2025-10-16 05:37

PARIS Oct 16 (Reuters) - Ardian has raised a record $20 billion for its next-generation fund dedicated to energy, transport and digital connectivity in Europe, showing strong investor interest in critical infrastructure, the French private equity firm said on Thursday. With U.S. President Donald Trump reshaping global alliances and trade policies, Europe is seeking private investment to pursue new avenues for economic growth and strengthen its independence in infrastructure, defence, energy and data centres. Sign up here. "Volatility is so high today, and events are so surprising and so violent that investors feel they have finally rediscovered the virtues of diversification," Ardian France CEO Mathias Burghardt told journalists, referring to U.S. and other international investors. INTERNATIONAL BACKING Burghardt said Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI (ZAEFKX.O) , opens new tab was targeting physical and virtual connectivity, attracting growing investments from the United States. The fund, backed by 229 investors, represents the investment firm's largest infrastructure platform, with a 90% increase from Ardian Infrastructure Fund V (ZAEFJX.O) , opens new tab. Investors from Asia-Pacific countries contributed 32% of investments in the fund, Ardian said. Its fundraising comes after Sweden's EQT closed its flagship EQT Infrastructure VI fund at 21.5 billion euros earlier this year, 35% more than its predecessor. https://www.reuters.com/business/private-equity-firm-ardian-raises-20-billion-infrastructure-europe-2025-10-16/

2025-10-16 05:26

China-US trade spat leaves dollar on back foot Dollar extends losses against yen after BOJ official comments France’s political drama barely dents euro Aussie drops after employment data NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell, on track for a third consecutive session of losses against major currencies including the euro, yen and Swiss franc on Thursday, amid U.S.-China tensions and as markets assess remarks from Federal Reserve officials. China accused the U.S. of stoking panic over its rare earth controls, rejecting a White House call to roll back the curbs. Sign up here. "The dominant story line is still U.S.-China trade tensions," said Matt Weller, head of market research at StoneX. "It seems like China is ratcheting up the pressure ahead of the expected meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump at the end of the month. The key question is if that is just an attempt to get some negotiating leverage or China is ready to more meaningfully decouple." The dollar weakened 0.49% to 0.793 against the Swiss franc . Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he is on board with another interest rate cut at the U.S. central bank's policy meeting later this month because of the mixed readings on the state of the job market. The Fed's newest governor, Stephen Miran, reiterated his support for a more aggressive rate cut path for 2025 than the one favored by some of his colleagues. The Fed’s Beige Book offered little support to U.S. rates, pointing to emerging signs of economic weakness, including rising layoffs and reduced spending among middle and lower-income households. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against six other currencies, fell 0.33% to 98.35. U.S. Treasury yields hovered near multi-week lows, with the benchmark 10-year just above 4%, pressuring the dollar as investors also weighed a prolonged U.S. government shutdown. "We are kind of in a holding pattern here especially with the U.S. government shutdown, which is predicted to last almost 40 days. The impacts to the economy tend to be exponential the longer shutdown lasts. That going on with the U.S.-China trade tensions, I think, has left traders in an awkward spot as they decide how those will play out," Weller said. FRENCH POLITICAL DRAMA French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament, winning a temporary reprieve for his days-old government and the chance to deliver a budget for the euro zone's second-largest economy. Lecornu had earlier this week pledged to suspend President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform. The euro touched a one-week high and was up 0.36% at $1.1688. The Bank of Japan must be careful when normalizing monetary policy due to uncertainty about how the economy would react to a new environment of positive interest rates, Seiichi Shimizu, the central bank's assistant governor, said on Thursday. The dollar extended losses against the yen following Shimizu's comment and was last down 0.46% at 151.35. The Australian dollar was down 0.48% at $0.6479 after data showed unemployment hit a near four-year high in September, adding to the case for interest rate cuts. The Aussie, often considered a proxy for risk appetite, remains hostage to China-related news and its good fundamentals could crumble in a major trade war. Goldman Sachs analysts expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to deliver a final 25 basis-point cut at its November meeting in the wake of comments by Governor Michele Bullock, which signal the central bank sees an end to its rate-cutting cycle in the near term. "Today’s employment data also pushes in that direction, though AUD/USD has retraced the initial move lower, and U.S.-China trade tensions will likely remain the key driver for the pair in the coming days," the Goldman analysts led by Stuart Jenkins said in an investor note. China's yuan firmed to a two-week high against the dollar after the central bank set its strongest daily midpoint in a year. The Chinese yuan was last up 0.09% against the greenback to 7.124 per dollar. New Zealand's kiwi was down 0.02% against the dollar to $0.5722. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/dollar-soft-sino-us-trade-tension-weighs-2025-10-16/

