India will be among the countries barred from importing EU metal waste, including aluminium scrap, under a new law due to take effect in May 2027, according to a European Commission proposal setting out exemptions for non-OECD countries.The Commission published the proposal on Friday, confirming an earlier Reuters report, and opened a public consultation on the exemptions list until October 16.

US President Donald Trump’s goal of building a large aluminum smelter in Oklahoma passed a major hurdle in late August when Republican voters nominated a candidate for governor who supports its construction after an unusually tough primary battle.The project must now overcome significant opposition in the small rural community of Inola, where many residents are working to block plans by Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum (Nasdaq: CENX) to build the $4 billion smelter.

Three years on from China curbing exports of two niche metals vital to the chipmaking, clean energy and defence sectors, the West is still feeling the price pain and waiting for its own production to come to the rescue.The export curbs on gallium and germanium have forced Western companies to stockpile, seek alternative supplies, and explore new designs and substitutes. But the decisive response is only now taking shape, with several Western production projects announced in recent months aimed at finally breaking China’s stranglehold on the niche but vital market.

Italian cable maker Prysmian (MIB: PRY) said on Friday it had partnered with Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) to supply electrical cables made with low-carbon aluminium for an Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) data centre in Ohio.The cables will use aluminium produced with ELYSIS “inert-anode” technology, which Prysmian said eliminates direct greenhouse gas emissions from the smelting process, releasing pure oxygen instead.Project is the first known use of inert-anode-smelted aluminum in a data center, the company said.

The European Union will impose a set of import quotas and minimum prices for electrical steel and downstream products, it said on Friday, in a bid to shield the EU from cheap imports, principally from Asia.The move will benefit Thyssenkrupp’s (ETR: TKAG) steel unit TKSE and Poland’s Stalprodukt SA (WSE: STP), among the last European producers of electrical steel, which is used in wind turbines and power grids.

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - US factory production unexpectedly fell in August and higher oil prices and rising interest rates could offset some of the support from an artificial intelligence buildout, likely keeping ​activity moderate for the rest of the year.The decline in output, reported by the Federal Reserve on Friday, followed seven straight months of increases. The US ‌central bank on Wednesday raised interest rates for the first time in three years and flagged further increases in borrowing costs in the months ahead.

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Global shares and bonds fell on Friday while Japan's well-telegraphed interest rate hike fell short of ​supporting the yen, as markets approached the end of a turbulent week marked by a global push by central banks to quell inflation.

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's top regulatory official said on Friday that an overhaul of the US central bank's "stress test" of big banks will make the ​process more transparent and the results more predictable for lenders, handing the ‌industry long-sought reforms to the exam process.

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Gold prices climbed ​to a one-week high on Friday, and were on track for their first weekly gain ‌in four, as lower oil prices eased concerns about prolonged inflationary pressures, though a stronger dollar limited gains.Spot gold was up 0.7% at $4,372.27 per ounce by 09:16 a.m. EDT (1316 GMT), after hitting its highest level since September ​11 earlier in the session. Bullion has gained 0.6% so far this week.US gold ​futures rose 0.3% to $4,411.20.

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Futures tracking Canada's main stock index were subdued on Friday, as investors weighed developments in ​the Middle East, while oil prices eased on ‌reports of additional supply from Saudi Arabia and precious metal prices extended gains.December futures on the S&P/TSX index were ​down 0.06% at 06:00 a.m. ET (10:00 GMT).Oil prices ​extended losses as traders assessed reports that ⁠Saudi Arabia was offering additional crude supplies through ​Oman, while smaller-than-expected draw from US crude inventories also ​weighed.

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Investors poured money into US stocks at the fastest pace in three months and yanked cash from corporate bonds in ​the latest week, according to a Bank of America Global ‌Research report on Friday.

NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - US stock investors will focus next week on the trajectory of interest rates, tensions in the Middle East and fresh calls to slow AI advancement as they weigh whether equity indexes can make new all-time highs.

Sept 18 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 pulled back from ​an over one-week high on Friday, dragged by banks and energy ‌stocks, but was set for gains in a week packed with economic data and central bank decisions.The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (.FTSE), fell 0.6% to 10,751.57 points by 0953 GMT, poised ​for its biggest weekly jump since late July. The midcap FTSE 250 (.FTMC), ​was flat, but was on track for its sharpest weekly rise ⁠since early August.

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Gold rose for a second straight session ‌to a one-week high as oil prices fell on Friday and investors shrugged off the Federal Reserve's first rate hike in three years and hawkish commentary.

FRANKFURT, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The prospect of a new global interest rate-tightening cycle is coming into view as some of the world's top ​central banks raise rates and signal more may be needed to tame inflation fuelled by the Iran war.Key rates are already much higher than ‌the rock-bottom levels from the last hiking cycle that began in 2022. But central bankers are under market pressure to show that they are prepared to raise them further to tame inflation expectations and rein in long-term bond yields at multidecade highs.

DUBLIN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - European Central Bank interest rates are not moving in lockstep with oil ​and gas prices, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Friday, pushing back ‌on market bets for aggressive rate hikes on soaring energy costs.

Vedanta’s (NSE: VDAN) Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has signed a $498 million deal with China’s NERIN Engineering (SHA: 603257) to build a copper recovery plant that will add 70,000 metric tons of annual output by extracting metal from existing mine tailings.The facility, to be built at KCM’s operations in Chingola, a town in Zambia’s copperbelt, will use leaching technology to process the mine waste and is expected to be the largest plant of its kind in Africa, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

US House of Representatives Democrats raised concerns on Thursday about President Donald Trump’s civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, and said they had introduced a resolution of disapproval seeking to block the deal from coming into force.Trump sent the proposed agreement to Congress in August, opening a 90-day window for lawmakers’ review and giving them an opportunity to try to pass a resolution of disapproval.

NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Global shares rose and Treasury yields fell on Thursday following the US Federal ‌Reserve's interest-rate increase and what is expected to be a similar move by the Bank of Japan on Friday, as the world's central banks confront rising inflation.Stocks fell on Wednesday following the Fed's stance, which was more hawkish than expected, and Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference, though much of ​that move was being unwound on Thursday, supporting equities, said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park ​Asset Management.

Sept 17 (Reuters) - Gold gained more than 2% on ​Thursday, rebounding from a near six-week low in the previous session, as easing ‌oil prices and a lower US dollar lent support, while investors assessed the latest Federal Reserve rate hike.