2025-02-14 12:24

Feb 14 (Reuters) - Pipeline operator Enbridge (ENB.TO) , opens new tab on Friday reported a rise in its adjusted profit for the fourth quarter, on higher Mainline tolls and lower power costs. The company posted an adjusted profit of C$5.13 billion ($3.62 billion) for the quarter ended December 31, up from C$4.1 billion a year earlier. U.S. crude oil production fell only marginally in November from a monthly record high of 13.436 million barrels per day in October, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its Petroleum Supply Monthly report in January, boosting flows of crude through pipelines. The Mainline is North America's largest crude oil pipeline network. It transports light and heavy crude oil, natural gas liquids, and refined products from Edmonton, Alberta to various markets in Canada and the U.S. Midwest. Enbridge moves about 40% of crude oil produced in North America. Adjusted core profit from its Mainline system rose 3% to C$1.34 billion. Enbridge also increased its 2025 quarterly dividend by 3%. "Impacts from proposed tariffs on U.S. energy imports are not expected to be material to Enbridge's financial guidance," CEO Greg Ebel said. The company posted an adjusted profit of 75 Canadian cents, in line with analysts' average estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG. ($1 = 1.4185 Canadian dollars) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/enbridge-reports-higher-fourth-quarter-adjusted-profit-2025-02-14/

2025-02-14 11:56

Feb 14 (Reuters) - Canada's TC Energy (TRP.TO) , opens new tab beat analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Friday, boosted by strong demand in its Mexican operations and higher deliveries on its Canadian natural gas pipelines. The results come as the country's energy sector faces uncertainty after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and then delayed them by a month. Calgary-based TC Energy said it was assessing the trade negotiations and the impact of the proposed tariffs, but expected minimal impact. The company said on Friday its Southeast Gateway Pipeline in Mexico had achieved mechanical completion and was expected to go into service by May. TC Energy reiterated it was well-positioned to capitalize on the unprecedented demand for natural gas across North America, primarily driven by electric generation associated with booming demand from cryptocurrency mining and data centers. The pipeline operator's total revenue rose 2% to C$3.58 billion ($2.52 billion) boosted by higher adjusted core earnings from Mexican natural gas pipelines and power and energy solutions segments. However, profit fell at its U.S. and Canadian pipelines segments due to the sale of Portland Natural Gas Transmission System and lower earnings from the Coastal GasLink natgas pipeline. The company posted an adjusted profit of C$1.05 per share, compared with analysts' estimates of C$1.00, according to data compiled by LSEG. TC Energy increased its quarterly dividend by 3.3% to 85 Canadian cents. ($1 = 1.4181 Canadian dollars) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/canadas-tc-energy-beats-quarterly-profit-estimates-2025-02-14/

2025-02-14 11:49

Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Sterling rose to its strongest level against the dollar this year on Friday, after UK GDP data earlier this week sweetened the mood around the strength of the British economy, while the dollar weakened on some relief over U.S. tariff threats. At 1043 GMT, the pound rose 0.1% to $1.25775 against the dollar, its highest level since December 30. Sentiment towards the UK economy was boosted after data on Thursday showed Britain's economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1% in the final quarter of last year, strengthening the pound. "The pound was buoyed by the broad risk on mode in the market on Thursday, and the mild surprise to the upside in the latest GDP report for Q4," said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at Ebury. He added that the outlook remains complicated for the economy amid flat-lining growth in the second half of last year, elevated inflation, high mortgage rates and a high tax burden. The pound was also helped higher on Friday by a weaker dollar as traders breathed a sigh of relief that Washington did not immediately impose reciprocal tariffs, suggesting room for negotiation, while a U.S. producer price report soothed inflation concerns. The pound was largely flat against the euro , with one euro worth 83.39 pence. Money markets are pricing in 60 basis points of further easing this year from the Bank of England, compared with a little more than one quarter-point from the Federal Reserve and at least four quarter-point cuts from the European Central Bank. Market watchers are looking ahead to a fourth-quarter 2024 labour report due next Tuesday for more direction on the BoE's interest rate path, after the previous report showed British pay growth remained robust at 6% in the three months to November though there were more signs of a softening jobs market. More pay growth can add to inflationary pressures. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-rises-2025-high-easing-tariff-fears-dent-dollar-2025-02-14/

