Latest News
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Brazil's Eletrobras now known as Axia Energia
The Brazilian power company Eletrobras has announced that it will change its name from Eletrobras to Axia Energia. This is a move it says won't affect any of the firm's contractual, business or regulatory obligations. Eletrobras said in a filing that the ticker for its ordinary shares listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange "ELET3", will change to "AXIA3", starting November 10. The new identity will gradually be incorporated into its communications and assets. The name change removes all references to Brazil as a result of the state owning the company. Eletrobras completed its privatization in mid-2022. However, the Brazilian government still owns almost 30% of total shares. Eletrobras has taken steps to distance itself from state-related issues in recent years. The firm, for example, last week Its stake in the state nuclear energy company Eletronuclear. It is responsible for 37% of all transmission lines and 17% of total power generation capacity in the country. The company has 81 installed plants with 47 hydroelectric, 32 wind, and one solar. In exchange for increased representation on the board of the company, the Brazilian government has pledged to stop questioning its 10% voting restriction in the firm, which is imposed by any shareholder or group. The former president Jair Bolsonaro privatized the company during the term of Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva. Reporting by Isabel Teles and Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Fernando Cardoso, Editing by Brendan O'Boyle & Diane Craft
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Netflix and gold stocks fall as Gold continues to decline
On Wednesday, gold prices fell again, just a day after it had experienced its biggest single-day decline in five years. Most major stock indices also declined, with Netflix's shares falling after disappointing outlook. Investors booked profits, and gold, which was one of the best performing trades for the year, fell. The price of gold is still on track to have its best year since 1979's oil crisis. It has risen more than 50% this year. Spot gold dropped 1.49%, to $4.062.39 per ounce. In afternoon trading, shares of Netflix fell about 10% and Wall Street's major indexes plunged sharply. Tesla's earnings will be released after the close of trading, kicking off the earnings season for the Magnificent 7 group of megacap companies. Tesla shares are down around 2.5%. Investors have also taken note of developments in the world of trade. reported According to three U.S. officials and a U.S. government official, the Trump administration has been considering a plan that would curb software-powered exports from China ranging from laptops to jet engine to punish Beijing for its latest round of restrictions on rare earth exports. Oliver Pursche is the senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors, located in Westport, Connecticut. He said that given the gains and sharp rally we have made in the past year, especially since April 1, combined with concerns about future economic growth, and the lack of data because of the government shutdown, "there's no need to move materially in either direction." But maybe, "you're taking some profits, you're doing some rebalancing," he added. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 392.08 points or 0.84% to 46,529.77. The S&P 500 declined 67.23 or 1.01% to 6,667.43. And the Nasdaq Composite was down 385.72 or 1.69% to 22,567.94. The MSCI index of global stocks fell 7.29 points or 0.73% to 987.56. The STOXX 600 Index fell by 0.18%. However, London stocks rose for the third day in a row as investors bet more on interest rate reductions from the Bank of England following data showing inflation remained steady. The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.9%. The yield on U.S. Treasury bonds fell, but the market remained range-bound. As the U.S. shutdown entered its 22nd day without a resolution in sight, the U.S. Treasury rates dropped. The yield of the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes dropped by 1 basis point to 3.953% from 3.963% at late Tuesday. Investors have priced in almost a full 25 basis-point cut to the Federal Reserve's rate when it meets next week. Due to the shutdown, there are no economic statistics from the United States. This could leave policymakers in a blindingly dark meeting. They may also be divided on which risks should receive the most attention. The yen increased against the dollar. According to sources, the new prime minister Sanae Takaichi has been preparing a stimulus package that will likely exceed last year's $139.19 billion (13.9 trillion yen) in order to help families combat inflation. Next week, the Bank of Japan will also meet. Like the ECB of Europe, it is expected that the central bank will maintain its current rate. The dollar index measures the greenback in relation to a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies. The dollar fell by 0.14%, to 98.84. The euro rose 0.15% to $1.1615. The dollar fell 0.18% against the Japanese yen to 151.66. The oil prices rose. U.S. crude oil rose by 2.25%, to $58.53 per barrel. Brent was up 2.05% for the day at $62.58 a barrel.
