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Kremlin sees nothing novel in India's plans to diversify oil supplies
The Kremlin stated on Wednesday that they saw nothing new in India's announcement to diversify their oil supplies, as New Delhi has always purchased oil from other countries including Russia. Piyush Goyal, the Trade Minister of India, said on Wednesday that India will diversify its energy sources to ensure its citizens' security in an ever-changing global environment. Goyal made his statement after Donald Trump, the U.S. president announced on Monday a U.S. India trade agreement. Trump said that New Delhi would halt its Russian oil purchases. India hasn't confirmed this publicly since. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said that everyone was aware that Russia wasn't the only oil supplier to India. Peskov said that "not only us but also all experts in international energy affairs are aware of the fact that Russia is not the sole supplier of oil and petroleum products to India." "India has always purchased these products from foreign countries." This is why there are no new developments in India. Reporting by Gleb Stlyarov, Editing by Andrew Osborn
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Venezuelan adviser: Venezuela wants to be known as a high-oil producer
Venezuelan economic adviser Calixto Ortega stated on Wednesday that the country wants to be recognized as having one of the world's highest levels of oil production, not just the largest reserves. "We know the reference to Venezuela is that it is the country with the largest oil reserves. "We want to be known as a country with high oil production levels," Ortega said during the World Government Summit held in Dubai. Official data shows that Venezuela has the 'largest estimated oil reserves in the world. However, its crude production remains at only a fraction of its capacity because of decades of mismanagement and lack of investment. After seizing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas last month, the United States said that they would continue to control Venezuela's oil exports indefinitely. "Economically, 'we are, you, know, solid and ready for investments" Ortega said. He added that companies in the U.S. and abroad were waiting until sanctions are lifted before investing in Venezuela. Shipping data shows that Venezuelan oil exports increased to 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from 498,000 in December. This was after Maduro's arrest and the end of the U.S. oil blockade. Washington imposed an oil embargo against Venezuela in December as a way to put pressure on Maduro. Seven tankers were seized. Reporting by Gursimran Kalia and Shubham Kaali in Bengaluru, Editing by Hugh Lawson
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IOC: Olympics-Switzerland bid for 2038 Winter Games could be finalised as early as 2027
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday that a bid for Switzerland to host 2038 Winter Olympics may be finalised by 2027, if the process of local political consultation is completed by the end this year. Karl Stoss is the head of the IOC Future Host Commission, which oversees the Olympic Winter Games. As part of the IOC's privileged dialogue, the Swiss project is the only one currently in discussion with the IOC. The Winter Olympics were last hosted by the Winter Sports Powerhouse in 1948, at St. Moritz. The IOC only negotiates with Switzerland. This period was "established to allow the Swiss public and politic consultation processes, which are fully respected the IOC",?Stoss said at an IOC meeting two days before starting the 'Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. He said that if the IOC does not complete the project by 2027, it will be forced to make the 2038 Winter Games available to all interested parties. The IOC headquarters is located in Lausanne in Switzerland. In recent years, the country has rejected Olympic projects in Sion, Graubuenden, and St Moritz/Davos. In recent years, many other?Olympic bids were also unsuccessful in the German Alps or Austrian Alps. Innsbruck, for example, 2026, was one of them. Alpine populations worry that the Winter Games with their construction, human activity, and tens or thousands of spectators for the 16-day event, will be a burden on the fragile eco system of the mountains. Stoss stated that the Swiss parliament is expected to vote in December 2026 on the financial support for the project. Stoss stated that if all the requirements are met, then IOC may be able to open a targeted dialogue in December 2026 with...a possible host election in April of 2027. The 2030 Winter Olympics will take place in France's part of the Alps, and the 2034 Games in Salt Lake City will be hosted by the United States. (Reporting and editing by Ken Ferris; Karolos Grohmann)
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Shares fall as Anthropic update pounds software stocks
