2025-08-28 21:28

DUBAI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi's ADNOC raised $317 million in an institutional placement of a 3% stake in its logistics and services unit through a bookbuild offering, it said on Thursday. The United Arab Emirates state oil company said that it completed the pricing of a placement to institutional investors of approximately 222 million shares in ADNOC L&S (ADNOCLS.AD) , opens new tab at 5.25 dirhams ($1.43) per share, a discount of 3.3% compared to Thursday’s closing price of 5.43 dirhams. Sign up here. The company added the offering drew “exceptional demand” from Gulf and international institutional investors, with around 7x oversubscription in a four-hour accelerated bookbuild, one of the region’s highest for a secondary sell-down. The deal is expected to increase ADNOC L&S's free float to 22% and improve liquidity for the unit's shares, the company said. Created in 2016, ADNOC L&S exports crude oil, refined products, dry bulk and liquefied natural gas from Abu Dhabi to more than 100 customers in over 50 countries. ADNOC raised $769 million in 2023 with an initial public offering for the unit and now holds an 81% stake. Other recent secondary offerings for ADNOC units include its gas business (ADNOCLS.AD) , opens new tab, which raised $2.84 billion in February in one the biggest share sales in the Middle East in recent years. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) , opens new tab, JPMorgan (JPM.N) , opens new tab and China International Capital Corporation (601995.SS) , opens new tab were among banks appointed as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the offering. ($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham) https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/adnoc-raises-317-million-via-secondary-share-sale-its-logistics-services-unit-2025-08-28/

2025-08-28 21:09

De minimis exemption for global package shipments to US ends on Friday US customs agency to collect full duties on all packages starting on Friday Change is permanent, Trump administration official says US has collected $492 million in duties on China, Hong Kong small packages since May WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. tariff exemption for package shipments valued under $800 ends permanently on Friday, with a six-month transition period under which postal service shippers can opt to pay a flat duty of $80 to $200 per package depending on the country of origin, Trump administration officials said. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency will begin collecting normal duty rates on all global parcel imports, regardless of value after 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Friday. The move broadens the Trump administration's cancellation of the de minimis exemption for shipments from China and Hong Kong earlier this year. Sign up here. "President Trump's ending of the deadly de minimis loophole will save thousands of American lives by restricting the flow of narcotics and other dangerous prohibited items, and add up to $10 billion a year in tariff revenues to our Treasury," White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters. "This is a permanent change," said a senior administration official, adding that any push to restore the exemptions for trusted trading partner countries was "dead on arrival." The de minimis exemption has been in place since 1938 and was raised from $200 to $800 in 2015 as a means to foster small business growth on e-commerce marketplaces. But direct shipments from China exploded after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term, creating a new direct-to-consumer business model for e-commerce firms Shein and Temu (PDD.O) , opens new tab. Many of these packages entered without screening, and the Trump administration has also blamed the exemption for allowing fentanyl and its precursors to flow into the U.S. CBP has estimated that the number of packages claiming the de minimis exemption jumped nearly 10-fold , opens new tab from 139 million in fiscal 2015 to 1.36 billion in fiscal 2024. A second senior Trump administration official said that CBP has collected more than $492 million in additional duties on packages shipped from China and Hong Kong since their exemptions were eliminated on May 2. The official said that full tariff rates will apply to all packages shipped by express carriers such as FedEx (FDX.N) , opens new tab, United Parcel Service (UPS.N) , opens new tab and DHL, with the firms collecting the duties and processing the paperwork. Foreign postal agencies can opt to collect and process the duties based on the value of the package contents, or opt for the flat rate method by collecting a flat tax based on Trump's "reciprocal" tariff rates currently in place on goods from the country of origin. Based on CBP guidance , opens new tab issued on Thursday, parcels would be charged $80 from countries with Trump-imposed duty rates below 16%, such as Britain and the European Union, $160 from countries between 16% and 25%, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, and $200 from countries above 25%, including China, Brazil, India and Canada. But postal services must shift to full "ad valorem" duty collection based on the value of the shipments by February 28, 2026, the second official said. This official acknowledged that some foreign postal services have suspended mail to the U.S. but said the administration was working with foreign partners and the U.S. Postal Service to minimize disruptions. The official said that Britain, Canada and Ukraine have confirmed that their shipments are continuing. https://www.reuters.com/business/end-us-low-value-package-tariff-exemption-is-permanent-trump-officials-say-2025-08-28/

