2025-01-09 21:25
TSX ends up 0.1% at 25,073.36 Materials group adds 1.5% as metal prices rise Industrials fall 0.6% with railroad shares down Jan 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended higher on Thursday, led by gains for metal mining shares, but the move was limited as investors awaited employment data both sides of the border and braced for a potentially more volatile year for financial markets. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 21.68 points, or 0.1%, at 25,073.36, adding to the prior day's gains. Trading volumes were lighter than usual, with the U.S. stock market closed for a national day of mourning to mark the death of former President Jimmy Carter. "It's difficult to get any direction on a day when the U.S. markets are closed," said Elvis Picardo, portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth. "It feels like the calm before the storm ... I think investors pretty much worldwide are probably bracing themselves for a more volatile 2025." The TSX notched a gain of nearly 18% in 2024 but has pulled back from a December peak as a hawkish shift by the Federal Reserve and the threat of U.S. trade tariffs weighed on sentiment in recent weeks. U.S. and Canadian employment data, due on Friday, could offer clues on prospects of additional interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada. Economists forecast that Canada's economy added 25,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate edged up to 6.9% from 6.8% in November. The materials group, which includes fertilizer companies and metal mining shares, rose 1.5%, reaching its highest closing level since Dec. 12, as gold and copper prices climbed. Industrials were a drag, falling 0.6%, as railroad stocks lost ground, and utilities ended 0.5% lower. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) , opens new tab said it expects production to increase 12% and capital spending to rise 13.5% in 2025, as it bets on higher demand amid tight oil supplies. The company's shares were down 0.2%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-steady-investors-await-key-employment-data-2025-01-09/
2025-01-09 21:13
US, Danish authorities lobbied Tanbreez not to sell to China Tanbreez considering funding options for rare earths project Talks with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, RTX for supply deals MELBOURNE/HOUSTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. and Danish officials lobbied the developer of Greenland's largest rare earths deposit last year not to sell its project to Chinese-linked firms, its CEO told Reuters, adding it has been in regular talks with Washington as it reviews funding options to develop the island's critical minerals. The move underscores the long-running economic interest U.S. officials have had in the Danish territory, well before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump began musing in recent weeks about acquiring it. Rare earths have strong magnetic properties that make them critical to high-tech industries ranging from electric vehicles to missile systems. Their necessity has given rise to intense competition between Chinese and Western interests to ease China's near-total control of their extraction and processing. Greg Barnes, CEO of privately held Tanbreez Mining, said U.S. officials who visited the project in southern Greenland twice last year had repeatedly shared a message with the cash-strapped company: do not sell the large deposit to a Beijing-linked buyer. The U.S. State Department was not immediately available to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The Danish Foreign Ministry declined to comment. Barnes ultimately sold Tanbreez to New York-based Critical Metals (CRML.O) , opens new tab as part of a complex deal that will be complete later this year. Tanbreez aims to mine 500,000 metric tons annually of the crimson rare earths-containing mineral eudialyte as soon as 2026. "There was a lot of pressure not to sell to China," Tony Sage, CEO of Critical Metals, told Reuters. Barnes accepted payment of $5 million cash and $211 million in Critical Metals stock for Tanbreez, far less than Chinese firms offered, Sage said. Barnes said offers from Chinese and other parties were not relevant because they had not clearly outlined how they could pay. Neither executive disclosed which officials they met with or identified the Chinese companies that made offers. U.S. interests appear to be changing the game for rare earths projects that had previously not been seen as attractive investments, analysts said. "While the size of the Tanbreez is significant, the grade and the mineralogy are nothing to be shouted about," said David Merriman, research director at minerals consultancy Project Blue, which considers the chance of the project reaching commercial production as low, given its complex mineralogy. The Tanbreez sale to Critical Metals shows that U.S. officials have had more success in Greenland than they have in Africa, where they have been working to offset China's grip on the mineral-rich central African copper belt. "While Greenland is not for sale, it is open for business," Dwayne Menezes, head of London-based think tank Polar Research and Policy Initiative. "It would welcome greater investment from the U.S." A rival Greenland rare earths project from Energy Transition Minerals (ETM.AX) , opens new tab - which counts China's Shenghe (600392.SS) , opens new tab as its largest shareholder - has stalled amid protracted legal disputes. WASHINGTON TALKS Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., arrived in Nuuk on a private visit on Tuesday, a day after the president-elect reiterated his interest in taking control of the island. Denmark has repeatedly said Greenland, a self-governing part of its kingdom, is not for sale. That visit came two months after a State Department official spent four days in the island's capital , opens new tab in a push from the outgoing Biden administration to encourage Western mining investment there. Critical Metals applied for funding to develop a rare earths processing facility from the U.S. Department of Defense last year, but the review process has stalled ahead of Trump taking office on Jan. 20. Sage said he expects talks to resume after Trump's inauguration and that Trump's transition team has already contacted him. "We're already in discussions with the U.S. to sell (rare earths) to the U.S. and build the processing plant in the U.S.," he said. Critical Metals' third-largest investor is brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald (CNTOR.UL), led by Howard Lutnick, who Trump nominated to run the U.S. Commerce Department. Sage said he has never met or talked to Lutnick, but acknowledged Cantor's investment is a positive for his company. The Tanbreez deposit is about 30% heavy rare earths, which are used widely in defense applications. The site also contains gallium, which China imposed export restrictions on last year. Critical Metals has held supply talks with defense contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) , opens new tab and has upcoming talks with RTX (RTX.N) , opens new tab and Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab, Sage said. Lockheed said it continuously assesses the rare earth supply chain to ensure access to critical materials. RTX and Boeing did not respond to requests for comment. GreenRoc (GROC.L) , opens new tab has applied for an exploitation license to develop a Greenland graphite project and has held funding talks with U.S. officials in the past year, CEO Stefan Bernstein told Reuters. Neo Performance Materials (NEO.TO) , opens new tab and Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab are also exploring on the island. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-lobbied-greenland-rare-earths-developer-tanbreez-not-sell-china-2025-01-09/
