Energy Markets

Guggenheim Investments in the United States, which has assets worth $357 billion and is looking to expand in the Gulf, is considering opening an office in Saudi Arabia. It wants to take advantage of investment opportunities, particularly in infrastructure and transport, as part of this expansion. The firm is based in Dubai, which is the financial and trade capital of the region. It's also pursuing a license in Abu Dhabi, home to the UAE's oil rich capital and sovereign wealth funds that manage around $2 trillion. Anne Walsh, Chief Investment Officer at Guggenheim Partners Investment Management told the Milken Institute...

Constellation Energy, a U.S.-based power company, announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the conditions necessary to complete the previously disclosed $16.4 billion purchase of Calpine Corporation. Calpine must also divest four of its generating assets located in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the deal. The deal announced in January is one of the largest acquisitions in the U.S. Power Industry. It comes at a period of increasing electricity demand driven by the proliferation and energy-hungry AI Data Centers and the electrification and transportation of buildings...

Constellium's CEO said that the European Union should abandon a carbon border tax, which could push its aluminium industry into a long-term decline. The tax would increase costs and favor more polluting foreign suppliers. Carbon Border Adjustment, a mechanism that will begin imposing a tax on imports for a few commodities in January, was designed to protect European producers from cheaper competitors in countries with laxer climate laws. Industry representatives, however, see the system as flawed and are hopeful that the final EU adjustments to the Mechanism, which will be announced this month, address their concerns. Jean-Marc Germain is the...

BHP, a global miner, announced on Friday it had taken delivery of two electrical haul trucks for a trial to begin at its Jimblebar Iron Ore Mine in Australia's Pilbara. The truck trials are intended to reduce diesel consumption and greenhouse gas emission. BHP stated that the battery-electric trial, in partnership with Rio Tinto, and Caterpillar industrial equipment manufacturer, aims to test whether the technology can be used as an alternative for diesel in large-scale mining operations of iron ore. BHP stated that after the trial, miners will independently determine the progress they have made towards scaling up trials in...

Kevin Buckland gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The market is focused on the bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week, and the murkiness in the economic data used by Fed officials to make policy decisions. The Fed is focusing on the state of the labour markets, so the Fed will release the most important data - the monthly payroll figures - in mid-December instead of today. This is the result of a record-breaking government shutdown. But at least the Fed will get key data pertaining to the other...

WTI oil prices are expected to rise by a significant amount on Friday. This is due to the anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut. Also, tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen, while peace talks in Moscow have stalled. Brent crude dropped 14 cents or 0.2% to $63.12 a barrel at 0400 GMT. The contract remained largely unchanged over the past week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate dipped by 18 cents or 0.3% to $59.49 per barrel. This is despite a weekly increase of approximately 1.6%, and the second consecutive week of growth. The market is weighing the impact of...

By Colleen Waye WTI oil was heading for a weekly gain of nearly 2% on early Friday trading, supported by escalating U.S. - Venezuela tensions, and stalled Moscow peace talks. This would be the second week in a row of increases. Brent crude was up 6 cents or 0.09% at $63.32 a barrel at the market opening on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 4 cents or 0.07% to $59.71 per barrel. The previous trading session saw both contracts settle up by around 1%. In a survey conducted between November 28 and December 4, 82% of economists expected that the...

The dollar dropped for the tenth consecutive day against a basket, extending its longest losing streak since over 50 years. After an auction, Japanese stocks rose sharply. Government Bonds Investors showed a strong interest in the stock, setting the tone for the entire equity market. STOXX 600 in Europe was up by 0.1%, and is still on track for a modest gain each week. U.S. Stock Futures were flat for the day. This suggests a steady trading start later in the session. Wall Street stocks rallied Wednesday, led by small cap companies. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.9% while the...