2025-08-28 21:02

ORLANDO, Florida, Aug 28 (Reuters) - TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets Sign up here. By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist Wall Street rose on Thursday as investors looked favorably on tech despite a mixed reaction to Nvidia's results, while the prospect of U.S. rate cut next month from a more dovish Fed pushed the dollar lower against nearly every major and emerging currency in the world. More on that below. In my column today, I look at the rotation out of tech stocks and into small caps that accelerated in August, and ask whether it can continue into September. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Today's Key Market Moves Today's Talking Points: * U.S. GDP resilience Second-quarter U.S. GDP growth was unexpectedly revised up to an annualized 3.3% from 3.1% and PCE inflation in the quarter was revised slightly lower to 2.5% from 2.6%. On the margins, this may point to more of a 'Goldilocks' scenario and temper some of the 'stagflation' fears that continue to swirl. Does this alter Fed expectations? Probably not - there are some key data before the September 17 decision, starting with July PCE inflation on Thursday, that will have much bigger sway. But it does show that the impact from tariffs on activity and prices hasn't been properly felt yet. * Big government Contrary to what we were told on the campaign trail and led to believe with Elon Musk's 'DOGE' moment in the Washington sun, the Trump administration is taking a very active role in many aspects of U.S. economic, policymaking and industrial life. From taking stakes in big companies like Intel and others to letting Nvidia sell its H20 chips to China in exchange for 15% of those sales, and from trying to stuff the Fed board with loyalists to targeting law firms and academic institutions, the administration's footprint seems to be expanding, not shrinking. * Yuan steps beyond The Chinese yuan - onshore spot and offshore - leapt to its highest level against the U.S. dollar this year, precisely since November 6, the day after the U.S. election. The PBOC's USD/CNY fixing is on course for its biggest weekly move since September. Beijing is clearly steering the yuan higher, not lower, as many observers predicted would be its response to the economy's deflationary pressures and looming trade war with the U.S. Maybe Beijing is focusing more on bolstering domestic demand than exports? U.S. small caps quietly notch historic outperformance vs tech Amid the Federal Reserve drama and deluge of corporate earnings in August, one clear but overlooked trend emerged in U.S. equities: the rotation out of expensive tech stocks and into cheaper small caps. As the month draws to a close, the big question is whether this can continue. The Nasdaq 100 is currently on track for a monthly gain of 1.5% while the Russell 2000 small cap index is headed for a 7.3% rise, signaling an underperformance of 580 basis points for the tech-heavy index. According to Stuart Kaiser, head of equity trading strategy at Citi, that relative monthly performance for the Nasdaq 100 is in the bottom 5% since 1985. And if we look at ETFs, tech's underperformance looks even more striking. This month, the Invesco QQQ exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 is flat, while the iShares Russell 2000 ETF is up 7%. FED BOOST So what's responsible for this dramatic divergence? It may partly just reflect investors seeking to rebalance their concentrated and lopsided portfolios. But the split was clearly turbo-charged by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech on August 22, when he opened the door to an interest rate cut next month. Manish Kabra, head of U.S. equity strategy at Societe Generale, says the Russell 2000 index's outperformance against the broader S&P 500 that day was the biggest since the U.S. election on November 6 last year that returned Donald Trump to the White House. Powell's dovish pivot is helping small caps outperform because these companies tend to benefit more from lower interest rates given that they rely on borrowing to grow and expand. Larger firms, especially 'Big Tech' megacaps, often have huge cash reserves and easier access to other sources of financing. To be sure, lower rates wouldn't just be good news for small caps. The rising tide of liquidity and investor sentiment would typically be expected to lift all boats, including the 'Magnificent Seven' megaships. As analysts at UBS point out, past equity bubbles have often been burst by rising interest rates, so a resumption of the central bank's easing cycle would appear to minimize that particular risk for high-priced tech stocks. But, regardless, small caps may still continue to get more of a Fed boost in the near term. AI DOUBTS Another catalyst for the rotation has been creeping doubts about AI's ability to deliver returns commensurate with the bubble-like frenzy surrounding the new technology. Tech stocks remain on the pricey side. That's justified, argue UBS analysts, by the potential revenue from AI-generated efficiencies, which they estimate could reach around $1.5 trillion a year globally. Others are less optimistic. If value creation on this massive scale fails to materialize, then tech companies will struggle to generate a return on the trillions of dollars of global capex expected in the coming years. That's why all eyes were on $4.4 trillion Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday. How investors interpret the global AI leader's results will help determine whether tech's underperformance continues into September. The company's revenue, profit and forecasts looked solid, but uncertainty surrounding the suspension of its business with China and skepticism around the revenue outlook are giving investors pause. UNDER THE RADAR For now, market momentum remains with smaller firms. Francis Gannon, co-CIO and managing director at Royce Investment Partners, calls it a "stealth summer" for small caps, the recent outperformance of which has gone "mostly unnoticed" amid the daily headlines centered on economic uncertainty, geopolitical worries, and new highs in the larger cap-led indices. Indeed, the Russell 2000 has yet to revisit last November's peak, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 have been printing new highs for weeks. Whether or not small caps start hitting new records will likely be determined by what happens at the Fed. So the big macroeconomic events to watch next month will be the August employment report due on September 5, August CPI inflation data on September 11, and then, of course, the Fed's policy decision on September 17. Small caps have enjoyed a pleasant end to the summer. Let's see what happens when investors all get back to their desks next month. What could move markets tomorrow? Want to receive Trading Day in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for my newsletter here. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-trading-day-graphic-2025-08-28/

