Western Europe

The growing bets on a rate cut in the U.S. lifted stocks for a 4th straight day, and Europe's stock markets experienced an incredible few hours when Britain's fiscal regulator accidentally published new forecasts that were crucial ahead of a brutal UK budget. The UK budget was released by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves and contained yet another round of tax increases. Early release The Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook has already triggered a response. The sterling and gilt yields both rose as OBR figures showed a better than expected picture of the UK's fiscal room, but then...

Gregor Stuart Hunter gives us a look at what the markets will be like in Europe and around the world. It is make-or-break for Britain's Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, who will unveil her budget later today. The budget could contain tens or hundreds of millions of pounds worth of new taxes. In Asian trading, the pound is up 0.2% to $1.3193, a rise of a fifth day in a row ahead of her speech at 1230 GMT. Sources say that after the meeting between the new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takayichi and BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda last week, the Bank...

The Asian stock market rose on Wednesday as it followed Wall Street's gains. Weaker-than-expected data on the economy fueled expectations that Federal Reserve would cut interest rates during its next policy meeting. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan rose 1% after U.S. shares ended the previous session mildly up. Japan's Nikkei index gained 1.8% while U.S. futures stocks edged up by 0.2%. U.S. stock prices recovered lost ground following a selloff at the beginning of the month. The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose for the third day in a row on Tuesday, after data revealed...

The global stock market rose on Tuesday, and was on track for a third consecutive session of gains. Investors remained confident that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates during its December meeting. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Yields fell. Alphabet and Meta Platforms led the gains on Wall Street. Google's parent company hit an intraday high of $328.83, and was up over 1% last as it approached $4 trillion market capitalization. This would make it the only fourth company to achieve this mark. The Information reported on Meta Platforms, which rose 3% and was the largest boost to the S&P...

Investors piled into technology stocks on Tuesday, despite concerns that the sector was overheating. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is on the verge of reaching a valuation of $4 trillion, making it the only fourth company in the world to do so. This shows that investors are confident the AI-fueled tech boom will continue. MSCI's All-World Index rose for the third consecutive day, lifting it off its two-month-lows from last week. Shares in Europe increased by 0.2%, and U.S. index futures were nearing positive territory. Bets on RISING RATE Cuts The yield on 10-year Treasury bills was unchanged at...

Asian shares rallied Tuesday, as investors bet on a Federal Reserve rate cut in December. They also piled into technology stocks around the world, despite concerns that the sector is becoming overheated. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan gained 1%, led by tech stocks. This is a partial recovery of last week's 4% drop. The index is expected to drop 3.8% in the month. This will be its first monthly decrease since March. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8% at the start of trading on Tuesday, after returning to work on Monday from a long holiday. Last week, the index fell...

Global stocks rose Monday as investors grew more confident that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in December. This helped to offset recent investor anxiety over excessive valuations of tech companies, which has caused volatility this month. The markets are preparing for the release of U.S. retailer sales and producer price data later this week as well as the highly anticipated British budget by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves on Wednesday. Geopolitical events were also a focus. After agreeing to change an earlier proposal, which Kyiv and Europe deemed too favorable to Moscow, the U.S. was working with Ukraine to develop...

The oil prices fell Monday, continuing the losses of last week as Russia and Ukraine peace talks moved closer to a resolution, while the U.S. Dollar strengthened. Brent crude futures dropped 14 cents or 0.22% to $62.42 a barrel at 1:48 GMT. West Texas Intermediate fell 15 cents or 0.26% to $57.91 per barrel. Last week, both crude benchmarks fell about 3% and reached their lowest settlements in over a month. Market participants were concerned that a Russia/Ukraine agreement could lift sanctions against Moscow and flood market with previously sanctioned supplies. The sell-off in oil prices was primarily triggered by...

