News Live: Oil prices near 2.5 year high on tensions in Iran
This blog will keep track of key global and local developments impacting business and markets through the day. Important local and global political developments will also find resonance here.
Oil prices on Thursday remained near levels last seen in late 2014-2015, with markets tightening amid tensions in Iran and due to ongoing OPEC-led production cuts, reports Reuters. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.76 a barrel at 06:40am, up 13 cents from their last close and not far off the $61.97 May, 2015 high reached the previous day. Brent crude futures - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $67.82 a barrel, down 2 cents but still not far off the $68.03 May 2015 high from the day before.
Jan 04, 06:59 AM (IST)
Americans should worry about Kim's mental fitness, not Trump's, says White House
The White House on Wednesday defended Donald Trump’s tweet about the size of his nuclear button, saying Americans should be concerned about the North Korean leader’s mental fitness, not their president’s, reports Reuters. On Tuesday, Trump responded to a New Year’s Day speech in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned he had a nuclear button on his desk by saying that his nuclear button “is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
The tweet provoked strong criticism, especially from Trump’s Democratic opponents, and former Vice President Joe Biden called it dangerously cavalier. Asked whether Americans should be concerned about the president’s mental fitness after he appeared to be speaking so lightly about nuclear threats, White House spokeswoman Sara Sanders said:
“The president and the people of this country should be concerned about the mental fitness of the leader of North Korea. He’s made repeated threats, he’s tested missiles time and time again for years, and this is a president who’s not going to cower down and who’s not going to be weak and is going to make sure that he does what he’s promised to do and that is stand up and protect the American people.”
Jan 04, 07:20 AM (IST)
BoA-ML bans clients from investing in Silbert bitcoin fund
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML) banned clients from investing in one of bitcoin mogul Barry Silbert’s top funds last month, according to a memo seen by Reuters. As of December 8, the Wall Street brokerage stopped approving new orders for the Bitcoin Investment Trust due to concerns about the “suitability and eligibility standards of this product,” according to the memo sent to roughly 17,000 brokers at Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge, a unit for clients who manage their own trades. Bitcoin Investment Trust is run by Grayscale Investments, which is led by Silbert, a former Wall Street investment banker and prominent supporter of cryptocurrencies.
Jan 04, 07:12 AM (IST)
Trump admin to announce cuts in 'security assistance' for Pakistan, says sources
US President Donald Trump’s administration has been informing members of Congress that it will announce as soon as Thursday plans to cut off “security assistance” to Pakistan, congressional aides said, a day after the White House warned Islamabad it would have to do more to maintain US aid. Aides in two congressional offices said the State Department called on Wednesday to inform them that it would announce on Wednesday or Thursday that aid was being cut off, although it was not clear how much, what type or for how long, reports Reuters.
highlights
Oil prices near 2.5 year high on tensions in Iran
Oil prices on Thursday remained near levels last seen in late 2014-2015, with markets tightening amid tensions in Iran and due to ongoing OPEC-led production cuts, reports Reuters. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.76 a barrel at 06:40am, up 13 cents from their last close and not far off the $61.97 May, 2015 high reached the previous day. Brent crude futures - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $67.82 a barrel, down 2 cents but still not far off the $68.03 May 2015 high from the day before.
Americans should worry about Kim's mental fitness, not Trump's, says White House
The White House on Wednesday defended Donald Trump’s tweet about the size of his nuclear button, saying Americans should be concerned about the North Korean leader’s mental fitness, not their president’s, reports Reuters. On Tuesday, Trump responded to a New Year’s Day speech in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned he had a nuclear button on his desk by saying that his nuclear button “is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
The tweet provoked strong criticism, especially from Trump’s Democratic opponents, and former Vice President Joe Biden called it dangerously cavalier. Asked whether Americans should be concerned about the president’s mental fitness after he appeared to be speaking so lightly about nuclear threats, White House spokeswoman Sara Sanders said:
“The president and the people of this country should be concerned about the mental fitness of the leader of North Korea. He’s made repeated threats, he’s tested missiles time and time again for years, and this is a president who’s not going to cower down and who’s not going to be weak and is going to make sure that he does what he’s promised to do and that is stand up and protect the American people.”
