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Texas nuclear project talks with "hyperscalers"
In documents released on Tuesday, Fermi, an Texas-based company that wants to build four nuclear reactors next to the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex, stated it was in talks with large data managers about leasing agreements for this project. Fermi is a company co-founded Rick Perry, a U.S. former energy secretary. It wants to build 4 AP1000 reactors in a facility that it calls a "hypergrid." The 11 gigawatt facility, powered by nuclear energy, natural gas and renewables, will be built in Amarillo, near the Department of Energy Pantex nuclear weapons factory and in partnership with Texas Tech University. Fermi stated in its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the regulator made publicly available on Tuesday that it was in discussions with many Big Tech firms, also known as "hyperscalers", on letters of intention and term sheets or preliminary documents which are normally non-binding. According to the application, hyperscalers will be tenants and not owners of any part of the plant. Fermi didn't immediately respond to questions about the financial arrangements that are being discussed with Big Tech companies, or who or how many Hyperscalers they is in discussions with. The two last reactors in the U.S. built were AP1000 in Vogtle in Georgia. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, they cost a combined total of $30 billion. These plants were years behind schedule and cost billions more than projected. Nuclear supporters say that lessons learned will reduce the construction time and costs for future AP1000 reactors. Fermi stated in his application that the Donald J. Trump Generating Plant nuclear complex, also known as the Donald J. Trump Generating Plant will be eligible for funding from the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office. In his first term, the only time that the president used the LPO was to finance the Vogtle plant. Other plans for financing construction and operations include equity contributions from institutional investors in infrastructure and real estate, structured bond offerings and clean energy tax credit.
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US expedites permit for proposed Tennessee coal mining
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it had approved a coal mine proposal in Claiborne County Tennessee under a process expedited to speed up federal environmental reviews for energy projects. The Department of the Interior announced in a press release that it had granted Hurricane Creek Mining LLC approval to mine coal at Bryson mountain, located in Claiborne County Tennessee. The agency stated that the mine would produce up to 1 million tons of coal in the next decade. The site has been mined in various periods between 1950 and 2010. The rush permit aligns with the goal of President Donald Trump to increase coal mines as part his energy dominance agenda. Although the project is located on private property, it must still be approved by Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Hurricane Creek Mining was not available for immediate comment. Interior announced in April that it would implement a process of emergency permits for energy and mining project approvals, which typically takes months or even years. This week, the department has taken another step to support coal. Interior's Bureau of Land Management announced on Monday that it will be taking public comments on the opening of coal leasing in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming. The public can comment on the opening of lands that were off-limits for leasing by former president Joe Biden until August 7. Reporting by Nichola groom, Editing by Chizu nomiyama and Daniel Wallis
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Where does the US obtain its copper?
On Tuesday, U.S. president Donald Trump said that he would be announcing a new initiative. Imports of copper are subject to a 50% tariff Later in the day, a global industry, whose output is crucial for electric vehicles, military equipment, semiconductors, and a variety of consumer goods, was surprised. Trump had a February election. Ordered a Probe As part of efforts by the United States to rebuild its production of copper, there is a deadline of November for possible tariffs. The investigation, which was meant to evaluate the imports of copper concentrates, copper scrap, and copper alloys, was still ongoing. The U.S. Commerce Department's Howard Lutnick announced on Tuesday that the duties will likely be implemented by the end or August 1 of this year. What you should know about U.S. Copper Imports US IMPORTS Just over half of the refined copper that is consumed in the United States each year is produced domestically. Over two-thirds are mined in Arizona where the construction of a new massive mine has been held up for over a decade. The remainder of refined copper is imported, which amounts to just under 1 million metric tonnes per year. The White House has framed these new tariffs to counter China's dominance on the global market. However, in reality the United States imports the majority of its refined copper products from the Americas. According to the United States Geological Survey, more than 90% (90%) of copper refined imports were made by Chile, Canada, and Peru last year. GLOBAL PRODUCTION China is the world's largest copper refiner, but it gets most of its ore from Latin America. According to the USGS, Chile and Peru mined a combined third of global cobalt last year. China, however, is increasing its influence over the world copper mining industry through its major investment in mines located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to massive Chinese investments in the African nation's mining industry, the DRC has now overtaken Peru as the second largest copper producer in the world. The Chinese copper sector dwarfs the rest. Last year, the country operated dozens of copper-smelters. According to the USGS, there are only two primary copper-smelters in the United States.