2025-02-14 11:21

FTSE 100 down 0.3%, FTSE 250 up 0.3% NatWest lost on lacklustre guidance XP Pensions jumped on upbeat revenue forecast Feb 14 (Reuters) - British equities were mixed on Friday, with a stronger sterling hurting export-oriented firms, while encouraging earnings from XP Pensions provided a lift to the midcap index. The export-heavy FTSE 100 (.FTSE) , opens new tab slipped by 0.3% at 1047 GMT, after achieving record highs for three consecutive sessions earlier this week, and remained on track to secure a 0.5% gain for the week, marking its third straight weekly increase. The pound gained in anticipation of a higher UK inflation data for January, due next week, that should cement the consensus expectation for the Bank of England to leave interest rates unchanged in March. The yield on the UK 10-year benchmark gilt saw a slight uptick in the session, also adding downward pressure. British bank NatWest (NWG.L) , opens new tab lost 3.7%, after giving a lackluster guidance, further adding to the losses in the benchmark index. "Guidance lacks a punch," says Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, adding that the 2025 outlook is in line with expectations, which may cause some weakness in early trading. Keeping losses at check, Segro (SGRO.L) , opens new tab gained about 0.2%, after the warehousing group reported a 15% jump in profit in 2024. British bookmakers Entain (ENT.L) , opens new tab and Flutter Entertainment (FLTRF.L) , opens new tab rose 4.5% and 5.4%, respectively, after U.S. peer Draftkings (DKNG.O) , opens new tab raised its 2025 revenue forecast. The FTSE 250 (.FTMC) , opens new tab gained 0.3%, boosted from XP Pensions (XPS.L) , opens new tab, that jumped 10.7%, their highest since October 16, after an upbeat revenue forecast. The index was set to gain 0.8% this week. On the flip side, John Wood Group (WG.L) , opens new tab plummeted 32.1%, after the British engineering firm said its free cash flow would be negative this year, instead of positive as previously expected. Meanwhile, European shares were on track for their eighth straight week of gains. Among sectoral performers, industrial metals & mining (.FTNMX551020) , opens new tab were the biggest gainer, rising 2.7%, as copper prices climbed to three-month highs. Precious metals & mining (.FTNMX551030) , opens new tab gained 1.7%. Gold prices rose and were on track for a seventh consecutive weekly gain. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/british-equities-set-modest-weekly-gains-higher-pound-drags-2025-02-14/

2025-02-14 11:12

CDC withheld bird flu reports, canceled meetings, sources say Trump's WHO withdrawal hampers information sharing, director says US detects more cases of bird flu in people and livestock Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has disrupted the U.S. response to bird flu as the outbreak worsens, leading to confusion and concern among federal staff, state officials, veterinarians and health experts, 11 sources told Reuters. Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office on January 20, two federal agencies responsible for monitoring and responding to the epidemic have withheld bird flu reports and canceled congressional briefings and meetings with state health officials, the sources said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention withheld two weekly reports, one on bird flu transmission and another on surveillance, and canceled several meetings on bird flu with state officials. The CDC and U.S. Department of Agriculture held no congressional briefings for three weeks, and the USDA did not respond to a state official's request for information on a new program to protect the nation's food supply, the sources said. The result has been anxiety among federal health staff that critical information about bird flu will not be disseminated in a timely manner or at all, even as more people and livestock test positive for the virus. "The confusion over messaging and who can say what or anything is complicating matters at a bad time," said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who has been working closely with federal and state officials on the bird flu response. Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization has also hampered information sharing that enables officials to track outbreaks and strains of the virus in other countries, three sources said. The CDC has said the risk to the general public from bird flu remains low. However, increasing outbreaks in livestock and humans in the U.S. have raised concerns among scientists that the virus could mutate in a way that enables person-to-person transmission. Bird flu has infected nearly 70 people in the U.S. since April and killed one person. It has wiped out about 159 million chickens, turkeys and other birds nationwide since the outbreak began in poultry in 2022. U.S. egg prices have soared to record highs, imperiling Trump's pledges to bring down costs for Americans. The USDA on February 5 said dairy cattle were infected with a second strain of bird flu, increasing concerns over its spread. Before Trump's inauguration, federal officials were in regular contact with state officials and industry groups as part of the U.S. response to its biggest animal-health emergency in history. The USDA said it continued regular communications with other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, and external parties, such as states, throughout the transition into Trump's second term. HHS, which oversees the CDC, said it has resumed some external communications since a temporary freeze on public health agency communications ended on February 1. It did not respond to detailed questions. REPORTS WITHHELD The CDC has not released two bird flu reports scheduled to be published on January 23 because of a lengthy and unusual review process, according to two sources with knowledge of the agency's activity. One of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports describes the first bird flu infections among cats that had no access to the outdoors. The other is a report on surveillance of wastewater in Oregon near poultry and dairy farms, according to screenshots of internal summaries seen by Reuters. For decades, these weekly reports have been a way for the CDC to communicate important information to local health officials and clinicians so they can properly treat and protect patients, said Arthur Reingold, epidemiology professor at the University of California at Berkeley. "It's just extraordinary, frankly, that we would slow down or delay or impede that kind of communication," Reingold said. 'CHAOTIC MESSAGING' The U.S. last week did not participate in a WHO meeting of specialists looking at influenza strains, including H5N1 bird flu, said Scott Prendergast, director in the agency's health emergencies team. "We no longer have the communication of things that are happening in the U.S.," Prendergast said. At least one state, Minnesota, has struggled to get information from the USDA about bird flu. The state's Board of Animal Health did not receive answers to questions it posed in January about a USDA program to increase testing of turkeys to protect the U.S. food supply, said Shauna Voss, the board's interim assistant director. Other actions from the Trump administration, such as the planned freeze on federal funding, have added confusion, she said. "That certainly chaotic messaging can trickle down to the state level and ultimately can impact our farmers who produce our food," Voss said. The CDC and USDA also canceled weekly or biweekly bird flu meetings with state veterinarians and congressional staff meant to help officials keep abreast of the latest virus detections and federal actions to contain the spread after Trump's inauguration, five sources said. After a three-week pause, USDA said it resumed congressional briefings on February 7. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-bird-flu-response-disrupted-early-weeks-trump-administration-sources-say-2025-02-14/