Investors began a week of events on a positive note on Monday as they took comfort in the growing expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by December, even though policymakers are divided on such a move. The markets were preparing for possible catalysts. These included the release of U.S. retailer sales and producer price data, due later this week. In addition, British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will also be releasing her highly anticipated Budget. After the United States, Ukraine and other countries announced that they had developed a "refined and updated peace framework" in order to end the...

Five sources said that U.S. sanctions have dismantled what is left of Lukoil Litasco. Litasco was once Russia's largest oil trader, and a competitor to Swiss oil houses and major oil companies. Washington is trying to stop Moscow from funding its war in Ukraine. The new measures also target the state-owned Rosneft. They went into effect Friday. The measures have put Lukoil’s global operations in limbo - from oilfields across the Middle East, to fuel pumps and refining plants throughout Europe. Sources said that Litasco, cut off from the global system of finance, has fired most traders and operational employees,...

European shares dropped on Friday, and it looked like the selloff would continue on Wall Street. Traders were worried about the valuation of tech stocks. The U.S. employment data showed a mixed picture. This added to the traders' insecurity and diminished hopes that Federal Reserve would cut rates this year. Wall Street was led lower by technology stocks on Thursday, despite a positive report from Nvidia about its earnings. Fears of a market bubble fueled by AI were not dispelled despite the chipmaker's good news. Investors continued to dump riskier assets during Friday's Asian trade. At 1219 GMT the MSCI...

By Anna Szymanski LONDON (November 21) What Mike Dolan, the ROI team and I are looking forward to reading, watching and listening to this weekend. The Nvidia boost was short-lived. The U.S. equity market fell on Thursday, despite an initial rally. Both the Nasdaq index and Dow recorded +1,000 points from the peak to the trough. The Nasdaq, which is dominated by tech stocks, saw its largest intraday movement since April's tariff tantrum. Nvidia's $57 billion record third quarter revenue, and its rosy outlook did not calm fears of an AI bubble. Jamie McGeever, ROI's markets columnist, explains that the...

Gold prices rose by more than 1% on Wednesday to a two-week-high after positive U.S. data boosted expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in the coming month. This supported non-yielding gold. At 1208 GMT spot gold rose 1% to $4,172.18 an ounce, its highest level since November 14. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery were up 0.7% to $4,168.70 an ounce. Market participants are beginning to price again a U.S. interest rate cut for December," stated UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Bullion is a non-yielding investment that tends to do well in environments with low interest rates. Staunovo stated that...

Mitsubishi Materials, a Japanese company, said it would shift its focus to secondary smelting in order to increase profitability. Due to a tight supply of concentrates and the expansion of smelting capacity by China, Japanese copper smelters face a tumbling treatment charge and refining charge (TC/RC) as well as shrinking smelting profits. Mitsubishi Materials announced in October it would cut the refined copper production at its Onahama Smelter & Refinery in the period October-March by a quarter. It plans to integrate its copper products sales and procurement of copper concentrates with rival Pan Pacific Copper owned by JX Advanced Metals...

UK stocks rose on Wednesday led by financials and mining shares, as investors prepared for a tax-heavy budget. Blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.2% at 10:55 GMT. The domestically focused FTSE 250 rose by 0.3%. Gold prices reached a two-week high following positive U.S. data that reinforced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in the next month. Hochschild grew 4.4%, Endeavour Mining rose 3.6% and Fresnillo gained 3.9%. Copper prices rose, causing industrial miners to gain about 1%. Anglo American rose by 1.4%, while Antofagasta grew by 1.8%. After media reports that tax increases in the budget would be reduced,...

Gold prices reached a two-week-high on Wednesday after positive U.S. data reinforced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in the coming month. This supported non-yielding gold. At 1019 GMT the spot gold price was up by 0.8% at $4,161.57 an ounce, its highest level since November 14. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery were up 0.4% to $4,157.40 an ounce. Market participants are beginning to price again a U.S. interest rate cut for December," stated UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Bullion is a non-yielding investment that tends to do well in environments with low interest rates. Staunovo stated that "we...