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Stocks almost flat, yen continues to fall; Trump expands trade war
The major stock indexes showed little change on Tuesday, as investors digested Donald Trump's latest tariff announcement. Meanwhile, the yen continued to fall against the dollar due to planned 25% duties for goods coming from Japan. Trump expanded his global trade battle on Tuesday by announcing a tariff of 50% on imported copper and announcing that long-threatened duties on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and other goods would be coming soon. Freeport-McMoRan shares were up by 4%. Trump wrote to 14 countries on Monday, including Japan and South Korea. He warned that the United States would impose a sharply increased tariff rate for imports starting August 1. The market has not reacted as strongly as it did in the wake of Trump's announcement on tariffs in April. Market watchers predict that countries will seek to reach trade agreements with the United States prior to the new deadline. Sources said that European stocks held steady, and the European Union would not receive a letter outlining higher tariffs. The EU could also reach a deal with the United States by Wednesday. It's a slow day. Yesterday (Monday), people digested tariff news, and we noticed weakness. "People are on hold until second-quarter earnings start," said Peter Tuz of Chase Investment Counsel, Charlottesville, Virginia. S&P 500 companies are soon to report results for the quarter ending June 30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 156.46, or 0.35% to 44,249.90. The S&P 500 fell by 2.88, or 0.05% to 6,226.88. And the Nasdaq Composite grew by 13.72, or 0.07% to 20,426.23. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 0.03 points, to 919.96. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended the day up by 0.41%. The hope of trade agreements boosted risk appetite on Tuesday, as MSCI’s broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan rose by 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei recovered from its early losses and ended the day 0.26% higher. Southeast Asia's largest economies are facing some of the highest U.S. Tariffs. South Korean shares posted their biggest daily gain in the past two weeks, and the won strengthened by 0.4%. Since Trump in April capped what he termed reciprocal tariffs for trading partners to 10% for three-months, allowing for negotiation, the lack of progress has been a looming shadow over the markets. Two agreements have been made, with Britain, and Vietnam. In June, Washington and China reached an agreement on tariff rates. The minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting will be published on Wednesday. The central bank is taking a wait and see approach to monetary policies. The export-dependent Japanese currency, the yen, has fallen to a two-week-low of 146.65 against the dollar. It also fell against other currencies. The dollar gained 0.46% against the Japanese yen to reach 146.69. The Australian dollar rose as the central bank of Australia defied expectations by keeping its cash rate at 3.85%. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes increased by 2.2 basis points to 4.417% from 4.395% on Monday. U.S. crude oil rose by 40 cents, settling at $68.33 per barrel. Brent settled at $70.15 a barrel, an increase of 57 cents.
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Rescue teams find three additional bodies following central Texas flooding
According to Kerr County officials, the death toll has risen to 87 as three more bodies were recovered by search and rescue teams in the hills of central Texas that had been ravaged by floods. Teams from the federal government, states adjacent to Kerr County, and Mexico have joined efforts in search of survivors. The local effort has been hampered by downpours and thunderstorms. The teams are working through the missing persons lists and have yet to find a survivor since Friday. At least 109 people, including dozens children, have died in the floods. At a press conference, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baker from the Texas Game Wardens stated that the work was extremely dangerous and time-consuming. It's dirty. "The water is still there." The Guadalupe River was flooded by torrential rains that began before dawn Friday. It burst through its banks, killing dozens of people and leaving behind piles of trees, debris and cars. The local and federal emergency officials were questioned for days about whether or not they could have warned the flood-prone Texas Hill Country residents sooner. Sheriff Larry Leitha announced at a Kerr County press conference that 56 adults and 30 kids have died in the county. More than two dozen other victims are still unidentified. Authorities are still unsure if the 87th person is an adult or a child. Some flood victims slept at Camp Mystic near Hunt, a riverside Christian summer camp for girls. Five children and one counselor were still missing on Tuesday. The sheriff refused to answer questions regarding emergency management and preparedness in the county. He also declined to reveal who was responsible for monitoring weather alerts, issuing flood warnings or evacuation orders and distributing a flood order. He said that his office began receiving 911 calls at 4 am and 5 am on Friday morning, several hours after a local National Weather Service station had issued a flood alert. Leitha explained that they were in the process "of trying to put together" a timeline. According to local media and sheriffs, the floods have killed another 22 people. Seven of them were in Travis County; seven in Kendall County; five in Burnett County; two in Williamson County; and one in Tom Green County. A spokesperson for Republican President Donald Trump confirmed that he plans to visit the region devastated by flooding this week. Democrats in Washington are calling for an investigation to determine if the Trump administration's cuts at the National Weather Service impacted the agency's response. (Reporting from Jonathan Allen in New York, Rich McKay and Deepababington in Atlanta. Editing by Rod Nickel & Deepababington).
