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Record gold prices dampen demand during Indian festival
The gold demand was lower than usual on Wednesday, during an Indian festival where buying gold is considered auspicious. Retail consumers reduced purchases due to the record-high price rally. Indians celebrated Akshaya Tiritiya, which is the second largest gold-buying holiday after Dhanteras. Surendra Mehta is the secretary of the India Bullion and Jewellers Association. Mehta stated that big retail chains were doing better than small retailers because they were offering discounts for jewellery-making charges. Near-record prices were stretching consumers' budgets. The domestic gold price hit a new record of 99,358 Rupees per gram this month. On Wednesday, it was around 95,000 Rupees, almost 30% higher than the previous Akshaya Tithi festival. Saurabh Gadgil said that despite record high gold prices, consumers are still positive. Many people exchange old jewellery for new pieces to help manage their budgets for weddings and festivals, he added. On Wednesday, Indian dealers offered a discount Up to $20 per ounce above official domestic prices. This includes 6% import duties and 3% sales taxes. Sachin Jain CEO of World Gold Council India operations said that the gold demand during Akshaya Tritiya could have been lower in volume, but the value could be the same, or even slightly higher, he added. Retailers, big and small, offered discounts on the cost of jewellery to attract retail buyers. A jeweller in Hyderabad said that many people still prefer to invest their money by buying coins and bars. "Demand is lower than normal, but better than expected by the industry." Mehta of IBJA said that despite record-high prices retail sales did not suffer. (Reporting and editing by Ed Osmond, Rajendra Jadhav)
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London Metal Exchange increases fees after scrapping OTC trading plan
The London Metal Exchange has decided to increase fees for contracts using LME prices instead of requiring that private bilateral deals be traded between members and their clients on its platform. Sources in the industry said that members of the LME had complained that the plan was too expensive and that COMEX, for example, does not require this requirement. In a whitepaper published last year, the exchange first proposed its plans to force members to conduct private transactions, also known as OTC trades, through its electronic trading platform Select. The revised plans will be subject to a consultation until the 13th of June, and include hedged LME contracts for Select. If market monitoring shows that controls on the exchange are encouraging more OTC trading, then LME will move forward with its original proposal. The LME said that it would double the fees for OTC trades, which are not exchange-related. This was announced in a press release issued by the exchange on Wednesday. The fee for using LME rates in OTC contracts is $2.36 per lots. This would be about 10 U.S. dollars per ton for copper, where one lot equals 25 metric tonnes. Since publication of the paper, the LME owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has spoken to its members and to the metals market as a whole about its plans to increase transparency and liquidity. Matthew Chamberlain, Chief Executive Officer of LME, said: "We have carefully listened to these views. They have allowed us to refine certain elements in order to better meet the different needs of different segments of the market." Earlier in the year, it was reported that the Futures Industry Association and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe sent a letter together to the LME expressing their members' concerns over these proposals. The LME has tried to address the concerns of its members about the hedging of LME contracts and block trades up to 10 lots, for the most liquid contracts. This includes the benchmarks for three months. The report said that "the feedback received suggested there should be differentiation between different metals." The LME analyzed factors like bid/ask, the size of the trade book, the average size, and notional size. The LME proposes 15 lots, or 375 tonnes, for aluminium; 10 lots, or 250 tonnes, for copper, lead, zinc, and other metals; and 5 tons, or 30 tons, for nickel. Plans also include expanding the definitions of short-dated carry-trades from 15 to 60 days as long as contracts to buy or sell are within 15-days of each other. This can save money for buyers and sellers on the physical market who want to change delivery dates. Reporting by Pratima Dasai and Eric Onstad, Editing by Jan Harvey & Freya Whitworth
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Czech Government to Take Majority in Nuclear Power Project worth $18 Bln
