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Japan's Nikkei rallies on fresh optimism over AI, Iran peace talks
The Nikkei 225 index rose more than 3.5% Thursday, the biggest gain in two-weeks, thanks to renewed interest in 'technology stocks' and a easing of geopolitical tensions related to?the Iran War. If the current momentum continues, the benchmark Nikkei Index will be on track for its biggest daily gain since May 7 if it maintains this pace. The Topix index rose 2.21% to 3,875.34. The Nikkei was up ahead of Wall Street's gains before earnings from AI bellwether Nvidia. Nvidia forecasted sales that exceeded market expectations. Oil prices fell sharply overnight after U.S. president Donald Trump announced that negotiations to end war in Iran are?in their final stages, alleviating supply concerns. Investor confidence?was also boosted by the averted strike at Samsung Electronics that could have disrupted South Korea’s economy and global supply of chips, as well as reports that OpenAI was preparing to become public. SoftBank Group, a major shareholder in the AI company and other ventures, surged up to its daily maximum. "The market is being led by AI ?and semiconductor-related shares following developments including the avoidance of ?a strike at ?Samsung Electronics and Nvidia's earnings," said Wataru Akiyama, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities. We're seeing gains in a variety of sectors as a result of the fall in crude oil prices. The Nikkei Index saw 156 advancing stocks versus 69 declining ones. SoftBank Group was the largest percentage gainer, with a 19.9% increase, followed by Socionext which increased 17.2% and Ibiden trading at 15.2%.
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Chile's Codelco dismisses a senior executive following an internal audit of its 2025 production report
Codelco, the largest copper miner in the world, announced on Wednesday that it had fired one executive and taken disciplinary action against others after an audit of the incorrect reporting of the 2025 production report. Codelco reported that it found a group of 7 executives and 1 former executive responsible for the incorrect reporting. It also reported the incident to the public prosecutor's office to determine if there was any criminality. Codelco's internal audit found no?reasons for modifying its 2025 financial statement. Codelco reported that the?audit was a result of a complaint filed in March regarding the reporting by its Chuquicamata Division of 20,000 tons of ore and 6,875 tonnes of ore at its Ministro Hales Mine. The materials were still undergoing processing and therefore should not be reported as finished goods. Chile's mining minister?Daniel Mas said on X that "Codelco has gotten out of control." "In the Government of President Jose Antonio Kast, we have the Duty?to Bring Back Transparency and Tell Chileans the Truth." He said, "That's the?mandate for the new _directors." The Chilean newspaper "Diario Financiero" reported the irregularities last week.
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CORRECTED - China aluminium wire exports increase as war-driven rally and tax gap drive shipments
Customs data on Wednesday showed that China's exports for aluminium stranded wire increased in April. The rise in prices was largely due to the Iran War, and a tax loophole encouraged traders and producers to ship more metal in processed form, rather than ingots. Customs data released Wednesday show that in?April?China exported 15,565 tons of aluminium-stranded cable, wire and similar products excluding steel core material. This is up 166% compared to a year ago and almost 95% compared to March. Two sources familiar with the matter say that aluminium stranded cable is usually used for power transmission and distribution. However, traders are now looking to use it to export aluminum after the rally opened up an arbitrage opportunity. They requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak in public. Sources said that the product qualifies for a value-added tax refund of?13%, while unwrought aluminum faces an export duty of 30%. One of them is interested in 'getting involved' in this business. Sources said that some traders purchase aluminium ingots in China, and then send them to wire producers for processing into stranded cable before export. Buyers overseas will need to remelt the ingots to make items like aluminium bar and alloy. The export boom was also driven by higher overseas prices. The Iran War has driven LME Aluminium up by more than 13%. It has disrupted shipments through Strait of Hormuz, and damaged aluminium facilities located in the Gulf which provide nearly 9% of worldwide supply. Analysts expected China's semi-fabricated and manufactured aluminium product exports to increase as higher overseas prices opened up a?export window. Customs data revealed that South Korea, which had almost no shipments in March, was the number one destination for?Chinese aluminum stranded?wire in April. Vietnam was ranked second with shipments increasing to 2,288 tonnes, almost five times the level in March and nearly 30 times that of a year ago. Exports to Algeria increased to 1,340 tonnes from 36.7 tons last month, while shipments into Ethiopia rose to 1,124 ton from 254 ton. South Korea, Vietnam and?Algeria, together, accounted for almost half of China's April exports. Data also revealed shipments to countries that rarely purchased the product in the past. Japan received 457 tonnes in April, compared to just 4 tons over the 15 previous months. (Reporting from Dylan Duan and Lewis Jackson).