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EIA: US natgas production and demand will reach record highs by 2025 before declining in 2026
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday, predicted that the U.S. Natural Gas output and demand would both reach record highs by 2025. However, they will then decline in 2026. EIA projects that dry gas production will increase from 103.2 billion cubic feet per day in 2024, to 105.9 in 2025, before slipping to 105.4 in 2026. This compares to a record of 103.6 bcfd for 2023. The agency also predicted that domestic gas consumption will rise from 90.5 bcfd, a record in 2024, to 91.4bcfd by 2025 and then ease back to 91.1bcfd by 2026. The EIA's June forecast of 105.9 billion cubic feet per day for supply in 2025 has not changed, but its July forecast is higher than the 91.3 billion cubic feet per day forecast. The agency predicted that average U.S. LNG exports will reach 14.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025, and 16.0 billion cubic feet per day in 2026. This is up from 11.9 bcfd at a record in 2024. The EIA predicted that U.S. coal output would increase from 512.1 million short tonnes in 2024 - the lowest level since 1964 - to 519.9 millions tons in 2020, before dropping to 475.1million tons in 2030, the lowest level since 1962. EIA predicted that carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from fossil fuels will rise from a low of 4,777 billion metric tonnes in 2024, to 4.836 in 2025, as oil, gas and coal use increases. Then, the emissions would ease to 4.775 in 2026, as oil, gas and coal use decreases. (Reporting and Editing by Franklin Paul, David Gregorio and Scott DiSavino)
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Second quarter copper production at Ivanhoe Congo Mine jumps
Ivanhoe Mines said that its production at the Kamoa-Kakula Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo increased by 11% on an annual basis to 112,009 tons of copper during the second quarter. The output increased despite the seismic problems that disrupted operation earlier this year. The Canadian miner resumed its operations in June, and reduced its production guidance for 2025 by almost 30%. It now expects to produce between 370,000 and 420,000 tonnes. Open Mineral's Senior Africa Commercial Officer, Zack Hartwanger said: "Ivanhoe’s rapid ramp-up, and its steady outlook, underscore Kamoa Kakula's status as one of the world's lowest-cost, high-margin producers of copper." Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe's Executive Co-Chairman, said that "operational recovery plans" are in full swing at Kamoa/Kakula. Ivanhoe started mining low-grade areas in the western part of Kakula. It is currently producing ore that contains 3-4% copper. A two-stage dewatering program has been implemented to gain access to the eastern sections. According to the statement, mining operations on the west side resumed in early June and ramped up to 300,000.00 tons per month by the middle of June. The company announced that it would invest $70 million into high-capacity infrastructure for de-watering, and five submersible pump will arrive from China in the next month. Ivanhoe stated that mining in areas with a higher grade of copper (approximately 5%) on the western side would resume by the end of this year. The operational turnaround comes as Kamoa-Kakula prepares for the September ramp up of its 500,000-ton-per-annum copper concentrate facility. The first anode is expected to be produced in October. The facility will change the operation from an exporter of concentrates to a producer 99.7% pure Copper Anodes, according to the company. The Kamoa Kakula Complex is one of the largest copper mines in the world, and crucial to global supply due to the rising demand for energy transition metal. The copper price has risen by more than 8% this year in comparison to the same time last year. Yassin Kombi reported. Maxwell Akalaare Adombila contributed to the reporting and writing. Editing by Pratima Deai and Mark Potter.
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WGC reports that gold ETFs attracted the largest inflow for five years in the first half of 2025.
The World Gold Council reported that from January to June, physical gold exchange traded funds experienced their biggest semi-annual inflows since the first half 2020. Investors sought refuge from political and economic instability in gold ETFs after a trade war was sparked by President Donald Trump's tariff policies. These ETFs account for the majority of demand for precious metals. After three years of high interest rate outflows, the active first half of 2024 follows a modest inflow of net funds into gold ETFs. The WGC, a global industry group whose members are gold miners, reported that gold ETFs had an inflow in the first half 2025 of $38 billion. Their collective holdings increased by 397.1 tons of gold. The total amount of grain held by the end June was the highest since August 2022. The previous record was 3,915 tonnes in October 2020. According to the WGC, U.S. listed funds led inflows with 206.8 tonnes in the first six months, while Asia listed funds attracted 104.3 tons. The WGC reported that "despite slowing momentum in June and May, Asian investors purchased a record amount gold ETFs for the first half of this year, contributing a staggering 28% of net global flows, with only 9% the total assets managed around the globe." The spot gold price is up 26% in this year after hitting a record of $3,500 an ounce per troy. (Reporting and editing by Rod Nickel; Polina Devlin)
MORNING BID AMERICAS-Fed draws veil over post-election reducing
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and international markets from Mike Dolan
Faced with another month-to-month round of stubborn inflation and unpredictability about financial, tariff and migration policy ahead, the Federal Reserve is getting cagier about the level of further policy easing.
Fed manager Jerome Powell didn't offer much away in a. keenly-watched set-piece speech on Thursday, however made it clear. that the central bank still sees a robust economy and has a lot. of brand-new info to take on board in deciding simply just how much. further it should decrease rates of interest.