The Czech government has agreed to an updated model of financing for the construction of two new nuclear units. It will also take a major stake in this project, worth at least 18 billion dollars, from CEZ, according to Prime Minister Petr Filia. This will relieve CEZ of some of its financial burden. CEZ is owned 70% by the Czech state. The remaining 30% shares are free to float at the Prague Stock Exchange. CEZ agreed to build a new reactor in its Dukovany plant using state loans and guaranteed financing. However, it sought another solution when the government increased the project from one to two units. It said it couldn't afford to take on such a large amount of debt. The financing model was a major obstacle to a deal being reached with South Korea's Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of Korean utility KEPCO. This company was selected last year to construct the plant. Fiala announced that contracts with South Korea's KHNP will be signed on May 7th. Zbynek Stanjura, Finance Minister, said that the government will provide loans to finance the new units. After signing contracts with the European Union, the government will apply for approval. (Reporting and editing by Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka)
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Spain's grid denies that solar is to blame as a blackout blame game explodes
Spain's grid operator denied Wednesday that solar power was responsible for the country's biggest blackout. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, however, came under increasing pressure from his critics to explain what went awry. After a power failure that caused trains to stop, airports to close, and people trapped in lifts, Sanchez’s opponents blamed low investments in a system which increasingly relies upon intermittent solar and wind energy. Sanchez announced an investigation by the government and stated that he wanted answers from private companies who feed electricity into the grid. He said that he had not ruled out the possibility of a cyber-attack, although REE, a grid operator owned in part by the state has dismissed this. The political fallout of deadly floods that struck the East and South of Spain, killing more than 220 people, is still a problem for Spain's authorities. REE (headed by former Socialist Minister Beatriz Corredor) has pinpointed the cause of the outage as two separate incidents in substations located in southwest Spain. However, it says that the exact location of these incidents is still unknown and it is still too early to determine what caused them. Corredor, in an interview with Cadena SER radio on Wednesday, said that it was incorrect to blame the outage of Spain's high renewable energy share. She said that "these technologies are already stable, and they have systems which allow them to function as a conventional generator system without any safety concerns," adding that she did not consider resigning. According to REE data, just before the system collapsed, solar energy was responsible for 53%, wind power for 11%, and nuclear and natural gas for 15%. Energy Minister Sara Aagesen stated that the government gave power companies until late Wednesday to submit data on "every millisecond of those five seconds", when on Monday the system lost 15GW, which is equivalent to 60% demand. This led to a disconnect from the rest Europe. MALFUNCTIONING REE Political opponents claimed that Sanchez took too long to explain the power blackout and that he was trying to cover up REE's failures. In an interview with RTVE, Miguel Tellado said that since REE had ruled out a cyber-attack, the only thing we could point to is the dysfunction of REE. The company has state funding and its leaders are therefore appointed by the government. Sanchez's announcement of a government investigation was rejected by Sanchez, who called for an independent investigation conducted by the Spanish parliament. The Spanish government has said that it asked for the "maximum transparency and collaboration" from private energy companies to identify the cause of this outage. Ignacio Sanchez Galan said that REE should explain the cause of the blackout. The company's operations are not to blame, he added. Antonio Turiel, a Spanish National Research Council energy expert, told Onda Vasca, a radio station owned by the Spanish government, on Tuesday, that the fundamental issue was grid instability. He said that "a lot of renewable energy was integrated without the responsive stabilisation system that should have existed", adding that vulnerabilities were caused by "the unplanned, haphazard integration" of a variety of renewable systems. The government is expecting private and public investments of 52 billion euro through 2030 for upgrading the power grid to handle the surge in demand due to data centres and electric cars. Aelec, a utility lobby, said this was not enough. Jordi Sévilla, chair of REE until 2020, wrote an opinion piece for Cinco Dias that the government is moving too quickly to decommission the nuclear power plants, which can provide stable production to offset the peaks in intermittent renewable energy. He said that the government's plan to invest in the grid was "planned from a desk, with too many renewable messianisms and a deaf eye towards the technical issues associated with such a significant change in Spain's mix of energy." Reporting by David Latona in Madrid, Pietro Lombardi in Barcelona and Aislinn Laing; Writing by Charlie Devereux and Editing by Peter Graff & Barbara lewis
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Public Service Enterprises report higher profits on colder weather
