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Sources say that Indian billionaire Ambani will meet Trump and Qatar's emir at Doha
Mukesh ambani, the Indian billionaire, will meet with Donald Trump, President of the United States, and Qatar's emir in Doha, according to two sources. His company, Reliance Industries, is looking to strengthen ties between authorities in both countries. Qatar's sovereign fund, QIA has invested in Reliance over the years. Ambani is Asia's wealthiest man and has many business relationships with U.S. technology giants like Google and Meta. Ambani is attending a state dinner in Doha for Trump, but he does not intend to have any business or investment discussions. This was confirmed by the first source who has direct knowledge of this matter. Both sources confirmed that another Indian businessman based in London, close to the Trump administration and the Qatari government, will attend. They did not identify the individual. Ambani did not provide any further details about his agenda. Reliance didn't immediately answer'questions. Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, visited India in February. His country had committed to investing $10 billion in various industries. Trump will leave Qatar for the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, a trip which is more focused on investments than on security issues in the Middle East. (Reporting Aditya Kalra, Editing Clarence Fernandez).
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Gold drops as US-China truce on trade dims appeal of safe-haven assets
Gold prices dropped on Wednesday, as easing U.S. China trade tensions eased investor fears of a global recession. This increased risk appetite for investors and weakened the appeal of bullion as a safe haven. As of 0828 GMT, spot gold was down 0.4% at $3,233.69 per ounce. Prices reached a record-high of $3,500.05 per ounce last month due to increased trade war concerns. U.S. Gold Futures declined 0.3% to $3.238.10. After discussions over the weekend in Geneva, the U.S. agreed to suspend reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. The U.S. plans to reduce its "de minimus tariff" on low-value shipments coming from China to 30%. This is according to an executive order of the White House and industry experts. Ole Hansen is the head of commodity strategy for Saxo Bank. He said that the recent tariff truce has boosted the stock market and, at least temporarily, has taken away the focus on safe havens which has pushed gold to record levels in recent months. There's the risk of further decline if we break through that $3,200 mark, and then we might test $3,165 fairly quickly." The global stock market has rallied on the back of easing Sino-U.S. Trade War concerns. It also received support from relatively benign U.S. Inflation data. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its interest rate policy on Thursday. After the April consumer price index was lower than expected, traders speculated about possible rate cuts in later years. Markets expect the Fed to reduce rates by 53 basis points this year starting in September. Gold is traditionally seen as a hedge to inflation. However, in an environment of low interest rates it tends also to flourish as it pays no interest. Silver spot fell 0.2%, to $32.83, platinum rose 0.8% at $995.66 and palladium remained unchanged at $957.69. (Reporting and editing by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru, Anmol Choubey from Bengaluru)
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Residents of Libya's capital are trapped in the most intense fighting they have seen for years
Witnesses in Tripoli said that the most intense clashes since years continued through Wednesday morning after Monday's death of a key militia leader sparked fighting between rival groups. The United Nations Libya Mission UNSMIL expressed its "deep alarm" at the violence escalating in Tripoli's densely populated areas and called for an immediate ceasefire. The latest unrests in Libya's capital follow battles that seemed to consolidate Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's power as prime minister of the divided government of National Unity (GNU), and an ally of Turkey. Any prolonged fighting in Tripoli could attract factions outside of the capital. This could lead to an escalation among Libya's numerous armed actors after years relative calm. The English-language Libyan Observer reports that the main fighting took place on Wednesday between the Dbeibah aligned 444 Brigade, and the Special Deterrence Force(Rada), which is the last major armed Tripoli group not in his camp. Residents of Tripoli trapped inside their homes due to the fighting expressed horror at the sudden outbreak of violence that followed weeks of increasing tensions between armed groups. It's terrifying to watch all the intense fighting. "I had my family all in one room so that we could avoid the random shelling," said by phone a father of 3 in Dahra. Mohanad Juma, a resident of the western suburb Saraj, said that fighting would stop for a few moments before it resumed. "Each time the fighting stops, we feel relieved. "But then we lose our hope again," said he. ARMED FACTIONS Libya has seen little stability since an uprising in 2011 backed by NATO ousted Muammar Gadaffi, the longtime autocrat. The country was split in 2014 into rival eastern and Western factions. However, a major outbreak of warfare halted in 2020 with a ceasefire. Libya, a major energy exporter and a waystation for migrants headed to Europe, has attracted foreign powers, including Turkey, Russia and Egypt, as well as the United Arab Emirates, into its conflict. The main oil facilities of Libya are located in the south and east, away from the current fighting. While the eastern part of Libya is dominated by Khalifa haftar's Libyan National Army for over a decade, control in Tripoli as well as western Libya is splintered between numerous armed groups. Dbeibah ordered on Tuesday the dismantling what he called irregular military groups. This announcement follows the death of Abdulghani Kikli (also known as Ghaniwa), a major militia leader, on Monday, and the unexpected defeat of his Stabilisation Support Apparatus group by factions aligned to Dbeibah. The 444 Brigade and the 111 Brigade, which are allies of Dbeibah, have taken over SSA territory, indicating a concentration of power within the fragmented capital. Rada is the only major faction that has not been closely linked to the Prime Minister.
