BANGKOK (AP) — World shares advanced Wednesday after China’s central bank announced fresh measures to boost its slowing economy and stabilize financial markets.

The announcement late Wednesday pushed Hong Kong’s benchmark up 3.6%. Shares fell in Tokyo but rose in most other major markets. Oil prices advanced.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX gained 1.1% to 16,803.96 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6% to 7,429.36. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 7,505.18. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%.

The People’s Bank of China said it would cut its reserve ratio requirement by 0.5 percentage points as of Feb. 5, putting an additional 1 trillion yuan ($141 billion) into the economy. Chinese markets have languished in recent weeks, adding to concerns that investors had grown too gloomy as the country’s recovery from the pandemic-related shocks faltered.

Also Wednesday, the vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wang Jiangjun, called for better protections for investors and for instilling confidence in the potential for gains in the markets, which have faltered in recent months.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 3.6% to 15,899.87, helped by gains in technology companies like e-commerce giant Alibaba, which surged 5.5%.

The Shanghai Composite index recovered from early losses, climbing 1.8% to 2,820.77.

Also Wednesday, Japan reported its exports rose almost 10%, supported by strong demand for machinery, vehicles and semiconductors. For the full year, Japan’s exports grew nearly 3% in 2023 while imports fell 7%, leaving a trade deficit of 9.2 trillion yen, preliminary customs data showed, a sharp drop from the 20.3 trillion yen deficit reported the year before.

But economists are forecasting that the revival in export growth will be short-lived.

“Looking ahead, we expect export growth to slow this year as pent-up foreign demand for Japanese goods eases,” Gabriel Ng of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8% to 36,226.48 as investors renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan is edging toward a change in its longstanding lax monetary policies, which have flooded the markets with ample cash.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.4%, to 2,469.69. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 7,519.20.

India’s Sensex lost 0.1%, while the SET in Bangkok advanced 0.2%.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 climbed to another record, gaining 0.3% to 4,864.60 as the earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies gathered pace.

The Nasdaq composite also climbed, up 0.4%. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3%, a day after topping 38,000 for the first time.

Earnings season has kicked into gear, and more than 50 companies are scheduled to release results later this week, including Tesla and Intel.

Analysts have forecast companies in the S&P 500 will deliver weaker overall earnings per share than a year earlier, which would be the fourth such decline in the last five quarters, according to FactSet. But stocks have still rallied to records in anticipation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates several times this year.

Such cuts can boost prices for investments while relaxing the pressure on the economy and financial system.

Treasury yields have already eased considerably since the autumn on expectations for coming rate cuts, though critics warn traders may have gone overboard again in forecasting how many cuts will come and how soon the Fed will begin.

In other trading Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 48 cents to $74.85 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gave up 39 cents on Tuesday.

Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 38 cents to $79.93 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar slipped to 147.54 Japanese yen from 148.38 yen. The euro rose to $1.0901 from $1.0855.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published January 23, 2024 8:35 P.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) The Beaver Falls City Council met Tuesday evening for thier second meeting of January. The council heard a presentation by Bobby Lincoln of Dusquense Light regarding electric vehicle charging stations. The City is eligible for grants and assistance in funding if they decide to bring chargers into the community.

The proposed location for the chargers is 4 spots in the community parking lot located next to Vocelli Pizza on 7th Avenue. Dusquene Light would take care of the costs associated with running power to the chargers. Lincoln says the city could let the chargers be free for public use or charge a fee for using them.

The chargers would enable vehicles to drive roughly 30 to 50 miles on an hour charge. The city will have future discussions before making a descision.

Council heard from the new owner of the former Stray Cat Studio building at 507 7th Avenue. Seth Whitted plans on bringing local artists together to paint a mural on the side of the building. Council did not have any objections to the project.

Also during the meeting, the city accepted the resignation of Aaron Baer from the City of Beaver Falls Police Department. Two Cadets, Devin Lewis and Gabriel Morales were hired as civilian jailers. Jerry Ford was approved to serve as Civil Service Board Alternate.

The Council will meet again on Febuary 13th.

NEW YORK (AP) — After a tumultuous movie year marred by strikes and work stoppages, the Academy Awards showered nominations Tuesday on Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, “Oppenheimer,” which came away with a leading 13 nominations.

Nolan’s three-hour opus, viewed as the best picture frontrunner, received nods for best picture; Nolan’s direction; acting nominations for Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt; and multiple honors for the sweeping craft of the J. Robert Oppenheimer drama.

Reached by phone Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, Emma Thomas, Nolan’s wife and producing partner, said she woke up to a flurry of congratulatory messages and then roused Nolan with the news.