The global shares are on a more stable footing today, thanks to an overnight rebound in Wall Street and the abating of a short selloff on bond markets and cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has regained the $90k level and reached a new two-week high, while Nasdaq futures and S&P500 futures each rose by 0.2%. The EuroStoxx 50 futures rose 0.3%, while the FTSE futures gained 0.1%. After a turbulent start to the week in which expectations of an imminent rate hike in Japan caused a global sell-off in bonds and a steep decline in cryptocurrency, stocks were caught up in the rush...

Valero Energy will upgrade its large crude distillation unit in Port Arthur's Texas refinery, which produces 380,000 barrels per day, in February, according to people familiar with plant operations. Tuesday, a Valero spokesperson failed to respond to a question about the refinery’s maintenance schedule. Valero will begin a series upgrades in February to the AVU 146 CDU to increase the unit's average capacity from 235,000 bpd up to 260,000 bpd. Sources said that improvements would be made to the processing of bottoms, which are heavy, gunky residue crude oils usually sent to cokers or used to make asphalt. Sources said...

Motiva Enterprises will perform maintenance on a coker this December and overhaul its large crude distillation system in September 2026, according to people familiar with the plant's operations. The refinery produces 640,500 barrels per day. A Motiva spokesperson failed to respond on Tuesday when asked for comments about the planned maintenance of the Port Arthur refinery in the United States, the largest. Sources did not specify which of the cokers in the refinery would undergo maintenance before the end 2025. Two cokers are available at the refinery. DCU-1 is capable of producing 54,000 bpd, and DCU-2 can produce 110,000 bpd....

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Tuesday that it would provide up to $850 million in support of the development of small modular nuclear reactors by Tennessee Valley Authority and Holtec. The Trump administration and nuclear firms believe SMRs can help provide electricity in the U.S., where demand for power is increasing for the first time since two decades due to artificial intelligence mining, electric vehicles and cryptocurrency mining. SMRs are said to save money because they will be manufactured in factories. There are no such reactors under construction in America, and there is some doubt about their ability...

What Mike Dolan, the ROI team and I are looking forward to reading, watching and listening to this weekend. From the Editor Hello Morning Bid readers! As we enter the final month of 2018, it's time to look at the 2026 market forecasts. It's hard to find U.S. equity bulls but forecasts come with a lot of qualifiers. This is understandable, given the uncertainty surrounding an artificial intelligence boom. AI adoption may really take off in 2019, but according to ROI's editor-at-large Mike Dolan, U.S. growth will likely be constrained by the 150-year trendline of 2%, especially if technology innovation...

Investors are confident that the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week despite a crucial reading of U.S. Inflation. This weighed down on the dollar, and helped gold. The European stock market opened higher on Monday, boosted by mining stocks after copper prices reached record highs. STOXX 600 was up 0.3% at mid-morning, after gaining 0.7% in the past week. U.S. Stock Futures are up between 0.2% and 0.4%. This indicates a modest Wall Street rally later. The government bonds that have been the focus of much of the market activity this week traded steadily in advance of U.S. monthly...

The dollar fell and was poised to lose its 10th consecutive day against a basket major currencies, fueled by expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut. The benchmark S&P500 was flat in the early morning trade, after two sessions of gains. The biggest losses were in healthcare, consumer discretionary, and materials stocks, while real estate and financials were on the rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.09%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.06%. And the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.14%. STOXX 600 in Europe was up by 0.42%, and is still on track for a modest gain each week. The FTSE...

The Russian rouble fell and the stocks in Russia dropped on Wednesday, after late-night talks at the Kremlin between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's top representatives failed to produce a breakthrough regarding a solution to end Ukraine's war. The talks between Putin, Steve Witkoff (Trump's special representative) and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in law, went well past midnight. Yuri Ushakov said that "compromises had not been reached" after the talks. The rouble fell 0.6% against the dollar at 0820 GMT and was down 0.5% against the Chinese Yuan at 11,01 on the Moscow Exchange where it is most traded. The...