Public Service Enterprise Group, an electric and gas utility, reported a higher profit in the first quarter on Wednesday. The colder weather during winter boosted demand for heating. Ralph LaRossa, the CEO of the New Jersey-based company, said that cold spells caused the winter peak demand to be the highest in six years. PSE&G's electricity distribution and natural gas segment of Public Service Enterprise posted an operating revenue increase of 14.2% during the first three months, partly due to new transmission rates. PSE&G has experienced a quarterly increase in the number of large load requests for new service connections. As of March 31st, this pipeline had a total capacity of over 6,400 MW. The company's operating revenue increased to $3.2 billion for the three-month period ended March 31, up from $2.8 billion one year earlier. In February, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that power demand would reach record levels in 2025 and in 2026 as a result of a surge in energy usage in AI data centres and increased domestic production. Utility's net income for the first quarter rose from $532 to $589, or $1.18 a share. Interest expenses rose by 17.6%, to $241 millions, during the third quarter. Total operating expenses increased by nearly 17%, to $2.43 Billion. Public Service Enterprise offers electric and gas service to approximately 4.3 million New Jersey customers. PSEG Power, a division of Public Service Enterprise Group, also operates nuclear power plants. According to LSEG, the company reported a quarterly profit of adjusted $1.43 per common share. This was below analysts' expectations of $1.44, which were based on average estimates. (Reporting and editing by Shreya Biwas in Bengaluru, Katha Kalia in Bengaluru)
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Martin Marietta reports higher profits on demand for building materials
Martin Marietta posted a higher profit per unit on Wednesday, due to steady infrastructure spending as well as investments in data centers projects driving demand for its building materials. The company said it does not "assume any material tariff-related negative or positive impacts." Ward Nye, CEO of Xerox Corporation said that "Infrastructure Demand remains a bright spot in an uncertain macroeconomic background". Nye said that construction activity will increase in 2025, as the work progresses on projects like roads, bridges, and ports, which are supported by both federal and state governments. The company that makes concrete and asphalt expects to benefit from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of former U.S. president Joe Biden, which included $1 trillion worth of investments. It is expected to reach its peak in 2026. The company's non-residential construction division has also been boosted by the growing demand for data centres that are used to power artificial intelligence. The quarter saw a shipment of 39 million tons, an increase of 7% over the same period last year. Meanwhile, the average price per ton increased by 7%, from $22.26. The Raleigh, North Carolina based company reported a 8% increase in quarterly revenues to $1.35 Billion, but it was in line with analyst's estimates. Profit per ton also increased by 16%, to $7.60.
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US private sector delegation to Greenland
A U.S. delegation led by an ex-official of the Trump administration is scheduled to visit Greenland next week to explore potential investment opportunities within the vast natural resources on this Arctic island. Since Donald Trump's inauguration in January, the U.S. has become more interested in Greenland. This self-governing territory is a Danish territory. The increased interest has caused tensions between Washington and Copenhagen. Trump has refused to exclude the possibility of taking Greenland militarily if Denmark refuses to sell it. This is the first visit by a delegation from the private sector to the Arctic Island since Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the leader of the probusiness Demokratiit Party was elected as premier. Representatives from the mining companies Critical Metals Corp., Cogency Power. American Renewable Metals and Refacture are part of the delegation. Drew Horn, the CEO of GreenMet, and former Chief of Staff for the Office of International Affairs in the Department of Energy under the first Trump administration will lead the group. Horn said: "I am not trying to orchestrate anything crazy, like a purchase of Greenland or an acquisition by the United States." He said that the consortium he represents includes institutional investors such as Cantor Fitzgerald and Cerberus Capital. The trip comes just days after Denmark's King Frederik visited Greenland, in a gesture of unity between Greenland with its former colonial leader. Premier Nielsen, who visited Copenhagen last week, affirmed the ties between Denmark and the United States, while calling for more respect. Greenland has substantial mineral deposits that could be worth trillions of dollar. The mining industry is dominated by Australians, Canadians, and British companies, with little U.S. involvement. Horn believes that capitalization, growth in the private sector and collaboration will lead to greater collaboration for an independent Greenland supported by U.S. private investment. The Tanbreez mine is one of the largest rare earth deposits in the world. Horn believes Greenland’s openness to investment from the private sector will strengthen its independence and provide a viable business plan. Copenhagen will be visited by the delegation at both the start and the end of their Greenland tour.