“Don’t take it as being blase,” Nolan told The Associated Press, laughing. “We just didn’t want to jinx anything.”

Though Nolan is regarded as the big-canvas auteur of his era, he’s never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won best picture. This, though, could be his year. Reflecting on the rarity of his film’s success — a lengthy drama dense with talk and the convulsions of history that nevertheless grossed nearly $1 billion — Nolan called Oppenheimer “one of the great American stories.”

“I grew up loving Hollywood movie and believing studio filmmaking can take on anything,” said Nolan. “Seeing audiences respond to that this summer was incredibly thrilling and getting this kind of recognition from the academy, I don’t know what to say, really. It certainly confirms our faith in what studio filmmaking can be.”

The year’s biggest hit, “Barbie,” came away with a nominations haul slightly less than its partner in Barbenheimer mania. Greta Gerwig’s feminist comedy, with more than $1.4 billion in ticket sales, was nominated for eight awards, including best picture; Ryan Gosling for best supporting actor; and two best-song candidates in “What Was I Made For” and “I’m Just Ken.”

Gerwig was surprisingly left out of the best director field. She was nominated for best director in 2018 for her solo directorial debut, “Lady Bird.” At the time, Gerwig was just the fifth woman nominated for the award. Since then, Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) have won best director. Before those wins, Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker,” in 2010) was the only woman to win the Oscar’s top filmmaking honor.

Both Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein riff “Poor Things” and Martin Scorsese’s Osage epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” were also widely celebrated, with 11 and 10 nods apiece.

Lily Gladstone, star of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” became the first Native American nominated for best actress. For the 10th time, Scorsese was nominated for best director. Leonardo DiCaprio, though, was left out of best actor. The late Robbie Robertson, who died in August, also became the first Indigenous person nominated for best score.

“I only wish that Robbie Robertson had lived to see his work recognized — our many years of friendship and Robbie’s growing consciousness of his own Native heritage played a crucial role in my desire to get this film onscreen,” Scorsese said in a statement.

“Poor Things,” a dark Victorian era fantasy about Bella Baxter’s sexual awakening, received nominations for Lanthimos’ direction, Emma Stone’s leading performance, Mark Ruffalo’s supporting performance and widespread nods for the old-school craft of its fantastical design.

The 10 films nominated for best picture were: “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “The Holdovers,” “Maestro,” “American Fiction,” “Past Lives,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest.”

That group, which mirrored the Producers Guild Awards nominees, went much as expected and, as critics noted, a remarkably strong collection of films. For the first time, three of the best picture nominees were directed by women: “Past Lives” by Celine Song; “Anatomy of a Fall” by Justine Triet, who was also nominated for best director; and Gerwig’s “Barbie.”

But surprises abounded in other categories.

The best actor category had been seen one of the most competitive. In the end, the nominees were Murphy, Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”), Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”) and Colman Domingo (“Rustin”). Domingo’s nomination, for his performance as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, made him just the second openly gay man to be nominated for playing a gay character, following Ian McKellen for the 1998 film “Gods and Monsters.”

“American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson’s insightful drama about a frustrated novelist, had an especially good day, collecting five nominations. That included a nod for Sterling K. Brown for best supporting actor. Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) rounded out that category with Downey Jr., Gosling and Ruffalo.

Best actress was also closely contested. Along with Gladstone and Stone, the nominees were Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”), Annette Bening (“Nyad”) and Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”). That left out Margot Robbie, the star of “Barbie,” and Fantasia Barrino from “The Color Purple.”

In supporting actress, the frontrunner Da’Vine Joy Randolph of “The Holdovers” continued her march to her first Oscar. She was joined by Blunt, Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) and America Ferrera (“Barbie”).

Though “The Color Purple” had set out with larger Oscar hopes, Brooks ended up the film’s sole nominee.

“I’m very humbled by it all, because I know, as we all know, you can’t do these things by yourself. That’s not how it works,” Brooks said by Zoom from New Zealand where she’s shooting a movie. “I thought it was huge shoes to fill just come in after Miss Oprah Winfrey. But now I feel like I’m doing this for the team Color Purple, you know?”

Lead nominees “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” “Poor Things” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” made for a maximalist quartet of Oscar heavyweights. Nolan’s sprawling biopic. Gerwig’s near-musical. Scorsese’s pitch-black Western. Lanthimos’ sumptuously designed fantasy. Each utilized a wide spectrum of cinematic tools to tell big, often disturbing big-screen stories. And each — even Apple’s biggest-budgeted movie yet, “Killers of the Flower Moon” — had robust theatrical releases that saved streaming for months later.

