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French and Benelux stocks: Factors to watch
Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or even individual stocks. Airbus: Airbus, the European aerospace manufacturer, is preparing to offer a 180-seater A220-500 regional aircraft to airlines and leasing companies. The company plans to announce its development at Farnborough Airshow this July. Alten: Alten, a consulting firm specializing in engineering and technology, reported?revenues of 4,10 billion euros ($4,89 billion) for the full year. Elis, a French company that provides laundry and textile services, reported a full-year revenue totaling 4.80 billion Euros. Eutelsat: Satellite operator Eutelsat announced the completion of its deal to sell passive ground segment assets to EQT Infrastructure VI. Valeo: French automotive supplier, Valeo, and Kapsch TrafficCom have announced a partnership in order to deliver a V2X-powered next-generation tolling system. Vetoquinol: The French veterinary pharmaceutical company Vetoquinol has reported a full-year revenue of 526 millions euros. Voltalia: Voltalia, a French renewable energy company, has secured a Tunisia solar project of 132 megawatts. Construction will begin in 2027 with?commissioning to follow in 2028. Worldline: Worldline, a French payment services provider, announced that it would reduce its share capital by reducing nominal value of shares from 0.02 euros to 0.02 euro. This reduction had no impact on the stock price or equity value. Pan-European market data: European Equities speed guide................... FTSE Eurotop 300 index.............................. DJ STOXX ?index...................................... Top 10 STOXX sectors........................... Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors...................... Top ?10 Eurotop 300 sectors..................... Top 25 European pct gainers....................... Top 25 European pct losers........................ Main ?stock markets: Dow Jones............... Wall Street report ..... Nikkei 225............. Tokyo report............ FTSE 100............... London report........... Xetra DAX............. Frankfurt items......... CAC-40................. Paris items............ World Indices..................................... survey of world bourse outlook......... European Asset Allocation........................ News at a glance: Top News............. Equities.............. Main oil report........... Main currency report..... ($1 = 0.8391 euros) (Gdansk Newsroom)
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Starmer praises the progress made in Beijing as Trump warns Britain about China relations
U.S. president Donald Trump said that it was dangerous for Britain to get into Business with Beijing On Friday, Prime Minister Keir starmer visited China and lauded its economic benefits. Starmer, the latest Western leader to visit?China as they reel from Trump's unpredictable behavior, is the latest. In a three-hour 'talk' with President Xi Jinping, on Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron called for a'more sophisticated relationship, with better market access, lower taxes and investment deals, while also discussing Shakespeare and soccer. Trump responded to questions in Washington about the close ties by saying, "Well it's dangerous for them to act that way." He spoke to reporters before the Kennedy Center premiere of "Melania". He didn't elaborate. Trump, who is planning to visit China in April, warned last week that he would impose tariffs against Canada after Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, struck deals with Beijing during a recent trip. Requests for comment from the Foreign Ministry of China and Downing Street were not immediately answered. Starmer said at a UK-China Business Forum meeting in the Chinese capital, around the time Trump made his comments, that Starmer's "very warm" conversations with Xi led to "real progress". Starmer called the visa-free travel deals and the lower whisky tariffs "really significant access, symbolic" of what we are doing with our relationship. Starmer stated that "that is the way we build mutual trust and respect, which is so important." Starmer met with Chinese businessmen before heading to the financial hub in Shanghai. One of them was Yin Tongyue. She is the chief executive of Chery, a carmaker that plans to open a centre of research and development for its commercial vehicles arm in Liverpool, England, a city official told Starmer during his visit. Not Choosing Between U.S.? And China Starmer's centre-left Labour Government has struggled to deliver the economic growth they promised. He has made improving the relations with