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Volkswagen Q2 sales rise despite a slight drop in US demand
Volkswagen reported a 1.2% increase in global sales volume in the second quarter, despite a decline in U.S. Demand and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding tariffs. This was due to the strong demand for its all-electric offerings in Europe. According to the company, sales of the German auto giant increased by 1.2% year-on-year in the second quarter with 2,27 million vehicles sold. Sales grew in all markets, except North America and Western Europe where deliveries dropped by 16.2% and 0,7% respectively. German automakers are pressing President Donald Trump for an agreement to replace the 25% tax on imports of cars and parts to the United States, which is hurting demand on their main market. Volkswagen's sales of all-electric vehicles grew by 38% globally in the second quarter, and up to 73% in Europe. Marco Schubert, Volkswagen Sales Executive, said: "We must continue our successful model offensive to strengthen this positive development." He added, "Overall we were able slightly to increase our global delivery by the end June despite challenging circumstances."
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European stocks ignore tariff news as US copper soars
The European stock market opened Wednesday slightly higher, with little reaction to the announcement by U.S. president Donald Trump that he will impose a tariff of 50% on imported copper as well as levies up to 200% on pharmaceuticals. Trump's remarks on Tuesday caused the price of Copper to reach record highs, and Wall Street to close down. The equity markets quickly shrugged the news off. Asian stocks were mixed over night and the MSCI World Equity Index rose 0.1% at 0835 GMT. The London FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 increased by 0.4%. The U.S. Dollar Index was unchanged at 97.574, and the euro dropped 0.1% to $1.1715. The dollar reached its highest level against the yen in over two weeks, with Japan, which depends on exports, being the most far away from a deal between Washington and Washington among the major U.S. trade partners. U.S. Copper Futures have risen by over 10%, reaching a new record, after Trump threatened to increase duties on this metal, which is essential for electric vehicles, military equipment, the power grid, and many consumer products. The traders are waiting to see what Trump does in his trade war. He told 14 countries on Monday that their tariffs will be significantly higher from August 1, a new deadline. Trump said that he will "probably" inform the European Union in two days of the rate they can expect on their exports to the United States. The Financial Times reported Wednesday that EU negotiators were close to a deal that would set higher tariffs for exports than the UK. Investors are worried that tariffs could increase inflation and slow down economic growth. They will be watching the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting, which will be released on Wednesday. Amelie Derambure is a senior multi-assets portfolio manager at Amundi. She said: "We are in the dark about tariffs because it is very difficult to determine the impact of the tariffs on the end-inflation or the margins on U.S. corporations, or on corporates in general." She added, "The uncertainty is enormous." Derambure stated that although equity markets expect tariffs to manageable, and are supported by the underlying expectation of growth. The impact of tariffs can be seen through the rising yields of fixed income. The yields on U.S. Treasury bonds rose Tuesday and the auction for three-year Treasury notes saw a weak demand. Treasury will be selling $39 billion of 10-year notes and $22 billion of 30-year bonds this Thursday. The benchmark German 10-year yield was 2.635%. Gold is in its third consecutive day of declines. It was down 0.4% for the day, at $3,286.17 an ounce. Brent crude futures rose by 0.7% to $70.61.
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UK's Hunting buys back $40 million, increases dividend target
Hunting, a British energy services company, plans to buyback shares worth $40m and increase the annual dividend as it predicts a 16% rise in core profit for the first half. Shares of Hunting reached a five-month-high on Wednesday. Hunting, a company that manufactures high-tech systems, precision parts, and critical components for oil and gas, plans to increase its annual dividend from over 10%, by 13%. The company stated that the core profit for the first half 2025 will be between $68 and $70 millions. It also reaffirmed the forecast of $135 to $145 million in 2025. The British company expects its operations to be unaffected by the tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on the world. This is because its supply chain has been diversified globally. "We are well positioned to bypass tariff barriers..." "In some product lines we have simply rerouted the supply to avoid markets that are tariff-affected," said CFO Bruce Ferguson in an interview. There is no tariff risk with Hunting Titan or our U.S. operation. Hunting Titan, a major division of Hunting Titan, manufactures and distributes logging and perforating systems. By 0821 GMT, shares were up last 12% to 338 pence. Berenberg analysts wrote in a report that Hunting is well-positioned to benefit from any U.S. recovery and has a diversified revenue base that includes international and subsea market segments, which makes it more resistant to lower commodity prices. (Reporting by Ankita Bora in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
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Minister: Polish energy companies have no economic reason to sell coal assets
Jakub Jaworowski, the Polish Minister of State Assets, said that an analysis by the government had revealed no economic basis for a spinoff of coal assets. He also stated that there was a need for a support system for coal plants at European Union levels beyond 2028. Poland is working on reducing its dependence on coal, as renewable energy sources take a greater share of the market. However, it still requires a mechanism that supports conventional power plants to provide electricity during times when renewable generation is intermittent. In a press statement, the ministry stated that the assumptions used for the previous coal assets plan were based upon power prices in 2022. These were higher due to the conflict in Ukraine. Since then, power prices have more than halved and the share renewable energy continues to grow. State-controlled utilities, under pressure from falling coal profits, have stopped paying dividends. Now they are calling for a program to help cover the costs of operating coal plants. Last month, the country's largest utility PGE said that it would be able to resume dividend payments more quickly if the profitability issue for coal assets was resolved. The ministry noted that, under the current rules, payments for capacity of high-emission sources will be prohibited from 2028. However, Poland needs additional support mechanisms in order to avoid a gap in power supply from 2029. (Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; writing by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; editing by Jan Harvey)
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Three people are killed by flash floods in a resort town in New Mexico, and dozens of others are trapped in their homes and cars.