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Brazil keeps $4 billion after partial victory on Tupi Field dispute
The Solicitor General's Office announced on Wednesday that Brazil had won a partial win in an international dispute over the Tupi oilfield, against a Petrobras-Shell-Petrogal consortium. This allowed the country to retain tax payments of 22.2 billion Reais ($4.11billion) and keep the money. Arbitration court of the International Chamber of Commerce is mediating the dispute between Brazil's oil regulator ANP and the International Chamber of Commerce over the tax regulations that govern the size of the field. The court's decision is a slight defeat for Brazil. It also determined that compensation can be paid in other forms than cash payments in the future if the amount of compensation is higher by 30% than the quarterly deposits since 2019, when the federal court ruled to the government's benefit. Shell declined to make a comment. Petrobras (which owns a 65% share in the consortium) did not respond immediately to a comment request. Tupi is Brazil's national animal. highest Producing field with more than 1 million barrels equivalent of oil per day. The consortium claims that Tupi includes Cernambi as well. However, the government views them as a single large field whose oil revenue is taxed at a higher rate.
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Gold continues to fall as investors take profits before US inflation data
Investors booked profits before the U.S. key inflation data that is due this week, which will determine whether gold prices are still rising or falling. As of 01:42 pm, spot gold was down by 1.7%, at $4,054.34 an ounce. ET (1742 GMT) after reaching as high as $4,161.17 in earlier session. U.S. Gold Futures for December settled at $4,065.40 an ounce, a 1.1% decrease. Gold prices are at multiple record highs this year and have gained 57%. This is due to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty as well as expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts. Prices dropped 5.3% on the Tuesday after hitting a record-high of $4,381.21 during the previous session. David Meger is the director of metals at High Ridge Futures. The 21-day moving median at $4,005 is a technical support for gold. The core inflation rate is expected to remain at 3.1% for September, according to Friday's U.S. Consumer Price Index report. This report was delayed because of the U.S. Government shutdown. Investors are almost fully pricing in a rate cut of 25 basis points at the Federal Reserve meeting next week. In low-interest-rate environments, gold, which is a non-yielding investment, tends benefit. In the meantime, Russia announced on Wednesday that they were still preparing for an upcoming summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Investors also await clarity regarding the potential meeting next week between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping. "We maintain a bullish outlook for gold and silver into 2026, and following a much-needed correction/consolidation, traders will likely pause for thought before concluding the developments that drove the historic rallies this year has not gone away," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, in a note. Silver spot fell 1.6%, to $47.95 an ounce. It fell 7.1% on Monday. Palladium increased 0.1%, to $1 409 80, while platinum gained 4.5%, to $1 620.83.
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Orange Polska announces a worse-than expected Q3 profit decrease
Orange Polska reported a 10% worse than expected decline in its net profit for the third quarter due to increased finance costs. However, it confirmed its guidance for core earnings and revenue. The third quarter net profit was 228 million Zlotys (63 million dollars). The analysts polled expected a net profit of 250 million zlotys. The Polish division of France's Orange attributed the drop in profit to increased net finance costs after it purchased a 5G licence. Why it's important Orange Polska, with a market capitalisation of 12.20 billion zlotys (approximately $9.04 billion zlotys), is the biggest listed telecoms in Poland. By the Numbers The third-quarter revenue increased 9.3% on an annual basis to 3,33 billion zlotys. Core earnings (EBITDAaL), however, grew by 2.9% to $899 million, due to cost control and strong direct margins. The company added 108,000 new mobile customers during the quarter. KEY QUOTES "We are happy that customer net additions have exceeded 100,000 for the first few years, particularly in mobile (...)." In a press statement, CEO Liudmila Climac said. She added, "The results achieved in the last nine-months give us high confidence to reach this year's guidelines." (Reporting and editing by Matt Scuffham; Marta Maciag)
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Gold continues to fall as investors take profits before US inflation data