the second largest economy in the world a priority. Trump's visit to China coincides with his intermittent threats of trade tariffs, and his pledge to seize control of Greenland - an autonomous territory in Denmark - which have alarmed long-time U.S. Allies including Britain. Starmer, a British journalist, told reporters that because of the long-standing relationship between the United States and Britain, the United Kingdom could continue to build economic ties with China, without offending Trump. He said that the relationship between the United States and Canada was one of the most close we had. Starmer stated that Britain will not be forced to choose between closer relations with the United States and China. He cited Trump's visit to Britain in September, which revealed 150 billion pounds worth of U.S. investment into the country. A British official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is sensitive, said that Washington was also informed of the goals of the UK for its China trip. Starmer has become more willing in recent weeks to criticise Trump. He asked Trump to apologize for his "horribly appalling remarks" last week, that some NATO soldiers avoided frontline combat. He also said he wouldn't give in to Trump's demands to annexe Greenland. TOUGH EXPORT MARK Carney, the French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are expected to visit China in the near future. Xi accompanied Carney on a rare outing outside of Beijing, which was made possible by Emmanuel Macron. The Republican-led US House of Foreign Affairs Committee said Thursday that China only sells cheap products and cheap relationships. Howard Lutnick, Trump's Commerce Secretary, said that Starmer's attempts to improve relations with China were unlikely to succeed. He told reporters that "the Chinese are the biggest exporters, and it is very, very hard to export to them." "Good luck to the British if they try to export to China... it's very unlikely." Lutnick was asked if Trump could threaten Britain with tariffs like he did Canada. He replied: "Unless the Prime Minister of Britain takes on the United States, and says very hard things, I doubt that." (Reporting from Bo Erickson, Washington; Andrew MacAskill, Beijing; Writing and Editing by John Geddie and Clarence Fernandez.
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Vedanta Ltd CFO aims for mid-May India listing of demerged units
Vedanta's finance chief said that the oil-to-metals company aims to list its four demerged units at Indian exchanges by mid-May. Natural resources group Vedanta is close to completing a planned restructuring that was approved by India's Company Law Tribunal in December, after initial government opposition. Ajay Goel, Vedanta Ltd.'s Chief Financial Officer said that the?demerger would be effective on April 1. It will probably take a few weeks to complete. By mid-May all five companies should have been listed. The Indian newspaper?Mint reports that the?company flagged its timeline for the first time on Thursday, during a conference call with analysts. Vedanta will spin-off four of its businesses, including oil and gas and aluminium, while the base metals division will remain within the parent. The plan, first announced in 2023 and designed to support Vedanta Resources' growth, was initially designed as a way to reduce debt. Goel said that the impact of Donald Trump's decision to double aluminium import tariffs last year to 50% was "insignificant" for his company and offset by the strong demand from India. Vedanta shares fell over 5% Friday as a result of lower global prices.
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Be careful what you Warh for.
Gregor Stuart Hunter gives a look at what the European and global market will be like today. Stocks, commodities, bond yields, and the dollar are all up. The markets have become risk-off since Donald Trump announced that he had 'decided' who he would nominate as the new Federal Reserve chairman. Kevin Warsh has risen to the top of prediction markets since the two met in the White House. Warsh is a former Fed Governor who is seen to advocate lower interest rates. He is also viewed as one of the more moderate candidates amongst the many that have been proposed and is perhaps a little more cautious about heavy monetary stimuli than other candidates. