NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Friday / September 2
Iran talks
Iran has sent a "constructive" response to U.S. proposals aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Friday.
"The text that was sent (by Iran) has a constructive approach aimed at finalising the negotiations," Kanaani said, according to IRIB.
The report said Iran's response was sent to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who has been coordinating the negotiations. It gave no further details.
IAEA's Ukraine mission
United Nations nuclear experts crossed into Russian-held territory in Ukraine to assess the safety of Europe's biggest atomic energy plant on Friday.
An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team braved intense shelling to reach the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Thursday. Russia and Ukraine say they fear a Chernobyl-like catastrophe due to shelling they blame on each other.
After touring the plant on Thursday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said his inspectors were "not going anywhere". Grossi and other members of the team left for Ukrainian-held territory but five IAEA inspectors remain at the plant, Ukraine's state nuclear company says.
The inspectors will assess physical damage to the plant, ensure its safety and security systems are functional and evaluate the conditions of the facility's staff, the IAEA says. Grossi said on Thursday they would produce a report on their findings.
Since its capture by Russia in March, the plant has been controlled by Russian troops but operated by Ukrainian staff. On Thursday, one of its reactors was forced to shut down due to shelling.
US-Russia nuclear talks
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said on Thursday it cannot hold talks with Moscow on a treaty to replace the last U.S.-Russian pact limiting strategic nuclear arms until inspections of the two countries' nuclear weapons sites, which are currently paused, resume.
"The first step is to resume inspections under the existing New START Treaty. We have been trying to work with the Russians toward that end," a spokesperson at the White House National Security Council said in an email to Reuters.
Russia and the United States are discussing a possible meeting of their bilateral consultative commission on the New START Treaty, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday.
The United States is prepared to work with Russia within the commission "to resolve implementation issues" and sees "no reason that these issues cannot be properly resolved," the NSC spokesperson said.
US stocks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 ended the first day of September on a high note.
The Dow cut its losses from earlier in the day, wrestling with the flat line into the close and jumping 145.99 points, or nearly 0.5%, in the final minutes of trading, to 31,656 The S&P 500 rallied 0.3% to 3,966, after trading lower for most of the day.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell about 0.3%, to 11,785.13, to post its first five-day losing streak since February.
All of the major averages are on track to finish the week lower. The Dow is set to post a 1.9% decline, while the S&P and Nasdaq are on pace to end down 2.2% and 2.9%, respectively.
UK recession
The UK is already in the midst of a recession, and inflation is on course to hit 14% later this year, according British Chambers of Commerce forecasts.
The business lobby group says it expects the economy to follow its second quarter contraction with two more periods of decline to round off the year before a meager bounceback of just 0.2% in 2023.
It blames the crumbling outlook on rising energy costs and a decline in household spending and real wages, as well as weaker export prospects, poor investment conditions and weakening business confidence.
Inflation meanwhile will hit 14% this winter, according to the BCC, and be 5% by the end of 2023.
US jobs
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a two-month low last week while layoffs dropped in August.
The weekly unemployment claims report from the US Labor Department on Thursday also showed fewer people applied for jobless benefits in the prior week than initially estimated.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 for the week ended Aug. 27, the lowest level since late June. Data for the prior week was revised to show 6,000 fewer applications filed than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 248,000 applications for the latest week.
Iran has sent a "constructive" response to U.S. proposals aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Friday.
"The text that was sent (by Iran) has a constructive approach aimed at finalising the negotiations," Kanaani said, according to IRIB.
The report said Iran's response was sent to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who has been coordinating the negotiations. It gave no further details.
IAEA's Ukraine mission
United Nations nuclear experts crossed into Russian-held territory in Ukraine to assess the safety of Europe's biggest atomic energy plant on Friday.
An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team braved intense shelling to reach the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Thursday. Russia and Ukraine say they fear a Chernobyl-like catastrophe due to shelling they blame on each other.
After touring the plant on Thursday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said his inspectors were "not going anywhere". Grossi and other members of the team left for Ukrainian-held territory but five IAEA inspectors remain at the plant, Ukraine's state nuclear company says.
The inspectors will assess physical damage to the plant, ensure its safety and security systems are functional and evaluate the conditions of the facility's staff, the IAEA says. Grossi said on Thursday they would produce a report on their findings.
Since its capture by Russia in March, the plant has been controlled by Russian troops but operated by Ukrainian staff. On Thursday, one of its reactors was forced to shut down due to shelling.
US-Russia nuclear talks
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said on Thursday it cannot hold talks with Moscow on a treaty to replace the last U.S.-Russian pact limiting strategic nuclear arms until inspections of the two countries' nuclear weapons sites, which are currently paused, resume.
"The first step is to resume inspections under the existing New START Treaty. We have been trying to work with the Russians toward that end," a spokesperson at the White House National Security Council said in an email to Reuters.
Russia and the United States are discussing a possible meeting of their bilateral consultative commission on the New START Treaty, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday.
The United States is prepared to work with Russia within the commission "to resolve implementation issues" and sees "no reason that these issues cannot be properly resolved," the NSC spokesperson said.
US stocks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 ended the first day of September on a high note.
The Dow cut its losses from earlier in the day, wrestling with the flat line into the close and jumping 145.99 points, or nearly 0.5%, in the final minutes of trading, to 31,656 The S&P 500 rallied 0.3% to 3,966, after trading lower for most of the day.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell about 0.3%, to 11,785.13, to post its first five-day losing streak since February.
All of the major averages are on track to finish the week lower. The Dow is set to post a 1.9% decline, while the S&P and Nasdaq are on pace to end down 2.2% and 2.9%, respectively.
UK recession
The UK is already in the midst of a recession, and inflation is on course to hit 14% later this year, according British Chambers of Commerce forecasts.
The business lobby group says it expects the economy to follow its second quarter contraction with two more periods of decline to round off the year before a meager bounceback of just 0.2% in 2023.
It blames the crumbling outlook on rising energy costs and a decline in household spending and real wages, as well as weaker export prospects, poor investment conditions and weakening business confidence.
Inflation meanwhile will hit 14% this winter, according to the BCC, and be 5% by the end of 2023.
US jobs
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a two-month low last week while layoffs dropped in August.
The weekly unemployment claims report from the US Labor Department on Thursday also showed fewer people applied for jobless benefits in the prior week than initially estimated.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 for the week ended Aug. 27, the lowest level since late June. Data for the prior week was revised to show 6,000 fewer applications filed than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 248,000 applications for the latest week.
