2025-02-13 21:38

SYDNEY, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Manufacturing activity in New Zealand expanded for the first time in nearly two years, with key sub-index results for both production and new orders in positive territory, a survey showed on Friday. The Bank of New Zealand-Business NZ's seasonally adjusted Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) jumped to 51.4 in January from a revised 46.2 in December. New orders rose to 50.9 from 46.8 in the prior month. A reading above 50 indicates manufacturing activity is expanding, while anything below that threshold points to contraction. "It's a positive start to 2025, with the manufacturing sector shifting out of reverse and into first gear," BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said in a statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/new-zealand-manufacturing-activity-expands-first-time-two-years-survey-shows-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 21:22

PPL to boost capital spending by 40% through 2028 US AI power demand so far undimmed by Chinese startup DeepSeek US power demand to hit records this year and next, EIA forecasts Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. electric utilities are adding tens of billions of dollars to spending plans to build new power supplies and bolster the grid as data centers for artificial intelligence and cloud computing drive up energy demand. In company earnings calls on Thursday, PPL Corp said it would increase its capital investments through 2028 by nearly 40% to $20 billion. Dominion (D.N) , opens new tab, which serves the world's largest data center market in Northern Virginia, and utility giant Exelon (EXC.O) , opens new tab both revised up capital plans earlier in the week. The investments will also be used to provide power to the utilities' broader range of customers. The significant upward revisions to capital investments indicate a continued rapid rise of data center power consumption and reject concerns that market gains by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which eroded power company share prices at the start of the year, would slash Big Tech's power demand. "It continues to be full speed ahead," said Bill Fehrman, CEO of Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP.O) , opens new tab, which is considering adding $10 billion to its record $54 billion capital expenditure plan through the end of the decade. After previously little-known DeepSeek drew national attention late last month, Fehrman said data center customers told AEP that they would continue their voracious pursuit of electricity supplies. Executives with Duke, which is hiking its five-year plan by $10 billion, and Exelon similarly said that technology industry customers assured them there would be no slowing of their development of giant computer warehouses. "We've not seen any changes in tone," Duke CFO Brian Savoy told Reuters. U.S. electricity demand is projected to reach record highs this year and in 2026, according to the Energy Information Administration. In addition to the rise of data centers, manufacturing and the electrification of industries like transportation are also spurring power consumption. The country's data centers, however, are being built at an unusually large scale. Data centers, which typically had a capacity of 20 megawatts, are now being constructed at as much as 1,000 megawatts, or 1 gigawatt, at a single site. That's enough to power all of the homes in a major U.S. city. PPL said it has 9 gigawatts in advanced stages of development and AEP said it has commitments for another 20 gigawatts of largely data center customers through 2030. Utility spending is not a sure bet with many utilities needing to have their plans approved by state regulators. Growing capital plans, which include new electricity generation and transmission lines, generally also lead to rising power bills for everyday homes and business. It's unclear, however, whether some companies will include special provisions for data centers requiring them to bear more grid-related costs. Utilities like AEP and Exelon are currently involved in regulatory fights over how to develop power contracts specific to data centers and other very large customers. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/aep-fourth-quarter-profit-rises-data-centers-boost-demand-power-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 21:03

SAO PAULO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining giant Vale (VALE3.SA) , opens new tab is in advanced talks to sell a majority stake in a renewable energy unit and a solar plant to U.S.-based investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), two people familiar with the matter said. The deal for 70% of both Vale's Alianca Energia and the solar plant had also attracted interest from energy generators Casa dos Ventos and China Three Gorges (CTG) Brasil, which are no longer in the running, sources said. Vale has chosen to continue negotiations exclusively with GIP, but a final contract has not been signed, sources added. Vale said in a statement that it is seeking potential partners for Alianca, but no final decision has been reached and no binding agreement has been signed. GIP declined to comment. One of the sources said GIP could pay some 5-6 billion reais ($870 million to $1.04 billion) for 70% of Alianca and the solar plant. Alianca runs a portfolio of hydroelectric power plants and wind farms, with total installed capacity of nearly 1,300 megawatts. Brazilian news website Faria Lima Journal first reported on Thursday that talks between Vale and GIP were advancing. Vale became sole owner of Alianca last year, when it paid 2.7 billion reais ($470 million) for the 45% stake held by power firm Cemig, with whom it launched the venture in 2013. ($1 = 5.77 reais) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/vale-advanced-talks-sell-brazil-renewable-assets-gip-sources-say-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 21:01