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PPL Corp's quarterly profit beats estimate on rising data center power demand
PPL Corp, an electric and gas utility company, beat Wall Street's first-quarter estimate on Wednesday thanks to favorable weather conditions in Pennsylvania and Kentucky and higher transmission rates. Both states saw an increase in electricity sales of 6.6% during the third quarter. This helped offset higher costs, and increased operating revenue by 8.7%. The U.S. is expected to hit record-high power consumption in 2025 and '26. This will be due to the rapid expansion of data centres and increased use of electricity by homes and businesses for heating and transportation. According to the company, active data center demands from 2026-2034 in Pennsylvania increased from 48 GW to 50 GW and in Kentucky doubled from 6 GW to 12 GW. "We are off to a great start in 2025...The continued interest of data center developers from Pennsylvania and Kentucky highlights the crucial role that we continue to play to power progress and innovation," said CEO Vincent Sorgi in a press release. The company, which operates in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, anticipates minimal impact of tariffs on its earnings, but is concerned about potential effects on capital investments. The company stated that "labor represents the majority of capital costs and O&M expenses, and the majority of materials are domestically sourced." PPL's operating costs rose from $1.76 to $1.83 billion in the past year. The company that provides electricity and natural gases to over 3.6 million customers has reaffirmed their full-year adjusted profit prediction of $1.75 - $1.87 per share. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the Allentown, Pennsylvania based company reported an adjusted profit per share of 60 cents in the third quarter. This was compared to the estimated 54 cents. (Reporting from Katha Kalia, Bengaluru. Editing by Vijay Kishore.
Gold continues to fall as dollar gains and trade tensions ease
The gold price fell on Wednesday for the second consecutive session, mainly due to a stronger dollar, and signs that tensions between the U.S. and China have de-escalated. Meanwhile, attention was focused on a number of economic reports from the U.S. scheduled this week.
As of 1017 GMT, spot gold was down by 1.3%, at $3,274.10 per ounce. But bullion is on course to record its fourth consecutive month of gains, with a gain of nearly 5% in April.
U.S. Gold Futures fell 1.5% to $3283.50.
The market is experiencing high volatility due to the competition between two-way flows. Ross Norman, a independent analyst, said that it appears gold is entering a period of consolidation.
The dollar index increased by 0.2% in comparison to its rivals. This makes bullion prices more expensive for holders of other currencies.
In a recent note, Frank Watson, a market analyst with Kinesis Money said that gold prices were lower and more stable as the market took in what appeared to a de-escalation in the U.S. led trade war, which has shaken the financial markets over the past few weeks.
Gold's unwillingness to fall much further can be interpreted as a sign of the continued volatility in the financial markets amid the uncertainty surrounding U.S. Trade Policies and their impact on the global economy.
On Tuesday, U.S. president Donald Trump signed two orders to ease the impact of his auto tariffs. His trade team also announced its first agreement with a trading partner abroad.
Bullion, which is a safe haven against financial and political turmoil, reached a record-high price of $3,500.05 an ounce last April 22, as investors sought to escape the global economic turmoil.
Investors are likely to focus on a number of economic reports from the United States, such as the personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which will be released later today, and the non-farm employment report, due on Friday. These data could provide more insight into the Federal Reserve’s outlook for interest rates.
Silver spot fell 2.1%, to $32.27 per ounce. Platinum dropped 1.1%, to $966.86, and palladium was down 0.6%, to $929.44.
(source: Reuters)