
European shares extend gains ahead of US-Russia talks
rose on Monday, extending the strong momentum from last week on optimism over a potential
Ukraine peace deal
, while investors turned their attention to upcoming
U.S. inflation data
and tariff negotiations later in the week.
The pan-European
STOXX 600 index
was up 0.3% by 0708 GMT, hovering near its strongest level since July 31.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy won diplomatic backing from Europe and the NATO alliance ahead of a Russia-U.S. summit this week, where Kyiv fears Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3-1/2-year war.
Trump, who is set to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday, said a potential deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both (sides)."
Hopes of a peace deal weighed on German
defence companies
. Shares of Rheinmetall dropped 3.7%, while those in Renk and Hensoldt were down 3% and 2.1%, respectively.
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Orsted plunged 22% after the Danish wind farm developer said it plans a 60-billion-crown ($9.4 billion) rights issue, citing adverse development in the U.S. offshore wind market.
Northern Data dropped nearly 3% after U.S. video platform and cloud services provider Rumble said it was considering an offer of about $1.17 billion for the German AI cloud group.
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Business Standard
12 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Crude oil prices rise as US Fed rate cut, Trump-Putin talks loom
Oil prices rose about 1% on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of "severe consequences" if his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine fail and on expectations that a U.S. interest rate cut next month could spur oil demand. Central banks, like the U.S. Federal Reserve, use interest rates to control inflation. Lower interest rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and can boost economic growth and demand for oil. Brent crude futures were up 87 cents, or 1.3%, to $66.50 a barrel at 10:53 a.m. EDT (1453 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 88 cents, or 1.4%, to $63.53. Those price gains pushed both crude benchmarks out of technically oversold territory for the first time in three days. Brent closed on Tuesday at its lowest price since June 5 and WTI closed at its lowest price since June 2 due in part to bearish inventory and supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the International Energy Agency. [EIA/S] Putin on Thursday praised "sincere efforts" by the U.S. to end the war in Ukraine and floated the prospect of a nuclear arms deal ahead of a summit on Friday in Alaska with Trump. U.S. allies in Europe have urged Trump to stand firm. Russia was the second-biggest producer of crude in 2024 behind the U.S., so any agreement that may ease sanctions on Moscow would likely boost the amount of Russian oil available for export to global markets. Trump on Wednesday threatened "severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine. The U.S. president did not specify what the consequences could be, but he has warned of economic sanctions if the meeting on Friday proves fruitless. Trump has threatened to enact secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian crude, primarily China and India, if Russia continues its war in Ukraine. "The uncertainty of U.S.-Russia peace talks continues to add a bullish risk premium given Russian oil buyers could face more economic pressure," Rystad Energy said in a client note. Some analysts, however, remained sceptical that Trump would take action that could significantly disrupt oil supplies. FED RATE CUT Expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates in September also propped up oil prices. Traders overwhelmingly believe a cut will happen next month after U.S. consumer prices increased at a moderate pace in July. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he thought an aggressive half-percentage-point cut was possible given recent weak employment numbers. But a jump in U.S. wholesale prices last month looks to have all but erased the possibility that the Fed will deliver a jumbo-sized half-percentage-point interest rate cut in September, though expectations for a quarter-percentage-point move next month, followed by another in October, remain intact. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly has pushed back against the need for a 50-basis-point rate cut at the U.S. central bank's September 16-17 meeting, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. In Europe, meanwhile, Norwegian oil and gas investments are expected to peak this year, and start declining next year as major projects are completed, a statistics office survey of industry players showed on Thursday. Norway produces about 2% of global oil. It became Europe's largest supplier of pipeline gas after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard
43 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Vladimir Putin ready to make deal on Ukraine: US President Trump
