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Report: Power and building sectors are responsible for the rise in US greenhouse gases emissions
The U.S. greenhouse gases emissions increased for the first two years at a faster rate than the U.S. economy. They rose by 2.4% by 2025. This was largely due to the increase in power sector demand and the use of fuel for heating buildings. According to the research firm, the increase in emissions was primarily due to increased emissions from direct fuel used to heat buildings. These emissions rose 6.8% from 2025 to the previous year. The power sector also saw a 3.8% increase in emissions as a result of coal-fired generators being added to meet the demand for?data centres and bitcoin mining. Rhodium stated that the increase in emissions does not yet reflect the impact of the 'policy changes' implemented by the Trump Administration, which sought to rollback environmental regulations, stop data collection on greenhouse gas emissions, and end incentives for renewable energy, in favor of policies aimed at boosting fossil fuel production. The report stated that "that could change within the next year or two," particularly if the data center electricity demand continues to rise and the grid responds by increasing output from fossil generators rather than new, clean sources. The report said that the end of federal tax credit in 2025 would "stifle" the growth of electric cars, which had been a "controllable source of transportation emissions". The need for electricity in data centers in order to increase the artificial intelligence capability of the United States led to higher gas prices, which in turn drove a 13% rise in coal production. This is only the second time in the past 10 years that the use of this emissions-intensive fuel increased. Rhodium stated that this has changed the overall "downward trajectory" for coal generation which has decreased 64% since 2007. Rhodium stated that "Emissions grew faster than economic activity in?2025 with a projected real GDP expansion of 1.9%, reversing decoupling?of emissions from economic activity for the previous two years." Former President Joe Biden’s administration has set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 61%-66% by the end of 2024. The Trump administration has abandoned this goal, and the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Climate pact along with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. (Reporting and editing by Jacqueline Wong; Valerie Volcovici)
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Brent crude's premium over Dubai reaches its highest level since July
Brent crude oil premium over Middle East benchmark Dubai grew on Tuesday, reaching its highest level since 'July. Brent's Exchange of Futures for Swaps to Dubai for the month of March, which had risen since parity was reached in early -December, settled on a premium of 1.97 dollars a barrel at 0830 GMT Tuesday. This is its highest level since July. The widening price spread for Brent-linked grades makes them more expensive for Asian buyers, prompting them to buy more Middle Eastern oil. Brent oil futures rose on Tuesday, as OPEC and Iran sparked fears of supply disruptions. Brent was near a 2-month high. The?Middle Eastern crude oil benchmarks have been weakened due to the adequate supply after OPEC+ increased output in 2025, and limited demand coming from?Asia. Dubai's cash-premium flipped to a discount at the beginning of the year for the first time since the 2023 due to the unsold cargoes that were loaded in February, and the lack of interest shown in taking bullish positions in this month.
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European shares fall from record highs ahead of US inflation data
Investors sifted corporate updates in anticipation of U.S. Inflation?data. By 0940 GMT, the?STOXX600 was flat. The?STOXX 600 was flat at 0940 GMT. Sika, the Swiss manufacturer of construction chemicals, reported on Tuesday a drop in sales for the full year of 4.8%. This dragged its shares down by 6.7% and to their lowest level since November. British homebuilder Persimmon has also outlined a cautious outlook 2026, after reporting that it sold more homes last year than expected. The updates will guide the sentiment as the?markets prepare for an important inflation report in the U.S. where the policy outlook is clouded by the?clash? between Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and President Donald Trump. ORSTED JUMPS - UBS IN FOCUS Shares of Danish offshore developer Orsted rose?5.5%, reaching a new high in a month after a U.S. federal judge allowed it to resume work on the?Rhode Island Project that President Trump's Administration had halted last month along with four other project. In a note, Jefferies analysts stated that "the injunction represents a solid short-term win which offsets any near-term losses." They said, however, that this "doesn't alleviate the longer-term