The Associated Press notched its first Oscar nomination in the news organization’s 178-year history with “20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing chronicle of the besieged Ukrainian city and of the last international journalists left there after the Russia invasion. It was nominated for best documentary, along with “Four Daughters,” “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” “The Eternal Memory” and “To Kill a Tiger.”

“20 Days” is a joint production between The Associated Press and PBS’ “Frontline.”

The nominees for best international film were: “Society of the Snow,” (Spain); “The Zone of Interest,” (United Kingdom); “The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany); “Io Capitano” (Italy) and “Perfect Days” (Japan).

The best-picture collection of films — all of which played in theaters for at least a month, including Netflix’s “Maestro” — reflected the industry’s rebalancing after years of experimentation during the pandemic. Netflix came away with the most nominations of any studio with 18, but industry consensus has, for now, turned back to believing cinemas play a vital role in the rollout of most movies. Apple and Amazon, which in 2022 acquired MGM, have each made theatrical a priority.

In heaping nominations on “Oppenheimer,” Oscar voters are poised to do something they haven’t done in a long time: Hand its top award to a big-budget blockbuster. Granted “Oppenheimer” isn’t your average big-screen spectacle, but the academy has for years favored smaller films for best picture, movies like “CODA,” “Nomadland” and last year’s winner, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Ben Affleck’s 2012 film “Argo” was the last best picture winner to surpass $100 million domestically. “Oppenheimer” grossed $326.8 million in the U.S. and Canada, and nearly $1 billion globally.

Historically, blockbusters have helped fueled Oscar ratings. Through the pile-up of award shows (an after-effect of last year’s strikes) could be detrimental to the Academy Awards, the Barbenheimer presence could help lift the March 10 telecast on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel is returning as host, with the ceremony moved up to 7 p.m. EST.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is hanging near its record heights Tuesday as earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies gets going.

The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 144 points, or 0.4%, a day after topping 38,000 for the first time. The Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher as of 1:25 p.m. Eastern time.

3M tumbled 11.4% after the maker of Post-it notes and Command strips gave a forecast for earnings this upcoming year that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Johnson & Johnson was another weight on the market and fell 1.3% after reporting weaker profit for the latest quarter than expected.

They helped overshadow a 4.5% climb for Procter & Gamble, which posted stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company behind Charmin and Olay benefited from price hikes for is products, and it raised its forecast for profit for this full fiscal year.

United Airlines flew 7.2% higher after it also reported stronger profit for the last three months of 2023 than analysts expected. It made more in revenue from customers in both basic economy and premium seats, though it warned it may lose money in the first three months of this year because of the grounding of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.

Earnings season is kicking into gear, and more than a dozen companies in the S&P 500 reported their latest quarterly results Tuesday morning. More than 50 are scheduled to follow up later this week, including Tesla and Intel.

Among Tuesday’s headliners was Verizon Communications, which rose 5.7% after beating analysts’ profit estimates. General Electric also topped expectations, but its stock slipped 0.1% after it gave a forecast for profit this quarter that fell short of analysts’ forecasts. Homebuilder D.R. Horton sank 9.6% after reporting weaker profit than expected.

Expectations are relatively low for companies’ profits at the end of 2023. Analysts have forecast companies in the S&P 500 will deliver weaker overall earnings per share than a year earlier, which would be the fourth such decline in the last five quarters, according to FactSet.

Stocks have nevertheless rallied to records, and the S&P 500 returned to an all-time high last week for the first time in two years. Much of that is because of expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year after hiking them dramatically the last two years.

Such cuts can boost prices for investments while relaxing the pressure on the economy and financial system. The Federal Reserve itself has said it may cut rates three times this year as inflation cools, which would allow the central bank to loosen its leash on the economy.

Treasury yields have already eased significantly since the autumn on expectations for coming rate cuts, though critics warn traders may have gone overboard again in forecasting how many cuts will come and how soon the Fed will begin.

Yields were mixed in the bond market Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.15% from 4.11% late Monday, though it remains well below its 5% level during October.

The “everything rally” that began late last year on hopes for a pivot by the Fed likely caused mutual-fund managers to scramble to boost their ownership of stocks to keep up. Even when stocks took a mini-breather at the start of 2024, investors seemed to “remain little concerned with downside risk,” according to strategists at Barclays led by Venu Krishna. That could leave “less room for fundamental upside from here.”

In stock markets abroad, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.6% to recover some of its sharp losses for the year so far on hopes that Chinese authorities may make moves to shore up markets. The Hang Seng is still down nearly 10% so far in the young year on worries about a weak recovery for the world’s second-largest economy.

