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Canada wildfire smoke blankets US Midwest and Northeast with hazardous orange haze
On Thursday, heavy smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires covered a large swath in the U.S., from the Midwest up to the Northeast. Officials warned residents to stay inside as much as possible, and avoid the unhealthy, acrid air. Detroit had the worst air pollution in the world according to IQAir. The company monitors the city's air quality. It registered a pollutionindex (or pollution index) of 600. This is twice the level that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers "hazardous". Data from the federal government showed that smoke levels were dangerous in Minnesota, Michigan and northern Illinois. They also reached northern Ohio, and even into Ontario. Ten states, from Minnesota all the way down to Maryland, reported "unhealthy readings" in at least some places. Stephaine Villanova (33), a Chicago resident, was out on a stroll downtown with her father, aged 68, when she said, "It is wild, because you can't tell it from the outside. It looks like fog and you're completely covered in smoke. Both wore face masks. Emily Fischer, professor and atmospheric chemist at Colorado State University, said: "It is a river-like flow of smoke that's currently pouring into the Midwest." This is directly related to climate change. It is the climate change that people can breathe. Smoke was expected to?intensify throughout the day. The smoke was expected to worsen throughout the day. The dangerous conditions in New YorkCitymetropolitan were reported just days before Sunday's FIFA World Cup final, which was to be played nearby in New Jersey in front of more than 80,000 soccer fans. At a meeting on Thursday, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that "today is expected be the worst day for this event". At 'unhealthy levels', everyone, including people with heart disease, asthma, and older adults, may experience health effects. "Every New Yorker must take precautions today." The mayor announced that the city would be giving away?free face masks KN95 at?hundreds? of libraries, precincts, and firehouses. Officials reported 858 fires in Canada as of Thursday morning. Among them, 111 were considered to be out of control. The majority of fires are located in central Canada, specifically Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. According to data from the government, 5.9 million acres (2.4 million hectares), or roughly 5,9 million acres of land, have been burned in Canada during this "wildfire season". According to climate experts, rising temperatures around the globe are fueling an increase in wildfires. Wildfire smoke is more toxic than regular air pollution because it can linger in the atmosphere for weeks, and travel thousands of miles. Studies have shown that wildfire smoke is linked to higher rates of heart attacks and strokes. It has also been associated with cancer, pregnancy complications, and weakened immunity defenses. Reporting by Joseph Ax, Eric Cox, Caroline Stauffer, Wa Lone and Andrew Hay from New Mexico; Additional reporting by Andrew Hay and Steve Gorman in Toronto and New Mexico; Writing and editing by Mark Porter and Nick Zieminski.
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As US interest rate hikes are boosted by Middle East tensions, gold falls 2%
On Thursday, gold fell?2%, to a?two-week low, as rising Middle East tensions drove up oil prices and U.S. Treasury rates, causing inflation fears and reinforcing expectations for higher U.S. Interest Rates. Gold spot was down 1.9% to $3,984.64 an ounce at 2:05 pm EDT (1400 GMT), after having fallen as much as 2.2% earlier in the day and reaching its lowest level since July '1 during that session. U.S. Gold futures settled at $3,992.10 by 1.5%. Oil prices were near their highest level in a month as worries about Middle East energy supplies grew after Iran told Yemen's Houthis that they would be ready to shut down?the Red Sea route for oil if the U.S. struck Iranian power infrastructure. The higher oil prices fuel inflation fears, increasing expectations of high?interest rates. Gold's appeal as an asset that does not yield returns is also diminished. Bart Melek is the global head of commodity strategies at TD Securities. He said that oil prices have risen yet again. With the higher Brent levels there are expectations for a possible rate hike in September. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in a 53% probability that the Federal Reserve is likely to?raise rates in September. The yields on the benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year note have been moving higher. The U.S. Dollar gained 0.2% making bullion more expensive for foreign buyers. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh declared this week his 'determination to bring down inflation without revealing how. Data released on Tuesday revealed that U.S. Consumer inflation decreased in June. Meanwhile, data from Wednesday showed a decrease in the Producer Price Index. Even if the Fed adopts a more dovish position, the persistently high price of energy would make it hard for them to do so. Fawad Rasaqzada is a market analyst with Forex.com. He said that investors prefer the dollar 'over zero-yielding metals. Spot silver fell 3.6% to $55.68 an ounce. Platinum dropped 3.1% to 1,621.83 and palladium declined 4.1% to 1,260.70. (Reporting and editing by Diti Pjara and Jonathan Ananda in Bengaluru)