concern over whether or not the offshore wind farm can be completed and eventually put into service." The?UBS Group stock rose 0.7%. Financial Times reports that Sergio Ermotti who was CEO of the Swiss bank giant Credit Suisse and led it through its integration with former rival Credit Suisse is planning to retire in April 2027. The?DAX in Germany was flat a day after achieving its longest winning streak, dating back to 2024. Diageo's shares rose by 1% on their way to a?fourth consecutive day of gains. Bloomberg News reported the company is weighing its options for its China assets. This includes a possible sale. Airbus shares increased marginally after the largest planemaker in the world reported that deliveries were up 4% over last year. Analysts say that despite the STOXX 600's muted movements, the fundamentals of 2026 remain strong. Shaan Raithatha is a senior economist with Vanguard's Investment Strategy Group. He said that "value stocks will outperform the growth stocks in the medium-term." (Reporting and editing by Nivedita Battacharjee, Vijay Kishore and Niket Nishant from Bengaluru)
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Iron ore prices fall as steel margins shrink and spot liquidity thins
Iron ore futures fell on Tuesday as'shrinking margins for steelmakers in China, the top consumer, were squeezed by high prices and dampened purchasing appetite. The May contract for iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the day trading 0.24% lower, at 819.5 Yuan ($117.47). As of 0717 GMT, the benchmark for February iron ore traded on the Singapore Exchange dropped?0.81%. Over the past five months, the benchmark has been?above an important psychological level of $100. Steelmakers resisted buying cargos at high prices, reducing the amount of liquidity on?the spot markets. Mysteel data showed that the total volume of seaborne iron ore traded on Monday fell by 52% from the previous trading day. a similar time, the portside stockpile that was swelling pushed up the price of the main steelmaking ingredient. Analysts at Nanhua Futures warned that the steel margins had shrunk and iron ore prices were higher than what was reasonable based on fundamentals. Both of these factors pose downside risks. Analysts predicted that after the price correction, the buying spree would likely resume. Coking coal and coke, which are used to make steel, also fell, by 2.5% and 1.08% respectively. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have been largely weaker. Hot-rolled coils fell 0.09%. Stainless steel was down 0.54%, and wire rods were down 0.4%. Rebar was unchanged. ($1 = 6.9762 Yuan) (Reporting and editing by Amy Lv and Ruth Chai; Sumana Nady and Subhranshu Saghu)
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Copper prices fall on profit-taking before US inflation data
Prices of copper fell on Tuesday, as the expectations of rate cuts in the United States weakened ahead of inflation data. This sparked a round of profit-booking. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract closed the daytime trading 0.46% lower, at 102290 yuan (14,662.71) per ton. The contract reached a high of 104.880 yuan in the early part of the session. This is close to the record 105.500 yuan set last week. Benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.93% to $13,086?per ton at 0721 GMT. JP Morgan has said that it does not expect the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 2026, after softer job data. "Hopes for any rate cuts in the near future?have been dashed. Pulling the trigger on a price drop," said a Beijing based trader under condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to media. The price declines were curbed by the tight supply, partly due to the U.S. continuing its?copper exports at higher premiums. In a recent note, Natalie Scott-Gray of StoneX said that investors' sentiments about U.S. tariffs on copper will drive copper prices in the coming months. They will also focus more on the regional level of global stocks as well as the material entering the US. Investors also waited for inflation data from the United States to determine interest rates this year. SHFE Tin extended its rally for a third day, and reached an intraday record of 395,000 yuan. This was a record that had last been achieved on March 9, 2022, amid falling stock prices. Analysts at Ruida futures stated that the tightening of spot supply was due to a fall in domestic production as a result of equipment maintenance at smelters, and lower inventories. They said that the long-term?demand for metals used in semiconductors also gave rise to a positive trend. SHFE aluminium fell 0.85%, while nickel dropped 2.21% and lead 0.63%. Zinc gained 0.85%. Aluminium fell 0.71% on the LME, while nickel dropped 1.39%. Zinc dipped by 0.19%, lead increased by 0.17%, and tin remained unchanged. $1 = 6.9762 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson and Janane Venkatraman).