Rae Wee gives us a look at what the European and global markets will be like tomorrow. In the last month, there have been several instances where a rally in the market was suddenly halted due to sudden risk aversion. Sometimes this happened without any obvious cause. Shortly afterward, an upswing followed. Wednesday was another example of this. After a Monday drubbing, global stocks rose and bitcoin reclaimed its $90,000. It was at its highest level in almost two weeks. The European markets were also poised for a steady opening, as investors waited for the remarks of European Central Bank...

The stock market made modest gains on Tuesday and traders were cautious after a decline in cryptocurrency and a global selloff of bonds triggered by an upcoming interest rate increase in Japan. S&P futures were stable in early trading, following overnight falls on Wall Street. Japanese government bonds, however, remained under pressure before a 10-year bond auction, following a week-long fall on concerns about the nation’s fiscal outlook. In morning trading, the yields on 10-year JGBs increased by 1.5 basis points. They now stand at 1.88%, a record high for 17 years. Bitcoin, which was a talisman of sentiment, suffered...

The European stock market fell on Monday as it retreated from recent gains. However, the Japanese yen and government bond yields were boosted by comments that suggested the central bank may raise interest rates. The market was a little jittery during November but has strengthened over the last week as traders bet more on the Federal Reserve of the United States cutting rates at their December meeting. At 1023 GMT Europe's STOXX 600 fell 0.3% for the day, as markets were gripped by a new wave of risk-aversion. London's FTSE 100 remained flat, while Germany's DAX fell 0.9%. The MSCI...

Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki stated on Friday that the restart of Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in northern Japan was considered a real option at this time. Suzuki said he would take a final decision about the restart of the project after completing on-site inspections, and collecting feedback from the surrounding communities. The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan approved a safety assessment for Tomari's 912-megawatt reactor No. The final step in the 12-year-long process of restarting Tomari's reactor No. Suzuki stated that, given the regulatory approvals, the new emergency response plan of the government, and the expectation...

Asian shares will end a difficult November on a more stable footing as renewed hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut have helped calm valuation fears and Treasuries are rallying for the fourth consecutive month. The U.S. market, which was closed for Thanksgiving overnight, is due to have a shorter session on Friday. This means that activity will be more muted across all major asset classes than usual. The majority of European stocks were higher while currencies were more calm. In Asia, European stock futures rose by 0.1% while FTSE Futures rose by 0.2%. Wall Street futures, however, were affected...

The dollar fell on Thursday as traders began to weigh the possibility of a rate increase before the end of the year. Asian stocks also rose. The holiday-shortened week has resulted in limited movements across the markets. Stocks have maintained a generally positive tone, while currencies are more sedate. Investors have shrugged off AI bubble fears that had shaken equities early in November. The U.S. market is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday. It will reopen for a brief session on Friday. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan rose 0.4%, following Wall Street gains and on track to end a...

On Tuesday, global stocks rose and were on track for their third consecutive session of gains. Investors remained confident that the Federal Reserve will cut U.S. rates at its meeting in December, while U.S. Treasury Yields fell. Alphabet, Meta Platforms and other gains on Wall Street helped U.S. stock prices close higher. Google's parent company closed at $323.44, a record high. It is now close to $4 trillion market capitalization. This would make Google the fourth company in history to achieve this milestone. The Information reported Meta Platforms' 3.78% gain as the largest lift for the S&P 500. The company...

Investors piled into technology stocks on Tuesday, despite concerns that the sector was overheating. Investors believe that the AI-fueled tech boom will continue. MSCI's All-World Index rose for a 3rd day, lifting it off the two-month-lows of last week. Shares in Europe increased by 0.2%, and U.S. Stock Index Futures were either unchanged or slightly higher, after Monday's rally. RATE CUTTING BETS - RISING RATE The yield on 10-year Treasury Notes dropped nearly one basis point to 4.03%. Two-year yields, which are usually in line with traders’ expectations of lower Fed Fund rates, were stable at 3.49% in Europe after...