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Stocks rise with tech shares, dollar falls after recent gains
The major stock indexes rose Thursday as investors awaited more developments in the U.S. China trade dispute, and the dollar fell after recent gains. Alphabet is expected to release its quarterly results after the closing bell. Alphabet has been up by 1.9%. S&P's technology sector led all other sectors in the S&P index with gains of about 3%. Donald Trump, the U.S. President, said that on Thursday trade talks were underway between the U.S.A. and China. This was in response to Chinese claims that there had been no discussion about easing the ongoing trade conflict. Beijing said that earlier, the U.S. would have to remove "all unilateral tariff measures" against China if they "truly wanted" the solution of the trade dispute. On Wednesday, the White House signaled that it would be open to reducing tariffs against China. Trump's tariff plan has caused a lot of volatility in the markets over the past few weeks. Thomas Martin, Senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Atlanta said: "There is still a great deal of volatility. But add to that a market that has been oversold in virtually every measure." The first-quarter earnings report has been mixed. Businesses across industries have said they are increasing prices and are uncertain about the future because of Trump's policies and trade war. Unilever, the maker of Dove soap, pointed to a deteriorating consumer confidence in the United States. Meanwhile, shares of International Business Machines plummeted after the company announced that 15 of its government contract were put on hold as part of a cost-cutting initiative by the Trump Administration. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 414.12 or 1.05% to 40,021.52, while the S&P 500 gained 95.32 or 1.78% to 5,471.18. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite grew 395.37 or 2.37% to 17,103.42. The economic data released on Thursday revealed, among other things that the number of Americans who filed new claims for unemployment benefits increased marginally in the last week. This suggests the labor market is still resilient. The MSCI index of global stocks rose 10.45 points or 1.29% to 818.66. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up by 0.36%. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5%. Ryosei Acazawa, the Japanese tariff negotiator, was reportedly making final preparations to visit the United States on April 30 for a second round with his counterpart. Investors also considered the possibility that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates for the first time in June. Beth Hammack, President of the Fed Bank of Cleveland, called on Thursday for patience in monetary policy, given the high level of uncertainty. However, she did not exclude a rate cut by June depending on economic indicators. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes dropped 7.8 basis points from 4.387% to 4.309% late Wednesday. In the past week, Trump made verbal criticisms of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and then withdrew calls for his resignation. The dollar weakened against major currencies. The dollar was down 0.63% to $1.1383. The dollar fell 0.58% against the Japanese yen to 142.61. Gold spot prices rose, and oil prices rose too as investors took into account the falling dollar. Brent crude futures gained 43 cents or 0.7% to settle at $66.55 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), which settled at $62.75, rose by 52 cents or 0.8%.
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Ukraine's Marchenko: We are working as fast as we can to seal the US Minerals Pact
Ukraine and the United States have yet to resolve issues before signing a crucial minerals agreement. But Kyiv officials continue to work to close a deal as quickly as possible, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marenko said on Thursday. Marchenko, along with other Ukrainian officials, met on Wednesday with U.S. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent to discuss the deal as well as ongoing questions regarding Russian assets that have been frozen and held in the West ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. A memorandum was signed by the two countries a week earlier as a first step in achieving an agreement to expand economic cooperation. This includes the development of minerals resources in Ukraine. However, this has been elusive. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has been promoting this deal ever since he began his second term as president in January. Both sides were ready to sign an agreement on natural resources in February, but the deal was delayed and then revised after a heated Oval Office discussion between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump said last week that he expected a deal to be completed on Thursday. But Marchenko stated he didn't expect one this week. He and other senior Ukrainian officials are currently in Washington attending the Spring Meetings for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Marchenko told an audience at the Ukrainian Embassy that "there was progress" and that now, our teams work very closely together. He said that "there are still questions we are discussing", without giving any further details. He said later that day: "We're working as quickly as we can to finalize the agreement." However, he did not give a specific deadline for the signing of the contract. He insisted that the talks would continue despite the attacks by Russia on Kyiv over night, saying they were unrelated. Treasury announced the meeting on Thursday with Ukrainian officials, and stressed the importance of signing the economic partnership as soon as possible. Trump wants a deal that would give the United States exclusive access to Ukraine's minerals and natural resources. He sees this as recompense for military assistance provided by former president Joe Biden. Washington said that it would abandon efforts to broker a deal between Russia Ukraine unless clear signs of progress were seen soon. Marchenko said Bessent also wants the issue of Russian assets that have been frozen - and which Kyiv claims should be handed over to Ukraine as payment for war damages - to become part of wider discussions. (Reporting and editing by Karin Strohecker, Diane Craft and Andrea Shalal)
