2025-08-06 15:58

SANTIAGO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Chile's state-run mining company ENAMI has kicked off a process to draw in investors for a $1.7 billion smelter in exchange for copper cathode supply, it said on Wednesday. The Hernan Videla Lira smelter in the Atacama region is undergoing renovations that will give it the capacity to process 850,000 metric tons of copper concentrate a year and produce 240,000 tons of copper cathodes, ENAMI said. Sign up here. The company is analyzing various financing options, and has brought on Chilean financial adviser Asset to gauge interest from investors in the coming weeks, it said. ENAMI also created a new business unit to develop the smelter, called Proyecta ENAMI. Chile is the world's biggest copper producer, and sends the majority of its concentrate for processing in China. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chiles-enami-opens-door-investors-17-bln-smelter-2025-08-06/

2025-08-06 14:49

WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) , opens new tab will announce a domestic manufacturing pledge of $100 billion on Wednesday that will focus on bringing more manufacturing to the United States, a White House official said. The pledge would be a new financial commitment, the official said on the customary condition of anonymity. It comes as President Donald Trump pursues an aggressive tariff and trade agenda aimed at moving some manufacturing back into the United States. Sign up here. Apple said in February it would spend $500 billion in U.S. investments in the next four years that will include a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers while adding about 20,000 research and development jobs across the country. Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump's tariffs cost Apple $800 million in the June quarter and spurred some customers to buy iPhones in late spring this year. Apple has been shifting production of products bound for the U.S., sourcing iPhones from India and other products such as Macs and Apple Watches from Vietnam. The ultimate tariff rates many Apple products could face remain in flux, and many of its products are currently exempt. "Today’s announcement with Apple is another win for our manufacturing industry that will simultaneously help reshore the production of critical components to protect America’s economic and national security," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement. The previously announced $500 billion in expected spending from Apple includes everything from purchases from U.S. suppliers to U.S. filming of television shows and movies for its Apple TV+ service. Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments, which holds Apple shares, said the announcement would be a "savvy solution to the president's demand that Apple manufacture all iPhones in the U.S. "The stock is up on the news, likely a relief rally that (Apple CEO Tim) Cook, who has been largely mute in response to the attacks on the company, is extending an olive branch." Earlier, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox Business Network that Apple was likely to make an investment announcement on Wednesday, as he discussed the financial pledges made by companies and countries under Trump. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/apple-pledge-100-billion-us-manufacturing-white-house-official-says-2025-08-06/

2025-08-06 13:42

PRAGUE, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Central Europe's currencies will mostly find support from a weaker U.S. dollar over the next six months, although the Hungarian forint is set to retreat from around 10-month highs, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. The region's currencies have been on a stronger footing in recent weeks, with the Czech crown touching an 18-month high, as global trade uncertainties ease after the European Union and U.S. reached a deal on U.S. tariffs and the dollar softens. Sign up here. Hawkish central bank stances in Hungary and the Czech Republic have also supported the forint and crown, respectively. But analysts in the poll expect the forint to lose some shine later this year as inflation starts to weaken and economies feel the - mainly indirect - impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy. In the poll, the median forecast had the forint losing 1.7% to trade at 405.00 versus the euro in six months' time. "The forint remains supported by favourable positioning and carry appeal, but softening inflation and a weak macro backdrop could push EUR/HUF back toward 405-410 by year-end," said Peter Virovacz, an ING economist. Investors in Hungary will be watching a potential return to central bank interest rate cuts, and will also have an eye on parliamentary elections due next year, with worries of fiscal slippage in the run-up. Romania's leu is also expected to fade over the next six months, with the poll's median forecast putting it at 5.12 to the euro, down 0.9% from Tuesday's close. The new government in Bucharest faces a lengthy task of bringing down the EU's largest fiscal gap, a process that could weigh on the currency. The crown and the Polish zloty are expected to fare better, with both likely to trade mostly unchanged in six months. Analysts forecast the crown to hover around 24.60 per euro over the next half-year. Meanwhile, the Czech central bank (CNB) is taking a cautious stance on further rate cuts in its easing cycle, although many analysts expect another reduction later this year. "A decline in CNB rates could lead to renewed depreciation pressures in the fall," Komercni Banka said in a report. "The negative factors could be partially offset by the CNB's high foreign exchange reserves, the Czech economy's positive growth differential vis-à-vis the euro area, and the global weakening of the U.S. dollar." Similarly, Poland has launched interest rate cuts in recent months, after a long pause, but the zloty is expected to keep within a recent range of 4.25-4.30 per euro in the coming months and is forecast at 4.27 in six months, or 0.4% stronger than Tuesday's closing price. (Other stories from the Reuters August foreign exchange poll) https://www.reuters.com/business/central-europes-fx-get-dollar-boost-forint-likely-fall-highs-2025-08-06/