2025-08-28 21:01

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's energy statistics arm, which has experienced staff cuts this year, said on Thursday it will delay publishing key energy data on uranium as well as its international outlook this year. The Energy Information Administration said its annual uranium marketing report that had been scheduled to come out in June will be published in September, while its International Energy Outlook may not be published until January, an agency spokesperson told Reuters. Sign up here. The EIA did not respond to questions about whether the staff cuts were the cause of the delays. The EIA has also proposed to discontinue a solar energy report on photovoltaic module shipments, according to a notice in the Federal Register, because it no longer believes the value of the data "exceeds the burden of collecting and publishing it." The EIA has lost a substantial number of staff due to federal job cuts and buyouts. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that the EIA was set to lose over 100 employees this year, around 40% of its workforce. Bloomberg first reported on the report delays. An EIA spokesperson said the International Energy Outlook likely won’t be published in 2025 but that "doesn’t necessarily mean we’re canceling this iteration" - just that it may publish it in January instead of October. The EIA publishes weekly, monthly and annual data on oil and gas output, crude and fuel inventories, and price forecasts, all used by traders and energy companies as indicators of supply and demand. The reports often move global oil prices. Sources told Reuters earlier this year that staffing losses would lead the EIA to change publication schedules and reassess which reports it would continue to publish. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-energy-data-agency-after-staff-cuts-delays-reports-uranium-international-2025-08-28/

