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Japan's core inflation slows, but remains above BOJ target. This keeps bets on a hike alive
Japan's core rate of inflation, while slowing in June, has remained above the central bank target of 2% for more than three years. This highlights the lingering pressures on prices that support market expectations for future interest rate increases. The data shows the difficulty the Bank of Japan faces when determining how soon it will resume raising rates from their still low levels, while balancing the mounting pressure on inflation and the risks that U.S. Tariffs pose to an already fragile economy. Data released on Friday showed that the core consumer price index, which excludes volatile costs of fresh foods, increased 3.3% from a previous year in June. This was consistent with a market consensus. The increase was lower than the 3.7% in May, mainly due to the resumption gasoline subsidies. However, it remained above the 2% target set by the central bank for the 39th consecutive month. Separate index which excludes both fuel and fresh food costs, closely monitored by the BOJ to measure domestic demand-driven price increases, rose 3.4% from a previous year in June after rising 3.3% in May. "Underlying Inflation remains elevated and will almost certainly exceed the Bank of Japan forecasts." The BOJ may be hesitant to act for a longer period of time than expected, given the trade tensions that are threatening the economy. The BOJ is expected to review the data at its next policy session on July 30 and 31. At this meeting, the board will revise its inflation forecast as part of a quarterly assessment. Food prices, excluding volatile fresh foods like vegetables, increased 8.2% from a year ago in June, an acceleration from the 7.7% increase in the previous month, which is a sign that cost of living pressures are increasing in households. Data showed that the cost of rice staples nearly doubled compared to the previous year, resulting in a 19% increase in the price of rice balls and a 6.5% rise in the prices of sushi. The data revealed that service-sector prices rose by 1.5% from 1.4% in may, indicating that companies passed on higher labour costs, albeit at slower rate than goods. The BOJ ended a ten-year-old, radical stimulus program last year. In January, it raised the short-term rate to 0.5% on the belief that Japan is on the verge of achieving its 2% inflation goal. The central bank may have signalled that it is willing to increase rates, but the impact of increased U.S. Tariffs on the economy forced them to lower their growth forecasts for May. This complicated the decision-making process around when to raise the rate next. The first quarter of the year saw Japan's economy shrink as higher living costs impacted consumption. Exports dropped in May, the first drop in eight months. This stoked recession fears. In a poll conducted in June, a slight majority of respondents expected that the BOJ would not raise rates this year.
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The Women's Euro semi-finals will be decided by the result of the sensational penalty shootout between England and Sweden.
England defeated Sweden 3-2 on Thursday in a stunning penalty shootout which featured 14 attempts. The reigning champions had fought from 2-0 to force the match to extra time. The game was thrilling, as England was on the verge of being eliminated only to win the match. The Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk was able to save four penalties. However, she missed the winning penalty, which England seized with glee. Lucy Bronze put the holders in the lead, before Swedish teenager Smilla Homberg sent her shot high over the crossbar and ended the match. The Swedes looked different as they took an early lead. Stina Blackstenius set up captain Kosovare Aallani, who scored in the second after England had given the ball away for cheaply. Blackstenius outran Jess Carter and scored herself with a confident finish in the 25th. The Swedes were comfortable in the first half, while England struggled. Sarina Wiegman made a number of changes after the break. She brought on Beth Mead in the 70th and Esme Morgan a few minutes afterwards. Bronze scored a goal for England in 79th minute. He met Kelly's corner and headed home from a close angle. This re-ignited the white-clad crowd. Agyemang then levelled the score two minutes later, with a poacher finish. The game went to extra-time. The game was decided by penalties after extra time, with both sides having their chances. Falk's excellent saves put the Swedes in the lead, even though