BoA-ML bans clients from investing in Silbert bitcoin fund
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML) banned clients from investing in one of bitcoin mogul Barry Silbert’s top funds last month, according to a memo seen by Reuters. As of December 8, the Wall Street brokerage stopped approving new orders for the Bitcoin Investment Trust due to concerns about the “suitability and eligibility standards of this product,” according to the memo sent to roughly 17,000 brokers at Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge, a unit for clients who manage their own trades. Bitcoin Investment Trust is run by Grayscale Investments, which is led by Silbert, a former Wall Street investment banker and prominent supporter of cryptocurrencies.
Trump admin to announce cuts in 'security assistance' for Pakistan, says sources
US President Donald Trump’s administration has been informing members of Congress that it will announce as soon as Thursday plans to cut off “security assistance” to Pakistan, congressional aides said, a day after the White House warned Islamabad it would have to do more to maintain US aid. Aides in two congressional offices said the State Department called on Wednesday to inform them that it would announce on Wednesday or Thursday that aid was being cut off, although it was not clear how much, what type or for how long, reports Reuters.
Oil prices near 2.5 year high on tensions in Iran
Oil prices on Thursday remained near levels last seen in late 2014-2015, with markets tightening amid tensions in Iran and due to ongoing OPEC-led production cuts, reports Reuters. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.76 a barrel at 06:40am, up 13 cents from their last close and not far off the $61.97 May, 2015 high reached the previous day. Brent crude futures - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $67.82 a barrel, down 2 cents but still not far off the $68.03 May 2015 high from the day before.
Americans should worry about Kim's mental fitness, not Trump's, says White House
The White House on Wednesday defended Donald Trump’s tweet about the size of his nuclear button, saying Americans should be concerned about the North Korean leader’s mental fitness, not their president’s, reports Reuters. On Tuesday, Trump responded to a New Year’s Day speech in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned he had a nuclear button on his desk by saying that his nuclear button “is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
The tweet provoked strong criticism, especially from Trump’s Democratic opponents, and former Vice President Joe Biden called it dangerously cavalier. Asked whether Americans should be concerned about the president’s mental fitness after he appeared to be speaking so lightly about nuclear threats, White House spokeswoman Sara Sanders said:
“The president and the people of this country should be concerned about the mental fitness of the leader of North Korea. He’s made repeated threats, he’s tested missiles time and time again for years, and this is a president who’s not going to cower down and who’s not going to be weak and is going to make sure that he does what he’s promised to do and that is stand up and protect the American people.”
BoA-ML bans clients from investing in Silbert bitcoin fund
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML) banned clients from investing in one of bitcoin mogul Barry Silbert’s top funds last month, according to a memo seen by Reuters. As of December 8, the Wall Street brokerage stopped approving new orders for the Bitcoin Investment Trust due to concerns about the “suitability and eligibility standards of this product,” according to the memo sent to roughly 17,000 brokers at Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge, a unit for clients who manage their own trades. Bitcoin Investment Trust is run by Grayscale Investments, which is led by Silbert, a former Wall Street investment banker and prominent supporter of cryptocurrencies.
Trump admin to announce cuts in 'security assistance' for Pakistan, says sources
US President Donald Trump’s administration has been informing members of Congress that it will announce as soon as Thursday plans to cut off “security assistance” to Pakistan, congressional aides said, a day after the White House warned Islamabad it would have to do more to maintain US aid. Aides in two congressional offices said the State Department called on Wednesday to inform them that it would announce on Wednesday or Thursday that aid was being cut off, although it was not clear how much, what type or for how long, reports Reuters.