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Holcim shareholders approve spin-off of North American Business
Holcim's shareholders approved Wednesday the separation and spin-off of its North American business, a move designed to take advantage of increased construction spending in the United States. Almost all shareholders supported the decision to separate the company into two companies, Amrize and Holcim, which will focus on North America. Holcim will provide building materials for the remainder of the world. The spin-off should be complete by the end June. The listing will be done via a 100% share spin-off for Holcim's shareholders. The new company stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange, and also on the Six Swiss Exchange. Amrize will have more than 1,000 locations and 19,000 employees in North America. It will be the largest cement producer across Canada and the United States. It is aiming to capitalize on the massive infrastructure projects underway in the region. Jan Jenisch, Holcim's Chairman, said that the two companies would benefit from a more focused strategic and operational approach as separate publicly traded companies. Jenisch will be Amrize's CEO and chairman. $1 = 0.8386 Swiss Francs (Reporting and Editing by Rachel More, Madeline Chambers, and John Revill)
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Bouygues' construction and energy businesses deliver better than expected earnings
French construction-to-telecoms group Bouygues posted better-than-expected first-quarter core earnings on Wednesday, driven by strong performances of its energy arm Equans, construction and telecom units. In late 2022, the company acquired Equans (formerly owned by Engie) from French power group Engie as part of its growth strategy in energy services and transition. Bouygues has reported a current operating profit (COPA) for the third quarter of 69 millions euros ($77million), which is substantially higher than the 35 million euro consensus estimate of the company. Early trading saw a 2.7% increase in the shares. COPA margins at Equans increased 0.9 percentage points year-on-year, to 3.8%. However, quarterly sales were flat due to "some temporary wait-and see stance in some activities in France and Europe", according to a company statement. On a recent media call, CFO Pascal Grange stated that "the daily news from the USA creates a level uncertainty in the economy which makes people hesitate to invest." Grange, when asked about the impact on tariffs during a separate analyst conference call, said that the group is not concerned because it produces local products, adding "in the U.S., we are quite locally". The quarter's sales of 12,59 billion euros were in line with the consensus, and included La Poste Telecom's first contribution to the full quarter. Bouygues acquired the Telecom firm by mid-November 2024. Sales at Colas, which builds roads and railways, rose by 3% in the third quarter, boosted by a 12% increase in rail division, a result of demand for soft mobility infrastructure. Sales in the construction division rose by 3%. This was largely due to a 13% increase in sales at the international subunit. It said that the backlog in construction businesses was at an all-time high of 34,2 billion euros at the end of March 2025. The group has confirmed its outlook for the full year, despite a "very uncertain macroeconomic and political environment".
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The dollar continues to soften on the back of tariff truces and muted inflation.
The European stock market was little changed after a rally on easing trade tensions. Meanwhile, the dollar continued its losses from the previous day as the relatively benign U.S. Inflation data kept Federal Reserve rates on hold. Stocks in Asia rose overnight, while U.S. futures were flat. The S&P 500 entered positive territory for this year after moving into positive territory on Tuesday. Investors have driven global equity markets higher as a truce appears to be in place in the trade war between China and the United States. Lars Skovgaard is a senior investment strategist with Danske Bank. He added, "I find it hard to believe that we will return to the extreme political noise." The STOXX Europe 600 index was down by less than 0.2% last week, after a recent rally. It has risen over 17% from its low on April 9th, the day U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he would suspend most reciprocal tariffs against U.S. trading partner. The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose by 1.4% while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.1%. JD.com, a Chinese online retailer, posted impressive results. This boosted the Hang Seng index by 2%. This week, investors will focus on the earnings of Tencent and Alibaba. Equity futures indicated a flat start for Wall Street. Investors who were worried about inflationary effects of U.S. Tariff Policies, which severely undermined expectations of Fed rate reductions in the near future, also found some relief from data on Tuesday that showed softer than expected U.S. Consumer inflation. Although traders expect the inflation rate to rise as tariffs increase import costs, there is still uncertainty about the future as Washington continues to negotiate with its trading partners. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Trump said he would be willing to deal directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the details of a new trade agreement. The "potential" deals that Trump has been touting with India, Japan, and South Korea have not yet materialized. "We still have a deadline of 90 days hanging over U.S. China trade relations," Frederic Neumann said, chief Asia economist for HSBC. The Fed warned of increasing economic uncertainty and indicated that it was prepared to wait until the U.S. Tariffs are fully assessed before reducing interest rates. Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, is set to make remarks on Thursday. The U.S. Dollar, which has been hammered recently due to economic and political uncertainty, fell 0.7% against yen and dropped 0.4% against euro. The dollar index fell 0.4%. This follows a previous 0.8% decline. Bank of America’s Global Fund Manager Survey (FMS) revealed on Tuesday that global asset managers had their largest underweight position against the dollar in nearly 19 years as Trump’s trade policy reduced investor appetite for U.S. investments. Retail sales figures for April, due Thursday, will be the next big indicator of the health of the U.S. economy. On the same day, Russia and Ukraine will hold talks in Istanbul in hopes of reaching a ceasefire after three years in Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. U.S. crude oil fell 0.3%, to $63.49 per barrel, but remained near its two-week high. Gold spot fell 0.3% per ounce to $3,237 as trade tensions eased and its appeal as a safe haven was weakened.
