2025-01-28 14:57
MIAMI, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Bridgewater Associates said Chinese startup DeepSeek's launch of its latest artificial intelligence (AI) models could lead to a short-term correction in many tech companies' share prices but is positive for the industry. The comments come amid a tech stocks sell-off prompted by the release of a free AI assistant launched by DeepSeek last week that the startup said uses less data at a fraction of the cost of services currently available. DeepSeek's AI Assistant has overtaken rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application available on Apple's App Store in the United States, raising doubts about the reasoning behind some U.S. tech companies' decision to pledge billions of dollars in AI investment. "DeepSeek’s progress is big news, but not bad news for most of the AI ecosystem," Bridgewater said in a note on Monday authored by Co-Chief Investment Officer Greg Jensen and Jas Sekhon, chief scientist of AIA Labs, a division within the hedge fund focused on developing and utilizing AI and machine learning technologies to generate investment strategies and insights. DeepSeek threatens share prices for many tech stocks in the short term, Bridgewater said. "This may be especially true for Nvidia, because DeepSeek’s success may encourage companies to invest more in achieving efficiency gains by optimizing how AI software interacts with the hardware," said the note. Shares in Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, a leader in the AI chip market, fell 17% on Monday, wiping $593 billion from its market value - a record one-day loss for any company - and dragged U.S. stocks lower. That drop was partly corrected on Tuesday, with Nvidia shares up around 5% in premarket trading. Still, DeepSeek's progress is overall positive for the development of AI technologies, said the hedge fund, and could accelerate the emergence of non-tech leading companies adopting it more broadly. "That is the moment when AI adoption becomes as existential to everyone as it is today for Google and Microsoft. It is then that we expect the true bubble to manifest," it said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/bridgewater-sees-short-term-correction-tech-stocks-bullish-deepseek-impact-2025-01-28/
2025-01-28 14:34
LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The Bank of England launched on Tuesday a new financial stability tool that insurers and pension funds can use during periods of turbulence in Britain's government bond market. The Contingent Non-Bank Financial Institution Repo (CNRF) allows companies to borrow cash from the BoE using gilts they own as collateral. Britain's 2.5-trillion-pound ($3.1 trillion) government bond market has been hit by volatility in recent years including the 2020 "dash for cash" as the COVID-19 pandemic spread and a 2022 selloff after former Prime Minister Liz Truss's "mini-budget". "Opening for CNRF applications marks a significant step forward in our efforts to deal with future episodes of gilt market dysfunction," said Vicky Saporta, BoE executive director for markets. The design of the plan was announced last year. The BoE intervened in September 2022 to buy gilts as yields rocketed following Truss' plans for unfunded tax cuts, creating liquidity strains for liability-driven investment (LDI) funds used by pension funds. LDI funds, pension funds and insurers are eligible to use the new repo facility, which the BoE will activate in times of dysfunction in the gilt market. Use of the facility will be charged at a spread over the BoE's main interest rate, priced to be unattractive during normal times but attractive during times of market dysfunction. Gilt yields also rose sharply this month, along with those of other major government bond markets but BoE officials have said the market functioned well on that occasion. ($1 = 0.8045 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/boe-opens-contingent-non-bank-lending-facility-applications-2025-01-28/
2025-01-28 12:59
PARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Ethanol consumption in France, the largest consumer along with Germany, rose around 6% to 16 million hectolitres in 2024, in line with an increase in overall gasoline use, producers' group Bioethanol France said on Tuesday. Ethanol, made from sugar beets and grains in France, is blended with gasoline with a share that can rise up to 85% in so-called E85. However, after a sharp rise in recent years, E85 consumption in 2024 fell for the first time since records started in 2011. This was mainly due to new car models which consume less fuel than older ones, Bioethanol France Secretary General Sylvain Demoures told reporters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/french-ethanol-consumption-up-around-6-2024-2025-01-28/
2025-01-28 12:52
HELSINKI, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Denmark's energy agency on Tuesday said it had granted Nord Stream 2 AG, a unit of Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab, permission to conduct preservation work on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which was damaged in a series of blasts in 2022. "The work aims to preserve the damaged pipeline by installing customised plugs at each of the open pipe ends to prevent further gas blow-out and the introduction of oxygenated seawater," the agency said in a statement. Nord Stream 2 AG completed the $11 billion pipeline project in 2021 to pump gas from Russia to Germany. But Germany halted the plan as relations with Moscow broke down ahead of Russia's war in Ukraine, while the United States imposed sanctions. In September 2022, one of the two lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, along with both lines of Nord Stream 1. No one has taken responsibility for causing the damage. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/denmark-allow-preservation-work-damaged-nord-stream-2-pipeline-2025-01-28/