they missed their first penalty kick. Bronze was the winner, despite the fact that she had saved Grace Clinton from a certain defeat. Holmberg's 18-year old self was under pressure after Sofia Jakobsson missed. She fired over. When asked about her feelings after the dramatic win, England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton said, "Right Now, I Don't Know, I Don't Know." You can see the excitement all around. At the final whistle, Wiegman exhaled a sigh. It was difficult. It was one of the most difficult games I have ever seen. Extremely emotional. We could have been sent off four or five more times during the match. "It's bad to be 2-0 down by halftime," she said. "We started off really bad and then we improved at the end the first half and we improved in the second but we didn't produce anything so we needed to change our shape. We scored two goals, which was already crazy. She added, "We go into extra time, with some players injured, others cramping up, Hannah Hampton covered in blood, and then we move on to penalty shootouts, where we miss but they miss more, and we are out." The final will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday. (Reporting and editing by Pritha Sakar, Philip O'Connor)
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BHP's fourth-quarter output of iron ore exceeds expectations on Pilbara strength
BHP Group reported Friday that its fourth-quarter iron ore production was better than expected. It also exceeded the upper-end of its guidance for iron ore and for copper in fiscal 2025. This was due to the strength of the supply chain at the central Pilbara hub. After the South Flank mine ramp-up last year, the company underwent a debottlenecking process at its Pilbara operations. This helped to boost the company's output in the second quarter of this year, compensating for a poor March quarter which was affected by two tropical storms. BHP produced iron ore in fiscal 2025 at 290 million metric tons (Mt), which was higher than its forecast for the full year of 282 to 294 Mt. It is expected to produce between 282 Mt and 294 Mt of iron ore in fiscal 2026. The largest listed mining company in the world said that iron ore production on a 100 percent basis from these operations was 77.5 Mt for the three-month period ended June 30. This is up from 76.8Mt a year ago. This was better than the Visible Alpha consensus of 75.90 Mt. BHP's copper production for fiscal 2025 was 2,02 Mt, which is at the top of its guidance range. This estimate is in line with Visible Alpha's consensus estimate of 2,0 Mt.
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New York cancels offshore wind transmission plans amid federal uncertainty
It said that the New York State Public Service Commission had terminated its offshore transmission planning due to a stalled federal permit, in order to protect ratepayers of New York State from premature infrastructure costs. This ends the Public Policy Transmission Needs process, which was seeking proposals for delivering up to 8 gigawatts (or more) of offshore wind energy to New York City before 2033. The commission cited federal actions that have halted new offshore wind leasing, permitting and it claimed this makes short-term project implementation unfeasible. Rory M. Christian, Chair of the Commission, said: "Given Washington's uncertainty we need to act now to protect consumers." This is not the end. We'll continue to move forward as soon as the federal government re-starts the permitting process. The commission stated that New York remains committed to offshore wind. Existing projects such as South Fork Wind, Empire Wind, and Sunrise Wind remain unaffected. Hillary Bright, the executive director of Turn Forward, an organization that promotes offshore wind energy, said, "Shovel ready offshore wind projects will add significant capacity to the U.S. Grid just when it is needed most." Experts from all over the world warn that the U.S. is soon going to face a shortage of power due to the escalating demand for AI, cryptocurrency and other digital economies. The commission has instructed its staff to use lessons learned from the PPTN to inform future planning. They will focus on affordability, reliability, and risk reduction. The 2026 Clean Energy Standard Biennial Review will include additional guidance. "Now isn't the time to limit the contribution of any source of energy. Bright said that the U.S. must continue to develop all energy sources to remain competitive in the future. Reporting by Anjana Anil from Bengaluru, and Nicholae Groom from Los Angeles. Editing by Richard Chang & Matthew Lewis.