The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be. in a rush to lower rates, Powell stated at a Dallas Fed occasion.
With simply 18 months to the end of his latest term at the. helm of Fed, Powell seemed eager to avoid concerns on the. policy choices of Donald Trump's inbound administration -. reinforced as it was on Thursday by confirmation of a Republican politician. clean sweep of Congress.
We can do the arithmetic, Powell stated when asked on. possible tariff walkings on imports and curbs on immigration,. including this is getting me into political concerns that I actually. want to stay as far from as I perhaps can.
However on top of a hotter-than-forecast producer price report. for October and another drop in weekly out of work claims, the. rates of interest markets continued to pare back expectations for. Fed easing ahead. Retail and industrial numbers for October top. Friday's journal.
Futures now see simply a 60% possibility the Fed will cut rates. once again next month - and less than 3 quarter-point cuts are. now fully priced over the next year. Some financial experts are now. thinking Fed rates may not return below 4% in this cycle.
Both the 12-month Treasury bill rate and the. two-year note yield are now hovering simply under 4.4%,. with the 10-year standard simply off five-month highs. of about 4.45%.
And two-year market inflation expectations. are settling in about 2.5% - well above the Fed's. 2% target. And with money rates remaining elevated, cash market. fund possessions continue to swell - with properties under management. jumping more than $100 billion over the past week to another. record of $6.67 trillion.
Wall Street stocks halted their instant. post-election surge today and the dollar also saw its. first day-to-day retreat on Friday considering that the outcomes unfolded over a. week ago.
Attention changed to the state of other major economies,. with nerves jangling about the hazard of worldwide trade war.
China's latest financial health check showed a mixed bag of. soft industrial readings and upbeat retail development for last. month. However pervasive gloom about possible U.S. tariff hikes,. disappointment at current stimulus information and continuous home. sector concerns saw Chinese stocks drop once again.
Chinese annual home cost deflation deepened in October to. 5.9% - its most significant drop since 2015 - although the regular monthly. decline moderated a little to a fall of 0.5%. Residential or commercial property. financial investment in China also fell at a quicker 10.3% in the first 10. months of 2024 compared with 10.1% over January to September.
The CSI300 stock index lost almost 2% on Friday, completing. its worst week given that July - led by decreases in the realty. sector. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was just marginally in the. red, but clocked a sixth straight day of decreases.
The overseas yuan, nevertheless, livened up versus a. pulling back dollar as the 10-year yield premium on U.S. Treasuries over Chinese equivalents steadied at the best because. May.
The dollar also fell back versus Japan's yen, with. traders wary that excessive yen weakness may draw Bank of Japan. intervention and the current Japanese GDP readout above. forecasts. With an essential BoJ press conference due on Monday,. Financing Minister Katsunobu Kato said the authorities would take. appropriate action versus sharp exchange-rate relocations.
The darker global need outlook, however, has seen crude. oil rates fall back again despite this week's drop in. U.S. stocks.
Britain added to that cloud, revealing its economy contracted. all of a sudden in September and growth slowed to a crawl over the. third quarter - an early setback for financing minister Rachel. Reeves' aspirations to kick-start development.
In the euro zone, Germany's economy continues to be the huge. worry. Although the European Commission anticipated a fairly. vigorous 0.8% expansion for the euro location this year, it cut its. German price quote to reveal a 0.1% contraction.
European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel said the. ECB must continue to utilize rates of interest as its primary policy. tool and extraordinary steps such as bond purchasing or. significant 'forward assistance' ought to be utilized only moderately.
In business news, there was 6% rally in Walt Disney. after the home entertainment giant reported a quarterly earnings beat. and robust assistance.
On the flipside, shares of car manufacturer Tesla closed. down 5.8% and Rivian Automotive dropped 14.3% on. Thursday after Reuters reported that Trump's shift group is. preparing to kill the $7,500 customer tax credit for. electric-vehicle purchases as part of more comprehensive tax-reform. legislation.
In Europe on Friday, vaccine makers came under pressure. after Trump said he had picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an. ecological activist who has actually spread out misinformation on. vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Solutions.
In General, Wall Street stock futures were in the red. ahead of Friday's bell. Popular 'Trump trades', such as Bitcoin. , were firmer again but well off today's highs and the. leading cryptocurrency was back listed below the $90,000 level on. Friday
Key advancements that should provide more direction to U.S. markets in the future Friday:. * United States October retail sales, industrial production, import/export. prices, New york city Federal Reserve's November manufacturing. survey, September business/retail stocks. * New York City Fed President John Williams and Boston Fed chief. Susan Collins speak; European Reserve bank primary financial expert. Philip Lane speaks. * United States business earnings: Sysco, Progressive
(source: Reuters)