2025-02-14 11:11

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan As world stocks got a fresh lift, the U.S. dollar has retreated to its lowest of the year so far on a mix of reversing U.S. Treasury yields and another delay in tariff implementation. Multiple cross-currents have hit macro markets this week - a whipsaw effect from two big U.S. inflation reports, Washington's push for Ukraine peace talks alongside threats of sweeping tariffs and another heavy schedule of corporate earnings and Treasury debt sales. But as Friday trading gets underway, the net impact on the dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab has been to sink it to its lowest in almost two months - driven in part by a benign take on January's U.S. producer price report and a Ukraine-related rally in the euro. Even after U.S. President Donald Trump teed up his latest plan for reciprocal tariffs as "the big one", it transpired these won't hit early. Thursday's directive stopped short of imposing the tariffs, instead kicking off what could be weeks or months of investigation into the levies imposed on U.S. goods by other trading partners and then devising a response. The dollar, which has typically jumped on tariff threats over recent months, fell back to January levels against the euro and yuan , two-month lows on the Canadian dollar and 10-day lows against Mexico's peso . The greenback was also undermined as Treasury yields completely reversed their spike after Wednesday's hot consumer price inflation report - mainly because details of yesterday's producer price report painted a different picture. As flagged by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell the previous day, components of the PPI are important for the calculation of the Fed's favored personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation gauge. A number of these related to healthcare and airline fares actually fell sharply last month. That led Fed futures to marginally increase bets on Fed easing this year, pulling in the likely date of the next cut to September from October. The biggest impact was to knock long-term Treasury yields back lower, despite what was seen as tepid demand at the 10 and 30 year debt auctions this week. Along with the thrust from another robust corporate earnings season, the combination saw Wall Street stocks (.SPX) , opens new tab rally to within a whisker of new records on Thursday - led by big gains for megacaps Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab, Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab. Futures held most of those gains overnight, with traders awaiting the release of U.S. retail sales and industrial production data later on Friday. Tech was back in vogue overseas too, along with the artificial intelligence buzz. Chinese tech stocks (.HSTECH) , opens new tab resumed their bullish rally on Friday to clock their best winning streak in over two years as DeepSeek's AI breakthrough continued to encourage buyers. The Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 5.6% to a three-year high at close, bringing the week's advance to 7.3% and recording a fifth consecutive week of gains. The rally was helped after a Reuters report that Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair a symposium attended by Jack Ma and other Chinese business leaders. Also encouraged by the likely longer timeline on U.S. tariff implementation, the broader Hang Seng index (.HSI) , opens new tab jumped 3.7% and the Chinese mainland index (.CSI300) , opens new tab gained almost 1%. In European stocks (.STOXXE) , opens new tab, another week of stellar gains was also sustained on Friday. Unusually, given the trends of recent years, record high European stocks have far outstripped Wall Street so far this year - on a mix of more attractive valuations, European interest rate cuts and now talks to end the Ukraine war. Next week's German elections are also holding out some hopes for a subsequent easing of the country's strict fiscal rules and a possible boost to government spending there down the line. Goldman Sachs raised its 12-month price forecast for the broader STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab, citing factors such as a lower risk premium, reduced energy prices, improved consumer confidence, and a recovery of economic growth as the key drivers. The euro zone economy grew a touch faster than initially thought in the last quarter of 2024, according to data released on Friday. The Ukraine moves saw crude oil prices briefly tumble to their lowest of the year this week, although they stabilised earlier today. More pointedly for Europe, natural gas prices have been dragged back sharply from two-year highs. The benchmark Dutch gas contract retreated to its lowest in more than two weeks, helped by Ukraine news and talks over a loosening of European gas storage targets. And Europe's corporate earnings season has also lifted the mood. French luxury group Hermes (HRMS.PA) , opens new tab rose 2% on Friday after it reported an 18% rise in fourth-quarter sales, lifting the wider luxury goods sector. Key developments that should provide more direction to U.S. markets later on Friday: * US January retail sales, industrial production, import and export prices, December business/retail inventories * Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan speaks * US corporate earnings: Moderna * Munich Security Conference begins Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-2025-02-14/