2025-05-27 20:41
PG&E says data center interest up in new parts of California Potential new demand seen in April study Data center developers want much bigger sites than indicated last year May 27 (Reuters) - PG&E (PCG.N) , opens new tab, California's largest electric utility, has seen a jump of more than 40% this year in requests for power supplies from data center developers across the northern part of the state, an executive with the company told Reuters on Tuesday. California's Silicon Valley is one of the world's largest and oldest data center markets, but analysts have widely said that pricey land and costly electricity will limit the state's ability to capitalize on the current wave of demand for artificial intelligence data centers, which is concentrated in the middle of the country. Sign up here. PG&E, however, said it is seeing signs that the state still has room to run. Last month, PG&E, which delivers power and natural gas to about 16 million people in northern and central California, including Silicon Valley, launched a process for data center developers interested in connecting to the utility's system. The so-called cluster study yielded 4.1 gigawatts of interest, on top of the 8.7 gigawatts announced during the company's most recent earnings call in late April, said Mike Medeiros, PG&E's vice president of South Bay Delivery. Not only did the pipeline of prospective data centers being built within PG&E grow, but the size of the projects has also jumped since the previous year's cluster study, Medeiros said. Last year, the typical data center wanting to power up through PG&E had 50 to 100 megawatts in capacity. Current proposals are for projects of 500 megawatts to as much as 1,000 megawatts. "We're seeing quite a change in what customers are looking for, and some of that might be based on land availability or just scale and the efficiencies of building bigger," Medeiros said. Unlike earlier data centers, those for AI are used primarily for training the large language models, like ChatGPT, and can be further away from city centers. While California's older data centers are in Silicon Valley in the western part of the state, many of the new proposed developments are inland, including in Contra Costa County and the Fresno area. Not all of the data centers making inquiries are expected to ultimately connect to PG&E. Some of the top challenges in data center expansion for the utility include meeting the tight timelines by developers and operators and backlogs in the equipment needed to build out the grid. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/biggest-california-utility-sees-more-than-40-jump-data-center-interest-executive-2025-05-27/
2025-05-27 20:39
May 27 (Reuters) - U.S. LNG company New Fortress Energy (NFE.O) , opens new tab on Tuesday said it received an expected notice from Nasdaq on non-compliance with the stock market's listing rule for not submitting its quarterly reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this month, the company had flagged it would extend its quarterly filing with the U.S. securities regulator due to a delay in completing the previously announced sale of its business in Jamaica and the resignation of its accounting chief. Sign up here. New Fortress Energy has 60 days from receiving the Nasdaq notice to submit a compliance plan. If approved, the company will have until November 11, or 180 days from the original due date, to file its Form 10-Q and regain compliance. However, the company expects to file the Form 10-Q well ahead of the Nasdaq deadline. Last year, the company began exploring options such as bringing in strategic partners or selling assets after deferring shareholder dividends to preserve cash and working out a deal with bondholders to push back maturities. Its financial woes stem from its inability to secure long-term LNG agreements for its power-generation assets in Latin America due to its credit not being investment-grade, forcing the company to acquire the gas at higher prices. New Fortress in May posted a quarterly loss due to weak performance across segments and announced the completion of its $1.06 billion Jamaica asset sale to Excelerate Energy. The notice will not pose an immediate impact on the listing or trading of the company's securities on the Nasdaq Stock Market. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/new-fortress-energy-discloses-notice-nasdaq-2025-05-27/
2025-05-27 20:25
Indexes rise: Dow 1.78%, S&P 500 2.05%, Nasdaq 2.47% Consumer confidence rebounds in May Temu-parent PDD Holdings falls on quarterly revenue miss Nvidia gains ahead of quarterly earnings due on Wednesday NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street surged on Tuesday as investor risk appetite was buoyed by U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff respite and an unexpected jump in consumer confidence. A broad rally sent all three major U.S. stock indexes higher, with strength in the AI-related "magnificent seven" group of momentum stocks putting the tech-laden Nasdaq out front. Sign up here. The S&P 500 is now within 3.6% of its record closing high reached on February 19, having plunged as much as 18.9% below that level in the wake of Donald Trump's erratic tariff announcements, which have whipsawed markets for much of the