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Talen acquires power stations in Pennsylvania and Ohio for $3.5 Billion
Talen Energy announced on Thursday that it would be acquiring two Pennsylvania and Ohio power plants for a total of $3.5 billion. The company also said it expected the acquisition to increase the free cash flow per stock by more than 40% in 2026. In extended trading, shares of the company rose by about 16 percent. Two combined-cycle gas fired plants are located on the PJM electricity market. The U.S. demand for electricity has increased for the first two decades. This is due to the rapid growth in data centers and artificial Intelligence, which has caused Big Tech companies scramble to find reliable energy sources. Talen will pay Caithness Energy $1.46 billion cash for its Moxie Energy Center in Pennsylvania. This project, which is a 1,105 Megawatts (MW), natural gas-fired combined cycle generator, belongs to and is controlled by Caithness Energy. Talen is to pay $2.33bn in cash for the 1,875MW Guernsey Power Station located in Ohio owned by Caithness & BlackRock. The total value of the deal is expected to be around $3.8 billion. Talen, in June, expanded its nuclear partnership with Amazon. It will now supply up to 1,920MW of electricity through its Susquehanna Plant in Pennsylvania. This is to meet the growing electricity demand. Talen CEO Mac McFarland said, "The deal adds more than an equivalent nuclear power plant of the Susquehanna to our platform. This will allow us to provide large loads service." Both the Moxie and Guernsey transactions are expected to close during the fourth quarter. The company will also issue new debt of about $3.8 billion to refinance the target debt and fund the acquisitions. This debt will be issued using both secured as well as unsecured instruments. (Reporting from Sumit Saha, Bengaluru. Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, says that Slovakia will allow new EU sanctions against Russia to be approved on Friday.
Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, said that Slovakia would stop blocking approval of the 18th set of sanctions by the European Union against Russia this Friday. Fico said that the Slovakia has achieved all it can at this stage, after repeatedly blocking the EU approval of sanctions to demand guarantees for damages it fears will result from a separate EU Plan to stop all gas imports to Russia by 2028. Fico stated in a Facebook video that it would be counterproductive at this point to continue blocking the 18th package of sanctions tomorrow. EU diplomats have confirmed that the ambassadors of EU member states will meet Friday morning to discuss and approve new sanctions. Last month, the European Commission proposed the 18th set of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine 2022. The package targeted Moscow's banks, energy revenues, and military industries. EU diplomats said that the proposed package included a price cap for Russian crude oil at 15% less than the average price on the market in the three previous months. This proposal also prohibits transactions with Russia's Nord Stream Gas pipelines and banks who engage in sanction circumvention. The Slovakian government has repeatedly vetoed this package in an attempt to gain concessions for a separate plan that would phase out Russian gas and oil. This plan, unlike the sanctions, doesn't require unanimous support by all EU member states. Slovakia continues to import Russian gas and energy under a contract that runs until 2034. It also often has pro-Russian opinions on Ukraine. Fico announced on Tuesday that Slovakia has received guarantees from Commission regarding assistance in the event of gas shortages, price increases and transit fees and disputes over possible damage claims from Russian Gazprom. In a letter sent to Slovakia on February 2, the Commission stated that it would intervene if a lawsuit were filed and clarify how a "emergency stop" could be initiated if gas prices rise due to dwindling supplies during the phase-out of Russian gas. The letter said that Brussels would also work on a solution to reduce the cost of gas and oil tariffs for Slovakia. Malta also expressed concerns about the proposed Russian price cap. However, the government announced on Thursday night that it would support the new sanctions Friday. EU diplomats confirmed this. (Reporting and writing by Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet; additional reporting and writing by Kate Abnett in Brussels and Andrew Gray, editing by Jason Hovet & Rod Nickel).