2025-01-09 21:08
Moldovan president visits village affected by blackouts Russia says Moldova, Ukraine to blame for power shortages Finnish minister offers to encourage dialogue Jan 9 (Reuters) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu visited areas hit by rolling power cuts on Thursday and blamed Russian gas giant Gazprom for the energy crisis gripping the country's Transdniestria pro-Russian separatist enclave. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moldova and Ukraine were responsible for the heating and power shortages. The foreign minister of Finland met with officials in both government-controlled Moldova and the separatist enclave and pledged to help both sides achieve a settlement. Transdniestria, which has existed alongside Moldova for more than 30 years, is no longer receiving Russian gas after Ukraine refused to extend a gas transit agreement beyond the New Year. Sandu, who has led her ex-Soviet state's drive to join the European Union, visited Varnita, one of 14 villages located in an area controlled by Moldova's government but supplied with power by the separatist enclave. "We understand that these people are going through hard times. But people should know that these are problems created by Gazprom," Sandu said. "The problem is not Ukraine halting transit of Russian gas. There is an alternative route, through (Turkey). But Gazprom has decided not to supply gas any longer." Moldova accuses Moscow of trying to destabilise its government ahead of this year's parliamentary elections. In Moscow, Peskov decried the "true crisis" in the region which has long been a recipient of vital Russian gas. "As a result of the decision by Ukraine and the Moldovan authorities Trasdniestria no longer has this chance," he said. Officials in Transdniestria said blackouts would be reduced from eight hours a day to five from Friday ahead of a weekend cold snap sending temperatures below zero Celsius. The region's foreign minister, Vitaly Ignatev, told Russian television a solution had to be found "as quickly as possible" by restoring gas flows through Ukraine or routing them through the Turkstream pipeline via Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. Gazprom has said any shipment of gas through Turkey was dependent on settling what it describes as $709 million in Moldovan arrears. Moldova contests the figure. Gas supplies would keep in operation a thermal plant which supplies electricity to Transdniestria as well as providing most of the power used in areas of Moldova under government control. Ignatiev dismissed any notion that Moldova had offered to help the region. Both Sandu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday they were discussing the option of supplying Ukrainian coal to keep the power plant running. Transdniestria split from Moldova near the end of Soviet rule and fought a brief war with the newly independent state in 1992. Efforts to resolve the dispute have made little headway. Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen is current chair of the 57-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has long spearheaded diplomatic attempts. Valtonen told reporters in Chisinau that Finland would focus on encouraging dialogue between the two sides. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/moldovan-president-visits-area-hit-by-blackouts-blames-russias-gazprom-2025-01-09/
2025-01-09 21:04
HOUSTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. oil producer Chevron will donate to President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural fund, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, declining to specify the amount. The company joins other major U.S. firms including Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab and Amazon (AMZN.O) , opens new tab in contributing to Trump's inauguration ceremony, which takes place on Jan. 20. “Chevron has a long tradition of celebrating democracy by supporting the inaugural committees of both parties. We are proud to be doing so again this year," said spokesperson Bill Turenne. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/chevron-donating-president-elect-donald-trumps-inaugural-committee-spokesperson-2025-01-09/
2025-01-09 20:40
Jan 9 (Reuters) - Below is a history of Reuters polls of analysts' expectations for figures in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual U.S. winter wheat seedings report. The USDA's report is based on a survey of roughly 72,200 farmers. Ahead of the report's release, Reuters surveys as many as 24 grain analysts for their expectations. The tables below also include winter wheat figures from the USDA's March plantings and June acreage reports, and the government's final planted acreage numbers. The USDA is scheduled to release its winter wheat seedings report at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) on Friday, Jan. 10. All figures are in millions of acres. ALL WINTER WHEAT HARD RED WINTER WHEAT SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT WHITE WINTER WHEAT * Final figures for white winter wheat acreage are derived by subtracting hard red winter and soft red winter wheat from USDA's final all-winter wheat acreage figures. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/history-trade-estimates-usda-winter-wheat-seedings-2025-01-09/
2025-01-09 20:26
WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is planning a Jan. 16 hearing on President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, Politico reported on Thursday, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the panel's plans. Amanda Critchfield, a spokesperson for the Finance Committee's new Republican chair, Senator Mike Crapo, said a hearing date has not been officially set, adding: "Senator Crapo is committed to moving Bessent's nomination as quickly as possible." Trump chose hedge fund investor Bessent as his Treasury secretary in November after a dramatic battle among prominent financiers for the coveted position that wields vast influence over U.S. economic, tax, regulatory and international affairs. Bessent faces a number of challenges, including rising bond yields that will make it more difficult to manage a $36 trillion federal debt load that is forecast to grow by nearly $8 trillion over a decade if Trump's tax cut plans are implemented without offsetting savings. The founder of Key Square Capital Management also will need to maintain financial stability as Trump imposes steep tariffs on U.S. imports that threaten to disrupt supply chains and trade relations with allies and adversaries alike. But Bessent has argued that Trump's agenda will unleash stronger economic growth and revenue, shoring up market confidence. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-planning-jan-16-hearing-trump-treasury-pick-bessent-politico-reports-2025-01-09/