On Wednesday, global shares fell as fears grew over the impact of artificial intelligence on key sectors in the technology sector. Gold, however, was heading for its largest two-day increase in 17 years. The oil prices spiked briefly after?the United States shot a drone from Iran and armed boats approached a U.S. flagged vessel in a major waterway. Anthropic launched plug-ins on Friday for its Claude Cowork Agent, which raised concerns about the AI-driven disruption of these industries. European stocks dropped from record highs. Shares in companies like LSEG, RELX REL.L, and Wolters Kluwer WLSNc.AS, both of the Netherlands, fell for a second consecutive day after posting double-digit percentage declines on Tuesday. Chris Beauchamp, chief market strategist at IG, said that the software companies are parking their tanks in a very obvious way. The market is clearly telling them that their business models are seriously threatened, even if they're not doomed. It's not apocalyptic. He said that it would be a challenge to find solutions that involve partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, or other companies. Novo Nordisk, the maker of weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, has given a grim 2026 outlook. The STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, just a hair below records highs. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 (which hosts LSEG, RELX and LSEG) was up by 0.5%. This was boosted by gains in oil and healthcare shares. U.S.?futures were barely changed after benchmark indices fell 1% on the previous day, mainly due to sharp drops in software stocks like Salesforce CRM.O, Datadog DDOG.O, and Adobe?ADBE.O. VOLATILE TIMES Silver fell by up to 30% in one day after a two-day vicious selloff. Spot gold has reclaimed $5,000 and is now up 3% to $5,081 per ounce. This brings the gains in the last two days, which totaled 9%, the highest since late 2008. Silver increased by more than 5%, to almost $90 per ounce. CME's margin increase exacerbated the selling after U.S. president Donald Trump named Kevin Warsh his choice to lead the Federal Reserve. Warsh will shrink the Fed balance sheet which is usually bad for non-yielding metals. Joshua Chim is the general manager at online broker FSMone. He said: "We expect the elevated volatility to continue over the near term. But stabilization will return when the market finds its feet." After the "significant correction" of gold and silver, he said that investors had "purchased the dip" via unit trusts or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the platform. Brent crude futures dropped 0.2%, to $67.2 per barrel. However, they were still not far from six-month highs, as investors watched closely the recent talks between the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. Military said Tuesday that it shot down an Iranian Drone which "aggressively approached" the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, in the Arabian Sea. This initially sparked a rally of the crude oil price above $68 over night. FED IMPLICATIONS Volatility is more controlled on the currency markets. Both the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England will meet on Thursday but it is not expected that either of them will make any changes to their interest rates. The euro closed at $1.18257 unchanged from the previous day while sterling gained 0.2% to $1.3724. The yen fell and fell below 156 dollars per yen, which rose by 0.4%. This is ahead of the weekend lower house elections in Japan, where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi could win a mandate for tax cuts and increased stimulus. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, was at its lowest level since November 2024, and only 0.14% higher than yesterday's price of $76,270. It had fallen 2.9% Tuesday. The market structure has been weakening since October, said Manuel Villegas Franceschi of Julius Baer’s Next Generation Research team. He added that Warsh's election was the "tipping-point for the crypto decline". (Additional reporting from Rae Wee, Singapore; Editing done by Edwinn Gibbs Jamie Freed Catherine Evans
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SSE, UK's power company, forecasts lower earnings amid new network upgrades
SSE, the British utility, forecast adjusted annual earnings that were?below what they had predicted last year, due to a mix of weather conditions. The company is advancing its five-year plan for upgrading the UK's electric networks. Scotland-headquartered SSE launched its 33 billion pound ($45.22 billion) five-year investment plan ?in November as part of efforts to boost its ?renewables portfolio, highlighting the wider need to modernise Britain's ageing ?grid amid growing power demand from the electric vehicle and artificial intelligence sectors. In a press release, CFO Barry O'Regan stated that since announcing the 33 billion-pound investment program... "our focus has been on accelerating investments and delivering a plan that will generate compounding earnings and long-term value for investors." SSE and Germany's SWE emerged as the largest winners last month in Britain's most recent power auction, which secured a record?amount of offshore wind capacity. The country is aiming to?decarbonise its energy sector by 2030. SSE is expecting adjusted earnings per share between 144-152 pences for the year ending in March 2026. This compares to 160.9 pences reported last year. It reported slightly higher output of renewables for the first nine months ended December 31, 2025. ($1 = 0.7297 lbs) (Reporting and editing by Subhranshu sahu in Bengaluru).