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Indonesia increases CPO export levy by 10% as of May 17,
A regulation signed Wednesday shows that Indonesia will increase its crude palm oil export levy from 7.5% to 10% starting May 17, in order to fund the country's increased mandate for biodiesel blends. Export levies on refined products will range from 4.75% to 9.5% of CPO reference prices, an increase of between 3% and 6 % of current rates. The levies collected are used to finance palm oil programs such as the biodiesel program and a smallholder replanting subvention. Indonesia increased its palm oil-based Biodiesel mix from 35% to 40% this past year. It is now studying moving to 50% by 2026. Next year, it will also be blending 3% of jet fuel with the biodiesel. This year, the country's plantation funds agency which is responsible for collecting and distributing palm levy will distribute $2.14 billion (35.47 trillion Rupiah) as a biodiesel subsidy. An official from the Energy Ministry said that Indonesia consumed 4,44 million kilolitres (4.4 million liters) of biodiesel in this year until April 24. Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil consumer, has set aside 15.6 million KL for biodiesel distribution by 2025. This is up from 13 million KL in 2018. $1 = 16,565.0000 Rupiah (Reporting and editing by John Mair, Alasair Pal and Bernadette Cristina)
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Gulf stocks fall as excess oil worries weigh
On Wednesday, most Gulf stocks were down slightly as a drop in oil prices due to fears of increased supplies hurt sentiment. Investors also paused for thought about the economic implications of the U.S. China tariff truce. The price of oil, a major factor in the Gulf financial markets, fell on Wednesday as traders awaited a possible increase in U.S. crude stocks. Prices remained near their two-week highs, however, as traders waited for a possible increase in U.S. crude inventories. The U.S.-China Trade War may have stopped, but the financial markets are still uneasy. Israel warned Wednesday that three ports in Yemen should be evacuated after the Iran-aligned Houthis fired a missile at it, while U.S. president Donald Trump was visiting three Gulf States. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell by 0.19%. Saudi Telecom, and Saudi Electricity Company are the two biggest losers. Both fell nearly 5% in early Wednesday trading. Saudi Arabian Refineries Company shares surged 8%, limiting the losses. The refiner looks set to record its third consecutive session of gains. Dubai's main stock index traded flat at 0.09%, as a gain of 2.5% in Mashreqbank offset a fall of 2.7% in Amlak Finance. Qatar's benchmark stock market index fell 0.01%, while Abu Dhabi's benchmark index remained unchanged.
Germany's election in surveys, parties and policy arguments
Germany will hold a snap national election on Feb. 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's threeway union.
Here are the primary parties competing, their poll standings, and the essential policy concerns:
PARTIES. Germany has 2 centrist, big-tent parties: Scholz's. centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the opposition. conservatives, an alliance of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and. their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Nevertheless, they have both lost support over the last few years, with. smaller parties such as the ecologist Greens and. far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) picking up speed.
The SPD, conservatives, Greens and AfD are all fielding. candidates for chancellor.
Likewise running are the pro-market Free Democrats (FDP), the. far-left Linke and the leftist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW),. who are all at risk of missing the 5% threshold to make it into. parliament, according to viewpoint polls.
POLLS
The conservatives have actually been leading nationwide polls for. more than 2 years and are at 30%, according to the latest. survey released by INSA on Jan. 25, followed by the AfD at 21%.