2025-01-28 12:48
Poland planning to build first nuclear power plant Tusk says cooperation on small nuclear reactors important too Says Poland needs more energy if it is to build big data centres WARSAW, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Poland and Canada have signed an agreement that provides a legal framework for more intensive cooperation on nuclear power, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday after meeting his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau. Poland, which is working to reduce its reliance on coal, has chosen Westinghouse Electric to build its first nuclear plant on the Baltic Sea coast, but financing is still not fully agreed. It is now preparing to start the process of choosing a partner for a second plant. "Canada is the main provider of technology for Poland's first nuclear plant - Westinghouse is owned by Canadian companies," Tusk said. "Cooperation on small nuclear reactors (SMR) is also very important." In 2023, Poland gave the green light for the construction of 24 SMR units across six sites, Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE), a joint venture between Poland's biggest refiner Orlen (PKN.WA) , opens new tab and chemicals company Synthos, said. The company plans to deploy the country's first small reactors by 2030. Tusk also said on Tuesday that Poland needs new energy sources if it wants to become a leader in new technologies. "This morning I met with the head of Google, who, without any prompting, said that Poland should become a European centre when it comes to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity," he said. "For Poland to become a leader of modern technologies and a certain model for behaviour throughout Europe - for this we need particular source of energy. If we are going to build large data centres, it requires additional energy sources." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/poland-canada-sign-cooperation-agreement-nuclear-power-2025-01-28/
2025-01-28 12:30
Jan 28 (Reuters) - The pound fell against the dollar on Tuesday, looking set to break a three-day rising streak, as U.S. tariff threats retook the focus of currency investors after Monday's selloff in technology shares and a rush to safe-haven assets. The greenback, which roared ahead after the U.S. election in November, has been under pressure recently, as the concrete tariff plans investors had braced for did not materialise after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Expectations that trade policies under Trump could boost U.S. growth, but also push up inflation, had left markets betting on higher-for-longer interest rates, which in turn supported the dollar. On Monday, Trump said he planned to impose tariffs on imported computer chips, pharmaceuticals and steel. The Financial Times also reported on Monday that Trump's pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has been pushing for universal tariffs on U.S. imports, which would start at 2.5% and rise each month. This gave renewed support to the greenback against a broad range of currencies, while markets looked set to remain jittery. "After the last few days of more targeted tariff proposals on individual countries, this was a signal in the opposite direction," said Michael Pfister, FX analyst at Commerzbank. "Until the tariffs are officially implemented, there is a good chance of volatility." Sterling fell 0.6% against the greenback to $1.2426, after gaining over the past three sessions. The pound has climbed around 2% higher since Trump took office last week, but sterling is still tracking a fourth month of losses against the dollar after it hit a 14-month low on Jan. 13. On Monday, markets flocked to safe-haven currencies like the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc , as investors sold off tech stocks. Chinese startup DeepSeek's free open-source AI model raised questions about the sky-high valuation and dominance of U.S. AI bellwethers. Sterling was broadly unchanged against the yen, after falling 0.8% versus the Japanese currency on Monday. The euro also held steady at 83.83 pence. C.BANKS AHEAD Investors are eyeing a string of central bank meetings this week, with the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to hold rates steady on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank is seen cutting rates on Thursday. The Bank of England will announce its policy decision next week and money markets price in a 87% likelihood that the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points. Pepperstone senior research strategist Michael Brown predicted that the BoE would ease rates and banked on more rate cuts ahead. "A gradual, predictable pace of quarterly 25bp cuts remains the base case for now," Brown said. "Though risks to this scenario do tilt in a dovish direction, were labour market weakness to dent demand to such a significant degree that the pace of services disinflation markedly quickens." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-slips-us-tariff-jitters-prevail-2025-01-28/