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell 0.4% each after it was reported that Warsh had visited the White House on Thursday for a meeting, according to sources familiar with this matter. Bloomberg News reported that the Trump administration is preparing to nominate Warsh for the next Fed Chair. The market was weighing up the implications of this 'pick', and MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan fell as much as 1.3 percent, reducing the shine from the benchmark's highest'monthly' gain in the last three years. Early European trading saw pan-regional futures rise 0.6%. German DAX futures rose 0.5%, and FTSE Futures climbed by 0.2%. Brent crude fell 1.4% to $69.74, as oil markets assessed heightened geopolitical risk after Trump signed an executive orders declaring a state of emergency and setting up a process for imposing tariffs on goods coming from countries that provide or sell oil to Cuba. Trump said that he planned to speak to Iran in the face of rising tensions. There has been no word yet on what Trump thought about the premiere of "Melania", which took place on Thursday. Unnamed U.S. officials told a reporter that the attendance of cabinet members at the premiere of the high-profile documentary on First Lady Melania was mandatory. Many of them attended the event held at the Kennedy Center. The key developments that could influence the markets on Friday Results of the Company Exxon Mobil, Chevron, American Express, Verizon, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Aon, CaixaBank Economic Events France: preliminary GDP for Q4 and consumer spending and producer prices? Germany: Unemployment rates, CPI, HICP, and flash GDP for the third quarter, import prices in December UK: Bank of England consumer loans and mortgage lending in December Euro zone: flash preliminary GDP for Q4, unemployment rates for December Debt auctions: UK: 1 month, 3 months and 6 months government debt (Reporting and editing by Gregor Stuart Hunter)
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Australia's critical mineral strategy won't be derailed by US price floor reduction
Australia said on Friday that it would continue to support its vital mineral supply chains, after the U.S. withdrew from plans to guarantee a price minimum for such projects. Shares in?Australian rare earth miner companies fell sharply Thursday after a report by? Reports on the Trump Administration's retreat impacted shares of?Australia's rare earth miners sharply on Thursday. On Friday, the sector was still in red. Lynas, the largest producer of rare Earths outside China was down more than 4%. Trump administration officials communicated the backdown to U.S. mining executive and indicated that there was no funding from Congress for price floors, and the "complexity" of setting market prices. Madeleine King, Minister for Resources at Sky News said on Friday that "this won't stop Australia from pursuing its critical minerals strategic reserve?program to ensure Australia has the resources it needs to create a future in Australia." "We know from what we have seen in reports and we will watch that play out. The U.S. introduced a floor price for one project, but that was the only time it did it. That was a game changer." Australia is positioning itself to be a vital alternative to China, the world's largest producer of minerals, which are used in the automotive industry and defense sectors. It said that it would create a strategic reserve of A$1.2 billion ($840 million) in minerals it believes are vulnerable to disruptions in supply. Antimony, gallium, and rare earths are the first priority for this stockpile. It is expected that it will be completed by 2026's second half. As part of its overall strategy, the government may also consider setting a "price floor" to support critical local minerals projects. King explained that there will be a variety of mechanisms, including a floor price through offtake agreements. "We're determined to ensure that taxpayers get value for money from the reserve, and any floor price." (1 Australian dollar = 1.4278 dollars) (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus in Sydney, Christine Chen reporting from Sydney)
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Stocks fall on bets that Kevin Warsh will be Trump's Fed nominee
The dollar and bond yields soared on Friday, after U.S. president Donald?Trump announced that he had made a decision on his pick for the new Federal Reserve chief. Reports point to?Kevin?Warsh? as the most likely candidate. Warsh is a former Fed governor who is seen to advocate lower interest rates. He is also viewed as one of the more moderate choices of all the names that were raised, and may be more conservative on the heavy monetary stimuli than other candidates. The MSCI broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan fell as much as 1.3%. This was the largest one-day drop in the last month. S&P 500 futures fell?0.4%. Nasdaq futures dropped 0.5%. Precious metals also plunged after a report that Warsh had visited the White House on Thursday for a meeting. Bloomberg News reported also that the Trump Administration is preparing Warsh to be the next Fed Chair. Warsh is on record saying that he prefers lower rates, said Damien Boey of Wilson Asset Management, Sydney. "But, the trade-off he makes for lower rates is he wants to see the Fed have a smaller balanced sheet," he added. The markets react as if they were thinking: "What would the world be like with a smaller Fed Balance Sheet?" " The implied probability that Trump will nominate Warsh as the new central bank chief has risen from 35% to 92% on prediction market Polymarket. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket six currencies, rose 0.3% to 96.481 in recent trading, reversing recent weakness. Tim Kelleher said, "We have definitely seen dollar buying immediately on the back of this," Tim Kelleher is head of institutional FX Sales for Commonwealth Bank Auckland. He's well-known to the market and will likely calm things down a little. Asian stocks fell by 2.1%, led by a decline in China. A gauge of Chinese firms with Hong Kong listings was down. MSCI's broadest index of stocks outside Japan is on track to achieve its best performance monthly in over three years. The Nikkei fell 0.1% in Tokyo. Jakarta's stocks rose 1% following the resignation of the head of Indonesian stock exchange, who took responsibility for a selloff that was triggered by an MSCI warning about a possible downgrade. This was the biggest stock crash since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998. Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 86.6% probability?that the U.S. central bank will hold steady on rates at its next two-day meeting on March 18, compared to a 87.5% chance a day earlier, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Fed funds futures indicate an implied 86.6% chance that the U.S. Central Bank will keep rates the same at its next 2-day meeting on 18 March, compared to 87.5% a day before. After a turbulent session on Thursday, precious metals' rebound faltered. Silver fell 6% and gold was down 3.7% at $5,195.91. Brent crude fell 1.4% to $69.70, as oil markets assessed geopolitical risk after Trump signed an executive ordering declaring a state of emergency and setting up a process for imposing tariffs on goods coming from countries who sell or supply oil to Cuba. Trump also said on Thursday that he planned to speak to Iran in the face of rising tensions. Bitcoin fell 2.7% to $82,089.96 while ether dropped 2.8% to $2738.30. (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Sam Holmes and Gregor Stuart Hunter)
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Iron ore prices drop as portside inventories increase, but demand is expected to rise
Dalian iron-ore futures dropped on Friday as China's portside inventories accumulated towards the end of the pre Lunar New Year restocking period, but?demand is expected to increase. As of 0326 GMT, the?most-traded?May iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange traded 0.32% higher at 788.5 Yuan ($113.46). The contract is expected to continue declining for the second consecutive week. The benchmark March Iron Ore at the Singapore Exchange fell 0.79% to $103.95 per?ton and decreased 0.84% in this week. According to a report from the Shanghai Metals Market, China's iron ore portside inventories are continuing to grow, but that transaction volumes have been slow. The note said that coarse fines, fine ore, and lump ore as well as pellets, experienced a'significant inventory buildup. Everbright Futures, a Chinese broker, claims that the recent "bullish" run in commodities and precious metals has supported ferrous metals prices. The iron ore restocking period is nearing the end with only 12 trading days remaining until the Chinese Lunar New Year. This means that the upside potential for the metals market will be limited, according to a report by Shanghai Steel Union's chief steel analyst, Wang Jianhua. Forty-four independent electric-arc-furnaces (EAF) will be shutting down from February 1-8 ?for maintenance, according to a Mysteel survey. According to Mysteel, the EAF currently accounts for 10% of China's steel production, and blast furnaces for 90%. The demand for steel feedstock is expected to rise as more steel mills re-start production next week following planned maintenance. Coking coal and coke both increased by 0.97% and 1.01% respectively. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have fallen. Rebar fell by 0.54%. Hot-rolled coils dropped by 0.36%. Wire rods were down 0.06%. Stainless steel was down 2.28%. ($1 = 6.9493 Yuan) (Reporting and editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar).
