2025-07-14 20:59

Tuesday starts run of key economic data, earnings season Nasdaq posts seventh record close since June 27 Crypto stocks jump as Bitcoin hits $120,000 mark Waters to merge with Becton's diagnostics arm, shares fall Indexes up: Dow 0.2%, S&P 500 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.27% July 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks closed marginally up on Monday as investors sidestepped any meaningful moves following U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats, and held steady ahead of a busy week of economic data and the start of earnings season. Trump ramped up trade tensions over the weekend, vowing to slap a 30% tariff on most imports from the European Union and Mexico starting August 1 - leaving the clock ticking for last-minute trade deals. Sign up here. The EU extended its pause on retaliatory measures until early August, holding out hope for a negotiated truce. The White House said talks with the EU, Canada and Mexico are still underway. Despite the headlines, investor reaction was muted, having grown numb to Trump's barrage of tariff threats and his frequent last-minute U-turns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 88.14 points, or 0.20%, to 44,459.65, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 8.81 points, or 0.14%, at 6,268.56 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab advanced 54.80 points, or 0.27%, to 20,640.33. Trading volume was also subdued, with 15.43 billion shares changing hands, compared with the 17.62 billion average for the last 20 trading days. Markets have been buoyant in recent weeks even as Trump has rattled his tariff saber. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab ended at a record high, its seventh such achievement since June 27. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab, which finished a dozen points below last Thursday's best ever close, has had five records in the same timeframe. "If anything is holding the market back, it's the fact we've had a pretty good run since April," said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy & research at Glenmede. He noted that despite initial fears that Trump's tariff policy would hurt the U.S. economy, the levies unveiled so far and the passage of his signature economic legislation last week will broadly offset each other, meaning investors are starting to be more confident about the economy's growth prospects. Signs of how Trump's policies are playing out will come this week, with a raft of new reports on the state of the U.S. economy due up. Second-quarter earnings season kicks off on Tuesday, when several Wall Street banking heavyweights are set to report. Tuesday is also the scheduled release of the latest consumer price data, which is expected to reveal an inflation uptick in June as sellers started passing on the cost of sweeping tariffs. Wednesday's producer and import price reports will offer fresh insight into how supply chain pressures are shaping up. One place where Trump's tariff rhetoric still moved markets was crude prices, with U.S. benchmark oil dropping 2.2% after he threatened levies on buyers of Russian exports, which may have knock-on effects on global energy supplies. This pushed the energy index (.SPNY) , opens new tab down 1.2%, the biggest decliner among the 11 S&P sectors. A majority of the sectors closed in positive territory though, led by the 0.7% advance by communication services (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab. It was helped by gains in Netflix (NFLX.O) , opens new tab, which reports earnings on Thursday, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD.O) , opens new tab, whose latest Superman caper had a strong opening weekend at the box office. Crypto stocks ticked up after Bitcoin topped $120,000 for the first time. Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab rose 1.8%, and MicroStrategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab gained 3.8%. Waters Corp (WAT.N) , opens new tab dropped 13.8% after the lab equipment maker agreed to merge with rival Becton, Dickinson and Company's (BDX.N) , opens new tab Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions unit in a $17.5 billion deal. https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-st-futures-wobble-fresh-tariff-threats-ahead-data-earnings-deluge-2025-07-14/

2025-07-14 20:59

BAGHDAD, July 14 (Reuters) - Two drones fell in the Khurmala oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said in a statement on Monday. Khurmala oilfield is located near the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil. Sign up here. The Iraqi Security Media Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement that no casualties were reported and only material damage was recorded. An investigation into the incident was launched in coordination with security forces in Kurdistan, it added. The Kurdish region's Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement that the attack only resulted in damage to the oilfield's water pipes. It did not elaborate whether production from the field was affected by the attack. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/two-drones-fell-khurmala-oilfield-iraqi-kurdistan-counter-terrorism-service-says-2025-07-14/