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China's aluminium wire exports increase as a war-driven rally and tax gap drive shipments
Customs data on Wednesday showed that China's exports for aluminium stranded wire increased in April. The rise in prices was largely due to the Iran War, and a tax loophole encouraged traders and producers to ship more metal in processed form, rather than ingots. Customs data released Wednesday show that in?April?China exported 15,565 tons of aluminium-stranded cable, wire and similar products excluding steel core material. This is up 166% compared to a year ago and almost 95% compared to March. Two sources familiar with the matter say that aluminium stranded cable is usually used for power transmission and distribution. However, traders are now looking to use it to export aluminum after the rally opened up an arbitrage opportunity. They requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak in public. Sources said that the product qualifies for a value-added tax refund of?13%, while unwrought aluminum faces an export duty of 30%. One of them is interested in 'getting involved in this business. Sources said that some traders purchase aluminium ingots in China, and then send them to wire producers for processing into stranded cable before export. Buyers overseas will need to remelt the ingots to make items like aluminium bar and alloy. The export boom was also driven by higher overseas prices. The Iran War has driven LME Aluminium up by more than 13%. It has disrupted shipments through Strait of Hormuz, and damaged aluminium facilities located in the Gulf which provide nearly 9% of worldwide supply. Analysts expected China's semi-fabricated and manufactured aluminium product exports to increase as higher overseas prices opened up a?export window. Customs data revealed that South Korea, which had almost no shipments in March, was the number one destination for stranded aluminium wire from China in April. Vietnam was ranked second with shipments increasing to 2,288 tonnes, almost five times 'the level in March and nearly 30 times that of a year ago. Exports to Algeria increased to 1,340 tonnes from 36.7 tons last month, while shipments into Ethiopia increased to 1,124 ton from 254 ton. South Korea, Vietnam and?Algeria, together, accounted for almost half of China's April exports. Data also revealed shipments to countries that rarely purchased the product in the past. Japan received 457 tonnes in April, compared to just 4 tons over the 15 previous months. (Reporting from Dylan Duan and Lewis Jackson).