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India's markets receive a tariff reduction but no buy yet
Investors say that the U.S. India trade deal will likely be enough to stop foreign stock selling. However, they insist that earnings growth and fundamentals must improve before sustained?buying can occur. The long-awaited agreement sparked an increase in the stock markets and rupee's strongest rally in seven year on?Tuesday as it?signalled improved diplomatic and trade relationships with the U.S. This was only one of many factors that hung over the currency and stock market, which has underperformed by a large margin regional and global counterparts since the start of last year, and seen the foreign allocations shrink to a 2-decade-low. Indian stocks are at record highs, but they're vulnerable to disruption by artificial intelligence. And, with no companies in this sector, the race to AI has left them behind. The details of the deal are also sparse even though they allow companies to start planning capital expenditure. Michael Bourke, M&G Investments' head of global emerging market equities, said: "I am not convinced that tariffs have an immediate effect, but they certainly affect sentiment. That's the best way to look at it." Do you see a sudden increase in earnings just because tariffs have been lowered? He said, "I'm not sure that's the line I'd draw." Naomi Waistell is a fund manager at Carmignac's emerging equities group, which manages assets worth $48.5 billion. She said that the deal was significant for markets but more for sentiment and valuation than for near-term earnings?uplift. The deal doesn't resolve recent issues regarding Indian equities, such as still-elevated prices... lower forward earnings growth compared to EM peers and a shortage of globally scalable AI beneficiary businesses. Since the beginning of 2025, foreign investors have pulled out roughly $23 billion from Indian stocks. However, they invested $580 million in Indian stocks on Tuesday. Vikas Jain of Bank of America's Mumbai branch, who is the head of India fixed income trading, currencies, and commodities, says that foreign investment should see a revival in the near future. The underweight investors will immediately return to neutral. The government's policies and growth will determine whether or not investors go overweight. RUPEE RELIEF Analysts and traders believe that the deal will also provide relief to India's currency, which has been battered. The rupee was the worst performing Asian currencies in the last 12 months. It required the central bank to constantly defend it as it fell from near 88 dollars per dollar at the time the tariffs were implemented to a low record of almost 92 dollars in January. The traders believe that the increased appetite of firms to hedge against rupee weakness, and the central banks' desire to increase FX reserves could be factors that prevent a sustained rally in the currency. Tariffs on Indian products had contributed to the depreciation of INR. This trade deal breaks the loop, encouraging foreign investors to assess Indian stocks more objectively. India's benchmark stock index rose a respectable 10 percent in the last 12 months, but pales in comparison with South Korea's Kospi which soared 118% and Taiwan's stocks that gained 42% in the same time period. On Wednesday, the risks of not having obvious AI winners were also at play. Indian IT stocks fell over 6% as AI firm 'Anthropic' launched tools for workplace productivity, raising fears of disruption in the entire sector. Some investors are still bullish about India, and consider it a "compelling" trade. Sam Konrad is the investment manager at Jupiter Asset Management for Asian Equities. He was underweight India throughout most of 2025, but he has increased his fund's investments in recent weeks. Bourke, of M&G, has been a recent buyer of Indian financials. However, he remains underweight. It may take a little longer to make larger allocations. The profit growth of Indian companies has been in the high single digits over six consecutive quarters. This is well below the 15-25% growth that was recorded between 2020-21 to 2023-24. Goldman Sachs has raised its earnings per share forecasts for Indian stocks to 16% this year from 15%. They are expecting a return of 12% dollars from Indian stocks in the next year, compared to 20% for Chinese stocks.
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Dalian iron ore production rises as hot metal output falls amid weak demand
Dalian iron ore contracts struggled to find direction on Wednesday. They?ultimately? slid downwards amid weaker sentiments as the end-use?demand?slows. The May Iron Ore contract most traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange in China ended daytime trading 0.32% lower, at 781.5 Yuan ($112.67) per metric ton. As of 0714 GMT, the benchmark March iron ore traded on Singapore Exchange was $0.59 per ton higher. Shanghai Metals Market stated in a report that while hot?metal production is expected to increase week-on-week the restocking of steel mills has temporarily stopped. Galaxy Futures, a Chinese broker, said that production of hot-rolled coil and rebar, as well as other finished steel products, increased last week. This pushed inventories up as steel'mills continued stocking up. Everbright Futures, a Chinese broker, says that as the 'Lunar New Year' approaches, construction has ceased on most sites and demand for end products is waning. Galaxy Futures said that a lack of fundamental drivers, combined with a dampened mood, would continue to put pressure on the ore and steel price. Coking coal and coke both increased by 3.6% and 2.85% respectively. Galaxy Futures said that prices of?coking coke and coal are expected to become more volatile, and less driven by fundamentals as liquidity is thinned ahead of the holiday season. According to 'Everbright Futures, the supply of 'both coking coal, and coke, is stable, but a number of private mines have stopped production in advance, causing a tightening, according to the report. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have advanced. Rebar increased by 0.13%. Hot-rolled coils gained 0.18%. Wire rod grew 0.09%. Stainless steel also increased 0.09%. $1 = 6.9359 Yuan (Reporting and editing by Eileen Soreng, Ronojoy Mazumdar).