2025-07-14 20:24

Chinese low prices thwarted efforts to shake its dominance Industry elsewhere has long campaigned for alternative pricing Sole domestic US rare earth miner aims for commercial magnet production late this year LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - U.S. efforts to break China's dominance of the rare earths market and to drive investment in its own industry have moved up a gear with a Washington-backed plan to create a separate, higher pricing system. The West has struggled to weaken China's grip on 90% of the supply of rare earths, in part because low prices set in China have removed the incentive for investment elsewhere. Sign up here. Miners in the West have long called for a separate pricing system to help them compete in supplying the rare earths group of 17 metals needed to make super-strong magnets of strategic importance. They are used in military applications such as drone and fighter jets, as well as to power motors in EVs and wind turbines. Under a deal made public last week, the U.S. Department of Defense will guarantee a minimum price for its sole domestic rare earth miner MP Materials (MP.N) , opens new tab, at nearly twice the current market level. Las Vegas-based MP already produces mined and processed rare earths and said it expects to start commercial magnet production at its Texas facility around the end of this year. Analysts say the pricing deal, which takes effect immediately, should have global implications - positive for producers, but may increase costs for consumers, such as automakers and in turn their customers. "This benchmark is now a new centre of gravity in the industry that will pull prices up," said Ryan Castilloux, managing director of consultancy Adamas Intelligence. The DoD will pay MP the difference between $110 per kilogram for the two most-popular rare earths and the market price, currently set by China, but if the price rises above $110, the DoD will get 30% of additional profits. Castilloux said other indirect beneficiaries of the pricing system may include companies, such as Belgian chemicals group Solvay (SOLB.BR) , opens new tab, which launched an expansion in April. "It will give Solvay and others the impetus to command a similar price level. It will give them a floor to stand on, you could say," Castilloux added. While Solvay declined to comment, other rare earth miners, developers and their shareholders welcomed the news. Aclara Resources (ARA.TO) , opens new tab is developing rare earths mines in Chile and Brazil, as well as planning a separation plant in the United States. Alvaro Castellon, the company's strategy and development manager, told Reuters the deal added "new strategic paths" for the company. MP'S GRADUAL OUTPUT INCREASE MP Materials, which suffered a net loss of $65.4 million last year largely because of China's low pricing, will build up magnet production at its Texas plant initially to 1,000 metric tons a year, later expanding to 3,000 tons a year. Under last Thursday's deal, the DoD will become its largest shareholder with a 15% stake and MP will construct a second rare earth magnet manufacturing facility in the U.S., eventually adding 7,000 tons per year. In total, production would be 10,000 tons a year - equalling U.S. consumption of magnets in 2024. That does not include, however, the 30,000 tons imported by the United States already installed in assembled products, Adamas consultancy said. It predicts global demand for rare earth permanent magnets will more than double over the next decade to about 607,000 tons, with the U.S. seeing the strongest percentage annual growth rate in coming years at 17%. The world's reliance upon China for much of this demand was brought into focus by China's curbs on its exports as trade negotiations continue between the United States and China. So far Western governments have had little success in trying to help their own industries to compete. Attempts to agree stronger pricing have been confined to piecemeal deals that set premiums for magnets. Dominic Raab, a former deputy prime minister and former foreign secretary for the United Kingdom, said he was not surprised the Trump administration had concluded that tax breaks alone would not create the level of investment required. "The next step is, can they scale it up?" asked Raab, now head of global affairs at Appian Capital Advisory, a private equity firm that invests in mining projects. The $110 level for neodymium and praseodymium, or NdPr, guaranteed by the DoD is slightly above a $75-to-$105 per kg range that consultancy Project Blue reckons would be needed to support enough production to meet demand in coming years. It compares to a current level of about $63. David Merriman of Project Blue said it was unclear how commercial industrial consumers would respond to higher prices and whether it would make them invest in rare earths as they have more diverse supply sources. "Major non-government backed consumers are less likely to follow this same investment pattern, however, as they are not so clearly aligned to a particular regional supply route," he said. A spokesperson for German auto giant Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) , opens new tab declined to comment on pricing when asked about the DoD floor level but said: "We welcome all efforts to strengthen long-term stability and diversification in global supply chains for critical materials." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/us-rare-earth-pricing-system-is-poised-challenge-chinas-dominance-2025-07-14/