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Investors book profits as gold falls below the record price of $4,600/oz
As investors took profits, gold?prices dipped on Tuesday. This was after the precious metal hit a record high of $4,600/ounce in the previous session, amid increased geopolitical uncertainty and economic instability. As of 0646 GMT spot gold was trading 0.3% lower, at $4,593.81 an ounce, while U.S. futures for delivery in February were down 0.6%, to $4,587.10. Kyle Rodda is a senior analyst at Capital.com. He said, "There may be a few traders who are just looking to make a quick profit. But as we saw yesterday the drop in Asia hours can be purchased pretty quickly." In the previous session, the bullion rose more than 2% and reached an "all-time" high of $4629.94 after the Trump Administration opened a criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. U.S. president Trump has further fueled geopolitical concerns by saying that any country doing business with Iran would face a 25% tariff when it comes to trade with the U.S. Washington is weighing its response to the largest anti-government demonstrations in recent years in the oil exporting nation. Iran's unrest is occurring as Trump exercises U.S. muscle internationally. He has captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and discussed acquiring Greenland through force or purchase. Non-yielding investments tend to do well when interest rates are low and geopolitical risks or economic risk spike. Citi has raised its price targets for the next three months to $5,000/oz of gold and $100/oz of silver, respectively. Citing strong investment momentum, and the many bullish factors that are likely to continue to be present during the first quarter, Citi cited. Citi stated in a report that "the ongoing shortages of silver and platinum group metals may also slightly worsen over the short-term due to a possible delay in Section 232 tariff decisions. This could ultimately pose large binary risk on trade flows and price," Citi noted. Spot silver was down by 0.1% to $84.86 an ounce, after reaching a record high of $86.22 per ounce on Monday. Spot platinum fell 1.9% to 2,299.20 an ounce, after reaching a record high of $2,478.50 per ounce on December 29. Palladium slid 2.6% to $1,793.0 per ounce. (Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Harikrishnan Nair)
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CME updates its margining methodology for precious Metals
CME Group, the U.S. exchange operator, announced Monday that it will change the way 'it sets margins on precious metals in order to ensure adequate collateral coverage due to the current market volatility. CME announced in an announcement that, as of January 13, it will determine margins for gold and silver, platinum, palladium, and other metals based on percentages of the contract value. Previously, the margins were based on dollar values. Margin is the amount of money that a futures market participant must deposit to cover any default risk. In response to increased price volatility, exchanges typically increase margin requirements. Since last year, precious metals prices have experienced rapid fluctuations. Gold, silver and platinum all reached new highs. Gold surpassed the $4,600 mark for the first time on Monday. The bullish momentum was driven by a combination of safe-haven demands, bets made on U.S. interest rate cuts, central bank buying, dedollarisation trends and ETF purchases. The metal soared by almost 65% between 2025 and 2026, which was its highest annual increase since 1979. Silver and platinum prices also more than doubled in the past year. Both metals were boosted by multiple factors, including physical market shortages as well as increasing industrial demand. Palladium's gain for 2025 was?76% - its largest in 15 years. CME's latest notice sets the COMEX Gold Futures initial margins at 5%. COMEX Silver and Platinum Futures are set at 9%. Palladium Futures NYMEX margins are set at 11 %. (Reporting and editing by Mrigank Dahaniwala; Swati verma, Bengaluru)
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Munich Re estimates that insured losses in 2025 will reach $108 billion due to wildfires and storms
Munich Re reported in a report on Tuesday that global insured losses from disasters dropped to $108 billion. The German reinsurer stated that the U.S. mainland avoided hurricanes for the first time since 10 years. The total estimate of Munich Re for the last year is $107 billion higher than Swiss Re's, which was published in December. Insured losses accounted for $98 billion, primarily due to damage from wildfires, severe storms, and floods. Munich Re said that this was more than the inflation-adjusted annual average of $60 billion for the last 10 years. Thomas Blunck is a member on the management board of Munich Re. He said that "the year started off with a rough start due to the high losses caused by wildfires in Los Angeles." "Sheer good fortune spared the United States of hurricane landfalls by 2025." Blunck said that the country still ranks first in terms of losses. Munich Re reported that the Los Angeles wildfires would be the most expensive insured disaster in 2025, followed by thunderstorms lasting for days in southern and central U.S. States in March. Tobias Grimm is the chief climate scientist at Munich Re. In a report published in June of last year, the European Environment Agency stated that between 2015 and 2024, the global average temperature was 1.24 to 1.28 degrees Celsius warmer than preindustrial levels. This decade is therefore considered as one of warmest on record. Total losses due to natural catastrophes, including those that are not covered by insurance policies, fell below the 10-year average in 2025 and were $224 billion, down from $368 in 2024. Munich Re has said that an?earthquake in Myanmar of 7.7 magnitude, which occurred in March and only a small portion of the damage was insured, is the second-most expensive disaster in terms of total losses by 2025. (Reporting and writing by Christina Amann; editing by Alexander Smith).
European shares reach record highs ahead of US inflation data
Orsted surged on news that a U.S. court had ruled the company could continue working on a Rhode Island project.
STOXX 600 was up 0.1% at 0807 GMT. The DAX in Germany?was slightly higher during choppy trading and is poised to reach its longest winning streak ever since 2014 if current levels hold.
The move adds new momentum as markets prepare for a key report on inflation that is expected to show a pickup in U.S. consumer price levels in December after a falsely low reading the previous month due to distortions relating to the government shut down.
Orsted, a Danish offshore wind developer, saw its shares jump 5.7% in one month to an all-time high after a U.S. federal judge allowed the company to resume work on a project in Rhode Island that President Donald Trump had stopped along with four other projects last month.
UBS Group stock was flat following the Financial Times report that Sergio Ermotti - who led the Swiss bank giant through the integration of its former rival Credit Suisse - plans to step down as CEO in April 2027. (Reporting and editing by Nivedita Battacharjee in Bengaluru)
(source: Reuters)