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Shares rise on Nvidia earnings and Samsung strike suspension
Stocks rose on Thursday as some vessels resumed their passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, forecast-beating Nvidia results and a suspended workers' strike by Samsung Electronics boosted?shares of the chipmakers. The MSCI broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan rose 1.2% to end a four-day losing streak. Meanwhile, the KOSPI soared over 4%. Brent crude futures rose 0.7% in Asia to $105.76 per barrel, retracing their declines following the passage of three supertankers through the Strait on Wednesday. Iran also consolidated control over the waterway. Wall Street saw the S&P500 rise 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite rally 1.5%, after three days of declines. President Donald Trump stated that the United States would be ready to continue with more attacks against Iran if Tehran refused to agree to a peaceful deal. However, he suggested Washington wait a couple days until it "got the right answers." Analysts at Westpac said in a report that "Oil prices fell and other major markets rallied as investors were comforted by headlines quoting Trump as saying the U.S. is in the final stages" with Iran. Asian chipmakers' stocks rose on Wednesday after Nvidia announced a better-than expected revenue forecast. CEO Jensen Huang wanted to assure investors that world's largest company, Nvidia, could sustain a blockbuster increase in demand for their flagship AI chips. Dan Ives is the global head of technology at Wedbush in New York. He said, "The chipscape remains Nvidia’s world, with everyone else paying rent. Nvidia shares dropped 1.1% during extended trading while S&P500 e-minis futures fell 0.5%. Tony Sycamore is a market analyst with IG Sydney. He said that the market's response was "relatively muted" by his own high standards. The lack of China sales in the outlook, and guidance that only modestly exceeded expectations left some investors wanting more fireworks. Samsung Electronics shares in Seoul jumped more than 6% following the union's announcement that it would suspend its industrial action if a tentative wage agreement was reached with the company. This prevented a strike of nearly 48,000 employees, which threatened South Korea's economic growth and the global supply of?chips. The Nikkei index rose 1.9% in Japan after S&P Global’s flash manufacturing PMI expanded a?slower rate than a?month earlier. It?slipped to 54.5 from 55.1 last month. Data from the Finance Ministry showed that Japanese exports increased 14.8% on an annual basis in April. This was the eighth consecutive month of growth, and dispelled fears about a global economic stagflation. Australian shares rose 1.5%, despite mixed leading indicators. Flash PMI data showed that activity in Australia's service sector slowed in May to 47.7 from 50.7 one month earlier. However, a manufacturing gauge remained at 50.2, which is just above the threshold separating growth from contraction. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond in the United States increased 1.9 basis points, to 4.588%. This is a return to growth after a three-day decline. The minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting on April 28-29 showed that policymakers were more concerned about inflation last month. Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $77,453.44, and ether dropped 0.3% to $2,127.53. (Reporting and editing by Jacqueline Wong; Gregor Stuart Hunter)
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Oil prices rebound on the uncertainty surrounding the Iran peace agreement and inventory reductions
The oil prices recovered on Thursday, after two days of losses. This was due to supply concerns arising from the uncertainty surrounding the end of the Iran War and the U.S. inventory withdrawal which raised fears about the depletion of global stocks. Brent crude futures grew 81 cents or 0.77% to $105.83 a barrel by 0055 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate futures rose 97 cents or 0.99% at $99.23. Both benchmarks fell more than 5.6% after U.S. president Donald Trump announced that negotiations with Iran are in their final stages. He also threatened to launch further attacks against Iran if they refused to agree to a peaceful deal. Iran warned against any further attacks and announced measures to consolidate its control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that before the war transported oil and liquefied gas equaling about 20% of world consumption. It has since been mostly closed. Analyst at Haitong Futures, Yang An said: "The sharp fall in oil prices appears to be pricing the possibility of a breakthrough" in the negotiations. Yang stated that if Trump insists upon?making no compromises to Iran then an agreement is unlikely and the outcome of the negotiation could'reverse sharply. The?Iran announced on Wednesday a new "Persian Gulf Strait Authority" that would create a "controlled marine zone" along the Strait of Hormuz. Iran closed the Strait as a retaliation for the U.S. attacks and Israeli attacks which started the conflict on February 28. The majority of fighting has stopped following an April ceasefire, but the U.S. is blocking its coast. Supply losses in the Middle East region due to the war has forced countries into a rapid withdrawal of their strategic and commercial inventories, causing concern about the draining. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that the U.S. withdrew almost 10 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve last week. This was the largest drawdown in history. The EIA said that commercial crude inventories dropped by 7.9m barrels, to 445m barrels last weekend. This was compared with analyst expectations of a 2.9m barrel draw. Gasoline inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels while distillates increased by 372,000 barrels. Mingyu Gao is the chief researcher for energy and chemicals, at China Futures. Gao stated that "global refined-product inventories and onshore crude stocks are expected to drop below their lowest levels in this time of the year for the last five years by late may and late juin," Gao said. (Reporting and editing by Lewis Jackson, Sam Li)
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Arafura opens the way for Australia's 1st ore-to -oxide rare Earths plant
Arafura Rare Earths announced on Thursday that it had made a final investment decision for the development of 'Nolans' project in Australia's Northern Territory. This would be 'the country's 'first 'fully integrated ore to oxide rare earths 'operation. The company's shares rose 13.6% intraday to A$0.335, their highest intraday gain since 11 March. As of 0046 GMT, the benchmark index was up by 1.7%. The Nolans project is designed ?to deliver 4,440 metric tons of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide annually, targeting markets outside China ?amid growing demand for rare earths used in electric vehicles and wind ?turbines. Arafura announced that Hatch, an engineering contractor, has been hired to support the development. Site works and early contractor mobilization are expected in advance of a construction start planned for September. The final investment decision comes after a multiyear financing and offtake plan that secured binding agreements from institutions backed by sovereigns in four countries along with supply agreements with global manufactures. The package of financing includes an equity raise of A$481million ($343.87million), A$230million in equity subscriptions by?Germany’s state-owned Development Bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau and Export Finance Australia, and a A$200million convertible notes term sheet with the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation. The funding is part of a 'Western push' to develop rare earth supply chains outside the top producer China with international partners. The Australian government’s Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, administered in partnership by?EFA has issued a nonbinding letter to support the potential rights to receive up to 500 tonne per year of ndPr from the project, according to the firm. The CMSR ensures that Australia and its key international partners are supplied with critical minerals.
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SpaceX IPO filing lays bare its losses and Musk's control as it stakes its future on AI
SpaceX released its IPO on Wednesday. It revealed to investors how much Elon Musk loses on?artificial Intelligence, while betting on the future of the company by transforming it into a rocket maker that is a powerhouse in AI. SpaceX's future depends on dominating markets and technologies that don't yet exist, from AI data centers to Mars missions. Musk's track record of turning Tesla into the world's most valuable automaker, developing the first reusable rocket and the largest satellite network and making it the most valuable company in the industry is enough for many to justify investing. Musk has tightened his grip on SpaceX with this filing, while shareholders have little influence over his decisions. The filing shows how important AI has become since the purchase of xAI in February, which was the main driver of spending by the company and the majority of its losses during the first quarter. This listing could be the first U.S. debut over $1 trillion, and immediately make SpaceX the most valuable public company in the world. In the first quarter of this year, only one division of SpaceX, the connectivity segment powered through satellite internet unit Starlink, was profitable. Starlink's operating profit was $1.19 Billion, but that wasn't good enough to stop the company from recording a total loss of 1.94 Billion in the first quarter. The revenue for the quarter was $4.69 Billion. The AI division alone accounted for a loss of $2.47 billion on revenue of $818 million. Musk's acquisition of his AI and social media company xAI has given SpaceX new capabilities, but also a staggering amount in spending. It accounted for 76% in its first-quarter capital expenditure of $10.1 billion, and it led to fresh losses. According to the filing, the company relies on technologies that have not been developed for much of its revenue stream in future. This includes operating data centers powered with solar power from space to reach a market worth $28.5 trillion. The filing confirmed recent reports about the IPO. The IPO was the subject of a number of reports. SpaceX, founded in 2002, has become the largest space company by launching thousands Starlink internet satellites. SpaceX's use of reusable launchers has revolutionized the economics of space and forced competitors such as Jeff Bezos Blue Origin to catch up. A successful sale of shares could put the company's value at $1.75 trillion, a record. This would make its founder the first billionaire in history. Musk will retain 85.1% combined voting power for the company. The disclosure by the company comes at a crucial time for the rocket maker. It is about to launch its next-generation Starship rocket, and it's a very important week. Musk has been given control of the company by the board, which has also tied Musk's compensation to the audacious goals of building a permanent colony of humans on Mars, and space data centers powered by 100 terawatts or 100,000 1-gigawatt nuclear power reactors. SpaceX aims to list its shares by June 12. A roadshow is planned for June 4, and the sale of shares could begin as soon as June 11. 