2026-02-05 12:04

LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has agreed a financing deal worth $565 million with Brazilian rare earths miner Serra Verde, which includes the option to take a minority equity stake, the firm said on Thursday. The deal is part of a wide-ranging package announced on Wednesday by U.S. Vice President JD Vance to create a preferential trade bloc for critical minerals and set price floors as Washington escalates efforts to loosen China's grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing. Sign up here. Serra Verde will use the funding from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to refinance loan facilities at more favourable terms and expand production, it said in a statement. Privately held Serra Verde's mine is rich in heavy rare earths, unlike many other Western deposits. The company launched commercial production in early 2024, and has not yet hit full output, which is expected to be about 6,500 metric tons of total rare earth oxides a year by 2027. Serra Verde is owned by private equity groups Denham Capital, Energy and Minerals Group and Vision Blue, which is led by the former head of Xstrata, Mick Davis. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-provides-rare-earths-miner-serra-verde-with-565-million-financing-stake-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 12:02

By William Schomberg, David Milliken and Andy Bruce LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Bank of England kept interest rates on hold on Thursday, but only after an unexpectedly narrow 5-4 vote, and it said it expected a future cut if a sharp fall in inflation due in the coming months proved not to be a blip. Sign up here. Despite a big reduction to its forecast for Britain's economic growth this year and a rise in unemployment, the BoE left its benchmark Bank Rate at 3.75%. The decision was in line with almost all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists ahead of the February meeting of Monetary Policy Committee. However, the poll had pointed to a more emphatic 7-2 vote in favour of no change in rates. BAILEY SEES SCOPE FOR FURTHER REDUCTION IN RATES Governor Andrew Bailey was one of the five MPC members who backed the 'hold' decision. He said his position was likely to change if a forecast fall in inflation to the BoE's 2% target from April looked sustainable. "We need to make sure that inflation stays there, so we've held rates unchanged at 3.75% today," Bailey said in a statement. "All going well, there should be scope for some further reduction in Bank Rate this year." He stressed he did not have any specific date in mind for the next rate cut, but the narrower-than-expected vote may prompt investors to bring forward their bets on the BoE's next move. Before Thursday's announcement, rate futures markets were pricing little chance of a cut in March and only a roughly 60% chance of one in April. The BoE has been moving cautiously as Britain has the highest inflation rate among the world's big, rich economies. It cut rates four times in 2025 including a quarter-point reduction in December which was backed by a 5-4 vote. But policymakers have stressed they need to move carefully as they approach the level of borrowing costs that is neither inflationary nor a drag on an economy still struggling to overcome the after-effects of Brexit, the COVID pandemic and the 2022 surge in energy prices. The European Central Bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark borrowing rate at 2% - almost half that of the BoE - later on Thursday. The BoE said it now expected inflation to slide to around its 2% target in April - helped in large part by measures included in finance minister Rachel Reeves' budget in late November - much sooner than in its early November forecast. But the central bank stressed it wanted to make sure the fall was not a one-off. Its staff forecasts show inflation dropping below its target to 1.7% before hovering around its 2% target from the second quarter of next year through to the end of its three-year forecast period. Three of the five MPC members who backed no cut this week - chief economist Huw Pill, deputy governor Clare Lombardelli and external member Megan Greene - acknowledged inflation pressures were weakening but favoured "a more prolonged period of policy restriction" to ensure inflation does not get stuck too high. Bailey and Mann said evidence to support a further cut was increasing, but not yet sufficient. The four who backed a cut - deputy governors Dave Ramsden and Sarah Breeden plus Swati Dhingra and Alan Taylor - were more worried about inflation falling too low as the economy weakens. The BoE cut its forecast for economic growth for 2026 to 0.9% from a previous estimate of 1.2% before a pickup in 2027 and 2028. It also raised its forecast for the peak in unemployment to 5.3%, up from 5.1% previously. Despite the slowdown in the economy, private-sector regular wage growth is likely to decelerate only slowly this year, dropping to an annual rate of 3.3% by the end of 2026 from 3.4% in late 2025. The BoE said a roughly 3.25% rate of pay growth was consistent with on-target inflation. A BoE survey published alongside Thursday's decision showed companies expected pay settlements of 3.4% this year, down from 4% in 2025. MPC CONTINUES TO SEE CLOSER CALLS AHEAD ON RATES The MPC left its guidance about the outlook for interest rates largely similar to its message after its previous meeting in December. "On the basis of the current evidence, Bank Rate is likely to be reduced further," it said in a statement on Thursday. "Judgements around further policy easing will become a closer call. The extent and timing of further easing in monetary policy will depend on the evolution of the outlook for inflation." Bailey and other members of the MPC were due to give a press conference at 1230 GMT at which they are likely to be asked about a rise in British government bond yields on Wednesday and Thursday. Concerns among investors have mounted over whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer could survive the fallout from his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador despite knowing about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. (([email protected] , opens new tab)) Keywords: BRITAIN BOE/ https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/bank-england-holds-rates-after-narrow-5-4-vote-signals-reduction-ahead-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 11:40