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Valero will close Benicia refinery because of high costs and a tough regulatory environment
Valero Energy on Thursday said it would cease operations at its 170,000-barrel-per-day San Francisco-area oil refinery next year amid worries about California's declining fuel supplies and high gasoline prices. The refinery in Benicia will be able to continue operating until the end of 2026, after the refinery based in San Antonio, Texas, announced last week its intention to "idle or restructure" the refinery by that date. Valero said that it recorded a pre-tax impairment of $1.1 billion for its California refineries. Valero CEO Lane Riggs said that the challenging regulatory and enforcement environments was the reason for Valero's decision to cease operations. Benicia is the latest refinery to close in California. Phillips 66 announced in October that it would close its refinery near Los Angeles by the end this year. Phillips 66 converted its Rodeo refining facility into a renewables-production facility last year. California has some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation due to its reliance on imported fuel to compensate for a declining supply. California Governor Gavin Newsom told state officials this week to increase efforts to ensure reliable fuel supplies for California. Riggs, who spoke on Thursday in a conference call with analysts, said that California has pursued policies to transition away from fossil fuels over the last 20 years. As a result, the regulatory and enforcement environments are the most strict and difficult anywhere else. Riggs said that the Benicia refinery is more expensive to maintain than Valero’s 135,000 bpd Wilmington refinery, located near Los Angeles. Benicia refinery is responsible for 9% of crude oil refining in the state. The refinery converts feedstocks to products such as gasoline, jet fuel, and asphalt. Rich Walsh, Valero's executive vice president, stated during a conference call with analysts that "our current intention is to shut the refinery." We've had meetings with CEC (California Energy Commission), and we are working together to minimize the impact of losing the refinery. Reporting by Nicole Jao, New York. Editing by Margueritachoy
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Morningstar reports record global outflows of sustainable funds due to Trump's agenda
Morningstar, a researcher, said that investors withdrew an unprecedented $8.6 billion in the first three months of the year from global sustainable funds. The outflows were attributed largely to Donald Trump's shift away from climate and social initiatives. Europe accounted for the majority of the global $3.16 trillion funds. In the first quarter of 2019, net withdrawals from European Sustainable Funds reached $1.2 billion, which is a significant change from the net deposits in the previous quarter. This was the first time since 2018 that the region has seen net outflows. Morningstar's report stated that Trump's return as president deprioritized sustainability in Europe and that his executive orders against diversity equity and inclusion (DEI), have created new legal risk. Morningstar reported that concerns about fund performance in areas such as clean energy helped to drive money out. The U.S. withdrew $6.1 billion from the market in the first three months of the year, marking the tenth quarter straight that the United States has seen withdrawals. In a report accompanying this quarter's report, Hortense Biy, Head of Sustainable Investing Research at Morningstar Sustainalytics said: "The quarter marks a change, not only in flows but also in how sustainable investments strategies are perceived and positioned on the market." Bioy stated that "we're seeing more signs of consolidation, product development and rebranding, amid an intensifying ESG reaction in the U.S., which is now affecting sentiments in Europe." In the first quarter of 2016, 54 new sustainable products were launched, which is about half the number that was launched in the previous quarter. Asset managers rebranded sustainable funds by changing or dropping their environmental, governance, or social terms in the first three months, which is more than double the number of the previous quarter. (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft; Ross Kerber)
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PG&E's lower expenses cause it to miss first-quarter earnings estimates