Scholz's SPD, with 16%, has dropped to 3rd from the very first. location it attained in the 2021 election. It is followed by the. Greens on 12% and the BSW on 7%. The FDP and Linke are both. ballot at 4%. However, experts state surveys can move rapidly, as citizens are. less faithful to parties than they when were, remembering the 2021. election campaign when the conservatives went from frontrunner. to runner-up within a few months. The conservatives' leader, Friedrich Merz, in particular, is. considered to be susceptible to gaffes and quick to anger.
WHAT ARE THE SECRET CONCERNS?
- Ukraine. Germany's mainstream celebrations all favour assisting Ukraine fend off. Russia's full-blown invasion, while the AfD and BSW desire an end. to weapons deliveries to Kyiv and a resumption of great relations. with Moscow. Nevertheless, Scholz and his SPD have actually just recently struck a more mindful. tone - emphasising the requirement for diplomacy and prudence on. Ukraine - than the conservatives, Greens and FDP, who are for. example all in favour of Germany delivering long-range Taurus. rockets to Kyiv.
- Restoring the economy. Scholz has proposed incentivising personal financial investment and. modernising facilities with an off-budget, 100-billion-euro. fund. His SPD likewise prepares a direct tax refund of 10% on equipment. financial investments by services. The Greens' Robert Habeck has, like Scholz, required reform of. Germany's constitutionally enshrined debt brake to allow for. greater public spending. Merz had also indicated some openness to a moderate reform of. the financial obligation brake however his celebration's manifesto has actually vowed to keep. it. The AfD and the FDP are intense protectors of the limit on. public loaning.
The CDU/CSU manifesto has proposed extensive monetary. relief for business and residents, including income and. business tax cuts, and lower electricity charges. They have not. said how these would be funded. The AfD wants Germany to ditch the euro, reintroduce the. Deutsche Mark and possibly leave the EU.
- Migration. A slew of violent attacks linked to foreign suspects in Germany. have intensified public issues over security and migration,. triggering political parties to demand more stringent procedures on. migration.
After the most recent attack on Jan. 22, Friedrich Merz,. the conservative leader and a leading chancellor prospect,
promised
to bring legislation before parliament restoring border. controls even if it required to be passed with far-right support,. something his celebration used to prevent by any means in the past.
In basic, the conservative CDU has actually increasingly adopted a. much more stringent position on immigration over the last few years, calling for. pressing back asylum hunters at the borders, and for limitations on. family reunifications and naturalisation for refugees. The anti-Islam, anti-migration AfD has required borders to be. closed and asylum hunters to no longer can family. reunification. Some senior AfD members have actually gone further in. their remarks and were present at discussions amongst reactionary. activists about deporting millions of individuals of foreign origin,. including German citizens.
They likewise desire everybody looking for asylum in Europe to be. moved to a safe third nation for processing their claims. The SPD itself has actually toughened its position by implementing stricter. border controls and speeding up deportations, although it also. wants to generate more foreign experienced workers.
On the other hand, the Greens keep a more open asylum policy,. promoting state-backed sea rescue efforts and simplifying. family reunification procedures and boosting combination.
- Energy. High energy costs stay a formidable difficulty for households. and services in Germany and an essential election campaign. subject.
The CDU, SPD and Greens settle on expanding renewable energy. to lower costs however differ on funding approaches: the CDU. suggests utilizing greater CO2 certificate incomes to lower network. charges, while the SPD and Greens support debt-financed state. subsidies. The CDU and AfD also propose evaluating a go back to. nuclear power, an idea turned down by the SPD and Greens.
The AfD opposes renewable resource subsidies entirely,. promoting unlimited coal-fired power plant operations and. abolishing CO2 prices to lower customer costs and improve. energy security.
- Relations with the Trump administration. The concern of how to tackle the new U.S. administration of. President Donald Trump, who has actually currently flagged the possibility. of increased tariffs and minimized military assistance for Europe, is. particularly delicate for Germany. The U.S. stays the top. destination for German exports and its main security ally. The SPD's Scholz has sharply countered Trump's discuss. Greenland and Canada, while frontrunner Merz cautioned against. lecturing him, stressing rather locations of possible cooperation. like a prospective EU-U.S. trade deal or joint China strategy. The Greens' Habeck alerted that the EU must stand united and look for. talks with the Trump administration since a trade war will. ultimately harm all sides. All of the mainstream parties have voiced scepticism about. Trump's demand for European nations to increase costs on. defence to 5% of financial output, given that Germany will. already struggle to keep to 2% after its unique fund for the. military runs out. Habeck, nevertheless, has actually already proposed an. boost to 3.5%.
The German party that has most welcomed the Trump. administration is the AfD, which received numerous recommendations. from Trump's ally Elon Musk, resulting in his conversation on X. with the celebration's chancellor candidate Alice Weidel.
(source: Reuters)