2025-07-14 19:36

SAO PAULO, July 14 (Reuters) - Brazilian pension fund Previ said on Monday it sold its minority stake in Brazilian meat processor BRF (BRFS3.SA) , opens new tab for 1.9 billion reais ($340.31 million), ending a 31-year investment in the group, according to a statement on its website. Previ, which represents workers from state-run lender Banco do Brasil (BBAS3.SA) , opens new tab, said the move aims to avoid potential negative impacts from the ongoing merger between BRF and Marfrig (MRFG3.SA) , opens new tab. The pension fund added it will use the resources to buy long-term local bonds from the Brazilian government. Sign up here. ($1 = 5.5832 reais) https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/pension-fund-previ-sells-stake-brazils-brf-ahead-marfrig-deal-2025-07-14/

2025-07-14 19:31

July 14 (Reuters) - Arizona's governor has demanded an investigation into why a wildfire that destroyed a historic lodge and dozens of other structures on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was allowed to burn for a week before federal firefighters tried to put it out. The wind-driven wildfire burned down the Grand Canyon Lodge late on Saturday night or in the early hours of Sunday, according to Stefan La-Sky, a spokesperson for the team fighting the blaze. Sign up here. The lightning-sparked fire, which began on July 4, has destroyed up to 80 other structures including cabins, park administrative buildings and visitor facilities, according to the National Park Service, which runs the Grand Canyon National Park. In a post on X on Sunday night, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs demanded an independent enquiry into why the National Park Service carried out what she called a "controlled burn during the driest, hottest part of the Arizona summer." The fire was initially managed with a "confine and contain" strategy, firefighters creating containment lines to protect the lodge, first opened in 1928, according to the U.S. government InciWeb fire site. "The fire is being allowed to fulfill its natural role within a defined area," the Grand Canyon National Park wrote July 9 on its Facebook page, listing reduction of fuels and stimulation of new plant growth as benefits. Firefighters switched to a "full suppression" strategy after strong northwest wind gusts uncommon to the area caused the blaze to grow rapidly and jump multiple containment features on July 11, the InciWeb site said. "Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park," Hobbs wrote in an X post on Sunday. The Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, said federal firefighters made decisions based on real-time data, local conditions and fire science. "The allegation that this fire was managed as a controlled burn is not at all accurate and our wildland fire experts certainly know the difference," Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said in a statement. The North Rim of the park will remain closed for the rest of the 2025 season and inner canyon trails and campgrounds are closed until further notice, the National Park Service said. The South Rim of the park remains open to visitors. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/wildfire-guts-historic-grand-canyon-lodge-governor-demands-probe-2025-07-14/

2025-07-14 19:21

BUENOS AIRES, July 14 (Reuters) - Argentina's monthly inflation rate slightly ticked up in June after slowing to its lowest in five years, official data showed on Monday. Prices during the month rose 1.6% from the month before, national statistics agency INDEC said, just above the 1.5% recorded in May and below the 1.9% estimate from analysts polled by Reuters. Sign up here. In May, monthly inflation hit its lowest since the same month in 2020, marking the lowest yet for libertarian President Javier Milei. June's data is more good news for Milei, whose austerity measures have tamped down on once eye-popping triple-digit annual inflation and have inspired confidence from investors. "Let's go, Toto!" Milei posted on X, referring to his economy minister, Luis "Toto" Caputo. "Good Argentines will cheer about 1.6% inflation, while my haters cry." Early analyst estimates predict inflation slowing further in July, despite the month typically facing seasonal price increases. Argentina had previously held the top spot for highest inflation in the region, though the No. 1 title likely now goes to Venezuela - which has stopped publishing economic data - followed by Bolivia. In the 12 months through June prices rose 39.4%, slowing from the previous month's 43.5% rate and a tad below the 39.8% rate predicted by analysts. Analysts polled by the central bank see annual inflation falling to 27% by the year's end. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-inflation-ticks-up-less-than-expected-june-2025-07-14/