PG&E Corp. missed its first-quarter profit estimate on Thursday as it was hit by higher operating expenses and interest costs. Interest rates that are higher for longer increases the borrowing costs of utility companies. These companies need to borrow more money for their expenses, such as grid maintenance. PG&E's interest costs rose by 2.7% in the first quarter of this year, to $734 millions. In January, multiple wildfires scorched thousands of acres in Los Angeles. This is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. History. Electric utilities in the area have also been under increased scrutiny. The utility expects to upgrade its wildfire safety systems and install underground powerlines for nearly 700 miles between 2025-2026. PG&E reported that the average residential electric rate in March was lower than it had been a year before. It expects natural gas rates to stay flat until 2025. PG&E said on a call after earnings that 90% of the equipment it sources is from domestic suppliers. It also believes its tariff exposure to be "very manageable". LSEG data shows that the company's total revenue for the quarter was $5.98 Billion, which is less than analysts' estimates of $6.14 Billion. Total operating expenses for the quarter ending March 31 were up 3.8% to $4.76 billion. Oakland, California's utility announced that it has increased its data center pipeline to 8.7 gigawatts (from 5.5 GW) and added nearly 3,000 new customers to its electric grid in the last quarter. PG&E's adjusted profit per share was 33 cents, compared to the analyst average of 34 cents. (Reporting from Bengaluru by Pooja menon; editing by Maju Sam)
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Engie CEO: Electricity demand growth is resistant to tariffs
Catherine MacGregor, CEO of French utility Engie, said that developments in electrification as well as data centres for artificial-intelligence should be "particularly resilient" to the trade conflict started by the United States through the implementation tariffs. The uncertainty surrounding tariffs imposed on U.S. President Donald Trump by the International Energy Agency in the last month has caused stock markets to fall. They also said that trade wars may cause slow growth for the data centre sector, which is a growing industry. MacGregor said at the annual general meeting of the company that to meet the net zero goals at European level you will need to electrify, even if there is not much economic growth. This... drives the growth in electricity demand. The term 'Electrification' refers to the development of batteries for electric cars and other processes required to achieve climate goals. "Then there is the AI and data centers aspect." She said that as hyperscalers invest more in training, it has a similar economic impact to (research and developement) investments. Engie has been involved in a number of projects involving data centres, including cooling and development. It is also developing methods to meet the majority of power requirements for data centers using renewable energy. (HgReporting By Forrest Crellin, Editing By Kirsten Donovan).
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Stocks rise, led by tech shares. Dollar falls after recent gains
Investors weighed up the latest comments about the U.S. China trade conflict, and the data that showed the U.S. labour market is holding steady. The dollar also fell after recent gains. S&P technology rose more than 2%, leading all S&P sectors. Alphabet was scheduled to release its quarterly results, which were up 1.7%. Beijing said that the U.S. would have to remove "all unilateral tariff measures" against China if the U.S. "truly wanted" the solution of the trade dispute. On Wednesday, the White House signaled that it was willing to reduce sweeping tariffs against China. Investors also considered the possibility that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates for the first time in June. Beth Hammack, President of the Fed Bank of Cleveland, called on Thursday for patience in monetary policy, given the high level of uncertainty. However, she did not exclude a rate cut by June depending on economic indicators. Benchmark 10-year yields are at 4.33%. This is about five basis points less than on Wednesday. The yields on two-year US2YT=RR are about six basis points lower, at 3.807%. In the past week, U.S. president Donald Trump verbally attacked Fed chair Jerome Powell before retracting calls for his resignation. The first-quarter earnings report has been mixed. Businesses across industries have said they are increasing prices and are uncertain about the future because of Trump's policies and trade war. Unilever, the maker of Dove soap, pointed to a deteriorating consumer confidence in the United States. Meanwhile, shares of International Business Machines plummeted after the company announced that 15 of its government contract were cancelled as part of a cost-cutting initiative by the Trump Administration. The economic data released on Thursday revealed, among other things that the number of Americans who filed new claims for unemployment benefits increased marginally in the last week. This suggests the labor market is still resilient. The U.S. data showed that durable goods orders in March jumped much higher than expected. Jamie Cox said in a Harris Financial Group note that companies are ahead-running tariffs. Therefore, these durable goods data is not something to be excited about. The good news is companies are protecting earnings and margins. Investors will be pleased about this, he said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 250.81 points or 0.63% to 39,857.38, while the S&P 500 rose by 69.93 or 1.29 percent to 5,445.79, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 304.24 or 1.82% to 17,012.29. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 7.48 points or 0.93% to 815.69. The pan-European STOXX 600 Index rose by 0.38%. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5%. Ryosei Acazawa, the Japanese tariff negotiator, was reportedly making final preparations to visit the United States on April 30 for a second round with his counterpart. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies) fell by 0.24%, while the euro rose 0.37%, reaching $1.1355. The dollar fell 0.52% against the Japanese yen to 142.7. Oil prices rose as well, with spot gold rising 1.05%, to $3,321.99 per ounce. U.S. crude rose 0.32% to a price of $62.47 per barrel. Brent was up 0.21% to $66.26 a barrel.