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Standard Nuclear, a nuclear fuel company, is valued at $2.17 Billion as its shares slide in the NYSE debut
Standard Nuclear's shares dropped 10% in their New York Stock Exchange debut on Thursday after the company reduced its?offering?size, as investors remain cautious about valuations. The Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based company opened its shares at $13.50 each, below the $15 offered price. This gives the nuclear fuel firm a value of $2.17 Billion. The market debut shows that investors are still cautious despite a renewed interest in nuclear power. This is fueled by the surge in electricity demand for artificial intelligence data centres and U.S. policies supporting it. Nuclear energy is gaining in popularity as technology giants and utilities seek carbon-free electricity that can be used 24/7 to support the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. Investors have been wary of high-risk companies, even though they are linked to the nuclear supply chain. Standard Nuclear raised $150 million after selling 10,000,000 shares at $15 per share. Companies in the sector will still benefit from the executive orders issued by the Trump Administration in May 2025. These are designed to speed up reactor approvals and to support the nuclear fuel chain. Donald Trump wants to quadruple the country's nuclear energy capacity by 2050 in order to meet the rising demand for electricity from data centers, electric cars and cryptocurrency. Standard Nuclear follows the debuts of reactor developers X Energy and?Deep Fission whose shares also trade below their IPO prices. As of the last close, shares in Oklo have fallen more than 36% since May 2024. Standard Nuclear?processes enriched Uranium feedstock to advanced nuclear fuels for reactors including small modular reactors or microreactors. Aditi Tiwari in Bengaluru and Prakhar Shrivastava, editor Joyjeet Das.
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India's SBI Funds Management raises $31 billion at the country's fourth most-bid IPO
India's SBI Funds Management ?drew bids worth 3 trillion Indian rupees ($31.14 billion), making the asset ?manager's $1.03 billion initial public offering (IPO) the country's fourth-most-subscribed issue. BlackRock, sovereign wealth funds from Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Norway, and other anchor investors raised $278.5 million of the $1.03 billion IPO. After a relatively quiet first half of this year, India's primary stock market made a strong return with the IPO that closed on Thursday. State Bank of India announced in a press release that the IPO price per share was 574 Indian Rupees ($5.96). India will have a 'busy pipeline of public offering in the second half, with mega listings from Reliance Jio & National Stock Exchange anticipated before the end 2026. SBI Funds Management is India's leading asset manager. It oversees funds worth 12.5 trillion rupees (131 billion dollars) as of March 20, 2026. Institutional investors were the main demand drivers for this offering. They 'bought' shares worth $25 billion, which is 140 times more than the shares that were offered to them. The amount set aside for SBI shareholders and retail investors was subscribed to 3.6 and 9.5 times respectively. Stocks are expected to start trading on 21 July. Data from PRIME Database shows that SBI Funds' IPO is behind Reliance Power, LG Electronics India, and Bajaj Housing Finance when it comes to the number of bids received. Analysts at Aditya Birla Money said that the asset manager was well-positioned to capitalize on its strong distribution network, market leadership and robust profitability in a July 14 note. India has had IPOs of nearly $4 billion this year. This is a sharp drop from the $21.8 billion raised last?year. According to PRIME database, activity will pick up in the second half of 2026 with 251 companies aiming to raise $4.93 trillion rupees (about $51.7 billion). The heavy bidding for SBI Funds IPO?signals investors' willingness to commit new capital to quality franchises. This can help revive sentiments in the upcoming pipeline of (IPOs)." said Dhiraj Rielli, managing director at HDFC Securities.