'HALO EFFECT' Analysts and academics have said that Musk's celebrity as a CEO may be more important to some investors than SpaceX’s fundamental business, since there are no comparable companies to compare its valuation to. Reena Aggarwal is a finance professor from Georgetown University. She said that there was a "halo" effect surrounding Musk and his unconventional views. It is hard to value companies of this nature because there are no comparables. If achieved, the $1.75 trillion target would surpass Saudi Aramco’s 2019 offering. It set a world record as the largest IPO at $1.7 trillion when it was launched on Riyadh’s exchange. SpaceX was reported to have planned to raise $75 billion or more in the offering. The prospectus revealed that SpaceX would use a dual share structure, giving Class B shareholders a total of 10 votes, which will concentrate control with Musk and a few other insiders. Class A shares will be sold to the public, but will only have one vote. The company adopted a number of provisions which, when taken together, severely restrict'shareholder rights. They include forcing legal claims to be resolved through arbitration, limiting where cases can be filed, and protecting Musk against being fired by anyone but Musk. The size of the offering brought attention to Musk's increasingly interconnected business empire. This includes the leading electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla as well as his businesses for AI and brain-chip implant. SpaceX merged into Musk's AI company?xAI as part of a deal valued at $1 trillion. The developer of Grok, the chatbot developed by SpaceX, was valued at $250 billion. SpaceX signed deals with Anthropic, paying $1.25 billion per month for the use of its Colossus II and Colossus data center clusters located in Memphis, Tennessee, through May 2029. The company revealed that it was named as a defendant to multiple lawsuits stemming from the image generation and editing features of its AI chatbot Grok. SPACE RACE INTENSIFYING As private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin vie to reduce launch costs, deploy satellite networks, and win government contracts, the race to commercialize outer space has intensified. Starlink is the largest satellite operator in the world. The network of about 10,000 satellites provides broadband internet for consumers, government and enterprise customers. The company's growing footprint in aviation, maritime, and enterprise markets helps turn capital-intensive projects into a revenue generator. SpaceX will allocate a large portion of its shares to retail investors, and it plans to host 1,500 at an event scheduled for June. This was reported in April. The company will be listed on Nasdaq, Nasdaq Texas and the Nasdaq Global under the ticker "SPCX." Bookrunners include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as well as Bank of America, Citigroup, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan.
TBS: Japan considers an extra budget of $19 billion
TBS, a Japanese broadcaster, said that Japan was considering a supplementary?budget of about 3 trillion yen (19 billion dollars) for the current fiscal year in order to prepare for a prolonged Middle?East crisis.
The report was released after Prime Minister Sanae Takayichi said on Monday that she had asked the cabinet to consider a supplementary fund to help cushion the blow to the economy caused by the Iran War.
TBS reported that the extra budget of 3 trillion yen was one idea being floated by the government. About 500 billion yen from the amount would be used to fund the rollout?of gas and utility subsidies starting in July.
It added that the government would issue new debt in order to finance its spending. However, rising tax revenues could allow it to limit issuance.
The Japanese finance ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Japan uses existing funds to subsidise utility bills and may revive them.
The extra budget will be added to the record 122 trillion-yen 'budget' for the fiscal period that began in April. This is the core of the expansionary fiscal policies pursued by the premier.
Critics say that a combination of more spending plans and slow rate 'hikes' by the Bank of Japan could increase inflationary pressures in an economy already experiencing rising energy prices from the Middle East war, as well as higher import costs due to a weaker yen.
The yields on Japanese government bonds (JGBs) jumped to multi-decade records this week, partly due to concerns about the country's worsening financial situation. Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Editing by Himani sarkar and Clarence Fernandez.
(source: Reuters)