A state emergency official, as well as a statement from the village, said that torrential rains caused flash floods to occur in New Mexico on Tuesday. At least three people, including two children, were killed, while dozens of others were trapped in their homes and cars in Ruidoso's resort village. The village's website said that the children, aged 4 and 7, and a male were washed downstream and found later dead. Rescue operations are underway, it added. The video footage, which was widely shared on social media, showed a house ripped apart from its foundations and careening through the brown, muddy water of the Rio Ruidoso flood, while slicing trees in the process. "I have seen the video." Danielle Silva, spokesperson for New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said: "We don't know who was inside the house." Silva reported that emergency teams from local law enforcement agencies and the National Guard performed at least 85 rapid-water rescues around Ruidoso. Many of these people were trapped in their cars or homes due to flood waters. Silva reported that the river rose quickly to a record-breaking 20.24 feet (6.22 metres) during the flood's peak. As the waters receded in the evening hours, authorities began looking for survivors among the debris. Four days ago, a flash flood along the Guadalupe River triggered by heavy rainfall killed at least 110 people and left scores of others missing. Silva stated that the severity of debris flows in New Mexico was increased by a landscape that was stripped of vegetation by a wildfire, followed by flooding which eroded soil. Ruidoso is a popular ski and summer resort located in the Sierra Blanca mountains of southern New Mexico. It's about 115 miles south of Albuquerque. Steve Gorman reported from Los Angeles, Nilutpal Timsina contributed additional reporting and Michael Perry and Bernadettebaum edited the story.
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After Trump's tariff plan of 50%, copper prices fall outside the US
The London Metal Exchange (LME) and Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) saw a decline in copper prices on Wednesday, as the potential U.S. tariff on copper signaled the end of a long-running arbitrage trade which had pulled the metal off global markets. The COMEX Copper Futures rose more than 12% on Tuesday to a new record high. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, said that tariffs would be likely in place before the end July or August. The LME's three-month contract for copper fell by 1.35% at $9,658 a metric ton as of 0700 GMT. On the SHFE, the most traded copper contract dropped 1.36%, to 78400 yuan (US$10,920.28). The announcement was like a thunderous boom in the middle night. A 50% tariff is higher than expected. Since the U.S. announced an investigation in February into the imports of red metal, traders have been shipping copper from warehouses all over the world in anticipation of higher prices. COMEX inventories are now at their highest levels since 2018. These trades may be numbered, given the short time left to move copper. This could free up supply outside of the U.S. Michael Wu, an analyst for Shanghai Metals Market said that there is virtually no one in Asia who wants to buy copper to deliver to the U.S. at this time. He added that the only shipments likely to meet the deadline are those from Latin America. According to ING, tariffs are expected to negatively impact LME prices once they are implemented. This is because U.S. buyers will likely start to use their inventory. Goldman Sachs stated that "as in the past, this initial higher tariff rate can be used as a negotiation anchor, followed up by concessions or exemptions". LME tin dropped 0.68% to $33,170 per ton. Lead fell 0.39% at $2.048.5. Nickel fell 0.35% at $14,990. Zinc eased by 0.15%, at $2.716.5. Aluminium was unchanged at $2.584.5. SHFE nickel dropped 1.2% to 119.140 yuan per ton. Tin eased to 262,890, zinc rose to 22,120, lead climbed to 17,175 and aluminium grew by 0.1% to 20.515 yuan. Click or to see the latest news in metals, and other related stories.