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As US interest rate hikes are boosted by Middle East tensions, gold falls 2%
On 'Thursday', gold fell by 2% to a two-week low as rising Middle East tensions drove up oil prices and U.S. Treasury Yields, causing inflation fears and reinforcing expectations for higher U.S. rates. Gold spot was down 1.7% to $3,989.66 an ounce at 12:35 pm EDT (1635 GMT), after dropping as much as 2.0% earlier. It had reached its lowest level since July 1. U.S. Gold Futures fell 1.4% to $3.994.10. Oil prices increased by over 1% after concerns about Middle?East energy supply grew. Iran had asked Yemen's Houthis if they were ready to shut down the Red Sea oil route if the U.S. struck Iranian power infrastructure. The higher oil prices fuel inflation fears, increasing expectations of high interest rates. This reduces the appeal of gold as a non yielding asset. Bart Melek is global head of commodity strategies at TD Securities. He said that the rising oil prices and higher Brent levels are causing gold to be under pressure. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in an approximately 55% chance of the Federal Reserve raising rates in September. The yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes have risen. The U.S. Dollar gained 0.2% making bullion more costly for overseas buyers. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh declared this week his determination to bring down?inflation? without revealing how. Data released Tuesday revealed that U.S. Consumer inflation decreased in June. Meanwhile, Wednesday's data showed a decrease in the Producer Price Index. Even if some of the near-term data softens, the persistently high price of energy would make it hard for the Fed adopt a more dovish position. Investors prefer the dollar to?zero-yielding?gold for the same'reason', Fawad Rasaqzada said in a Forex.com note. Silver spot fell 3.1%, to $55.96 an ounce. Platinum dropped 2.2%, to $1.637.68. Palladium was down 3%, to $1.273.50. (Reporting and editing by Diti Pjara and Jonathan Ananda in Bengaluru)
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Oil prices are down as chipmakers pressure equity markets worldwide
Investors sold off chip stocks on Thursday, while oil futures lost earlier gains as U.S. and Iranian attacks intensified. Chip stocks?fell - from Asia to the U.S. - as investors who had heavily invested in technology stocks related artificial intelligence were not impressed by TSMC's 77% higher than expected earnings growth. This tells you that the AI trade no longer is priced on growth. The price is based on perfection. Gene Goldman is the chief investment officer of Cetera, a California-based company. "Any earnings report that is merely good, rather than flawless, will be sold," he said. Retail sales in the United States increased slightly in June, as lower gas prices affected receipts at service station. However, consumers continued to spend. The 0.2% increase in sales was in line the average economist's expectation. Goldman explained that after two days of U.S. equity gains based on weak inflation data, Thursday's trade was "the market catching a breath, not changing their mind." Wall Street was at 12:13 pm. At 1613 GMT (1613 ET), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 9.02 points. The S&P 500 dropped 27.64 points or 0.36% to 7,544.76. And the Nasdaq Composite lost 250.25 points or 0.95% to 26,018.97. The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell more than 4% on Tuesday, marking its second consecutive day of declines. MSCI's global stock index rose 0.3% or 3.23 points to 1,124.91, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.01%. South Korea's volatile KOSPI fell by more than 6% earlier, while Japan's Nikkei ended nearly 3% lower. IRAN AND THE US EXCHANGE MORE ATTACKS Iran, and the United States, exchanged fire Thursday, intensifying the attacks that have been ongoing since the weekend, and all but tearing up the ceasefire that paused the fighting last month. Iran has signalled it will use its influence to pressure Houthi allies from Yemen, who are also a key oil route, to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, at the mouth of Red Sea. Oil prices have retreated from their earlier gains. U.S. crude fell 0.3% to $79.37 per barrel while Brent traded at $84.91, down 0.1% for the day. U.S. Treasury Yields rose as economic data on consumer health and labor market didn't change investor expectations about the direction of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes increased 2.84 basis points from 4.545% to 4.573% late Wednesday. Meanwhile, the 30-year bond rate rose 2.11 basis point to 5.1041%. The yield on the 2-year note, which moves typically in line with Fed expectations of interest rates, increased 3.6 basis points, to 4.164%. The dollar rose against major peers, but was still at a month-low. This is due to expectations that the U.S. will continue to be resilient and the Fed will keep rates unchanged this month. The dollar index (which measures the greenback versus a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies) rose by 0.24%, reaching 100.70. Meanwhile, the euro fell?0.17% to $1.1444. The dollar gained 0.15% against the Japanese yen to 162.42. The pound fell 0.4%, to $1.348. This is a drop from the high of two months that it reached on Wednesday. Precious metals fell. Spot gold fell 1.1% to $4.014.81 per ounce, and spot silver dropped 2.3% to $66.43 per ounce. (Reporting from Sinead carew in New York; Marc Jones in London; Stella Qiu, in Sydney. Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus Joe Bavier David Gaffen.