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Shanghai copper surges as China plans to expand strategic reserves
Shanghai copper rose Wednesday as investors responded to China's plans to increase its strategic reserves. The most active copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped 3.47% in daytime trading to close at $15,159.29 per metric ton. The benchmark 'three-month' copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.1% to $13,464.50 per ton at 0700 GMT. It held on to its Tuesday gains, which were its highest daily percentage gain since April 2022. Copper's previous session gain was after it joined a two sessions plunge in metals, led by gold and Silver to lose up to 15% from its record established?on Friday at $14,527.50 per ton. An official from the state-backed China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association announced on Tuesday that China would expand its strategic copper reserves. The association also said it will explore creating a system of commercial stockpiling led by state owned enterprises. Antaike - a state-funded research institute – has cautioned investors. In a WeChat post on Wednesday, it stated that "the exploration of a commercial stockpiling system?and the research into the feasibility and availability of copper concentrates are still preliminary ideas being discussed by relevant companies. Analysts and traders warned against interpreting the announcement in a way that was not accurate. They suggested it could be a longer-term plan rather than an immediate intention to enter the market. The traders and analysts spoke under condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of stockpiling. London tin fell 1.09% to $49,575, despite previously reclaiming $50,000. Nickel has also increased. Shanghai nickel rose 3.78%, to 137.680 yuan per ton. The?London nickel benchmark contract rose 0.91%, to $17.605. Goldman Sachs & Macquarie both raised their 2026 average nickel price forecasts above $17,000 on Tuesday. They cited tightened supply coming from the top producer, Indonesia. Aluminium, zinc and lead were all down 0.30%. On the LME, zinc climbed 0.37% and lead dipped 0.13%.
Shanghai copper rises as China plans to expand strategic reserves
Shanghai copper rose on Wednesday, as investors responded to China's plans to increase its strategic reserves.
As of 0330 GMT, the most active copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen 2.45% to 103120 yuan (US$14,864.57) per metric ton.
The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.11% to $13,328.50 per tonne.
An official of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, a state-backed organization, said Tuesday that China would expand its strategic copper reserves. The association also added that it will explore creating a system for commercial stockpiling led by state owned enterprises.
According to an official, the top copper consumer is also considering adding copper concentrate to their reserves.
Red metal was supported by the Reserve Expansion Plan. The Shanghai contract rose to 105,810 Yuan per ton overnight, its highest level since January 30, when the copper correction began. On Tuesday, the London benchmark hit $13,526.
Antaike, a state-backed research firm, urged caution in investors. It said that the exploration of "a commercial stockpiling system" and the research into the feasibility for copper concentrate reserves are still preliminary ideas being discussed by relevant companies. In a WeChat post on Wednesday.
A number of traders and analysts warned against a misunderstanding the announcement. They suggested that it could be a longer-term plan rather than an immediate plan to enter into the market. The traders and analysts spoke under condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of stockpiling.
London tin fell 1.60%, to $49.320, after previously reclaiming $50,000.
Nickel has also increased. Shanghai nickel rose 2.94%, to 136,570?yuan per ton. The London benchmark nickel contract also gained 0.39%, to $17 515.
Goldman Sachs & Macquarie both raised their 2026 average nickel price forecasts above $17,000 on Tuesday. They cited tightened supply coming from the top producer Indonesia.
Aluminium, zinc, and lead were all lower.
Aluminium, zinc, and lead were all little changed on the LME.
Wednesday, February 4, DATA/EVENTS - (GMT) 0850 France HCOB - Composite, Services PMI 01 0855 Germany HCOB - Services PMI 01 0855 Germany HCOB Composite PMI final Jan 0900 EU HCOB Composite, Services Final PMI - Jan 0930 UK S&P global PMI: Composite – Output Jan 930 UK Reserve Assets - Total Jan 1000 EU HCIP - Flash YY - Jan 1000 EU HCIP
(source: Reuters)