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US eases sanctions on Venezuelan oil sales
On Thursday, the administration of Donald Trump lifted sanctions against Venezuela's oil sector to make it easier for U.S. firms to sell crude oil from Venezuela. It also said that more restrictions would be lifted soon. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury authorizes U.S. firms to purchase, sell, transport and store Venezuelan crude oil but does not lift U.S. production sanctions. An official at the White House said that the measure would "help flow existing product" out of Venezuela, and that more announcements will be made soon on easing sanctions. Trump said that the United States will control Venezuela's oil revenues and sales indefinitely, since U.S. troops seized Nicolas Maduro as the leader of the country in a raid in the capital Caracas in January?3. He also said he wants U.S. companies to invest 100 billion dollars in order to restore the OPEC member nation's production back to its historical peaks after years of mismanagement and underinvestment. Washington and Caracas, in the meantime, have already reached an agreement to sell 50,000,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude, which will be marketed by European trading houses Vitol & Trafigura. Treasury's latest authorization, also known as a "general license", opens Venezuela oil trade up to more companies, if they are American. The law allows transactions between the Venezuelan government and the state oil company PDVSA relating to "the lifting of Venezuelan oil from storage, the exportation or reexportation of that oil, the sale, the resale of the oil, the supply, the marketing, the purchase, the delivery or the transportation of Venezuelan oil by a U.S. entity." This excludes firms, individuals, and companies from countries like China, Iran North Korea, Cuba, and Russia. Treasury, under President Donald Trump’s first administration in office, designated Venezuela’s entire energy sector as subject to U.S. sanction after Maduro’s first reelection which Washington didn't recognize, in 2019. The new license prohibits payment terms that do not meet commercial standards, include debt swaps, payments in gold or digital currency, or are not denominated in a reasonable amount of money. AMERICA FIRST In recent weeks, oil producers Chevron and Repsol, refiner Reliance Industries and some U.S. service providers of oil sought licenses to increase output or exports. To expand production in the United States, additional authorizations would be required. Jeremy Paner is a lawyer with Hughes Hubbard & Reed, and a former OFAC investigator. He said that the authorization was broad, in the sense it allows for many operations, including the refining, transporting and "lifting' of Venezuelan crude oil. He said that the scope of the law is limited, as it only applies to U.S.-based companies. Kevin Book, an analyst at ClearView Energy Partners said that the authorization could bring clarity to U.S.-based companies, while maintaining the standard of case by case review for non U.S.-based entities. It appears to be offering sanctions relief based on the 'America First' principle. Two sources told me this week that the large number of requests made to the U.S. Government had slowed down progress on plans to increase exports to Venezuela and to get investment flowing quickly. The new 'OFAC licence, meanwhile, was issued as lawmakers in Venezuela approved on Thursday a sweetened revision of the main oil law in the country that is expected to give autonomy to private producers through joint ventures and new contracts for the operation of their projects and the commercialization. The agreement formalizes a model of oil production sharing that was first developed by Maduro, and which he negotiated in recent years with "little-known" energy companies. Francisco Monaldi of Rice University's Baker Institute, Houston, is the director of the Latin American Energy Program. He asked if the exclusion from these ventures of Russian and Chinese entities might make it difficult for PDVSA. He said that ventures with these countries produce 22% of oil. "If they can't export the oil that comes from these ventures, then it is a serious problem." (Reporting and Editing by Rod Nickel and Nathan Crooks; Reporting and Editing by Timothy Gardner and Marianna Psaledakis.
PLS Australia considers restarting plant, reports 73% increase in Q2 revenues as lithium sales improve
PLS Group, an Australian lithium producer, signaled a possible restart on Friday of a plant that was under maintenance and care after posting a surge of revenue for the December quarter. The improved?demand? helped to buoy prices for battery material.
Pure-play lithium mining company, previously Pilbara Minerals posted a second-quarter revenue increase of A$373 (262,89) million, up from A$216 (216.89 million) a year ago. PLS has received $1,161 per tonne in prices, up 50% on the September quarter.
A strong interest in offtake volumes has led the company to announce that it may restart its 'Ngungaju' plant in Western Australia with an additional production capacity in four months. PLS will make a final decision within the next quarter.
In a recent note, Jefferies analysts said that they see the option of restarting Ngungaju becoming more likely in the current market conditions, contingent upon the security of offtake and a reasonable?price. They also noted that a restarting of China's idled production capacity could have a negative impact on the market in the short term.
The boom in battery storage this year has increased the demand for lithium, boosting hopes of an accelerated turnaround by lithium producers. Since late 2022, the industry has struggled with a price slump caused by an oversupply.
The company produced 208,000 dry metric tons of spodumene?concentrate, a lithium raw material, in the three-month period ended December 31. This is higher than the 188.200 dry metric tons recorded in the same time last year but lower than the 212,000 metric tonne?visible alpha?consensus.
The company reported a 8% increase in its unit operating costs, based on free-onboard (FOB), to A$585 a tonne.
PLS stated that it expected cost pressures to continue throughout the'rest of the year because of the wet season, but the full-year FOB operating costs remain within the range.
The company's full-year projection was not changed for all metrics.
Early trading saw shares of the company rise as much as 2,6%, ending three sessions of losses.
(source: Reuters)