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Canada wildfire smoke blankets US Midwest and Northeast with dangerous orange haze
On Thursday, heavy smoke from wildfires burning in Canada covered a large swath across the U.S., from the Midwest to the Northeast. Officials warned residents that they should avoid breathing the unhealthy, acrid air and stay inside as much as possible. Detroit, according to IQAir's monitoring, had the worst air quality in the world on 'Thursday. ', with a 600 reading, which is twice as high as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers "hazardous". Federal data revealed dangerous levels of smoke in Minnesota, Michigan and northern Illinois. The smoke also reached northern Ohio, and even into Ontario. Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Toronto recorded hazardous readings. From Minnesota to Maryland, ten states recorded at least one location with an "unhealthy?"?reading. Smoke was expected to increase throughout the day. Local officials in New York warned residents to stay indoors, as the air was filled with acrid smoke and the sky was orange. New York's dangerous weather conditions came just days before Sunday's?FIFA World Cup Final? in New Jersey, which will be watched by more than 80,000 people. At an event held on Thursday, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that "today is expected be the worst day for this event". At 'unhealthy levels', everyone, including people with heart disease, asthma, and older adults, may experience health effects. Today, all New Yorkers should take precautions. Mayor said that the city will be giving away free KN95 masks in hundreds of libraries, firehouses and police precincts. According to?government?data, as of?Thursday, 858 fires were active across Canada. 111 were considered out of control. The majority of fires are in central provinces like Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. So far in Canada, wildfires have consumed approximately 2.4 million acres (5.9 millions?acres). Experts in climate change say that rising global temperatures are driving a rise in wildfires across the globe. Wildfire smoke is more toxic than regular 'air pollution' because it can last in the air for weeks. Wildfire smoke has been linked to increased rates of cancer, heart attacks, strokes and pregnancy complications. Reporting by Joseph Ax, Andrew Hay, Caroline Stauffer, Wa Lone, and Mark Porter in Toronto.
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Chevron signs MOUs for West Qurna 2 oilfield and Nassiriya oilfields in Iraq
According to a senior Chevron executive, Chevron plans to sign memorandums with the Iraqi Government on Friday to advance its interests in the West Qurna 2 oilfield and Nassiriya. The executive stated that the?company continues to talk with Iraq about producing technical studies and evaluating potential pipeline routes for transporting crude oil out of Iraq and bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Ali al-Zaidi visited Chevron Houston's headquarters on Thursday, as part of his five-day visit to the U.S. that included a Tuesday meeting with President Donald Trump. Iraqi government seeks to secure U.S. partnership during this week's trip to the U.S. To help increase its oil production. Chevron began exclusive negotiations with Iraq in February for West 'Qurna 2 - one of the largest oilfields in the world, which currently produces?460,000 barrels a day. The agreement will help advance commercial terms, and eventually lead to a final agreement that allows Chevron?to take over the oilfield?, said the senior executive. Chevron signed a?principle agreement with Iraq in August last year to develop the?Nassiriya oilfield?project?which consists of four oil exploration blocks, in addition to other oil producing fields. Sheila Dang reported from Houston, and Nathan Crooks edited the story.
Chevron signs MOUs for West Qurna 2 oilfield and Nassiriya oilfields in Iraq
Chevron is set to sign memorandums with the Iraqi Government on Friday to help advance the?U.S. According to a senior Chevron executive, the oil giant could enter West Qurna 2 oilfields and Nassiriya.
The executive stated that the company was also in talks with Iraq about producing technical studies and evaluating potential pipeline routes for transporting crude oil out of the country, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
The oilfield agreement and pipeline studies are part a larger push by Iraq's?government to strengthen energy ties with America. The U.S. and Israel war with Iran has made it more urgent to find alternative routes for exports.
Ali al-Zaidi visited the Chevron headquarters in Houston on Thursday, as part of his five-day visit to the U.S. Ali al-Zaidi was appointed Iraqi prime minister by Donald Trump back in May. He also met with him on Tuesday. Iraqi government wants to increase its oil production by securing U.S. partnership during the visit this week. Both the oil minister and prime minister met with Chevron vice chairman Mark Nelson on Friday. In a press release, Chevron's upstream president Clay Neff stated that "we appreciate the opportunity to meet with Iraqi leadership and discuss how our expertise?in building large oil and gas project throughout the world can help Iraq as it develops its abundant resources." Chevron entered exclusive negotiations with Iraq in February for West Qurna 2. It is one of the largest oilfields in the world, producing?about 460,000 bbls per day. Iraq nationalized this field in order to avoid disruptions caused by U.S. sanctions against Russia's Lukoil which operated West Qurna 2 previously.
The agreement reached on Friday will help advance?commercial terms? and lead to an agreement finalizing Chevron's takeover of the oilfield.
Chevron signed a principle agreement with?Iraq in August last year to develop the Nassiriya project, which consists of four blocks of exploration in addition to developing other oil fields. PIPELINE TRAILS The evaluation of pipelines, and the bypassing of the Strait of Hormuz will be crucial for Iraq as it seeks to increase its oil production and diversify its routes of export. On July 4, a consortium consisting of Chevron, Qatar's UCC and Iraq's Basra Oil Company signed an agreement to compare possible pipeline routes. An official from the U.S. State Department said this week that Trump's administration is supporting efforts by Iraq and Syria in order to revive a pipeline connecting the two countries. Kirkuk-Baniyas has been mostly inactive since 2003, when the U.S. led invasion of Iraq damaged it.
(source: Reuters)