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TSX rebounds with energy and tech stocks leading gains
Canada's main index of stocks rebounded Wednesday after the previous session saw the largest single-day decline since April. Energy and technology shares were the leading upward movement. 10:16 am ET (1416 GMT), Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.15% at 29932.49 points. The S&P/TSX Composite Index in Toronto was up 0.15% to 29932.49 at 1416 GMT. Energy sector was the best performer with a 1% gain, as oil prices rose for a second day in a row, about 2%. Material stocks remained stable despite the volatility on precious metals markets. Gold fell further after having fallen more than 5% the previous session. The fact that inflation is increasing while gold prices are falling is counterintuitive. Shiraz Ahmed is the founder and CEO of Sartorial Wealth Inc. He said that he attributes a large part of gold's price movement to profit-taking because of its incredible rise. He said that historically, an increase in price is viewed as a "bubble", so the recent drop in precious metals was viewed positively. Gold is still on track to have its best year since 1979, despite the volatility. Canada's benchmark stock index, which is heavily weighted towards commodity-related stocks has been riding this gold wave to a gain of 20.9% so far this season. BlackBerry, the cybersecurity company, surged 7%. Industrials and real estate also contributed to the increase, with increases of 0.7% and 0.5% respectively. Consumer staples and discretionary products bucked this trend by declining 0.3% each. The market participants are now awaiting the release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index on Friday. This is a key inflation indicator which could give insight into the Federal Reserve's monetary policy trajectory. Also, the Canadian retail sales numbers, which are due to be released on Thursday, should provide a good indication of consumer spending habits. (Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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UN chief warns that the rules-based trading system is at risk of being derailed.
The United Nations chief said that tariffs were a major problem for the global trade system, and the developing countries were the worst affected. The rules-based system of trading is in danger of being derailed, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned delegates on Wednesday at the U.N. Trade and Development Conference in Geneva. He cited concerns over trade wars and increasing trade barriers. The tariffs imposed by Donald Trump since his inauguration in January shocked the financial markets, and created a ripple of uncertainty throughout the global economy. Trump increased tariffs on imports of dozens countries starting August 7. This left major trading partners such as Switzerland, Brazil, and India scrambling to find a better deal. Guterres stated that "supply chains are in chaos and trade barriers are increasing, with some of the least developed countries being subjected to extortionate 40% tariffs despite only representing 1% of global flows." The EU may have struck a deal that sets duties at 15% for most of the goods it exports into the United States. However, these are usually much higher in the so-called Least Developed Countries. Laos for example faces 40% tariffs. The World Trade Organization (WTO) slashed its forecast of growth in global merchandise trade volumes to 0.5% by 2026, citing the delayed impact expected from U.S. Tariffs. This was a major revision downwards from the previous estimate of 1,8% growth in August. Trump's tariff policy has also put pressure on the global trade rules that were agreed by the World Trade Organization. A former WTO chief said in April that the future of global trade terms could be decided without the 30 year-old international watchdog, unless it quickly reforms itself. (Reporting and Editing by Miranda Murray and Aidan Lewis, Aidan Lewis, Aidan Lewis, Olivia Le Poidevin)
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Western retail demand for Gold soars amid rush for Hard Assets
Gold is gaining in popularity at London's Hatton Garden. Diamonds were once the main attraction, but gold has now taken over. Customers are flocking to the famous jewellery district in search of bullion coins and bars, expanding the pool of investors for tangible assets. "There is a mix between buying and selling, but the buying is stronger." Despite high prices, people continue to buy. "Many believe that prices will rise even further," said Mashhood a member of staff at a local store. On Monday, spot gold reached a new record of $4381 an ounce. Retail interest in gold remains high, despite a sharp sell-off on Wednesday and Tuesday that took it down to $4,076 an ounce. The Royal Mint of Britain has seen a surge in activity due to the increased investor interest. This month, the Mint's e-commerce activity reached its highest level ever. The demand for precious metals was reflected in this record-breaking day. The surge in demand also resulted in exceptional individual transactions. The Royal Mint's Stuart O'Reilly said that the company is seeing 60% of its existing customers and 40% of new ones. Existing investors are increasing their average orders and their positions, and existing investors have also increased their average order value. TAX STRATEGY Tax-efficient strategies are being explored by customers as well. "I am converting my bar of gold into coins in order to avoid Capital Gains Tax. Cherry Jephson said she would sell some but keep the other two thirds because I hear that prices are likely to rise. Profits from the sale of gold bars are subject to CGT in the UK. These assets are taxed. Certain British gold coins such as Sovereigns or Britannias are exempt from CGT because they are considered legal tender. Other REGIONS In Germany and Austria, traders and banks are reporting a very strong demand from consumers for gold. I saw long lines of customers at both the Viennese Shop Ogussa and the Austrian Mint store in the centre of the city. "Traders from Germany have reported the same scene in front of their stores," said Wolfgang Wrzesniok Rossbach, founder and director of precious metals consulting Fragold GmbH. Retail investors' interest in gold has grown dramatically this year. Global economic uncertainty and increasing geopolitical tension have highlighted its appeal as a safe-haven. Prices have more than doubled in the last two years, and they are up by 55% this year. Perth Mint is one of the leading producers of new mined gold in the world. It has seen a similar increase. Over the last four weeks, visitors to our "East Perth" premises increased from an average 5,000 per week to approximately 8,750. Tina Kircher said that this has led us to hire eight additional staff members to help our retail and customer service teams. World Gold Council data shows that investment in gold bars will increase 10% by 2024 while coin purchases will fall 32%. Physical gold may remain an important part of retail portfolios for the months to come, as investors seek security and liquidity. BullionVault's head of research, Adrian Ash, said that gold was reflecting the world's deep unrest. Reporting by Ashitha shivaprasad from London, with additional reporting by Polina devitt. Editing and Veronica Brown by Arun Koyyur.
