The latest Market Talks covering Energy markets. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

0256 GMT - Palm oil prices are lower in early Asian trade, amid a sluggish exports outlook, says Low York Hong, AmInvestment Bank's head of futures broking. Palm oil exports outlook are weaker, given the narrowing spread with soybean oil, he says. The two oils often move in tandem due to their usage in similar products. Low sees support for crude palm oil futures at 4,392 ringgit a ton and resistance at 4,460 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives December contract is 27 ringgit higher at 4,429 ringgit a ton. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0211 GMT - Indonesia's plan to implement a B50 biodiesel mandate in 2026 is likely to be delayed to 2027, due to funding constraints and an unfavorable palm oil-gas oil spread, Citi analyst Gan Huan Wen says in a note. Speculation over the B50 biodiesel mandate has supported crude palm oil prices in recent months, and is expected to continue to buoy prices in the near term, with CPO prices seen hovering between MYR4,300/ton and MYR4,500/ton through year-end, he says. However, Gan maintains a bearish sector view and advises investors to take profit on SD Guthrie at the current share-price level. Citi raises its CPO price assumptions to MYR4,300/ton for 2025 from MYR4,200/ton and MYR4,200/ton for 2026-2027 from MYR4,000/ton. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0034 GMT - Samsung Electro-Mechanics is set to post solid 3Q earnings, Daiwa Capital analysts S.K. Kim and Daekoon Kim write in a note. Operating profit at the South Korean maker of multilayer ceramic capacitors and substrates--widely used in computer chips--likely rose 19% on year to KRW268 billion for the July-September period, above market consensus, they reckon. Ongoing solid MLCC demand for artificial-intelligence servers and vehicles likely led the company's MLCC factory utilization rate to surpass 95% in 3Q, they say. The increased sales of its flip-chip ball grid array substrates for AI accelerators also likely helped improve its quarterly earnings, they add. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

0011 GMT - Vector's share price is up some 28% over the past 12 months and the rally has put the kibosh on Forsyth Barr's bullish call. "Our rating downgrade to neutral from outperform reflects Vector's strong share price performance and is not due to a deterioration in Vector's outlook," analyst Andrew Harvey-Green says. Vector remains a low-risk investment offering good dividend growth, Forsyth Barr says. "While there is some long-term downside risk associated with the gas network business, we anticipate the electricity network valuation to benefit from the gradual switch to electricity from gas," the bank adds. Vector is down 0.8% at NZ$4.90 today, just under Forsyth Barr's NZ$5.15 price target. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

0004 GMT - Oil climbs in early Asian trade. President Trump announced substantial new sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies as frustration in Washington grows over the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The new sanctions target Lukoil and Rosneft as well as nearly three dozen of their subsidiaries. The sanctions could also bar foreign countries or companies from conducting business with the oil companies and cut them off from much of the international financial system. Front-month WTI crude oil futures are 2.9% higher at $60.22/bbl; front-month Brent crude oil futures are 2.9% higher at $64.39/bbl. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

2346 GMT - Woodside Energy's Sangomar oil project in Senegal is approaching a key moment that investors need to have eyes on. Sangomar has performed strongly till now. Woodside said yesterday that it averaged 99,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 3Q. But Sangomar is about to pass a production peak, meaning its performance from here will be important. UBS analyst Tom Allen says the unique reservoir structure of Sangomar means there's a wide range of quarter-on-quarter decline rates that could happen. "However, we acknowledge that to date, the asset has outperformed pre-production expectations," UBS says. It forecasts some 25.8 million BOE from Sangomar in 2026. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2043 GMT - So long as the current swoon in gold prices doesn't turn into a freefall, the precious metal is set to surpass automobiles and light trucks as Canada's No. 2 export, says BMO Capital Markets. Crude oil remains Canada's top shipment abroad. On the way to Canada's No. 2 export, gold surpassed natural gas, all farm and fish products, and all forest products, such as lumber. BMO says much of the surge is price driven, although it estimates that underlying volumes of gold exports have climbed about 70% since 2000. (paul.vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)

1908 GMT - Oil futures rise after President Trump again says India would reduce its purchases of Russian oil, while the EIA's report of 1 million barrel drop in U.S. crude oil inventories following three weekly builds added support. "Oil prices are bouncing back from oversold levels as more analysts are starting to question the oil surplus narrative, and on expectations that we could be closer to a U.S.-China or U.S.-India trade deal that could ignite demand for U.S. oil," Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group says in a note. WTI rises 2.2% to $58.50 a barrel with the December contract debuting as front month. Brent settles up 2.1% at $62.59 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1907 GMT - U.S. natural gas futures settle lower in choppy trade ahead of the EIA's weekly storage report. The supply-demand balance shows a "classic shoulder-season handoff," with heating demand rising and power-sector use easing, Gelber & Associates says in a note. "The market still looks well supplied into November, but the recent uptick in heating demand and record-high feedgas help cap looseness at the margin." Tomorrow's storage report is expected to show an 81 Bcf injection, according to a WSJ survey of analysts, stretching the surplus over the five-year average to 158 Bcf from 154 Bcf the week before. Nymex natural gas for November settles down 0.7% at $3.450/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1705 GMT - Europe is heading toward winter with natural gas inventories at a deficit to the 5-year average, with most countries below the 90% storage target and many below 80%, which could mean higher prices as cold weather sets in, Clifton White and Francisco Blanch of Bank of America Securities say in a note. "We cannot blame the market for getting comfortable, as 3 of the past 4 winters since the Russia-Ukraine War began have been milder than normal," they say. But European gas stocks entered last winter about 3% shy of record levels and Dutch TTF futures still managed to reach nearly 60 euros a megawatt in 1Q25. "If there is a cold winter, we could see TTF match 1Q highs of around 60 euros/MW, or nearly double current prices," they add.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1558 GMT - Inflation in Mexico is expected to have slowed slightly in the first half of October. The consumer price index likely rose 0.37% in the first two weeks of the month, according to analysts in a WSJ survey. That would lower the 12-month inflation rate to 3.72% from 3.78% in the second half of September. A seasonal rise in electricity rates due to the end of summertime subsidies likely contributed the most to noncore inflation. Core CPI, which excludes energy and fresh food prices, is seen rising 0.21% in the two-week period, nudging the annual rate down to 4.28% from 4.30%. Statistics institute Inegi is scheduled to report inflation on Thursday.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1520 GMT - Mergers and acquisitions among U.S. oil-and-gas producers totalled $9.7 billion in 3Q, about 19% less than the $12 billion recorded in the year-earlier period and the third consecutive quarterly decline, according to Enverus. "Crude prices in the mid-$60s or worse have made it tough for sellers," particularly private equity-backed companies that produce mostly oil rather than natural gas, says Andrew Dittmar, an analyst at the energy-focused data analytics company. "Most remaining shale M&A opportunities need stronger pricing to justify public companies paying for the undeveloped locations," Dittmar says. About 1,800 shale locations owned by private equity-backed companies can generate a 10% return with U.S. benchmark crude prices at $50 a barrel, while 6,700 locations require higher prices, he adds. (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 22, 2025 22:56 ET (02:56 GMT)

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