2025-08-19 12:52
TORONTO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index is set to extend its record-setting run this year and next as lower borrowing costs along with potentially greater clarity on U.S. tariffs offset expected pressure on corporate profits, a Reuters poll found. The median prediction of 20 equity strategists and portfolio managers in the August 7-18 poll was for the S&P/TSX Composite Index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab to rise 2.3% to 28,553 by year-end, moving above last Wednesday's record closing high and easily eclipsing the 26,250 mark expected in a May poll. Sign up here. The index is forecast to reach 30,000 by the end of 2026, a gain of over 7%, versus the previous prediction of 27,750. "We are embracing the idea of a renewed bull market for the S&P/TSX Composite Index," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management. "With the U.S. tariff issues largely known and/or resolved, we have a clearer path forward for the impact on stocks." The TSX index has rallied more than 25% from an April low as investors globally have become less fearful of U.S. tariffs. The U.S. has increased tariffs on Canadian goods to 35% from 25% but products covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempt from duties. About 92% of Canadian exports to the U.S. in June were exempt under that trade agreement. Canada's jobs market could deteriorate in the near-term but the prospect of more certainty on tariffs and additional interest rate cuts could provide a better set-up for the economy going into next year, said Michael Dehal, a senior portfolio manager at Dehal Investment Partners at Raymond James. The Bank of Canada has opened the door to additional interest rate cuts if upward pressure on prices from trade disruptions is contained. The central bank has lowered its benchmark rate by 225 basis points since June 2024 to 2.75%. Still, six of 11 analysts that answered a separate question said corporate earnings would be marginally lower in the second half of 2025 compared with the first half. "Consumer-facing sectors are likely to remain under pressure, and the ramp-up in AI investment is increasing costs without yet delivering clear revenue uplift," said Victor Kuntzevitsky, a portfolio manager at Stonehaven, Wellington-Altus Private Counsel. "However, resource and export-oriented companies may help cushion the overall impact." The energy and materials sectors, which include oil and metal mining shares, account for 30% of the Toronto market's weighting. While the price of oil has slipped since the start of the year, gold has surged 27%. "Tactical pullbacks should be viewed as opportunities to add exposure, as the bull market appears well supported by underlying fundamentals," said Angelo Kourkafas, a senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones. (Other stories from the Reuters Q3 global stock markets poll package) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-tsx-stock-index-predicted-rise-23-by-year-end-trade-certainty-hopes-2025-08-19/
2025-08-19 12:44
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Massive, sudden downpours of rain known as cloudbursts have struck Pakistan and India during this monsoon season, killing hundreds of people in the flash floods and landslides they have triggered. WHAT ARE CLOUDBURSTS AND WHY DO THEY OCCUR? By a widely accepted definition, a cloudburst means more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rainfall in one hour, over a small area. Sign up here. This year, the monsoon, which originates in the Bay of Bengal and then sweeps westwards across northern India to Pakistan every summer, has brought deadly cloudbursts. Weather studies say cloudbursts typically occur in South Asia when warm, monsoon winds, laden with moisture, meet the cold mountain air in the north of India and Pakistan, causing condensation. With a warming planet, the monsoon has hotter air, which can carry more moisture. India's weather department data shows cloudbursts are most common in the Himalayan regions of Indian Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Fahad Saeed, a senior climate scientist at Berlin-based Climate Analytics, said that in the mountains of northern Pakistan, the warm monsoon system coming from the east was meeting colder air coming from the west, from the subtropical jet stream - a high-altitude weather system that originates in the Mediterranean. Global warming is pushing this jet stream further south in summer, he said, where it can now combine with the lower-level clouds of the monsoon in Pakistan, forming a tower of clouds which then generatesg intense rain. Similar intense rainfall, though triggered by different local factors, takes place around the world, such as the floods in Texas in July, when more than 300 mm of rain fell in less than an hour, sending a wall of water down the Guadalupe River. WHY IS THE REGION BEING HIT SO BADLY BY CLOUDBURSTS? This monsoon season has so far seen at least four major deadly cloudbursts, including in Uttarakhand, India, where video captured the moment when village buildings were swept down a mountain, and in Buner, in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan, where more than 200 people died after at least 150 mm of rain fell within an hour. S D Sanap, a scientist with the India Meteorological Department's Pune office, said such cloudburst events were becoming more frequent in the western Himalayas, which run across India and into Pakistan, but pinning the rise on a single cause was not easy. The cloudburst events on both sides of the border were triggered the same way: very moist monsoon air, upslope winds, and storms that stalled over valleys, said Moetasim Ashfaq, a weather expert based in the U.S. If a cloudburst happens over flat land, the rainfall spreads over a wide area, so the impact is less severe, said Pradeep Dangol, a senior hydrology research associate at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, based in Nepal. But in steep mountain valleys, the rain is concentrated into narrow streams and slopes, with the potential to trigger flash floods and landslides, he said. CAN CLOUDBURSTS BE PREDICTED? Forecasting such events days in advance is nearly impossible, though radars can track the build-up of dense cloud formations and give short-term warnings of intense downpours, Sanap said. To strengthen monitoring, the India Meteorological Department has installed new radars across the Himalayas and set up observatories aimed at improving early warnings and understanding of these extreme weather events. Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, who leads risk assessment at Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, part of the government, said that it was possible to warn about the general area but not possible to pinpoint the exact location in advance where a cloudburst will happen. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/why-cloudbursts-have-killed-hundreds-pakistan-india-this-monsoon-season-2025-08-19/
