2026-02-05 11:08

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Futures tied to Canada's main stock index slipped on Thursday, pressured by sharp declines in precious metals and oil prices, as investors assessed a fresh round of earnings updates from Wall Street. March futures on the S&P/TSX composite index were down 0.12% as of 5:34 a.m. ET. Sign up here. The benchmark index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended a volatile session on a positive note on Wednesday, with gains for industrial and consumer-related shares offsetting jitters about AI potentially disrupting the business models of software companies. TSX's mining stocks were set to grab the spotlight on Thursday amid a sharp decline for precious metals against a strong dollar and signs of easing U.S.-China trade tensions. Spot gold was down 2.1%, retreating from a near one-week high hit earlier in the session, while spot silver dropped 11.2%. Copper also joined the broader selloff, down as rising inventories and a stronger U.S. dollar raised demand concerns. Oil prices were also under pressure, with Brent crude futures and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude down about 1.4% each. The declines come after the U.S. and Iran agreed to hold talks in Oman on Friday, easing concerns that a potential military conflict between them could disrupt supplies from the key Middle East producing region. On Wall Street, futures tied to the S&P 500 index were steady as investors weighed overnight earnings from Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab, a member of the so-called "Magnificent Seven." Although the tech giant surpassed expectations, its increased capital spending target worried investors, sending the stock down 2.5% in premarket trading. Back home, investors awaited quarterly results from luxury apparel maker Canada Goose (GOOS.TO) , opens new tab, scheduled for release later in the day. The Canadian federal government is expected to announce its national automotive strategy on Thursday, replacing the country's electric vehicle mandate with new fuel-efficiency standards and credits, CBC News reported on Wednesday. ($1 = 1.3695 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/commodities-drop-keeps-canadian-futures-under-pressure-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 11:04

Argentina's energy surplus could reach $10 billion in 2026, analysts say Companies invest in Vaca Muerta for oil and gas growth Argentina aims to reduce reliance on imported gas BUENOS AIRES, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Argentina could surpass last year's record energy trade surplus in 2026, supported by infrastructure that has improved the country's capacity to ship oil and gas from the Vaca Muerta shale formation, analysts said. The 2026 energy trade surplus could range from $8.5 billion to $10 billion, and would depend mainly on oil production, three analysts told Reuters. Sign up here. Boosting energy exports and reducing dependence on imported gas are central goals for Argentina's government, which seeks to increase foreign-currency inflows, strengthen central bank reserves and bolster investor confidence. Argentina posted a record energy surplus of $7.8 billion last year, with exports of $11.1 billion, up nearly 13% from 2024, while imports fell 18% to $3.3 billion. Development of Vaca Muerta - part of Argentina's Neuquen basin - has helped reverse a deficit that peaked at nearly $7 billion in 2013. Vaca Muerta production reached about 600,000 barrels of oil per day in 2025. "The engine of growth is Vaca Muerta, since the rest of the basins (of conventional hydrocarbons) are in decline, with a drop of 4.9% [of production] in 2025," said Fernando Bazan of consulting firm Abeceb. He said oil exports, which accounted for 86% of the 2025 energy surplus, will be the key driver this year too. Argentina's total trade surplus in 2025 stood at $11.3 billion. Senator Agustin Monteverde, a trained economist, also expects a strong contribution from energy, projecting a surplus due to exports enabled by easier offloading from Vaca Muerta. "The greater transport capacity, for both oil and gas, will strengthen exports but will also reduce our dependence on (imported) gas, and we are seeing growth in exports not only regionally but also to the United States, which is becoming consolidated as the main buyer," he said. COMPANIES INVEST IN VACA MUERTA Companies are betting on continued growth in oil output. State-controlled energy firm YPF, together with Pan American Energy, Pluspetrol, Vista and Pampa Energia, is developing the Vaca Muerta Oil Sur project, which includes a 550,000 barrel-per-day oil pipeline and a plant and storage tanks at the Punta Colorada terminal in Rio Negro. The project has secured $2 billion in financing. YPF chief executive Horacio Marin said in January the project would generate more than $15 billion a year in exports. In gas, capacity has been added to a trunk pipeline from Vaca Muerta, and work is underway to reverse the Northern Gas Pipeline to supply northern Argentina, replacing gas previously imported from Bolivia and allowing for more exports to Brazil. Argentina also aims to become a global liquefied natural gas exporter, which would require major infrastructure to move gas to an Atlantic port for liquefaction and export. However, analysts expect Argentina will still need gas imports to cover peak winter demand. "The major promises of a jump in gas production will come after 2027," Bazan said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/vaca-muerta-expected-lift-argentina-energy-surplus-new-record-2026-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 10:59