2025-08-28 20:41

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 0.01% to 28,434.8 points The financial sector index lost 0.22% at market close Lenders TD Bank, CIBC follow peers, top analysts' forecast Aug 28 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed almost flat on Thursday as investors took profits on gains seen over the last few days, especially in banking stocks after two days of robust gains. A higher trading in technology stocks and a late-hour reversal in energy shares helped to offset some losses from profit booking-led sales. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab edged slightly higher to close up 0.01% to 28,434..8 points, but still hovered around the record high level which was seen on Wednesday. "It's been a good run... so it looks like a little bit of profit taking," Martin Pelletier, senior portfolio manager at TriVest Wealth Counsel. The main index has given a return of 14.5% this year with over 4.5% coming in August alone after fears around U.S. tariffs receded, hopes of a trade deal increased and investors and analysts realized the worst-case scenario of the impact of tariffs on the Canadian economy is likely unfounded. The financials index (.SPTTFS) , opens new tab, representing top lenders in the country, gave up some gains after two solid days of upswing and the energy index, composed of oil and gas stocks, stayed volatile. Sign up here. The index, which accounts for almost a third of the weight in the composite index and is its biggest constituent, lost 0.22% at market close despite lenders TD Bank (TD.TO) , opens new tab and CIBC (CM.TO) , opens new tab topping analysts' expectations. Both the lenders beat profit forecasts and posted lower than expected loan loss provisions. Shares of CIBC were up roughly 2%, while TD Bank lost 4.5%. The Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) , opens new tab, the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) , opens new tab and the Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) , opens new tab had posted similar stellar earnings this week, boosting investor hopes the local economy was getting better after an initial impact of tariffs. Statistics Canada will release second quarter GDP number on Friday along with an advanced estimate for July growth and investors will be watching that closely to gauge the health of the economy in the coming months and prospects of a rate cut in Canada next month. The energy sector (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab was up 0.4% as gains in crude oil price later in the day reversed losses seen for most of the day in oil and gas shares, while consumer discretionary shares (.GSPTTCD) , opens new tab led the sectoral losses with a 0.08% fall. "The big question is, is this going to hold heading into September and October months which is seasonally a weaker period of time," said Pelletier, pointing to possible triggers for the TSX coming only from a trade deal between the U.S. and Canada. South of the border, Nvidia's shares were down 0.82% as uncertainty over its China businesses clouded a better-than-expected revenue forecast for the next quarter. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/toronto-stock-exchange-closes-almost-flat-investors-take-profit-2025-08-28/

2025-08-28 20:31

MOKOPANE, South Africa, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Valterra Platinum (VALJ.J) , opens new tab will start trial mining at an underground pit at its Mogalakwena open-pit mine in South Africa late next year, the general manager for the project said on Wednesday. Mogalakwena in Limpopo province, north of Johannesburg, is the world's largest open-pit platinum group metals (PGM) mine, comprising five open pits. The ore body of its Sandsloot pit, where the underground mine is being developed, has higher grades of ore. Sign up here. Platinum miners in South Africa have faced declining ore grades for years. To keep production going, companies have had to mine deeper underground, which makes operations more expensive and risky. The mine is the crown jewel of Valterra's portfolio, contributing about 50% of the company's PGM production. The project to develop the Sandsloot underground mine is a nod of confidence in the future of PGMs, used primarily in autocatalysts and jewellery. Prices of the white metals have mostly slid in the past two years, with demand hit by the rise of battery electric vehicles, which don't require them, leading miners to cut supply. In July, the company said it has begun the feasibility study for the underground project with a targeted completion and investment decision in the first half of 2027. "We're also envisioning a trial mining ...in the back end of 2026," Stephan Nothnagel, General Manager of Mogalakwena underground mining studies told reporters during a media tour of the mine on Wednesday. "If it meets our capital allocation we will be able to truck the first ore out of the top part of the ore body to the surface," Nothnagel said, adding that ramping up to a 3.6 to a 4.5 million tonne a year operation was possible beyond 2030. With the underground mine, Valterra hopes to achieve its targeted 10% to 50% overall increase in Mogalakwena concentrate production, it said in July. Martin Poggiolini, executive head of corporate strategy, and Agit Singh, Valterra's head of processing operations, said the company is scaling up demand across existing markets such as hydrogen production and fuel-cell electric vehicles and creating demand in new segments. "So we have really good confidence in the fundamentals around the PGM sector in the short term and certainly in the longer term," Singh said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/valterra-platinum-plans-start-underground-trial-mining-late-2026-2025-08-28/