Investors booked profits before the U.S. key inflation data that is due this week, which will determine whether gold prices are still rising or falling. As of 11:19 am, spot gold was down by 2%, at $4,038.89 an ounce. After reaching as high as $4,161.17 in earlier sessions, ET (1519 GMT) was the next session. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 1.3%, to $4055.40 an ounce. Gold prices are at multiple record highs this year and have gained 54%. This is due to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty as well as expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts. Prices dropped 5.3% on the Tuesday after hitting a record-high of $4,381.21 during the previous session. David Meger is the director of metals at High Ridge Futures. The 21-day moving median at $4,005 is a technical support for gold. The core inflation rate is expected to remain at 3.1% for September, according to Friday's U.S. Consumer Price Index report. This report was delayed because of the U.S. Government shutdown. Investors are almost fully pricing in a rate cut of 25 basis points at the Federal Reserve meeting next week. In low-interest-rate environments, gold, which is a non-yielding investment, tends benefit. In the meantime, Russia announced on Wednesday that they were still preparing for an upcoming summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Investors also await clarity regarding the potential meeting next week between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping. "We maintain a bullish outlook for gold and silver into 2026, and following a much-needed correction/consolidation, traders will likely pause for thought before concluding the developments that drove the historic rallies this year has not gone away," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, in a note. Silver spot fell 1.3%, to $48.12 an ounce. It fell 7.1% on Monday. Palladium, which is also known as platinum, rose by 0.1% to $1,409.45, while platinum fell 0.3%.
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EU to set price controls on new carbon market
In a letter to the European Union's climate chief, it was revealed that the EU is working on measures to control the prices of its new carbon market. This is in response to concerns from governments about the possibility that the scheme to reduce emissions could lead to higher fuel costs. Policy is to be implemented in 2027 to charge for the planet-heating emission produced by transport and heating fuels. This will encourage people to switch to cleaner heating systems and electric vehicles. The revenue from the scheme will be used to help people pay their bills, subvention electric cars and make energy-saving renovations in homes. Some governments are concerned that the measure could stoke citizen opposition to climate policies if perceived as a way to increase their bills. This year, a group of 19 countries, including the Czech Republic and Germany, asked Brussels to implement stricter price controls. In a response to the requests, EU climate commissioner Wopke H. Hoekstra wrote: "I share your concerns about the uncertainty of future price levels in ETS2 and the price volatility therein. The new EU Carbon Market is designed to release extra permits into the market if the price of CO2 reaches 45 euros. This will help lower prices. Proposal to DOUBLE the number of permits released Hoekstra stated that the Commission would propose to double the number of permits issued in this scenario, potentially reaching up to 80 millions per year in the years 2027-2028-2029. The letter, dated 21 October, stated that "this will more effectively address unwarranted prices rises and improve the market confidence, which are key for planning decarbonisation investment." The Commission will propose to launch carbon permits auctions in 2026 to give governments funds to jump-start investments that help people switch to cleaner technologies. The Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala welcomed the plans on Wednesday, but he said that he wished Brussels would go further and delay launching the carbon market. Leaders of EU countries will meet on Thursday to discuss the bloc's 2040 climate goal. They will focus on the funding and policies needed to help businesses and citizens achieve the target. (Reporting and editing by Ed Osmond; Additional reporting by Jan Lopatka & Jason Hovet)
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Belgium considers energy limits to power data centres that are consuming a lot of electricity as AI demand increases
The Belgian grid operator said it could limit the amount of electricity allocated to data centres in order to protect other industrial users. This was due to a surge in energy-intensive AI facilities. According to the reforms proposed by Elia, data centers would be put in a different category, allowing grid capacity to specifically be allocated for them, within a certain limit. The operator added that this would allow for flexible connections in cases where grid congestion may limit access. As major tech companies spend billions on AI and data centres, nations around the globe scramble to meet the sudden energy demand required to operate the buildings. This is expected to push power consumption to new records over the next two-years. Elia reported that in Belgium, data centre requests have increased nine-fold from 2022. The capacity reserved for 2034 is already more than twice the 8 terawatt hours envisioned by national grid development plans. The report said that "such volumes were not expected during the development of various grid development scenarios in Belgium's electric network," and stressed the need to stop speculative development which is unlikely to materialise by blocking grid capacity. Mathieu Bhet, Minister of Energy in France, told the Parliament earlier this week that the federal grid development plan 2028-2038 will address the evolution of data centres consumption. He said Tuesday that he would pay special attention to the issue during the approval of the plan. Google, the U.S. technology giant, plans to invest $5.80 billion in Belgium to expand its data centres campuses and support its AI strategies. (Reporting and editing by MuvijaM; Alban Kacher)
Baltimore port: What effect will bridge collapse have on shipping?