President's second term. "When (Trump) came out with guns blazing April 2, the market thought the world was ending," said Paul Nolte, senior wealth adviser and market strategist at Murphy and Sylvest in Elmhurst, Illinois. "The selloff was so strong and quick that you would expect some rebound, and the rebound has been so sharp and quick that you would expect some type of pullback as investors digest it and ask themselves what the terrain really looks like." In the latest move, the president backed down from his 50% tariff threat against the European Union, delaying its implementation until July 9 to allow for negotiations between the White House and the 27-nation bloc. The move prompted Brussels to prepare for trade negotiations. "Investors have kind of figured Trump out a little bit," Nolte added. "He's like the poker player at the table that you know is making some bets and then when pressed by the other players at the table, he folds." On the economic front, a 14.4% surge in current-month consumer confidence added momentum to the rally, helping investors look past a steeper-than-expected drop in new orders for core capital goods, considered a barometer of U.S. corporate spending plans. Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin told Bloomberg that economic data has yet to show increased price pressure or joblessness, echoing the sentiments of many Fed officials who anticipate the key interest rate will remain unchanged until the full effect of Trump's tariffs is known. Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting are due on Wednesday. Long-dated U.S. Treasury yields dipped, while those on the 30-year note were set for their biggest one-day fall since late April, mimicking a steep price rally in longer-term Japanese debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 740.58 points, or 1.78%, to 42,343.65, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 118.72 points, or 2.05%, to 5,921.54 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 461.96 points, or 2.47%, to 19,199.16. All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 advanced on the day, with consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab and tech shares (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab leading the gainers. Airlines (.SPCOMAIR) , opens new tab and megacap tech-related growth stocks (.NYFANG) , opens new tab were the clear outperformers. Semiconductors (.SOX) , opens new tab were also ahead of the pack, one day before chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab is due to report its quarterly results. Year-on-year, the AI darling is expected to post a 43.5% jump in earnings per share, on a 66.2% revenue surge. Temu-parent PDD Holdings (PDD.O) , opens new tab dropped 13.6% after reporting a 47% fall in first-quarter profit and missed quarterly revenue estimates. Lagging shares were Fair Isaac Corp, down 11.3%, VeriSign, Inc, down 3.6%, and Autozone Inc, lower by 3.4%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.42-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 222 new highs and 27 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 3,206 stocks rose and 1,264 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.54-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 87 new highs and 63 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.98 billion shares, compared with the 17.72 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-stock-futures-rally-after-long-weekend-trade-reprieve-2025-05-27/
2025-05-27 19:10
May 27 (Reuters) - Oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) , opens new tab has priced its dollar-denominated 3-part bonds at $5 billion and set spread for them, fixed income news service IFR reported on Tuesday. Aramco priced its five-year debt sale at $1.5 billion with spread set at 80 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, tighter than 115 bps over the same benchmark released earlier in the day. Sign up here. Meanwhile the 10-year portion spread was set at 95 bps with a price of $1.25 billion and its 30-year portion spread was set at 155 bps with a price of $2.25 billion, IFR said. The spread was over the same benchmark tightened from 130 and 185 bps. The proceeds from each issue of bonds will be used by Saudi Aramco for general corporate purposes, the company said in a bourse filing. Before the pricing was announced, the debt deal was expected to be benchmark-sized, which is usually considered to be at least $500 million. Earlier this month, Aramco reported a 4.6% drop in first-quarter profits, citing lower sales and higher operating costs as economic uncertainty hit crude markets. Reuters reported last week that the oil giant is exploring potential asset sales to release funds as it pursues international expansion and weathers the impact of lower crude prices . The company last turned to global debt markets in July when it raised $6 billion from a three-tranche bond sale. Saudi Arabia, which is seeking funds to invest in new industries and wean its economy away from oil under its Vision 2030 plan, has long relied on Saudi Aramco to support economic growth. Other Gulf issuers have tapped debt markets in recent months, braving a market turmoil caused by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies. They include Saudi Arabia's $925 billion sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi's renewable energy firm Masdar, which last week raised $1 billion with a green bond. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/saudi-aramco-seeks-funds-through-three-part-bond-sale-2025-05-27/