2025-08-06 12:47

Indian PM to visit China for SCO summit, source says Modi China visit first in over 7 years - source India's national security adviser visiting Russia to discuss oil, weapons issues India braces for $64 bln export hit due to Trump's tariffs NEW DELHI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China for the first time in over seven years, a government source said on Wednesday, in a further sign of a diplomatic thaw with Beijing as tensions with the United States rise. Modi will go to China for a summit of the multilateral Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that begins on Aug. 31, the government source, with direct knowledge of the matter, told Reuters. India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. His trip will come at a time when India's relationship with the U.S. faces its most serious crisis in years after President Donald Trump imposed the highest tariffs among Asian peers on goods imported from India, and has threatened an unspecified further penalty for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil. Modi's visit to the Chinese city of Tianjin for the summit of the SCO, a Eurasian political and security grouping that includes Russia, will be his first since June 2018. Subsequently, Sino-Indian ties deteriorated sharply after a military clash along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in Russia in October that led to a thaw. The giant Asian neighbours are now slowly defusing tensions that have hampered business relations and travel between the two countries. Trump has threatened to charge an additional 10% tariff on imports from members - which include India - of the BRICS group of major emerging economies for "aligning themselves with Anti-American policies." Trump said on Wednesday his administration would decide on the penalty for buying Russian oil after the outcome of U.S. efforts to seek a last-minute breakthrough that would bring about a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. Trump's top diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow, two days before the expiry of a deadline the president set for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions. Meanwhile, India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is in Russia on a scheduled visit and is expected to discuss India's purchases of Russian oil in the wake of Trump's pressure on India to stop buying Russian crude, according to another government source, who also did not want to be named. Doval is likely to address India's defence cooperation with Russia, including obtaining faster access to pending exports to India of Moscow's S400 air defence system, and a possible visit by President Vladimir Putin to India. Doval's trip will be followed by Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in the weeks to come. EXPORT IMPACT U.S. and Indian officials told Reuters , opens new tab a mix of political misjudgement, missed signals and bitterness scuttled trade deal negotiations between the world's biggest and fifth-largest economies, whose bilateral trade is worth over $190 billion. India expects Trump's crackdown could cost it a competitive advantage in about $64 billion worth of goods sent to the U.S. that account for 80% of its total exports, four separate sources told Reuters, citing an internal government assessment. However, the relatively low share of exports in India's $4 trillion economy is expected to limit the direct impact on economic growth. On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India left its GDP growth forecast for the current April-March financial year unchanged at 6.5% and held rates steady despite the tariff uncertainties. India's government assessment report has assumed a 10% penalty for buying Russian oil, which would take the total U.S. tariff to 35%, the sources said. India's trade ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The internal assessment report is the government's initial estimate and will change as the quantum of tariffs imposed by Trump becomes clear, all four sources said. India exported goods estimated at around $81 billion in 2024 to the U.S. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-modi-visit-china-first-time-7-years-tensions-with-us-rise-2025-08-06/

2025-08-06 12:24

Aug 6 (Reuters) - NRG Energy (NRG.N) , opens new tab beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the utility got a boost from surging power demand and improved retail margins in its Texas unit. The company also entered into a 295 megawatt long-term retail deal to power data centers constructed on two NRG-owned sites in Texas, with a potential to expand to about 1 gigawatt across additional sites. Sign up here. NRG is positioned to benefit from surging electricity demand in Texas, driven in part by a boom in data centers, which require steady, large-scale power supplies to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing operations. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in April that power consumption in the country is expected to reach record highs in 2025 and 2026. NRG added that it plans to return $1.3 billion to shareholders and about $345 million in common stock dividends in 2025 as part of its previously announced 2025 capital allocation plan. The company's Texas unit posted an adjusted core profit of $512 million, up form last year's $452 million. NRG's operating expenses rose to $6.74 billion in the quarter ended June 30, from $5.25 billion a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a profit of $1.73 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.56, according to data compiled by LSEG. NRG reaffirmed its current-year adjusted profit forecast of $6.75 to $7.75 per share. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nrg-energy-beats-quarterly-profit-estimates-inks-295-mw-deal-power-data-centers-2025-08-06/

2025-08-06 12:16

Aug 6 (Reuters) - India's Jindal Stainless (JIST.NS) , opens new tab said on Wednesday that the launch of an anti-dumping investigation by the government into cheap stainless steel imports has been delayed due to trade uncertainty stemming from fresh U.S. tariffs on Indian goods. The Indian Stainless Steel Development Association - a domestic trade body of which the company is a member - filed a petition with the federal trade ministry's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in late July, Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal said in a post-earnings call. Sign up here. India faces the imposition of a 25% tariff on its shipments to the U.S. from Friday, and President Donald Trump has warned of "very substantial" additional levies because of New Delhi's oil imports from Russia. The DGTR will likely take two to three more months to start the probe, Jindal said. Indian mills have been grappling with higher imports of cheaper stainless steel from countries, including China and Vietnam. Local demand for the finished product - used in logistics, the automotive industry, home appliances and the industrial sector - stayed strong in the April-June quarter, supported by strong manufacturing activity and government spending. Jindal Stainless posted an 11% rise in first-quarter profit to 7.15 billion rupees (about $82 million) earlier in the day. Its domestic sales accounted for 91% of total sales, with consolidated net revenue rising 8.2% to 102.07 billion rupees. ($1 = 87.6430 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/jindal-stainless-says-governments-anti-dumping-probe-delayed-amid-us-tariffs-2025-08-06/