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Australian shares snap a three-day losing streak as Banks and miners drive the Australian share price upwards
Australian shares rose Friday, ending three consecutive sessions of losses. Banks and miners saw gains, while Origin Energy shares fell to a new two-month-low after the company reported a sequential decline in its first quarter revenue. By 0004 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 0.5% to 8,930.80. The benchmark closed Thursday 0.5% lower. Origin, a power producer, was one of the biggest losers in the benchmark index after it reported a 12% decline in revenue from its stakes in the Australia Pacific LNG Project. This was due to lower LNG prices and volumes. The firm's shares fell 6.3% to A$11.81 in their lowest trading session since April 7. Separately shares of insurance broker Steadfast Group were the biggest losers on the benchmark index, dropping up to 18.9% to A$5.03, their lowest level since November 16, 2022. After the company's bell rang on Thursday, Robert Kelly, its CEO and managing director, announced that he would temporarily step down from his position while an investigation was conducted by an outside party into a complaint lodged against him. On the local stock exchange, the banks rose 0.8% while the "Big Four", which includes the four largest banks, rose between 0.1% to 1.3%. Gold miners rose on the backs of higher gold prices, which boosted their gains by 1.2%. The shares of gold miners Evolution Mining (up 3.5%) and Northern Star Resources (up 3.8%) rose respectively. JB Hi Fi continued to fall for the second consecutive session. The firm had posted on Wednesday a dramatic sequential decline in sales growth for its Australia and New Zealand segment in the first quarter. Shares of Mayne Pharma, a potential acquirer, fell to their lowest intraday performance ever after it was revealed that Australia's Treasurer would block the A$672 ($436.67$) takeover. The benchmark S&P/NZX50 index in New Zealand rose 0.4% to 13,509.0.
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Hastings, Australia, to negotiate an offtake agreement with Ucore on Yangibana Project
Hastings Technology Metals, an Australian company, announced on Friday that its Yangibana joint-venture project in Western Australia had agreed to negotiate a possible offtake agreement with Ucore Rare Metals Inc. of North America. The Yangibana project for rare-earths, niobium, and other metals is a joint-venture with Wyloo Metals of Andrew Forrest, who holds 60%, and Hastings Rare-Earths, which has the remaining 40% via its subsidiary Yangibana Jubilee. Hastings CEO Vince Catania said, "The joint assessment of a downstream Hydromet facility in the U.S. shows the efforts made by Wyloo Ucore and Hastings for accessing the financing and commercial opportunity arising from a rare-earths agreement recently announced by the U.S. government and Australian government to support jointly "ready to go "projects." The deal could cover up to 37,000 tonnes of high-grade rare earth concentrate per year, while both parties evaluate the feasibility of building an downstream hydrometallurgy facility in Louisiana. Hastings stated in a press release that the parties would work to execute a definitive agreement. This is expected be finalised by June 2026. If the current momentum continues, shares of the Australian developer of rare-earths could rise as high as 19.3% and reach A$0.68. This would be their best session in over a week.
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SK Innovation expects Q4 margins to be resilient
SK Innovation Co Ltd, the owner of South Korea’s largest refiner SK Energy said on Friday that it expects the refining margins to remain stable in the fourth-quarter amid global supply disruptions as well as the onset winter peak demand. The company reported an operating loss of 423 billion won in the period July-September, but a profit of 573 trillion won for that same period. This compares to an analyst's average forecast of 304 billion dollars in profit. The third-quarter revenue increased 16.3%, to 20.5 trillion won, from the same period last year. SK On, a battery supplier to Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen and Hyundai Motor, among others, increased its operating loss from 66.4 billion won to 124.8 billion in the third quarter. This was due to a slowdown in EV batteries shipments. SK Innovation stated in a press release that the performance of its battery unit in the third quarter was affected by lower sales of batteries, which were affected by the phase out subsidies for battery powered vehicles in the United States. In September, SK On entered into a contract with U.S. based Flatiron Energy Development for the supply of lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP) for energy storage systems. This was its first order to use LFP batteries in ESS. SK's agreement echoes a growing trend of EV battery manufacturers expanding into energy storage to hedge against the slowdown in EV batteries demand. On Thursday, LG Energy Solution, SK On’s rival across the street from it in South Korea said that they expect U.S. EV batteries sales to decrease this year compared to a year earlier. After the earnings announcement, shares of SK Innovation rose 0.2%, compared to the benchmark KOSPI which grew by 0.3%.
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The strong dollar and ample supply of oil weigh on the price of crude oil, which is expected to fall for a third consecutive month.
