up imports at Ningbo or Qingdao port, or raise throughput at other nearby plants to compensate for possible production cuts at Luoyang and Yangzi, said a second executive, who is close to Sinopec. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu, Trixie Yap and Siyi Liu; Additional reporting by Sam Li in Beijing; Editing by Tony Munroe and Louise Heavens)

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(Reuters) -Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday said his interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to be the next U.S. central bank chief went "great" and wasn't at all political. Waller, seen as top contender to succeed Chair Jerome Powell next year, told CNBC the interview was "all serious economics" and he didn't think he got "hit by a pitch" in the process. CNBC reported earlier that Waller was among five remaining candidates under consideration to succeed Powell when the current chair's term expires in May. (Reporting by Dan Burns and Howard Schneider. Editing by Mark Potter)

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(Reuters) -U.S. investors divested equity funds for the first time in three weeks in the week through October 8, as they favored to take out profits from the recent rally on caution over the rising risks surrounding an ongoing government shutdown. According to LSEG Lipper data, investors withdrew a net $4.52 billion from U.S. equity funds during the week, compared to approximately $36.49 billion net inflows the prior week. Small-cap U.S. equity funds saw significant selling pressure as they faced a net $2.78 billion weekly sales, the sharpest since August 6. Large-cap funds and mid-cap funds, meanwhile, had a weekly net outgo of $2.06 billion and $1.18 billion, respectively. Bucking the trend, investors added U.S. sectoral equity funds of $2.48 billion on a net basis. Tech, healthcare, and metals and mining funds were the most popular with net inflows of $1.19 billion, $1.13 billion and $750 million, respectively. U.S. bond funds saw the most robust demand since early February 2021 with weekly investments in the most recent week standing at a net $13.08 billion. Short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds, short-to-intermediate government and treasury funds, and general domestic taxable fixed income funds received $3.21 billion, $2.98 billion and $1.76 billion, respectively, and led bond fund inflows. U.S. money market funds, meanwhile, remained popular for a third successive week as investors pumped approximately $13.67 billion into these funds. (Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

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By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. companies could report milder earnings growth in the third quarter than earlier this year, partly due to a likely tariff hit, while investors look for signs that heavy spending on artificial intelligence is paying off. While most U.S. corporations have managed to beat earnings expectations even after U.S. President Donald Trump first announced wide-ranging tariffs on imports in April, the full impact of his trade policies remains uncertain. With optimism about emerging AI technology lifting Wall Street indexes to record highs this year, investors are likely to focus more on AI-related capital expenditures than tariffs and other risks. Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to post 8.8% higher earnings than in the 2024 third quarter, according to the latest LSEG forecast. Year-over-year growth was above 13% in each of the first two quarters of 2025.     The reporting period unofficially kicks off next week with results from some of the biggest U.S. banks.  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq registered record closing highs on Wednesday, boosted by AI-related megacaps that have been market leaders this year. Earnings from the so-called Magnificent 7 group of megacap stocks and AI leaders could be "very robust," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan. "But investors are going to be skeptical about some of the commentary on capex spend," he said. "Investors are starting to get a little more concerned about the money that's being spent there, and the payback for that investment." Valuations have hit levels some investors consider frothy, with the S&P 500 now trading at roughly 23 times forward earnings estimates and well above its 10-year average of 18.7, based on LSEG Datastream data. High valuations in megacap technology and growth stocks present a particular risk given the worries about AI investment and spending. Companies continue to pump more money into AI and negotiate AI-related deals, such as AMD's announcement earlier this week that it will supply chips to OpenAI in a multi-year agreement. Investors are especially keen to see quarterly results for guidance because the U.S. government shutdown that began October 1 has held up official economic reports from the federal government. The information void has made it more difficult to get a sense of how the economy is doing and how the Federal Reserve might proceed with interest rates. The U.S. central bank last month cut rates for the first time since December amid labor market weakness. Still, mostly upbeat economic data during the last quarter likely means third-quarter S&P 500 earnings and sales growth will surpass consensus expectations, according to Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist, David Kostin, and his team. Goldman strategists wrote in a recent note that they expect companies to have maintained their profit margins, even as tariffs "were likely a larger headwind to profits in 3Q than they were during 2Q," and said customs duties rose 33% over that period to $93 billion. Sales likely grew 5.7% for S&P 500 component companies compared with the year-ago quarter, according to LSEG. Sales rose 6.4% in the second quarter and 5% in the first quarter. An investment banking rebound is expected to have helped push the six largest U.S. banks to stronger third-quarter earnings.    In the second quarter, S&P 500 earnings grew 13.8%, while analysts at the start of July estimated just 5.8%, LSEG data showed. "So far neither tariffs nor economic uncertainty by the consumer have had a negative impact" on earnings growth, said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Alden Bentley and Richard Chang)

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