2025-08-19 12:11
Oct 21 (Reuters) - With electricity demand in the United States set to hit record highs in 2025 and 2026, utilities are doubling down on assets that can boost their power generation capacity while shedding others to fund their massive spending plans. The dealmaking spree comes as the industry prepares for rapid growth in electricity consumption nationwide, partly driven by power-hungry data centers needed to support the boom in artificial intelligence usage. Sign up here. Power demand from data centers in the U.S. is expected to nearly triple in the next three years and consume as much as 12% of the country's electricity, according to a Department of Energy-backed study. Here are some of the biggest mergers, acquisitions and divestitures announced in 2025: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-utilities-dealmaking-spree-blockbuster-2025-2025-05-19/
2025-08-19 12:07
Aug 19 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency firm Tether has appointed former White House crypto policy executive Bo Hines as a strategic adviser to help steer its expansion in the United States, the company said on Tuesday. In his new role, Hines will advise on digital assets and U.S. market strategy, engaging with policymakers and industry groups to strengthen the firm's presence in the world's largest economy. Sign up here. "His deep understanding of the legislative process, combined with his passion for practical blockchain adoption, makes him an invaluable asset as Tether enters the biggest market in the world," Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said. Hines, who until recently served as executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, supported the passage of the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulatory framework, and helped shape broader crypto regulation. He stepped down from his White House role in August to return to the private sector. "During my time in public service, I witnessed firsthand the transformative potential of stablecoins to modernize payments and increase financial inclusion," Hines said. Stablecoins, digital tokens tied to assets such as the U.S. dollar, are riding a surge of investor demand as clearer regulation paves the way for wider adoption. https://www.reuters.com/business/crypto-firm-tether-hires-ex-white-house-crypto-adviser-bo-hines-2025-08-19/
2025-08-19 11:59
Fed minutes due on Wednesday Fed's Jackson Hole symposium scheduled for August 21-23 Trump says U.S. would help assure Ukraine security in peace deal Aug 19 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Tuesday, buoyed by lower treasury yields and a weaker dollar amid prospects of lower U.S. interest rates, while investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve chair's speech at Jackson Hole later this week. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $3,340.62 per ounce by 1152 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.2% to $3,385.30. Sign up here. The dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab fell 0.1% against its rivals, while benchmark 10-year yields also slipped. "Gold has been in a tight range over recent weeks, being pulled in different directions amid the ebb and flow of trade frictions, efforts to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, and weak U.S. labor data, but we believe the risks will drive it higher over the medium term," said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trumppledged to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the U.S. would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end the war with Russia, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear. Trump hosted Zelenskiy and a group of European allies days after he met with Putinin Alaska, which ended without an agreement. Meanwhile, market attention is on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium through August 21-23, which could offer clarity on the central bank's economic outlook. Investors expect an 83% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the Fed's September meeting, per the CME FedWatch tool. FEDWATCH "With several data points between now and the next FOMC meeting there might be no commitment (from the Fed) on next steps," UBS' Staunovo said. Minutes from the Fed's July meeting, due for release on Wednesday, are also expected to provide cues into the United States' economic outlook. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.2% to $38.08 per ounce, platinum was up 1.5% at $1,342.38 and palladium gained 0.3% to $1,125.93. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/gold-gains-weakness-dollar-yields-jackson-hole-summit-focus-2025-08-19/
2025-08-19 11:55
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Rescue workers on Tuesday recovered more bodies from a mountain village in northwest Pakistan where flash floods triggered by a cloudburst brought down homes and buildings, bringing the death toll there to at least 20, the local district commissioner said. The toll contributed to a total of 358 deaths in the floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since Friday – more than 200 of them in the worst hit district of Buner. Sign up here. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority says 30 children are among the dead. A cloudburst is a rare phenomenon where more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rain falls within an hour in a small area, officials say. Authorities have warned of more rains to come in two spells of monsoon until September 10. In Buner, there was more than 150 mm of rain within an hour on Friday morning. A massive downpour from another cloudburst struck near Gadoon in the mountains of Swabi district, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Monday. District Commissioner Nisar Khan said that as well as the death toll there increasing from 11 on Monday, several residents remained missing from the remote village. "We are utilising all available resources, including heavy machinery such as excavators, to recover the missing bodies," he said. The raging flood water came down from the mountains and swept away the houses, he said. The intense rain has claimed lives and spread destruction in several northwestern districts, with most people killed in flash floods, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. More relief equipment including tents, blankets, electric generators, pumps, medicine and rations have been sent to the flood-affected areas, the National Disaster Management Authority said on Tuesday. It said the torrential rains and flooding this monsoon season have killed 695 people across Pakistan since late June. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/twenty-bodies-found-pakistan-mountain-village-after-cloudburst-flooding-2025-08-19/