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BHP and Lundin JV prolongs useful life of Argentina Copper Mine
Vicuna Corp is a joint venture between BHP Australia and Lundin Mining Canada. It announced on Thursday that it would extend the useful life of their Josemaria copper project, which includes gold and silver, by six years. The mine's longer life, 25 years, instead of the 19 years it had before, was attributed to the higher level of resources that could be exploited. Vicuna predicted that the ore processing rate would be 175,000 metric tonnes per day at the site located in Argentina’s north-western San Juan Province, near the Chilean Border. The government of Argentina is looking to increase foreign currency flows and strengthen its economy by promoting mining in the provinces that border Chile, where there has been limited development. In a second version of its environmental impact assessment, Vicuna also addressed water management issues. Josemaria is currently in its pre-construction phase and the miner Production is expected to begin in 2030 After submitting a report on technical aspects in the first half 2026. This will establish exact timelines and projections. The data from Thursday could be helpful to Vicuna in its plans to apply for the Large Investment Incentives Regime of Argentina (RIGI), which is promoted by Javier Milei, president of the libertarian government. In early 2014, it was estimated that the Filo del Sol deposits of Josemaria and Vicuna contained 13 million metric tonnes of measured copper as well as 25 million metric tons inferred copper. Although Argentina hasn't produced copper since 2018, the large number of projects that are in the pipeline could push it into the top 10 producers globally. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler, Kyry Madry, and Lucila Sigal)
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Burgundy Diamonds cuts employees in Canada due to falling diamond prices
Burgundy Diamond Mines, an Australian company, has laid off hundreds of employees and contractors at its Point Lake mine in Canada and suspended operations due to the record-low prices for diamonds. A spokesperson from the company said this on Thursday. The Ekati mine includes the Point Lake site, located in Canada's Northwest Territories. Burgundy says its remote Arctic site is still operational. Burgundy Diamond Mines has decided to suspend the open pit mining operation at Point Lake. This is a short-term shift away from surface mining operations, said Ariella Calin. Point Lake is not economically viable with global diamond prices at all-time lows. Calin stated that the underground Misery mine is not affected. The Northwest Territories has three diamond mines, Diavik owned by Rio Tinto and Gahcho Kue owned by De Beers, as well as Burgundy Ekati. Companies are either trying to survive or suspending operations due to the falling diamond sales worldwide. Rio Tinto plans to close its Diavik mine by the beginning of 2026. Anglo American, the owner of De Beers, is planning to spin off all its diamond operations. Burgundy has halted its trading on the Australian Stock Exchange in the pending of an operational update by the company. Calin stated that Misery's production rates have improved significantly in recent months. Burgundy is expected to provide an update on quarterly production at the end of July. The NWT community is pitching projects to replace the future loss of jobs as Canada's diamond mining industry reaches the end of its productive life. Karen D. Costello is the executive director of NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines. She said that "the Northern mining industry dates back over 90 years." It has been acknowledged that the mineral potential is enormous, but it will take robust exploration in order to find the minerals. We also need to move forward with the existing projects so they can be the inspiration for the next generation. (Divyarajagopal, Toronto; Editing done by Caroline Stauffer and Richard Chang).
US Commerce Dept. sets anti-dumping duty of 93.5% on Chinese anode Graphite
The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Thursday that it would impose preliminary antidumping duties of 93.5 percent on anode grade graphite imported to the U.S. after concluding the materials were being sold at a lower price than their fair market value.
The Commerce Department's fact sheet, seen by, shows that all Chinese producers have a single antidumping margin of 93.5% and a cash deposit rate at 93.5%.
Commerce reported that the order will affect imports worth $347.9 million by 2023. The duties are applicable to anode grade graphite materials with a minimum graphite purity of 90% by weight. They can be natural graphite, synthetic graphite or blends of both. The Commerce Department conducted a separate, parallel investigation on Chinese anode-grade graphite material on May 20, which resulted in preliminary countervailing duties of 6.55%. However, Huzhou Kaijin New Energy Technology Corp. and Shanghai Shaosheng Knitted Sweat received countervailing duties of 712.03%.
The material must be returned to the government by December 5, 2025.
American Active Anode Material Producers is the petitioner for both anti-dumping and the anti-subsidy actions. This is an ad-hoc coalition of U.S. manufacturers. The coalition includes Anovion Technologies from Sanborn, New York; Syrah Technologies, LLC, of Vidalia in Louisiana; Novonix Anode Materials, Chattanooga in Tennessee; Epsilon Advance Materials, Leland in North Carolina and SKI US Inc, Marietta, Georgia. Reporting by David Lawder, Washington; Chandni Shah in Bengaluru. Editing by Chris Reese & Matthew Lewis
(source: Reuters)