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UK data center spend will soar to PS10billion a year, Barbour ABI
Barbour ABI, a construction data company, has conducted an analysis that shows the spending on new UK data centers will increase to 10 billion pounds per year by 2029. This is a five-fold rise from 2024. In the UK, data centres cost a total of 1,75 billion pounds last year. This is expected to rise to 2,38 billion by 2025. Data centre investments are driven by AI-driven demand. Barbour ABI estimates that tech giants will invest 25 billion pounds in the UK within the next five-year period, and there are plans for almost 100 new data center projects. Government initiatives, such as AI Growth Zones, which streamline the planning of new digital infrastructure. According to Barbour ABI, London and its surrounding areas dominate the data center sector. However, development is expanding across the country. Blackstone, a private equity firm from the United States, has proposed a "hyperscale" UK data center project worth $13 billion in North East England. Last month, Britain, the United States and other top U.S. companies, including Microsoft, Nvidia, and Google, pledged to invest in the UK. Since ChatGPT's release in late 2022 the global data centre market and projects planned have risen as governments and big money bet that generative AI would revolutionise how we live and work. (Reporting and editing by Ed Osmond, Lucy Raitano)
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Hungary begins talks with United States on nuclear fuel purchase
Hungarian Foreign Ministry Peter Szijjarto told state news channel M1 on Wednesday that Hungary would start discussions on buying nuclear fuels from the United States in order to diversify its supplies. Szijjarto has been in Washington, D.C. since Tuesday. He said that Hungary needed more nuclear fuel for its expanding nuclear plant to meet its energy needs. It would continue buying nuclear fuels from Russia. Szijjarto said to state broadcaster M1 that "alongside the existing Russian suppliers relations, we are beginning consultations on purchasing nuclear fuel from the United States" in order to be capable of serving our increased nuclear capability safely. Szijjarto's reporter said that the foreign minister would be meeting with the Department of Energy, and the U.S. nuclear supplier Westinghouse later in the day to discuss this topic. Szijjarto didn't provide any information about when Hungary might be able to import U.S. nuclear energy or how much it could use. The Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary currently has four VVER-440 small reactors built by Russia with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts. It is currently supplied with Russian fuel. Hungary is planning to extend the life of its current reactors for 20 years. It will also expand the plant. Rosatom, a Russian company, is building two additional VVER reactors of 1.2 gigawatts capacity each. The "Paks II." The "Paks II." Hungary's government said last year that it will buy nuclear fuel from Framatome starting in 2027. (Reporting and editing by Hugh Lawson; Anita Komuves)
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USTR Greer and Treasury's Bessent to travel to Malaysia for discussions with Chinese counterparts
U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer announced that he and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent would be heading to Malaysia on Tuesday to meet with Chinese officials to discuss what Greer called Beijing's "extremely aggressive" and "disproportionate measures" to curb the exports of rare-earth minerals. Greer said on CNBC's SquawkBox program that President Donald Trump could still meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, but the decision would be mutual if it took place at the sidelines an economic conference in South Korea. The U.S. negotiator stated that China's actions violated an agreement their officials made months ago, to continue supplying rare Earths for high-tech. However, there is still a "good land zone" where the U.S. can trade with China in a balanced manner. After months of relative calm, trade tensions have flared up between the U.S., and China. Trump imposed 100% additional duties on China, which are set to go into effect on November 1, after China announced its export controls on almost all rare earths. Greer and Bessent insist that the United States must rebalance its trade with China following decades of limited access to Chinese market. Greer said, "Greer also added." There was still time to calm tensions. Greer said that there is "a notional good landing zone" for the United States to trade with China, where they can do so in a more balanced way, where we are trading non-sensitive products, and where both countries have a positive relationship. "The U.S. was always quite open to Chinese companies, but it is really driven by Chinese policies which exclude U.S. firms and cause overcapacity in China. "None of this works for the United States", he said. We can't continue to live this way, so we must find an alternative. Greer said Trump, along with other U.S. officials, would also discuss agriculture issues, such as China's decision to stop buying U.S. sorghum and soybeans, which, he claimed, was meant to intentionally hurt U.S. Farmers. "Obviously, the president will raise. "We all... raise this issue with them," said he, noting China's unfulfilled obligations under a deal signed during Trump’s first term to purchase agricultural and manufactured products. Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Susan Heavey, Editing by Andrew Heavens & Sharon Singleton
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Gold continues to fall as investors take profits before US inflation data