Feb 5 - What matters in U.S. and global markets today By Mike Dolan , opens new tab, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets Sign up here. Tech sector anxiety spread well beyond the battered software sector overnight, with chipmakers and mega-caps drawn into the slipstream of the latest bruising selloff. Advanced Micro Device’s 17% plunge took centre stage along with a 12% drop in Palantir shares. Alphabet's astonishing plan to double its capex spending this year - more than 50% above what analysts had expected - led to steep early losses that, while eventually pared back, still left the Google-parent in the red ahead of Thursday's open. I’ll get into that and more below. But first, check out my latest column on why the Federal Reserve may soon find it impossible to justify further rate cuts. And listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily podcast. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists discuss the biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week. SELLING BEGETS SELLING The week's full tableau suggests investors no longer see AI development and disruption as automatically positive for broad index investors. The technology’s threat to existing businesses has wiped almost $1 trillion off the value of the software sector in just one week. And when anxiety is high, selling sometimes begets selling. Heavy losses for AMD and Wall Street chipmaker indexes yesterday ripped through Asia markets overnight, and even South Korea's high-flying Kospi recoiled almost 4%. This wild volatility extended beyond equity markets, with bitcoin lunging close to $70,000 for the first time since the 2024 U.S. election, leaving it down more than 40% from last October's peaks. Precious metals also continued to swing violently, with silver falling up to 17% at one point overnight and still down 10% on the day. The mood in the equities market seems a little calmer heading into Thursday's bell, however, with Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures flat so far today. Investors will get Amazon's earnings after the close. Looking beyond the specific software jitters, tech stock volatility this week speaks to this year's unfolding sectoral rotation. The S&P 500 value index gained for a fifth straight session on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 growth index dropped. The equal-weighted S&P 500 index was up 0.8%. Some of that reflects a return to more cyclical stocks amid upbeat economic signals for January from both ISM services and manufacturing surveys. Subdued hiring remains an ongoing feature, however, as ADP's private sector payrolls rose less than forecast for last month. Currency and bond markets were relatively stable, meantime, with the yen weakening slightly again ahead of the weekend's Japanese election and European traders keeping a close eye on today's first policy decisions of the year from the European Central Bank and Bank of England. Neither is expected to move interest rates this week, but recent euro strength and below-target eurozone inflation will keep markets on alert for dovish ECB noises. Edgy UK markets were paying more attention to domestic politics and renewed pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Chart of the day Alphabet said on Wednesday that its capital expenditure could as much as double this year - another aggressive spending push by the Google parent as it tries to allay constraints on compute capacity and push ahead in the AI race. Markets seemed unimpressed, however, and Alphabet's stock fell 2% out of hours overnight. Not for the first time, investors appear to be unnerved by the sheer scale of the AI investment plans among so-called hyperscalers and remain anxious about whether it will all pay off. Today's events to watch * U.S. December JOLTS job openings (10:00 AM EST), weekly jobless claims (8:30 AM EST) * European Central Bank and Bank of England rate decisions * Atlanta Fed's Raphael Bostic speaks, Bank of Canada's Tiff Macklem speaks * U.S. corporate earnings: Amazon, ConocoPhillips, Hershey, KKR, Reddit, Thomson Reuters Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. You can find ROI on the Reuters website , opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 11:33