Estee Lauder drops after forecast misses estimates All eyes on Amazon results after markets close Investors sell AI-related stocks S&P 500 -1.23%, Nasdaq -1.59%, Dow -1.20% Feb 5 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq dragged to its lowest since November by losses in Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab, Amazon (AMZN.O) , opens new tab and other tech heavyweights after Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab said it could double capital spending on AI in the race to dominate the emerging technology. Shares of Alphabet fell 0.55% after the Google parent said it plans as much as $185 billion in capex in 2026. Together, it and its Big Tech rivals are expected to collectively shell out more than $500 billion on AI this year. Sign up here. Adding to recent losses, Microsoft dropped 5%, Palantir (PLTR.O) , opens new tab lost 6.8% and Oracle (ORCL.N) , opens new tab fell 7%. Amazon (AMZN.O) , opens new tab lost 4.4% during regular trading and then tumbled another 10% after the closing bell, joining its Big Tech peers in projecting massive capital expenditures in 2026. It was the latest sign that tech companies will not hit the brakes anytime soon on hefty AI investments. Shares of chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, which stands to benefit from increased industry spending on AI, declined 1.4%. Investors in recent months have grown more wary of heavy spending on AI, awaiting stronger signs those investments are actually boosting revenue and profits. "This is the first time we've seen the large-cap tech companies -- the Microsofts and the Alphabets and the Amazons -- go through a really large capex cycle ... and we're seeing this volatility about whether this investment will translate, ultimately, into results," said Tom Hainlin, an investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. Investors this week have also worried that rapidly improving AI tools could eat into demand for traditional software, squeezing profit margins across the sector. Software and data services stocks added to recent losses, with ServiceNow (NOW.N) , opens new tab down 7.6% and Salesforce (CRM.N) , opens new tab losing almost 5%. The S&P 500 software and services index (.SPLRCIS) , opens new tab fell 4.6%, down for a seventh straight session. "The AI trade which was the accelerant last year is perhaps the extinguisher this year with people realizing that AI is going to help certain kinds of companies but it is also going to hurt, particularly software, for example," said Melissa Brown, SimCorp's managing director of investment decision research. Qualcomm (QCOM.O) , opens new tab slid 8.5% after forecasting second-quarter revenue and profit below estimates. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX) , opens new tab, Wall Street's "fear gauge," briefly hit the highest in over two months. As traders dialed back exposure to pricey AI stocks, the market's rotation into relatively cheaper stocks gained steam in recent days. The S&P 500 value index (.IVX) , opens new tab dipped 0.9%, but remained in positive territory for the week. The S&P 500 growth index (.IGX) , opens new tab was down more than 4% for the week. The S&P 500 declined 1.23% to end the session at 6,798.40 points. The Nasdaq declined 1.59% to 22,540.59 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.20% to 48,908.72 points. Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led lower by materials (.SPLRCM) , opens new tab, down 2.75%, followed by a 2.59% loss in consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab. Snap (SNAP.N) , opens new tab topped fourth-quarter revenue estimates, but its shares declined more than 13%. Estee Lauder (EL.N) , opens new tab shares fell 19% as the Clinique owner forecast annual results below estimates. Fashion company Tapestry (TPR.N) , opens new tab rose 10% after raising its annual profit forecast, while Hershey (HSY.N) , opens new tab climbed 9% on a better-than-expected annual profit forecast. The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment increased more than expected for the week ended January 31, while job openings dropped to the lowest level in more than five years in December. Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) , opens new tab by a 1.8-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 44 new highs and 10 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 113 new highs and 425 new lows. https://www.reuters.com/business/sp-nasdaq-futures-subdued-markets-digest-alphabets-ai-spending-plans-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 10:57