In Japan, one of the world’s best performers for the year so far slipped even though the Bank of Japan kept its interest-rate policies at ultra-easy levels. The Nikkei 225 dipped 0.1% after analysts took comments by a bank official as hints that hikes to rates may be coming this year.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania State Police is working to recover access to online records of how it handled evidence, state officials said, blaming the loss of the records on a mistake during routine server maintenance

The same mistake also affected the State Employees Retirement System, which said online users temporarily lost access to a member services system this month.

State officials downplayed the effect on the agencies.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Office of Administration blamed “human error” by a state employee who was performing routine server maintenance on Jan. 3. It did not elaborate, but said it was reviewing and updating internal information technology processes to prevent it from happening again.

The Patriot-News of Harrisburg/Pennlive.com first reported the matter.

Lost were records contained in a pair of applications that the state police use to manage evidence submissions and log evidence into police labs for testing, officials said.

The Office of Administration said the physical evidence remains secure and was never endangered. The state police said the agency has recovered some of the records and is operating on a temporary system to track and receive evidence.

County prosecutors were notified of the missing records nearly two weeks ago.

Dauphin County’s district attorney, Fran Chardo, told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg/Pennlive.com that his office keeps paper records of the data it stores on the state’s server. Cumberland County’s district attorney, Sean McCormick, said the county has its own forensic lab.

The retirement system said no pension data has been lost, although the agency earlier this month notified account users that it could not provide access to an online system that provides members with an up-to-date, albeit unofficial, snapshot of their benefit data.

Agency staff brought that service back online Jan. 16, although users had to verify their identity and create a new four-digit personal identification number, the agency said.

Users also lost pension calculations they had saved in their online member services account while some smaller agencies were told to re-enter any partially entered or unposted batches of personnel and payroll data, the agency said.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Due to the recent cold spell, gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are on the rise for the first time in 2024. According to AAA East Central’s latest report, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline has increased to $3.40. That average is three cents up from last week’s $3.37 a gallon, and down 37 cents from the average of $3.77 one year ago.

Beaver County has also seen its gas prices rise by three cents, moving  from $3.44/gallon last week to $3.47/gallon this week. Butler jumps four cents from $3.43/gallon last week to $3.47/gallon this week, and Pittsburgh jumps four cents as well from $3.41/gallon to $3.45/gallon.

Despite the regional increase, the national average is currently at $3.07 for the third straight week according to AAA East Central.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                        $3.401
Average price during the week of January 16, 2024                                         $3.372
Average price during the week of January 23, 2023                                         $3.779

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.272      Altoona
$3.470      Beaver
$3.596      Bradford
$3.205      Brookville
$3.472      Butler
$3.348      Clarion
$3.273      DuBois
$3.239      Erie
$3.486      Greensburg
$3.485      Indiana
$3.493      Jeannette
$3.643      Kittanning
$3.498      Latrobe
$3.195      Meadville
$3.346      Mercer
$3.109      New Castle
$3.454      New Kensington
$3.399      Oil City
$3.453      Pittsburgh
$3.269      Sharon
$3.470      Uniontown
$3.599      Warren
$3.443      Washington

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Local veterans will now have free shuttle service between the Beaver County VA Clinic in Rochester and the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center on University Drive in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. The announcement was made by Congressman Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania’s 17th District, who serves as a vice ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The vans (which are ADA-accessible) will depart the Beaver County VA Clinic located at 300 Brighton Ave in Rochester at 7:30am to arrive in time for 9:00am appointments at the Oakland campus. The van will leave University Drive at 2:00pm to return to Beaver County at approximately 3:30pm. There will be a designated space for veterans to wait for their appointments throughout the morning.

Veterans who want to use the shuttle should therefore schedule appointments between 9:00am-1:00pm on Tuesdays beginning February 6, 2024.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

39-year-old Nicole Farris of Rochester was arrested by State Police on Sunday following a single-vehicle crash in Bridgewater.

According to the report from the Beaver barracks, police responded to 1435 Sharon Road early Sunday morning where they found a pickup truck stuck after crashing into a tree stump. It was determined that the driver of the vehicle had fled the scene, and Farris was found a short time later by police in a state of intoxication.

No injuries were reported. DUI charges have been filed against Farris.

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed Tuesday, while Hong Kong and Shanghai advanced after a report said Beijing plans to put about 2 trillion yuan ($278 billion) into supporting ailing Chinese markets.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX lost 0.2% to 16,651.29 and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.3% to 7,394.04. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged less than 3 points higher, to 7,491.07.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped less than 0.1%.