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Iron ore gains on declining shipments but mixed China data cap gain
Iron ore futures rose for the second session in a row on Wednesday. This was largely due to falling shipments, and a resilient demand. However, mixed factory data from China, the top consumer, curtailed gains. The daytime trading price of the most traded September iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was 0.68% higher, closing at 736.5 Yuan ($102.59). As of 0700 GMT, the benchmark August iron ore traded on Singapore Exchange was up by 0.24% to $96 per ton. Everbright Futures analysts said that iron ore shipments by top suppliers Australia, Brazil and South Africa have declined after a ramp-up at the end of last quarter. Galaxy Futures analysts said that the demand side would support prices. Analysts at Galaxy said that despite a small decline, hot metal production was still relatively high and steel consumption in the manufacturing sector is strong. Iron ore demand is usually gauged by the hot metal production. Iron ore futures gains were limited due to data showing that China's consumer price rose for the first five-month period in June while its producer deflation reached its highest level in nearly two years. In the face of a global trade war that is causing uncertainty and a subdued domestic demand, policymakers are under pressure to take more measures. Coking coal and coke, which are used to make steel, have both gained in the DCE. They rose by 3.81% each and by 2.43% respectively. The recent crackdown on the price war has raised expectations for supply-side reforms to be implemented in the coal industry, said a coal analyst based in Shanghai under condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have been moving in a narrow range. Rebar, hot-rolled coil, and stainless steel were all little changed. Wire rod, however, dropped by 0.42%. $1 = 7.1790 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Harikrishnan Nair, Subhranshu Sahu and Lewis Jackson)
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Viceroy Research's short-position on Vedanta Resource's debt
Viceroy Research, a U.S. firm, has taken a short-position against Vedanta Resource, the UK-based parent company of Indian miner Vedanta. Viceroy Research claims that Vedanta is "systematically draining its Indian unit". Vedanta is planning to split up into separate listed entities. Anil Agarwal, Group Chairman of Vedanta, launched the plan to revamp the business in 2023 after an unsuccessful attempt to take Vedanta Private in 2020. Vedanta Resources announced in June 2024 it would seek to reduce its debt by $3 billion over the next three years. Viceroy Research, a short seller, said that the entire group structure was financially unsustainable and operationally compromised. It also posed a serious, underappreciated credit risk. The Vedanta group did not respond immediately to a comment request on the Viceroy Research Report. The shares of the Indian mining company fell up to 7.8% following the report. They then recovered some losses and traded at a 4.8% loss by 0723 GMT. Shares were down about 1% prior to the report. Vedanta's net debt, on an individual basis, was $4.9 billion as of March 31, 2025. This is according to the company's annual report.
Scientists estimate that the European heatwave has caused 2300 deaths.
According to a rapid analysis of the scientific literature published on Wednesday, around 2,300 people in 12 European cities died from heat-related causes during the severe heatwave which ended last week.
The study focused on the 10 days ending July 2 when temperatures in large parts of Western Europe reached 40 degrees Celsius.
According to a study by Imperial College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, of the estimated 2,300 deaths during this time period, 1,500 were linked to climate changes, which caused the heatwave to be more severe.
Climate change has made the world significantly hotter, making it more dangerous, said Dr Ben Clarke. He is a researcher from Imperial College London.
Researchers found that climate change has increased temperatures in 12 cities, including Barcelona, Madrid and London, by as much as 4 degrees Celsius.
Researchers used epidemiological models to estimate death rates. This includes deaths that were caused by heat, as well as deaths in which pre-existing conditions were exacerbated.
Scientists said that they used peer reviewed methods to quickly estimate the death toll because most heat related deaths are not reported officially and some governments don't release this data.
In a bulletin published on Wednesday, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service stated that June 2018 was the third hottest month on record for the planet, after the same months in 2024, and 2023.
Copernicus reported that Western Europe had its warmest month on record in June. Much of the region experienced "very strong heat-stress" conditions, defined as temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius and above.
Samantha Burgess is the strategic lead at Copernicus for climate. She said: "Heatwaves will become more intense, frequent and affect more people in Europe as a result of global warming."
According to new research from European health institutions, researchers in 2023 reported that up to 61,000 people could have died during Europe's scorching heatwaves of 2022. This suggests the countries' efforts in heat preparedness are failing fatally.
Over time, the average temperature of the Earth has risen due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These emissions are mainly caused by the burning fossil fuels. The increase in the baseline temperature means that temperatures can soar higher during a heatwave.
(source: Reuters)