Trade Desk falls on downbeat Q1 revenue forecast MGM Resorts up after Q4 results beat estimates White House says tariffs could come in weeks S&P 500 +1.04%, Nasdaq +1.50%, Dow +0.77% Feb 13 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended higher on Thursday, lifted by gains in Nvidia, Apple and Tesla, after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a roadmap for charging reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners. A White House official said the tariffs would match the higher duties charged by other countries and could be imposed within weeks as Trump's trade and economic team studies bilateral tariff and trade relationships. Stocks also gained after data showed U.S. producer prices increased in January, while key elements in the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, a measure closely tracked by the U.S. Federal Reserve, were benign or lower. Components, including physician's office and hospital prices, were either broadly unchanged or rose modestly. Healthcare, with a nearly 20% weighting in the core PCE, declined 0.06%. Yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond moved sharply lower following the report, suggesting investors were growing more confident about inflation cooling. Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab jumped 5.9%, Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab climbed 3.2% and Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab rose 2%, lifting the S&P 500 to just short of its record high close on January 23. "Equity investors are taking cues from the bond market," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital. "Investors were also preparing for kind of an alarmingly high inflation number, based on tariffs." The S&P 500 climbed 1.04% to end the session at 6,115.07 points. It was the S&P 500's largest one-day gain since January 15. The Nasdaq gained 1.50% to 19,945.64 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.77% to 44,711.43 points. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 15.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 15.0 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by materials (.SPLRCM) , opens new tab, up 1.71%, followed by a 1.6% gain in consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab. Interest rate futures suggest traders expect a single 25-basis-point rate cut from the central bank by the end of 2025, according to the CME's FedWatch Tool. The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits decreased last week, another report showed. Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab shares rose 0.6% after the oil heavyweight said it will lay off up to 20% of its global workforce by the end of 2026. Trade Desk (TTD.O) , opens new tab slumped 33% after the ad tech firm forecast first-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates. MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) , opens new tab jumped 17% after the casino operator beat fourth-quarter profit and revenue estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) , opens new tab by a 3.7-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 36 new highs and 11 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 124 new highs and 105 new lows. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-subdued-markets-await-monthly-producer-price-data-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 20:58

Some restaurant chains adopt beef tallow for cooking Kennedy's beef tallow claims face scrutiny from health experts Kennedy could influence dietary guidelines and research funding Feb 13 (Reuters) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lowered a raw Thanksgiving turkey into a bubbling pot of cooking fat in a video posted to social media last November. "This is how we cook the MAHA way," said Kennedy, who the Senate confirmed as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday, referring to his Trump administration slogan, Make America Healthy Again. Kennedy was cooking with beef tallow, or rendered beef fat, which he has repeatedly claimed is healthier than canola or other oils from seeds. Beef tallow, used primarily for cooking but also in products like soap and biodiesel, has been championed by a subset of online wellness influencers. Its nutritional merits compared to seed oils, however, have been disputed. The market for beef tallow was worth an estimated $480 million in 2023, up from $446 million in 2018, according to the North American Renderers Association, and producers expect that to grow as a result of Kennedy's enthusiasm. Some companies had taken note of rising interest even before his confirmation. In January, Indianapolis-based fast food chain Steak 'n Shake announced it would begin cooking its shoestring fries in beef tallow. The chain posted a photo on social media of Kennedy in a car with the window rolled down, with the caption: "Did this man just pull up in our drive thru?" Other restaurant chains have also jumped onboard. Sweetgreen, the Los Angeles-based salad chain, is eliminating seed oils from its menus and using products like olive and avocado oil instead, while Blue Collar Restaurant Group, which owns restaurants in Wyoming and Montana, is replacing seed oils with butter and beef tallow as well as olive and avocado oil. Since U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Kennedy to lead the sprawling health department in November, the former environmental lawyer's claims about food - from beef tallow to raw milk - have come under scrutiny. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, has said that seed oil opponents overstate the risks of inflammation, heart disease and obesity from seed oil, and that a diet rich in saturated fats such as those found in meats, butter and cheese poses a larger health risk. Yet a shift away from seed oils in cooking could accelerate with Kennedy as Health and Human Services Secretary. Kennedy may hold sway in appointing advisors to a panel that determines the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a document created every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, according to Sarah Sorscher, director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The guidelines are used in everything from the preparation of school lunches to the determination of daily values on food nutrition labels. Sorscher said Kennedy may influence research funding and push for regulation or even bans on products such as seed oils. He could also use the visibility of his new position to pressure companies to follow his lead on seed oils and beef tallow without having to enforce any changes in policy, she added. "Those companies that are seeking to please him and secure favor might reformulate to remove products that he's targeted and remove ingredients that he's targeted," Sorscher said. Eric Gustafson, chief executive of California-based animal fat refiner Coast Packing Company, said he watched in the 1990s as fast food companies like McDonald's led a wholesale shift away from beef tallow to vegetable oils in response to medical research linking animal fats to heart disease. Gustafson said he has started to see the pendulum swing back, with sales increasing steadily over the past decade. Kennedy, often referred to by his initials RFK, used tallow from one of Coast Packing's customers in the Thanksgiving video, Gustafson said. "We're trying to figure out how (that customer) can get to RFK to give him a few more cases of tallow and tell him thank you," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/kennedys-confirmation-top-us-health-job-could-boost-beef-tallow-demand-2025-02-13/

2025-02-13 20:42

PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - French mining group Eramet (ERMT.PA) , opens new tab on Thursday said it had nominated Paulo Castellari to be its next chief executive following Christel Bories' decision to step down. Eramet said that Castellari will assume the CEO position on May 27, following a vote at the group's annual shareholder meeting. Bories will remain chairwoman of the Group. Castellari - born in 1970 and a dual Brazilian and Italian citizen - has over 30 years' experience in mining and metals as well as in the fertilizers and energy industries in South and North America, Europe and Africa, Eramet said in a statement. From 2003 to 2015 he worked at Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab, and in 2016, he was appointed Deputy CEO and CFO of CEMIG, a Brazilian electrical power company, before joining aluminum producer EGA as CEO of Guinea Alumina Corporation. Since 2019, Paulo Castellari has been CEO of the Brazilian branch of Appian Capital Advisory, a mining-focused private-equity group. Eramet said last month that Bories would give up the chief executive role in May while remaining chairwoman. Bories, CEO since 2017, has overseen a shift in Eramet's strategy towards minerals used for electric vehicle batteries, notably by developing a lithium mine in Argentina that began production at the end of last year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/french-mining-group-eramet-names-paulo-castellari-next-ceo-2025-02-13/