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According to the rebel-appointed governor of eastern Congo, at least 10 people were killed by a mine collapse in eastern Congo.
The rebel-appointed governor of South Kivu Province said that at least 10 people died in the collapse of a goldmine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Since January, M23 rebels have taken control of the two largest cities in east Congo. This is an intensification of a longstanding conflict that has its roots in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the struggle to control Congo's vast minerals resources. In a joint statement, the Congolese government and M23 made a commitment Released on Wednesday After talks in Qatar, there is a glimmer hope that the violence will stop. Douglas Dunia Masumbuko (the M23 South Kivu Governor) said on Thursday that 10 people had died at the Luhihi Mine, and the number could increase given the injuries. He blamed "uncontrolled construction" and "poor maintenance of gold-wells" for the incident. In the vast Central African nation, mining accidents are common, particularly at smaller, artisanal mines. The collapse of the mine was confirmed by Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi who was South Kivu's governor before M23 came into power. However, he did not give a number of deaths.
Czech cyanide producer Draslovka finds new revenue driver in the sodium-ion batteries market
The CEO of Czech chemicals manufacturer Draslovka, Pavel Bruzek Jr., said that the company expects to earn more than a quarter of its total gross income in five years due to a growing demand for sodium-ion battery.
In recent years, the company has grown and derived most of its revenue from U.S. operations. It has partnered with Natron Energy this month to supply Prussian Blue material for their batteries.
Prussian Blue is made by Draslovka from sodium cyanide. It's a product that it produces in both the United States and Czech Republic.
Bruzek said late on Friday that a Czech production for Natron Energy is expected to begin in 2026. This will be used as a model for a bigger U.S. facility to feed Natron. Last year, Natron announced it would invest $1.4 billion into a sodium-ion batteries facility in North Carolina.
Data centres, for instance, use Sodium-based Batteries for short-term energy storage. These batteries only store half as much energy as lithium-based batteries per kilogram.
Bruzek stated that the global economic crisis has pushed Draslovka’s plans for raising its earnings before interest tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), to approximately $400 million by 2020, to 2029 or 2030 on revenues of around $1 billion.
He said, "We're on the right track but we won't get there exactly as originally planned."
He added that the new business could "definitely" contribute to a third EBITDA, and "it could be even more".
Draslovka's adjusted EBITDA was $74.8 million by 2023 and its EBITDA margin was 16%. Bruzek's outlook is for a higher profit margin, driven by the sales of capital-intensive and service solutions.
He said Draslovka controlled by Czech family investment firm BPD Partners and Bruzek’s family was looking for potential investors to fund expansion but, for the moment, it was supported by existing shareholders.
Oaktree Capital Management invested 150 million dollars in Draslovka by 2023.
Draslovka had previously considered an initial public offer, but Bruzek stated that the time wasn't right. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Heavens; Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet)
(source: Reuters)