OSLO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Norway's DNO (DNO.OL) , opens new tab, the largest oil producer in Iraq's Kurdistan region, said on Thursday it was considering joining an agreement that allows companies to export Kurdish crude via a pipeline to Turkey. The company declined to sign a deal last September between Iraq's federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government and eight oil companies to resume pipeline flows after a 2-1/2‑year halt, opting instead to keep selling crude on the local market. Sign up here. "We can join that agreement at any time we want. And I think the other participants, both the companies and certainly (Iraq's state oil marketer) SOMO, would like that to take place," DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said. Another option was to conclude a bilateral deal with SOMO, which is handling Kurdistan's exports, outside of the tripartite agreement, he added. It may take until the mid-year or longer to reach an export deal, pending the formation of Iraq's new government following last November's elections, Mossavar-Rahmani said. DNO has restarted drilling at its Tawke and Peshkabir fields in Kurdistan, aiming to increase gross output to around 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from 70,000 boepd last year. The company said it sold its net entitlement production of nearly 18,000 boepd locally in 2025 at prices in the low $30s per barrel. Pipeline exports could secure higher prices. "In 2026, we will be either part of the current export arrangements, or we will find another mechanism to be exposed to export pricing," Mossavar-Rahmani told a quarterly results call with analysts. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/dno-eyes-joining-pipeline-deal-export-iraqs-kurdistan-crude-turkey-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 11:18

NEW DELHI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Air India said on Thursday it was investigating if its crew followed all compliance procedures when a Boeing jet took off from London with a possible fuel-switch defect, only to be later grounded in India. Reuters is the first to report the airline's investigation of Sunday's incident, after reporting that Britain's aviation authority had privately asked Air India for details of all maintenance actions before the decision to take off. Sign up here. Britain has given Air India a week's deadline to submit a complete response, or face regulatory action against it and its fleet of 33 Boeing 787s. Authorities have said pilots in London had observed the fuel control switch did not stay latched in the 'run' position on two attempts, but was stable on a third. The crew decided to fly to India, where the pilot reported a possible "defect" on landing, forcing the grounding of the plane for checks. In a statement, Air India said it will be "following its safety investigation protocol and take appropriate action," in response to a query from Reuters whether the pilots had flagged concerns to British authorities before takeoff. It did not elaborate on possible action. ISSUE REPORTED ON LANDING IN INDIA A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters Air India's investigation would question the crew why they did not report the incident in London, and if they felt it was safe to fly, why they reported it later in India. India's civil aviation authority did not immediately respond to queries from Reuters. Fuel switches, which regulate the flow of jet fuel to a plane's engines, were at the centre of last year's crash of an Air India Dreamliner in the western state of Gujarat that killed 260 and triggered tighter scrutiny of the airline. After Sunday's incident, Air India and Indian authorities have said there were no issues with fuel control switches on the airline's Dreamliner fleet. Britain's watchdog has sought a "comprehensive root-cause analysis" of the incident and a "preventive action plan", however, to avert any recurrence across Air India's Boeing 787 fleet, Reuters reported on Wednesday. "The safety of our passengers and crew remains Air India’s highest priority," the airline added in its statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/air-india-probes-if-crew-followed-protocols-boeing-fuel-switch-incident-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 11:11

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Barrick Mining (ABX.TO) , opens new tab said on Thursday it would move forward with preparations for an initial public offering of its North American gold assets and named interim head Mark Hill as its chief executive officer and president. U.S.-listed shares of the company were up 2% in premarket trading. Sign up here. Barrick in September named veteran executive Mark Hill as interim president and CEO following the sudden resignation of Mark Bristow. The IPO, expected to be completed by late 2026, would house Barrick's interests in Nevada Gold Mines, Pueblo Viejo and its wholly owned Fourmile project in Nevada. Barrick plans to retain a controlling stake in the new entity following the listing. Separately, the company beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on higher gold prices. The gold miner reported an adjusted profit of $1.04 per share for the three months ended December 31, compared with the average analyst estimate of 90 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/barrick-mining-names-mark-hill-ceo-2026-02-05/