An unconfirmed report by Bloomberg cited unnamed sources saying that China plans to tap offshore funds held by Chinese state-owned enterprises and also local funds to stabilize the markets.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped more than 3% but fell back slightly, ending the day up 2.6% at 15,353.98. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5% to 2,770.98.

Shanghai’s benchmark fell 2.7% on Monday, nearing its lowest levels since 2019, China’s Premier Li Qiang told a meeting of the State Council, China’s Cabinet, that more had to be done to improve the quality of listed companies and to beef up supervision of markets, the financial news outlet Caixing reported.

The Hang Seng was down about 12% so far this year as of Monday’s close. It got an extra boost Tuesday from news that China’s National Press and Publications Administration had removed from its website the full text of draft regulations for online gaming that recently had caused sharp losses for technology companies.

A consultation period for the rules ended on Monday and it was unclear when or if a revised set of rules might be released.

Investors have pulled out of China markets as the country’s recovery from the shocks of the pandemic has faltered. Last year, Beijing posted its first quarterly deficit in foreign direct investment since it began reporting the data in 1998.

Even if a substantial rescue plan helps staunch losses, it might not be a panacea if it falls short of building the confidence needed to sustain market stability, Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.

“China’s sustained sell-off is taking place despite the rally in global equities. And rather than a delayed convergence in relative shifts, with the re-opening in China, the divergence has only worsened over time,” Tan said.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gave up earlier gains to edge 0.1% lower, closing at 36,517.57. It has been nudging closer to its all-time record of 38957.44 set in December 1989, before the implosion of a financial bubble that ushered in an era of slowing growth.

Wrapping up a two-day policy meeting, the Bank of Japan cited “extremely high uncertainties surrounding economies and financial markets at home and abroad” in saying it would continue its ultra-lax monetary policy, with its benchmark interest rate staying at minus 0.1%.

A policy statement also said the central bank “will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary.”

Speculation that the BOJ would end the negative interest rate policy, put in place to spur spending and investment, has pulled the Japanese yen sharply lower. As of Tuesday morning, the U.S. dollar bought 147.28 yen, down slightly from 148.11 yen late Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,478.61 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 7,514.90.

Bangkok’s SET sank 0.6% and India’s Sensex lost 1.1%.

On Monday, the S&P 500 added 0.2%. The Dow topped 38,000 points, rising 0.4% to 38,001.81. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.3%.

This week will bring a rush of companies reporting their results for the last three months of 2023, with roughly 70 companies from the S&P 500 on the calendar. They include American Airlines, Intel, Procter & Gamble and Tesla.

On Thursday, the government will give its first estimate for how strongly the economy grew during the last three months of 2023.

Economists expect it to show the economy is still growing, but at a slower pace than during the summer. That’s what the Federal Reserve wants to see, because too strong of an economy would keep upward pressure on inflation.

On Friday, the government will release the latest reading for the inflation gauge that the Fed prefers to use. Economists expect it to show inflation held steady at 2.6% in December from a month earlier.

Treasury yields have eased significantly since October on expectations for coming rate cuts. That in turn has relaxed the pressure considerably on the stock market and helped it to rip higher. Yields dipped further on Monday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 4.13% early Tuesday, down from 4.13% late Friday and from 5% in October.

In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 28 cents to $75.04 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 26 cents to $80.32 per barrel.

The euro rose to $1.0899 from $1.0884.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have bolstered the back end of their bullpen, agreeing to terms with seven-time All-Star reliever Aroldis Chapman on a one-year deal worth $10.5 million.

The deal is pending completion of a physical, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press. The source spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal isn’t yet final.

Chapman gives the Pirates an experienced left-hander to work in a potential set-up role for All-Star closer David Bednar. The 14-year veteran, who turns 36 next month, has 321 saves while playing for five teams but has evolved into a setup man over the last two seasons.

Chapman went 6-5 with a 3.09 ERA and six saves in 61 games with Kansas City and Texas last season. The Rangers acquired the hard-throwing Chapman from the Royals in late June and he responded by helping the club win its first World Series. Chapman appeared in nine postseason games for the Rangers, allowing two runs in eight innings.

Chapman will be joined in Pittsburgh by Rangers teammate Martín Pérez, who agreed to an $8 million, one-year deal with the Pirates in December.

Pittsburgh used right-hander Colin Holderman and left-hander Ryan Borucki in high-leverage situations last season in front of Bednar, a two-time All-Star for his hometown club. Chapman gives the Pirates another option and potentially a trade chip at the deadline.