By Dylan Duan Amy Lv, and Lewis Jackson SHANGHAI (Nov 26) - The global copper market will be squeezed again next year. This will push prices of refined metal and concentrate to new heights, said the head of Mercuria's metals research on Wednesday. Nicholas Snowdon, the high-profile copper bear at Mercuria in Geneva, predicted that next year's global copper market, where copper concentrate is melted down to metal, would be in deficit by 500,000 tons, similar to 2025. He said that the improved estimate from his forecast in May of a 700,000-ton deficit was due to a limited growth of...

The UK will stockpile critical minerals as part of its defence procurement plans and is expecting that lithium processing projects in Northern England will begin within the next couple of years, in an effort to reduce its dependence on China. The government announced its critical minerals strategy, last week. It set a target to meet 10% domestic demand by UK mining, and 20% by recycling, by 2035. This was backed up by funding of up to 65.58 million pounds. To reduce the risk in the supply chain, it is also hoped that no more than 60 percent of any mineral...

Residents of Pari Island sue Swiss Cement Maker Holcim Climate change is blamed for higher temperatures and warmer seas Indonesian coastline is being eroded by mangroves. By Leo Galuh The Women's Group of Pari Island is hoping that mangroves will protect its coastline from rising sea levels, tidal flooding, and stronger waves. Mangroves absorb greenhouse gases, which are harmful to the planet. The sea has changed. "It's hotter and rougher. It scares us," Asmania, a mom of three, said as she dug her hands in the sand below the shallow sea. Pari Island, near Jakarta's capital, is home to only...

Investors said that BHP should focus on its own growth strategy and move away from Anglo American, following the Australian firm's last minute appeal to the London listed company, which is close to a $60 billion deal with Canada's Teck Resources. In recent days, the world's biggest miner contacted Anglo's board to determine if there was any interest in a merger. This was reported by Sunday. BHP announced on Monday that it would not pursue the bid, but instead focus its efforts on growth. The decision to leave comes before the votes of Teck and Anglo shares - scheduled for...

BHP Group announced on Monday that it has decided to abandon its pursuit of a possible merger with Anglo American following preliminary discussions with Anglo American's board. The company stated that it believes a tie up would have created value for its stakeholders and offered "strong strategic benefits". However, it added that the strength of their own organic growth strategy remains strong. BHP tried to take over Anglo for $49 billion last year. However, the target refused multiple offers and BHP withdrew. BHP should assess the possibility of selling such assets. It does seem a bit messy on the BHP's...

A union official announced on Friday that American Industrial Partners, an investment firm based in the United States, plans to sell or list Aluminium Dunkerque on the stock exchange, France's biggest aluminium plant. Johan Vlietinck told CGT that the local management had informed the workers of AIP’s plan. Bloomberg News reported earlier that AIP considered a sale or listing of Aluminium Dunkerque. The company acquired the property four years ago after GFG Alliance defaulted on its debts. GFG Alliance is owned by commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta. A spokesperson from AIP France stated that the fund did not deny the reports...

Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or specific stocks. ABIONYX SA: The biotech company Abionyx Pharma has announced a global strategic partnership exclusively with Sebia. This partnership will transform sepsis diagnostics and validate new test for early sepsis detection. Financial terms and milestones remain confidential. Boiron SA, a homeopathic drug manufacturer, announced that Thierry Boiron will step down from his position as Deputy CEO on December 31, 2025. EIFFAGE SA. French construction company Eiffage has won a second contract for the construction of infrastructure at the Madrid street circuit, Spain....

Bosch said that thousands of employees are facing production interruptions due to a global shortage of chips caused by a dispute with the manufacturer Nexperia. China and the Netherlands are locked in a fight for control of Nexperia. However, there is hope that the standoff will ease with the Dutch government sending an official delegation to Beijing to try to reach a compromise. Bosch reported that it was experiencing disruptions at three of its sites: Ansbach, Salzgitter and Braga (both in Germany) and Braga (Portugal). It said: "We continue to do everything possible to serve our clients and to avoid...