• Feb 11, 2025

Chevron struggles to replace oil, gas reserves amid Hess deal limbo

Chevron's oil and gas reserves have fallen to the lowest point in at least a decade, highlighting the importance of the U.S. major's planned acquisition of oil producer Hess that has stalled due to a court battle with Exxon Mobil. If Chevron closes the Hess acquisition, it would gain a stake in the lucrative Guyana oilfields that are operated by Chevron's rival, Exxon. Exxon and CNOOC, the other minority partner in the Guyana field, have challenged Chevron's bid for Hess in court, saying that they have first right of refusal on Hess's equity in the project.

  • Feb 11, 2025

Fed's Powell: Strong economy means no hurry to cut rates

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Reserve is in no rush to cut its short-term interest rate again given an economy that is "strong overall," with low unemployment and inflation that remains above the Fed's 2% target, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in opening remarks prepared for delivery at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. "The economy is strong overall and has made significant progress toward our goals over the past two years," Powell said, with a 4% jobless rate considered around the level of full employment, and inflation lower though still more than half a percentage point above the Fed's target.

  • Feb 11, 2025

Analysis-Chilean voters fall back to conservative safe zone, propelling markets

After more than five years of political upheaval that threatened to polarize Chilean society, voters in Latin America's fifth-largest economy are shifting back to their traditional moderate conservatism, according to recent polls and political analysts. The shift has helped lift the Chilean stock market to record highs and comes ahead of a presidential election in November, in which centre-right candidate Evelyn Matthei is currently the front-runner. Analysts point to leftist President Gabriel Boric's moderate reform of the country's private pension system last month as a sign Chile is embracing compromise and able to pass business-friendly legislation, after several years in which a divided congress halted the president's agenda.

  • Feb 11, 2025

Wall Street ends mixed as Coca-Cola gains and Tesla drops

(Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes ended mixed on Tuesday as gains in Coca-Cola and Apple offset losses in Tesla, while investors parsed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's latest comments. The U.S. central bank is no rush to cut its short-term interest rate again given the economy is "strong overall", with low unemployment and inflation still above the Fed's 2% target, Powell said in opening remarks at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. Investors were also on the lookout for any new tariff comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, a day after he substantially raised levies on imports of steel and aluminum and said there would be announcements over the next two days about reciprocal tariffs on all countries that impose duties on U.S. goods.