Investors booked profits before the U.S. key inflation data that is due this week, which will determine whether gold prices are still rising or falling. As of 9:22 am, spot gold was down by 1.7%, at $4,054.69 an ounce. After reaching as high as $4,161.17 in earlier sessions, ET (1322 GMT) saw gold fall 1.7% to $4.054.69 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 0.9%, to $4.072.10 an ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.2%, reaching a new high of one week. This makes dollar-priced gold more expensive. Gold prices are at multiple record highs this year and have gained 54%. This is due to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty as well as expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts. Prices dropped 5.3% on the Tuesday after hitting a record-high of $4,381.21 during the previous session. David Meger is the director of metals at High Ridge Futures. The 21-day moving median at $4,005 is a technical support for gold. The core inflation rate is expected to remain at 3.1% for September, according to Friday's U.S. Consumer Price Index report. This report was delayed because of the U.S. Government shutdown. Investors are almost fully pricing in a rate cut of 25 basis points at the Federal Reserve meeting next week. In low-interest-rate environments, gold, which is a non-yielding investment, tends benefit. In the meantime, Russia announced on Wednesday that they were still preparing for an upcoming summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Investors also await clarity regarding the potential meeting next week between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping. "We maintain a bullish outlook for gold and silver into 2026, and following a much-needed correction/consolidation, traders will likely pause for thought before concluding the developments that drove the historic rallies this year has not gone away," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, in a note. Silver spot fell 1%, to $48,27 an ounce. Tuesday, it fell 7.1%. Palladium fell 1.6% to $1,430, while platinum dropped 0.1% to $1.549.85.
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After the Ukrainian attack, Russia will ask its reservists for help in defending refineries
The top brass of the Russian army said that it will use reserve soldiers to protect civilian infrastructure, such as oil refineries, after an increase in drone attacks from Ukraine deep into Russia during recent months. In the midst of a conflict with the West regarding Russia's involvement in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin ordered that the regular army be increased to 1.5 active personnel, making it the world's second largest army after China's. Putin said at least 700,000. Russian legislators say that there are another 2,000,000 men in the active reserves - those men who signed a contract as reservists but don't usually serve. According to Vice Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky of the Russian General Staff, the deputy head of its main organisational and mobilization directorate, Ukraine's use long-range drones has increased the danger for critical national infrastructure as well as residential areas. He said that to increase the security of critical infrastructure and other important facilities for the wellbeing of citizens it was decided to include the most trained patriotic citizens to implement measures to protect civil facilities deep in Russia. The Russian military could free up regular troops to fight in the deadly war of attrition if it sent more reservists behind to protect infrastructure. Tsimlyansky stated that the proposed changes do not constitute any sort of mobilization. The Russian defence ministry made it clear that the reserve forces would not be deployed outside of Russia, nor in the "special military operations" the Kremlin refers to in Ukraine. According to the ministry of defence, reservists will serve in their region. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Osborn, Guy Faulconbridge)
Georgieva: IMF will continue to support countries in climate change and stability while focusing on the IMF.
Kristalina Georgeieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that it will remain "laser-focused" on preventing balance-of payments crises. It will also incorporate concerns raised by President Trump into its policies.
Georgieva said at a press conference held during the IMF and World Bank spring meetings that representatives of the Fund’s 190 member countries would discuss the directives issued by U.S. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent.
Bessent also expressed his support for the multilateral crisis lending institution.
Bessent called on the IMF and World Bank on Wednesday to focus on their core missions, macroeconomic stability, and development. He said they had become distracted by issues like climate change, inclusion, and gender, which have decreased their effectiveness.
Bessent's prescriptions are in line with Trump's efforts to reverse Biden's policies regarding climate change and gender equality. They also include a call to expand the World Bank energy lending program to include fossil fuels and nuclear power.
The Treasury chief who controls the majority U.S. shares in both institutions said Georgieva, and World Bank president Ajay Banaga, needed to earn Trump's administration's confidence by implementing policies that were "back to basics".
Georgieva stated that climate change can impact macroeconomic policies in certain cases.
People think we have climate scientists. We don't. She said that the IMF's job was not hers. Our job is to ask, "If you're Dominica, and a storm can wipe out 200% of GDP, what reasonable policies are put in place?"
When asked whether the IMF will now reconsider its
Resilience and Sustainability Trust
Georgieva, who is the head of the IMF’s financing facility, said that this financing was "really small", compared to IMF’s total funding.
She added that the IMF is also a membership-based organization and its members will ultimately decide its policies.
She agreed that the Bretton Woods institutions should be cost-efficient. In real terms, adjusted for inflation, the IMF budget has not changed in the past 20 years. "I like to run a tight ship." Reporting by David Lawder, Andrea Shalal and Andrea Ricci; editing by Chizu Nimiyama and Andrea Ricci
(source: Reuters)