2025-05-27 17:34
PARIS, May 27 (Reuters) - Brazil has not yet tested cows for bird flu, despite hundreds of cases in the dairy herd in the U.S., because it is focusing on poultry outbreaks after its first confirmed case on a farm this month, the country's chief veterinarian said on Tuesday. Brazil, the world's largest chicken exporter, confirmed its first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, on a poultry farm earlier this month, prompting bans from several major importers. Sign up here. Bird flu has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry around the globe in the past years and affected a large number of mammals, including more than a thousand dairy cows in the United States, raising concerns it could mutate into a form transmissible between humans. "For the moment we are taking care of the poultry industry," Brazil's Chief Veterinary Officer Marcelo Mota told Reuters on the sidelines of the general session of the World Organisation for Animal Health in Paris. The cattle industry is not very big in the region and Brazil mainly breeds cows for meat, not dairy, which has proven to be more vulnerable to the virus, Mota said. "The management of the herd is different and so it's also part of our decisions at this moment not to consider the situation as a first priority," Mota said. "We don't want to raise the concerns where we don't have a problem," he added. Strong biosecurity in the past two decades and concentration along the production chain were the main reasons why Brazil did not report any bird flu outbreak on a farm before, he said. "We just realized this is a challenge for life," he said. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/brazil-not-testing-cows-bird-flu-despite-dairy-cases-us-2025-05-27/
2025-05-27 17:30
Move aligns with trend of companies adding crypto to balance sheets Bitcoin custody by Anchorage Digital and Crypto.com Senator Warren questions regulatory oversight of Trump's crypto ETFs May 27 (Reuters) - Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT.O) , opens new tab will raise about $2.5 billion to invest in bitcoin, U.S. President Donald Trump's social media company said on Tuesday, as it looks to diversify its revenue. The company is raising the funds by selling $1.5 billion in stock at its last closing price and $1 billion in convertible notes priced at a 35% premium, it said in a statement. Sign up here. The bitcoin will be held on Trump Media's balance sheet alongside existing cash and short-term investments totaling $759 million as of the end of the first quarter. Crypto platforms Anchorage Digital and Crypto.com will provide custody for the bitcoin holdings. "We view bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom," Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said, hailing the move as a "big step forward" in the company's plan to acquire "crown jewel assets consistent with America First principles." Shares of the company behind Truth Social, a streaming and social media platform, were down 8%. The move is part of a recent trend of public companies adding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to their balance sheets to capitalize on rising token prices as the Trump administration embraces digital assets. Strategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab - formerly known as MicroStrategy - has long been an aggressive investor in bitcoin and saw its shares soar more than six-fold last year, taking its market value to almost $94 billion. The company held $23.91 billion in crypto assets at the end of 2024. Several other companies have tried to replicate Strategy's success, including GameStop (GME.N) , opens new tab and several biotech firms. Last month, Cantor Fitzgerald announced that it would team up with Tether and SoftBank Group to launch Twenty One Capital, a bitcoin-buying entity that formed from a merger with blank-check vehicle Cantor Equity Partners. The combined vehicle is valued at $3.6 billion. Trump Media has been exploring potential mergers and acquisitions as it aims to diversify into financial services. Last month, it reached a binding agreement to launch various retail investment products, including crypto and exchange-traded funds aligned with Trump's policies. The Trump family, long rooted in skyscrapers and country clubs, has opened multiple beachheads in crypto, quickly gaining hundreds of millions of dollars. Those other crypto forays include Trump NFTs, a meme coin, a stake in a newly formed bitcoin producer called American Bitcoin and World Liberty Financial, a decentralized crypto platform that also offers a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. But the crypto push has attracted scrutiny from lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who last month asked the U.S. securities regulator about its plans to supervise ETFs due to be launched by Trump Media. https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-media-raise-25-billion-fund-bitcoin-treasury-2025-05-27/