2025-10-16 05:08

LITTLETON, Colorado, Oct 16 (Reuters) - After years-long beat-downs, several U.S.-listed clean energy stocks are on a tear and are handily outperforming most established energy majors despite U.S. President Donald Trump's policy push away from clean energy since retaking office. Many of the gainers are being dragged higher by the ongoing AI boom, as the urgent need to generate more electricity to power data centers is buoying the stock prices of firms tied to boosting energy supplies. Sign up here. Others are benefiting from the worsening trade tensions between the United States and China, especially firms that can produce materials and components deemed critical for the energy, technology and defense industries. Discerning which stocks are likely long-term winners is tricky. Only some of the firms are actually generating profits from ongoing business, while others are climbing on hopes for product or process breakthroughs that may be decades away. To help explore the range of companies caught in the current clean energy upturn, below are seven stocks that have notched eye-catching gains so far in 2025, and have the potential to emerge as mainstream stock market darlings in the years ahead. NUCLEAR PROMISE Among the swath of clean energy companies that have seen share prices surge, two firms tied to the U.S. nuclear power sector stand out prominently: Centrus Energy Corp (.LEU) , opens new tab and Oklo Inc (.OKLO.N) , opens new tab. Centrus Energy's stock price has surged by more than 550% so far in 2025, largely on the back of the Trump administration's support for fast-tracking the development of nuclear reactors. Centrus was the first U.S. company licensed to produce High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), which is a critical fuel for the next generation of nuclear reactors. Oklo's share price has surged more than 700% year-to-date, and the company has benefited from the upbeat outlook for its small reactors that it is marketing to data centers as a source of reliable, clean power. However, while Centrus and Oklo are currently riding high on widespread optimism for nuclear power in the United States, both companies face the challenge of turning potential sales into bankable revenues. The years-long development times for new nuclear reactors remain a sore point for businesses that need more power immediately, and could work against nuclear developers if deployment delays mount up. If utilities and data center developers find other, quicker ways of fulfilling their power needs, the order books for both Centrus' uranium and Oklo's reactors could thin out fast. RARE-ISH RESOURCES While heavily trailing the stock price gains of their nuclear peers, U.S.-based materials producers U.S. Antimony Corp (.UAMY.K) , opens new tab and American Resources Corp (AREC.O) , opens new tab have both seen share prices hit multi-year highs in 2025. UAMY specializes in producing antimony - used extensively in battery energy storage systems - while AREC focuses on refining rare earths to generate high-purity materials used in magnets, batteries and heat-resistant applications. UAMY's shares are up around 690% year-to-date, while AREC's shares are up around 390%. Both companies have received support from the U.S. government as suppliers of critical resources, and so stand to benefit from growing demand from customers needing to find non-Chinese vendors of those materials. However, due to China's dominance in the production and supply of those same materials, both UAMY and AREC may struggle to grow their businesses outside the U.S. in markets where their Chinese peers compete directly. CHARGING AHEAD Other notable U.S.-based clean energy stocks this year include Bloom Energy (.BE) , opens new tab, which makes fuel cells that can generate electricity directly at business sites, and Solid Power Inc (SLDP.O) , opens new tab, which manufactures solid-state batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage networks. Bloom Energy's shares are up over 400% year-to-date, thanks in part to a deal with Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO) , opens new tab to become the preferred onsite power provider at its AI factories. Solid Power's shares are up around 275%, and given the upbeat demand outlook for grid-scale batteries it looks primed for additional sales growth over the near to medium term. However, both firms face stiff competition from rivals offering similar capabilities and will take a hit from any potential slowdown in the pace of construction of energy storage systems and AI data centers. Another notable stock price gainer so far in 2025 has been SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG.O) , opens new tab, which makes inverters that optimize the power flow from solar panels. SolarEdge shares are up roughly 200% year-to-date. As an Israel-based firm, SolarEdge is not a U.S. company. However, it has rapidly expanded its U.S. manufacturing base and so stands to benefit from strong demand for locally-made components as the U.S. power grid continues to add more solar systems. All told, while the seven stocks listed above all play quite distinct roles within the U.S. clean energy space, they have all benefited from the rising tide of investor interest in the sector so far in 2025. Each firm also has distinct competitive advantages compared to many rivals, which could broaden their appeal among general investors and potentially see them vie for portfolio share with the likes of tech giants and chipmakers over the long run. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X , opens new tab. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/seven-possibly-magnificent-us-clean-energy-stocks-2025-10-16/