The aim of Friday's talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: "I don't know that we're going to get an immediate ceasefire Reuters MOSCOW/LONDON/KYIV U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he thought Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on ending the war in Ukraine after the Russian president floated the prospect of a nuclear arms agreement on the eve of their summit in Alaska. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies have intensified their efforts this week to prevent any deal between the U.S. and Russia emerging from Friday's summit that leaves Ukraine vulnerable to future attack. "I think he's going to make a deal," Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well he would call Zelenskiy and European leaders afterwards and that if it went badly he would not. The aim of Friday's talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: "I don't know that we're going to get an immediate ceasefire." Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for the meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two. In televised comments, Putin said that the U.S. was "making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict". This was happening, Putin said, "in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole - if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons." His comments signalled that Russia will raise the issue of nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump. A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the "huge untapped potential" for Russia-U.S. economic ties. A senior eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related. "We hope Trump won't be fooled by the Russians, he understands all (these) dangerous things," the official said, adding that Russia's only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted. Trump said there would be a press conference after the talks but that he did not know whether it would be joint. He also said that there would be a give and take on boundaries and lands. Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine and Zelenskiy and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe. An EU diplomat said it would be "scary to see how it all unfolds in the coming hours. Trump had very good calls yesterday with Europe but that was yesterday". SEEKING CLARITY ON SECURITY GUARANTEES Trump had shown willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine at a last-ditch virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelenskiy on Wednesday, European leaders said, though he made no public mention of them afterwards. Zelenskiy said the security guarantees had been discussed in "considerable detail" in comments after a meeting in London on Thursday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Friday's summit, the first Russia-U.S. summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump insisted that the transatlantic NATO alliance should not be part of security guarantees that would be designed to protect Ukraine from future attacks in a post-war settlement. Macron said, however, that Trump had also said the United States and all willing allies should be part of the security guarantees. Expanding on that, a European official told Reuters that Trump said on the call he was willing to provide some security guarantees for Europe, without spelling out what they would be. It "felt like a big step forward", said the official, who did not want to be named. It was not immediately clear what such guarantees could mean in practice. On Wednesday, Trump threatened "severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless. Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands and has previously said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
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First Post
43 minutes ago
- First Post
Germany reviewing fate of Afghans stranded in Pakistan amid mass deportations
Pakistan has begun to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its September 1 deadline for them to leave, according to the United Nations, a step that could see more than 1 million Afghans expelled from the country. In total, more than one million Afghans have left Pakistan since 2023, including more than 200,000 since April. AFP File Germany is assessing whether Afghans stranded in Pakistan and awaiting resettlement will still be permitted to enter the country, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Thursday as Islamabad steps up deportations. Pakistan has begun expelling documented Afghan refugees ahead of its September 1 deadline for their departure, the United Nations said, a move that could force more than one million Afghans out of the country. The group includes over 2,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Germany under an admission programme aimed at evacuating individuals deemed at risk under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Pakistani authorities have continued detaining Afghans for deportation across the border, even during the country's Independence Day holiday on Thursday. 'People with German admission approval are being brought to the Torkham border (between Pakistan and Afghanistan) as we speak,' the source told Reuters. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed that some Afghans in Germany's resettlement scheme 'have recently drawn the attention of Pakistani authorities', and Berlin was in discussions with Islamabad over their status. 'We are reviewing whether these people can actually leave for Germany. Whether this actually happens depends on the outcome of the review process,' Dobrindt told journalists. Germany's admission programme for at-risk Afghans – launched in October 2022 by the centre-left government in office at the time – is now under review following February's migration-focused election won by conservatives. The new centre-right coalition intends to close the scheme, which had already been suspended pending an ongoing review. Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 Afghans seen as vulnerable to Taliban crackdowns, but the conservative-led government says humanitarian migration now exceeds the country's integration capacity. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On Wednesday, Germany's foreign ministry said it was in close contact with Pakistani authorities and using established emergency mechanisms to prevent deportations of Afghans. The interior ministry said it could not provide a timeline to determine the future of the admission programme but expects decisions soon. It did not say whether the increase in deportations from Pakistan would hasten a decision. With inputs from agencies