2025-05-12 20:56

TSX ends up 0.7% at 25,532.18 Posts highest close since February 19 Tech adds 5.5% with Shopify jumping 14.1% Energy gains 3% as oil settles 1.5% higher May 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose to a near three-month high on Monday as the United States and China reached a deal to reduce tariffs, raising optimism that an all-out trade war disrupting the global economy can be avoided. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 174.44 points, or 0.7%, at 25,532.18, its highest closing level since February 19. Sign up here. U.S. stocks posted sharper gains, clawing back some recent underperformance against the Toronto market. The TSX has been shielded in a turbulent period for markets by its cheaper valuation compared to Wall Street and a heavy weighting in gold-mining shares, say analysts. "Canadian markets can benefit from the big easing in trade tensions (as) it shows that the tariff war may be able to get resolved more quickly than people had previously thought", said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. The technology sector gained 5.5% as shares of e-commerce company Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) , opens new tab 14.1%. The price of oil settled 1.5% higher at $61.95 a barrel, boosting energy which added 3%. Consumer discretionary was up 2.4% as shares of apparel retailer Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) , opens new tab and auto parts company Magna International Inc (MG.TO) , opens new tab jumped. Some of gold's safe-haven attraction faded which weighed on the materials group. The group was down 4.9%. Shares of Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) , opens new tab tumbled 15.9% after a deal to acquire MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO) , opens new tab. MAG Silver shares gained 5.5%. Hudbay Minerals Inc (HBM.TO) , opens new tab shares jumped nearly 9% after the miner's first-quarter results beat estimates. (This story has been corrected to say the index hit a near three-month, not a near three-week, high in the headline and paragraph 1) https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/tsx-futures-rise-us-china-slash-tariffs-2025-05-12/

2025-05-12 20:43

Indexes rise: Dow 2.81%, S&P 500 3.26%, Nasdaq 4.35% Stocks outperform safer assets due to trade detente Apple rises on report of considering raising iPhone prices Wall Street's "fear gauge" slips below 20 points NRG Energy jumps after $12 billion assets deal May 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three major indexes rose sharply on Monday with the S&P 500 marking its highest level since early March as a U.S.-China agreement to temporarily slash tariffs brought some hopes for the easing of a global trade war, which U.S. President Donald Trump ignited in early April. The U.S. and China announced on Monday that they would slash steep tariffs on each other for 90 days. The U.S. said it will cut tariffs imposed on Chinese imports to 30% from 145% while China said it would cut duties on U.S. imports to 10% from 125%. Sign up here. Investors showed some relief by favoring riskier assets and turning away from more defensive bets, but they were still left waiting for clarity on where tariffs would ultimately settle. "It's a relief rally because there was a lot of anxiety and angst about tariffs between the U.S. and China," said John Praveen, managing director at Paleo Leon in Princeton, New Jersey, adding that the world's two biggest economies appeared to be working to avoid the worst-case tariff scenarios. "They are going to scale it down to much more reasonable levels so the fall-out from tariffs will probably be more manageable and limited," said Praveen. Chris Brigati, chief investment officer at SWBC, an investment company in San Antonio, Texas, said "the market perceives any progress as positive." "The market is celebrating it for the moment, but in the long run, there could be complications, and we could see some negative implications," Brigati said. U.S. stocks had weathered steep losses and unusually high volatility after Trump announced tariffs on multiple U.S. trade partners on April 2. Since then, an April 9 announcement of a 90-day pause for countries besides China, solid earnings reports and last week's U.S.-UK limited trade agreement have helped both the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq regain their lost ground. On Monday, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the Dow all boasted their biggest single-day percentage gains since April 9 and the S&P broke above its 200-day moving average for the first time since late March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 1,160.72 points, or 2.81%, to 42,410.10 for its highest close since March 26. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 184.28 points, or 3.26%, to finish at 5,844.19, its highest close since March 3 while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 779.43 points, or 4.35%, to 18,708.34 for its highest finish since February 28. Nasdaq closed more than 22% above its lowest session close in the April tariff sell-off but was still almost 8% below its Dec 16 record close. Wall Street's "fear gauge", the CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) , opens new tab, which had hit a peak of 60 in April due to tariff fears, traded below 20 on Monday for the first time since late March. In commodities, safe-haven gold fell about 2.6%. Of the 11 S&P sub-sectors, defensive utilities (.SPLRCU) , opens new tab was the sole loser by the end of the session, falling 0.68% while the strongest sectors were heavyweight consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab, which added 5.66% and technology (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab, which climbed 4.66%. In technology, Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab rallied 6.3% after a report that it was considering raising the prices of its fall iPhone lineup. The earnings season is winding down, with more than 90% of the S&P 500 companies having reported so far. Numbers from retail giant Walmart (WMT.N) , opens new tab are due later this week. Shares in NRG Energy (NRG.N) , opens new tab soared 26.2% and lead S&P 500 advancers after the utility said it would acquire power generation assets from energy infrastructure investment firm LS Power in a deal valued at $12 billion. Several Federal Reserve officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, are slated to make public remarks over the week. Traders expect the Fed to deliver two 25-basis-point rate reductions by the end of 2025, with the first cut now expected in September, according to data compiled by LSEG. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.83-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 165 new highs and 43 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 3,285 stocks rose and 1,158 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.84-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 83 new highs and 50 new lows. On U.S. exchanges about 20.20 billion shares changed hands compared with the 16.52 billion moving average for the last 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-stock-futures-jump-us-china-trade-stand-off-thaws-2025-05-12/