2025-10-16 04:32

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland With this much newsflow, it's hard for investors to know where to look. Sign up here. As a result, investors are gazing in several directions at once - and it's creating a quite clean split between asset classes. Stock markets are rallying around Asia on Thursday, with bourses from Taipei to Seoul and Sydney climbing to fresh all-time peaks. In tech-heavy North Asian markets, that's due in large part to the persistent AI euphoria that also drove the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index (.SOX) , opens new tab - or SOX - up 3% overnight. The latest bullish signal came from Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML (ASML.AS) , opens new tab, with third-quarter bookings beating market forecasts on Wednesday. That's stoked expectations for strong results from Taiwan's TSMC (2330.TW) , opens new tab, a major ASML customer, later today. Moreover, the big banks have kicked off U.S. earnings season with robust results that paint a broader picture of a resilient U.S. economy. And those figures are garnering more attention than usual in the absence of official macro data due to the government shutdown. At the same time, however, gold has been soaring to ever-greater record heights, and the dollar is spiralling lower, particularly against traditional safe havens the yen and Swiss franc . That's because, outside of equities, traders are antsy about a flare-up in trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. President Donald Trump declared they are "in a trade war" late on Wednesday, even as his Treasury and trade chiefs offered some hopes for de-escalation. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, for example, hinted at an extension to tariff reprieves, and said Trump still expects to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea this month, although without offering a date. Market tug-of-wars like this create an intrinsic tension, and raise the risk of something - or several things - snapping back. European stock futures are currently pointing lower, so a rebalancing could already be under way. Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday: -UK GDP estimate, services, industrial output, manufacturing output (all August) -Italy CPI (September) -Euro area trade balance (August) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-view-europe-2025-10-16/

2025-10-16 03:11

MUMBAI, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee touched a one-month high on Thursday, as firm central bank intervention in the previous session and nascent optimism above U.S.-India trade negotiations helped the local currency find its footing on the stronger side of the 88-handle. The rupee rose to a peak of 87.70 in early trading before trimming gains to end the session at 87.82, up 0.3% on the day. Sign up here. The local unit has climbed about 1% from its closing level on Tuesday as heavy-handed intervention by the central bank knocked speculative wagers against the currency off the board. Signs of thaw in U.S.-India trade negotiations also helped sentiment. Bankers estimate that the Reserve Bank of India sold up to $5 billion to shore up the rupee on Wednesday, sparking a positive shift in sentiment for the rupee in the currency options market. During the stalemate near 88.80 over the last two weeks, some offshore market participants had bet on the rupee falling below 90 using options, but the intervention has sent a strong message, a senior trader at a foreign bank said. While this is likely to spur a reduction of short INR positions in the near-term, over the medium-term, "we still think that some modest FX weakness is not a bad thing for India," Michael Wan, senior currency analyst at MUFG, said in a note. The firm will be inclined to "look for opportunities to go long USD/INR later depending on where the FX settle," the note added. Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia. Meanwhile, Indian officials on Thursday said discussions were ongoing with the United States on deepening energy co-operation between the two countries. Traders reckon that a breakthrough in U.S.-India trade negotiations is likely to spark a rally in the rupee, even though it may prove to be transient. Moves in broader FX markets were contained on Thursday with the dollar index flat at 98.6 as were most Asian currencies. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-poised-extend-rally-trumps-oil-remark-central-banks-heavy-defence-2025-10-16/

2025-10-16 01:01

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Alphabet-owned (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab YouTube said on Wednesday that it has resolved an issue impacting video streaming services for several thousand users globally. YouTube said in a post on X that users should now be able to play videos on YouTube Music, YouTube TV and its main platform — without specifying what caused the issue. Sign up here. At its peak, at 7:55 p.m. ET, 366,172 users in the U.S. had reported issues with YouTube, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources. Thousands of outages were also reported in the UK, Canada, and Australia, Downdetector showed. Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary. https://www.reuters.com/technology/youtube-down-thousands-users-us-downdetector-shows-2025-10-16/