Analysts expect India's Russia oil demand to stay weak ESPO China discount widens toward $9/bbl, Urals at minus $12/bbl China Russian crude imports at record 1.7 mln bpd in Jan - Kpler China's Russian oil demand may have peaked without state buyers SINGAPORE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Discounts on Russian oil exports to China widened to new records this week as sellers cut prices to lure demand from the world's top crude importer and offset the likely loss of India sales, traders said. Price cuts for China came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday a trade agreement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that included halting oil purchases from Russia, but without giving details on how and when. Sign up here. A halt by India would make China the only major client for cheap Russian oil. The world's second-biggest oil exporter is already struggling with falling demand from India due to Western sanctions, with Russian oil in floating storage rising. JPMorgan analysts led by Natasha Kaneva said their base case is that India will import Russian crude at 800,000 to 1 million barrels per day, or 17-21% of its total crude imports, after the trade deal. India's Russian oil imports peaked around 2 million barrels per day last June. "China, especially Shandong's independent refiners, are the main beneficiaries of this trend — absorbing most displaced Russian barrels and boosting margins, runs, and strategic stockpiles thanks to deep discounts and supportive domestic policy," the analysts wrote in a February 4 note. WIDER DISCOUNTS Discounts for ESPO Blend, delivered from the Pacific port of Kozmino to China, widened to nearly $9 a barrel to ICE Brent this week, from $7–$8 in recent months, trade sources said. Discounts for Russian Urals grade, exported from the Baltics - typically to India - were at about $12 per barrel and could widen further, they added. "Chinese buyers have been benefiting from multi-year low discounts on Russian crude in recent months, to the extent that some have even reduced Iranian intake in order to absorb more Russian barrels," said Vortexa analyst Emma Li. "Given that India's pullback is likely to trigger even deeper discounts, this behaviour is likely to continue in the near term." Chinese independent refiners, known as teapots, remain the main buyers of sanctioned oil, with January Russian oil volumes into the teapot hub of Shandong province at record highs, according to Li. Chinese state refiners have suspended seaborne Russian purchases since October after the U.S. sanctioned Russian producers Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab and Lukoil . THE LIMITS OF CHINA'S DEMAND However, China has likely hit its limit for Russian crude imports if state refiners continue to sit out, traders and analysts say. China's Russian seaborne crude imports rose to a record 1.7 million barrels per day in January, as India cut back imports to 1.1 million bpd, the lowest since November 2022, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. OilX put China's January imports at 1.64 million bpd, the highest since March 2024. Independent Chinese refineries do not have the capacity to take up all of the excess Russian supply, analysts said. "Amid rising onshore inventory, we expect Russian seaborne flows to China to decrease from March, following elevated levels of Jan-Feb 2026," said Sun Jianan, a senior analyst with Energy Aspects. Vortexa's Li said: "Without re-engagement from the state-owned majors, Russia is still facing an oversupplied market despite strong teapot absorption." Still, there's hope for more demand as CNPC plans to restart a unit at its refinery in the northeastern city of Dalian around mid-year to rake in high margins from Russian crude, Reuters reported. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-oil-sellers-cut-prices-china-attract-demand-india-wavers-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 10:52

DUBAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Iran's revolutionary guards have detained two vessels in the Gulf carrying over 1 million liters of smuggled fuel, state media reported on Thursday, adding that the vessels' crews comprising 15 foreigners were referred to judicial authorities. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-detains-two-vessels-gulf-carrying-smuggled-fuel-state-media-says-2026-02-05/

2026-02-05 10:34

Vattenfall reports jump in Q4 earnings Five-year investment plan focuses on wind, grid Plans for new nuclear too costly for companies alone, CEO says OSLO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Swedish government will have to take a direct stake in new nuclear projects given the size of the financial commitment, the CEO of state-owned utility Vattenfall told Reuters on Thursday. The Nordic country's right-of-centre government wants to revive its nuclear power sector and is offering a combination of cheap loans and price guarantees to companies willing to invest. Sign up here. Vattenfall's Videberg Kraft subsidiary plans to build several small, modular reactors with around 1,500 megawatts of combined capacity at the site of its Ringhals nuclear facility in south-west Sweden and applied for funding in December. While a consortium of industrial groups will take a 20% stake in the project company, the intention is that the Swedish state will also have a direct ownership, CEO Anna Borg said. "The size of the project is of course large and that also means that we will not consolidate that on the Vattenfall balance sheet," Borg said. She was speaking after Vattenfall reported fourth-quarter underlying earnings before interest and tax of 9.5 billion Swedish crowns ($1.1 billion), a tenfold rise from 922 million crowns a year earlier. The gains were mainly driven by improved price hedging of Vattenfall's continental European generation and better availability and prices for its Swedish nuclear output, Borg told Reuters. She said nuclear negotiations with the government and suppliers remained ongoing, and declined to give any cost estimates. Most of Vattenfall's 165-billion-crown investment budget over the next five years is earmarked for wind power and electricity grids. "When it comes to new nuclear the main investment volumes will come after this five-year period," Borg said. ($1 = 9.0101 Swedish crowns) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/swedish-nuclear-plans-need-direct-state-investment-vattenfall-says-2026-02-05/