2025-05-12 20:40

Analysts forecast April inflation between 2% and 3.5% Eco Go attributes May inflation slowdown to stable exchange rate and lower food prices Official April inflation data to be released Wednesday at 1900 GMT May 12 (Reuters) - Argentina's monthly inflation rate is seen hitting 3.1% in April, a dip from the 3.7% rate recorded in March, according to the median forecast of a Reuters poll published on Monday. Inflation in the South American country has slowed dramatically since libertarian President Javier Milei took office in December 2023, when the monthly rate hit 25.5%. Upticks in February and March, however, took economists and analysts by surprise. Sign up here. The average estimate from 22 local and foreign analysts showed inflation of 3% for April. Eugenio Mari, chief economist of the Liberty and Progress Foundation, said several factors suggest inflation likely slowed in April, despite the easing of the exchange rate regime. Milei lifted a currency control in mid-April that had restricted the purchase of foreign currency, and implemented a divergent floating exchange band set between 1,000 and 1,400 pesos per dollar. "The currency unification was carried out without trauma and with a relatively small devaluation," Mari said. Analysts' projections for April inflation ranged between a minimum inflation rate of 2% and a maximum of 3.5%. They also project monthly inflation could slow to 2% in the second half of the year. Eco Go, a consultancy, estimates May inflation at 2.3%, attributing the projected slowdown to a stable exchange rate, lower seasonal food prices, and falling fuel costs due to a drop in global oil prices. The central bank's recently published Market Expectations Survey, meanwhile, forecasts 2.0% inflation for July and 1.8% for August. Argentina's national statistics agency will release official data regarding April inflation on Wednesday afternoon (1900 GMT). https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-inflation-seen-slowing-april-reviving-downward-trend-2025-05-12/

2025-05-12 20:33

May 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department said on Monday it will fast-track environmental permitting for Anfield Energy's (AEC.V) , opens new tab proposed Velvet-Wood uranium mine project in Utah to boost President Donald Trump's efforts to ramp up domestic energy production. As a result, the project's environmental review will be completed in just 14 days, the department said in a statement. Such studies typically take years because of the potential environmental effects of uranium mining. Sign up here. "America is facing an alarming energy emergency because of the prior administration's climate extremist policies. President Trump and his administration are responding with speed and strength to solve this crisis," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. "The expedited mining project review represents exactly the kind of decisive action we need to secure our energy future," he said. If approved, the Velvet-Wood mine project in San Juan County would produce uranium, used in both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons production, as well as vanadium, a metal than can be used in batteries or to strengthen steel and other alloys. The Interior Department said the project would be located at the site of a previous mining operation and lead to only three acres of new surface disturbance. Anfield also owns the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill in Utah, which it intends to restart. That mill would convert uranium ore into uranium concentrate that could be used as a nuclear fuel. Anfield said it was pleased by the Interior Department's announcement. "These efforts not only bring increased investor attention to the sector but will also help boost Anfield’s production prospects as one of very few companies with a near-term path to U.S. uranium production," it said in a statement emailed to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/us-will-fast-track-utah-uranium-mine-permit-2025-05-12/

2025-05-12 20:20

May 12 (Reuters) - The developer of a major U.S. offshore wind project warned that it will cancel the Empire Wind facility off the coast of New York if it cannot in the coming days reach a resolution over a month-old stop-work order issued by the Trump administration. Molly Morris, president of the U.S. renewable energy arm of Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab, said the company was spending $50 million a week to keep the project afloat. Sign up here. "The situation is now unsustainable," Morris said in an interview. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered Equinor to halt construction on the project on April 17, saying information suggested the administration of former President Joe Biden may have approved it without a thorough environmental analysis. President Donald Trump has directed his administration to speed approvals for energy projects to meet soaring U.S. demand. On Monday the Interior Department said it would perform an environmental review for a Utah uranium mine in just two weeks. Wind, however, is excluded from that effort. Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office pausing new leasing and permitting of wind projects, which he says are ugly, expensive and harmful to wildlife. Equinor's Morris said the stop-work order stemmed from a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a division of the Commerce Department, but that the company had not seen the report and was not aware of the specific concerns it had raised. NOAA assists the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in permitting offshore wind projects by assessing impacts on marine mammals and fisheries. Interior Department officials were not immediately available for comment. A NOAA spokesperson declined to comment. Equinor has 11 vessels with 100 workers on board sitting on the water waiting for an order to resume work, Morris said. The company has already invested $2.7 billion in the project. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/equinor-says-it-could-cancel-new-york-offshore-wind-project-over-trump-order-2025-05-12/

2025-05-12 20:17

CAIRO, May 12 (Reuters) - Egypt's Suez Canal Authority chief, Osama Rabie, said the authority is considering offering discounts ranging from 12% to 15% on transit fees to help restore traffic in the strategic waterway reeling from attacks by Yemen's Houthis on Red Sea shipping. Rabie told privately owned Sada al-Balad television channel in a phone interview that the discounts could be applied within days after a ratification by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Sign up here. He spoke after revenue from the canal continued to plunge on the back of attacks on shipping by Yemen's Houthis, who say they are trying to shut off cargo bound for Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza, but who are also chasing ships away from the canal. Revenue from the Suez Canal, a key source of foreign currency for Egypt, plummeted to $880.9 million in the fourth quarter from $2.40 billion a year earlier, the victim of Houthi attacks, central bank figures showed earlier this month. Last week, Rabie met with representatives from shipping agencies who called for temporary incentives that would help offset increased insurance costs for vessels operating in the Red Sea, which they deemed a high-risk zone. The meeting followed an Oman-mediated ceasefire between the United States and the Houthis, under which the U.S. agreed to stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen in return for the group agreeing to stop attacking U.S. ships. The accord with the Iran-backed group does not include Israel. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/egypts-suez-canal-mulls-discounts-transit-fees-bring-back-traffic-2025-05-12/