A significant bridge collapsed in the U.S. port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, plunging vehicles into the river listed below.
Traffic was suspended at the port until additional notification, Maryland transportation authorities said.
PORT INCLUDES
It is the deepest harbor in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, closer to the Midwest than other East Coast ports, with 5 public and 12 private terminals, according to Maryland federal government site.
It is among the tiniest container ports on the Northeastern seaboard, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert Lars Jensen.
The Port of New York City and New Jersey dealt with around 2 million containers because very same duration, and Norfolk Port in Virginia managed 850,000, so the flow of containers to Baltimore can likely be redistributed to bigger ports, Jensen said.
PRESENT STATUS OF CARGO SHIPS INSIDE PORT
More than 40 ships remained inside Baltimore port, including little freight ships, yank boats and enjoyment craft, information from ship tracking and maritime analytics service provider MarineTraffic shows.
At least 30 other ships had indicated their destination was Baltimore, the data revealed.
IMPORTS
It is the busiest U.S. port for automobile shipments, dealing with more than 750,000 lorries in 2023, according to information from the Maryland Port Administration.
The port handles imports and exports for major car manufacturers including Nissan, Toyota, General Motors , Volvo Automobile, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen, including high-end models for Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley.
It is likewise the biggest U.S. port by volume for handling farm and building machinery, along with agricultural products.
Imports of farming items amounted to 3 million tonnes in 2015, consisting of 1.2 million of sugar and salt, along with plaster, fertilisers and forest products, according to Ishan Bhanu, lead farming commodities analyst at Kpler.
U.S. sugar company ASR Group, which runs a refinery near the center of Baltimore, said it does not anticipate short-term impacts to its operations.
Other leading imports were paper/paperboard and plywood/veneer/particle board, the Maryland authority site programs.
EXPORTS
The Curtis Bay Piers coal terminal is around 3 miles from the highway which ran over the bridge.
During the very first 9 months of 2023, Baltimore was the second-biggest port for U.S. coal exports, behind Norfolk, Virginia, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Info Administration (EIA).
Baltimore exported about 20.3 million short lots of coal, up from 14.3 million short lots during the exact same period in 2022.
About 13.3 million short lots of exports from Baltimore during the first nine months of 2023 were steam coal and 7.0 million short heaps were metallurgical coal
The Baltimore port also exports smaller quantities of other minerals and metals.
Other top export commodities by weight in 2022 were melted gas (LNG), waste-paper, ferrous scrap, and automobiles/light trucks, according to Maryland federal government information.
Cove Point, which is upstream from the bridge, is the closest LNG terminal. Operator BHE GT&S was not instantly available for remark.
ICIS ship tracking data reveals Cove Point normally exports about 500,000 tonnes of LNG each month.
CRUISE LINER
It is likewise a cruise terminal, with operators Norwegian , Carnival and Royal Caribbean, all utilizing the port for Caribbean, Canadian, and other Atlantic destinations.
In 2023, cruises carrying more than 444,000 guests left from the port, the Maryland federal government website says.
LONDON METAL EXCHANGE STORAGE FACILITIES
In Baltimore storage facilities registered with the London Metal Exchange, there are 756 metric lots of nickel, 150 tons of tin and 50 lots of copper, LME information shows.
BUNKER FUEL
Bunker fuel traders said deliveries to the port of Baltimore and Annapolis Anchorage are likely to be affected from the suspension of traffic and ports in Pennsylvania and Virginia might function as potential bunkering alternatives.
This might affect vessel schedules and may lead to an boost in bunker fuel prices at the alternative ports, depending on for how long the port of Baltimore stays unattainable.
(source: Reuters)