The oil prices fell on Friday and are heading towards a third consecutive monthly decline as the stronger dollar has capped gains in commodities, while a rising global supply from major producers offsets the effect of Western sanctions against Russian exports. Brent crude futures fell 33 cents or 0.51% to $64.67 per barrel at 0027 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was $60.22 per barrel, down by 35 cents or 0.58%. In a recent note, ANZ analysts stated that a stronger USD impacted investor appetite for commodities. The greenback gained after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated on Wednesday that a rate reduction in December is not guaranteed. Brent and WTI prices are expected to drop by about 3% this October, as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers will be increasing production to gain market shares. The increased supply will also help to cushion the impact on Russian oil exports, which are currently restricted by Western sanctions. These include China and India. Sources familiar with the discussions said that OPEC+ was leaning toward a modest increase in output for December. The group will meet on Sunday. Eight OPEC+ member countries have increased their monthly production targets by a combined total of 2.7 million barrels a day - about 2.5% global supply – in a series. The data released by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative on Wednesday showed that crude exports in August from Saudi Arabia, which is the world's top oil exporter, reached a six-month record of 6.407 millions barrels per day. They are expected to continue rising. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA), in a report, also reported a record production of 13,6 million bpd for the week. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that China had agreed to start the process of buying U.S. Energy. He added that an extremely large transaction could take place regarding the purchase of oil from Alaska. Analysts are unsure whether the U.S. - China trade agreement will increase Chinese demand for U.S. Energy. Michael McLean, Barclays' analyst, said that Alaska produces less than 3% of the total US crude output. "We think Chinese purchases would likely be driven by market forces," he wrote in a Barclays note. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Florence Tan)
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Australian shares snap a three-day losing streak as Banks and miners drive the Australian share price upward
Australian shares rose Friday, ending three consecutive sessions of losses. Banks and miners saw gains, while Origin Energy shares fell to a new two-month-low after the company reported a sequential decline in its first quarter revenue. By 0004 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 0.5% to 8,930.80. The benchmark closed Thursday 0.5% lower. Origin, a power producer, was one of the biggest losers in the benchmark index after it reported a 12% decline in revenue from its stakes in the Australia Pacific LNG Project. This was due to lower LNG prices and volumes. The firm's shares fell 6.3% to A$11.81 in their lowest trading session since April 7. Separately shares of insurance broker Steadfast Group were the biggest losers on the benchmark index, dropping up to 18.9% to A$5.03, their lowest level since November 16, 2022. After the company's bell rang on Thursday, Robert Kelly, its CEO and managing director, announced that he would temporarily step down from his position while an investigation was conducted by an outside party into a complaint lodged against him. On the local stock exchange, the banks rose 0.8% while the "Big Four", which includes the four largest banks, rose between 0.1% to 1.3%. Gold miners rose on the backs of higher gold prices, which boosted their gains by 1.2%. The shares of gold miners Evolution Mining (up 3.5%) and Northern Star Resources (up 3.8%) rose respectively. JB Hi Fi continued to fall for the second consecutive session. The firm had posted on Wednesday a dramatic sequential decline in sales growth for its Australia and New Zealand segment in the first quarter. Shares of Mayne Pharma, a potential acquirer, fell to their lowest intraday performance ever after it was revealed that Australia's Treasurer would block the A$672 ($436.67$) takeover. The benchmark S&P/NZX50 index in New Zealand rose 0.4% to 13,509.0.
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Electric vehicles end China's annual holiday spike in gasoline consumption
Tianyu Jiang drove his electric car from the southwest Sichuan basin in China to Beijing during the national holiday week this month. "I used a petrol vehicle and never took an EV on such a long trip. But driving an EV over a distance doesn't seem like a problem any more," Jiang said. The expansion of the charging infrastructure has helped to reduce the use of gasoline during the "Golden Week" holiday in October. According to Chinese consultancy Sublime China Information, China's gas demand has fallen by 9% on an annual basis in October, to 12.5 millions tons. The average daily consumption is roughly the same as September. The sagging holiday demands are symptomatic for the broader decline of Chinese fuel consumption due to the wider adoption of EVs, which signals the end of China's decades-long role of being the primary driving force behind new global oil demand. The peak in gasoline consumption was reached in 2023 in the world’s largest importer of crude oil. According to the research division of the state oil company Sinopec, the demand is expected to drop by more than 4% in this year compared with 2024. During the nine-month period of this year, EVs accounted for almost half of new car sales. Transport ministry reports that a fifth of the 63.5 millions car trips made during the eight-day break was in hybrid or electric vehicles. The daily use of electricity at charging stations - a proxy for the use of EVs - increased by 45,73% during Golden Week in this year compared to 2024. China's drive to build charging infrastructure has led to a 54.5% increase in the number of charging ports at the end September. Jiang said that both charging and refuelling during peak travel times means waiting. If you need to charge your car, you can find a charging station within 10km (6 miles) of the highway. It's also cheap. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez in Beijing, Sam Li and Lewis Jackson)
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Brazil's Gerdau saw its adjusted Q3 profit fall due to domestic market.
The Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau reported on Thursday a 23.9% drop in its adjusted quarterly net profit compared to the same period a year ago, as its booming business in North America has been offset by poor results in its home market. In the quarter July-September, Gerdau's net profit adjusted fell to 1,09 billion reais (201.71 millions). The company's adjusted earnings before taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which is a measure of its profit, came in at 2,74 billion reais. This was down 9.2% from the previous year, but in line with what analysts expected in a LSEG survey. The company stated that the results were impacted heavily by steel oversupply, which drove prices down despite constant production. Its second largest market is Brazil, just behind North America. The domestic market's gross profit fell 70.1% from a quarter earlier, to 403 millions reais. This is despite the fact that the steel production was only down 0.4% during the same period. Gerdau's gross profits in North America jumped 48.9% from the previous year to 1.5 billion reais during the third quarter. The total revenue for the quarter was 18 billion reais. This is up 3.5% compared to a year ago and higher than analysts' expectations of 17.6 billion. $1 = 5.4039 Reais (Reporting and editing by Brendan O'Boyle).
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Miner Vale beats net profit for the third quarter
Vale Rio de Janeiro-headquartered Vale posted a $2.69 billion net profit for the July-September period, up 11% year-over-year and above the $2.1 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. The adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which was $4.4 billion, represented a 21% rise, beating the estimates of $4.1billion. Vale published its sales and production data last week. Iron ore production reached the highest level since the fourth quarter 2018 with 94.4 million metric tonnes. The company's net revenue increased by 9% from the same quarter last year to $10.4 billion. Analysts expected a revenue of $10.3 billion. Vale has also reduced its estimate of copper costs per ton this year from $1,500 to $1,000. Previous projections ranged between $1,500 to $2,000 per tonne. The company projected that its nickel costs would range between $13,000 to $14,000 per ton. This is a significant increase from the previous range of $14,500 to $15,500. (Reporting and editing by Brendan O'Boyle; Roberto Samora, Andre Romani)
Indonesia's Prabowo prepares $65 bln green fund from selling carbon credits
Indonesia's Presidentelect Prabowo Subianto prepares to introduce a green economy fund by offering carbon emission credits from jobs such as rain forest preservation, aiming to raise $65 billion by 2028, a consultant informed Reuters.
A new regulator for carbon emission guidelines will be developed to manage efforts to reach Indonesia's emissions targets under the Paris agreement, stated Ferry Latuhihin, among Prabowo's advisors on climate policies.
The regulator will then form a unique mission lorry that will handle a green fund and run carbon-offsetting jobs, he said in an interview. The tasks would include forest preservation, reforestation, and peatland and mangrove replanting, to create carbon credits that can be offered worldwide, Latuhihin stated.
The target is to grow the automobile to reach 1,000 trillion rupiah ($ 65 billion) by 2028, he said.
We require to utilise our comparative advantage, which is the nature, Latuhihin stated.
The scale of the proposed fund, which has not formerly been reported, has the possible to assist one of the world's top 10 emitters and home to the world's third-largest tropical jungles meet its objective of net carbon neutrality by 2060.
Still, it deals with big challenges consisting of competitors in global carbon markets and ensuring tasks are seen as credible.
Christina Ng, handling director of the Energy Shift Institute, a think tank focused on Asia's energy shift, stated Indonesia's large natural environment provided scope for significant carbon balanced out jobs, however the targets were highly enthusiastic from monetary and functional viewpoints.
Prabowo, who will be inaugurated on Oct. 20, has actually vowed to increase economic development to 8% during his five-year term, from 5%. now, including through financial investment in green projects.
Latuhihin stated the offset jobs would produce huge task. opportunities and could assist reach the growth target.
The incoming federal government will offer seed capital, which is. still being determined, but it anticipated the fund would grow by. selling carbon credits in your area and overseas and pay dividends to. the federal government once it ended up being profitable, he said.
Pooling funds in a such an entity would enable Indonesia to. run massive green tasks without utilizing the federal government's. budget plan, Latuhihin stated.
He stated international requirements on confirmation will be. followed, and innovation will be released to verify just how much. carbon dioxide (CO2) each project eliminates from the environment.
FUND TARGET CHALLENGING
Ng said nature-based carbon credits usually trade in between. $ 5 to $50 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent, but the cost. averaged listed below $10 per lot in 2015.
Even at $50 per lot, raising $10 billion every year - still. short of what is needed to reach the planned fund's target over. the next 4 years - would require offering 200 million tons of. carbon credits. That is simply shy of a total 239 million lot. carbon credit issuance the entire international voluntary market. taped at its peak in 2021, Ng stated, highlighting the. challenge of satisfying the fund's target.
At $10 per load, the same volumes would just raise $2 billion. each year, making the $65 billion target even further out of. reach.
Provided the competitive landscape of global carbon markets,. with nations like Brazil and others in Southeast Asia likewise. providing nature-based credits, the entity will need to. demonstrate that their credits meet the highest requirements, she. stated, keeping in mind that Indonesia's performance history has actually been marred by. governance issues.
Indonesia's rate of logging has actually decreased in current. years, though it regularly reports forest fires, frequently began. by farmers to clear land for plantations.
The inbound government will hold road shows to promote the. jobs overseas, wanting to deal with major worldwide banks. on carbon credit sales in markets with higher carbon costs,. Latuhihin said.
(source: Reuters)