2024-06-14 23:22

SANTIAGO, June 14 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's mining minister plans to meet with his Chilean counterpart in Santiago at the end of July to discuss potential investments in lithium, a Chilean government source said on Friday. Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef told Reuters in a recent interview that the Middle Eastern country is interested in obtaining lithium overseas as it aims to enter the electric vehicle (EV) sector. Chile is the world's second-biggest producer of lithium, a material key to making the batteries that power EVs. The global shift towards EVs has created a rush by carmakers and global powers for the ultralight metal. Chilean newspaper Diario Financiero first reported plans for the Saudi visit to Chile, saying Alkhorayef was expected to meet with mining minister Aurora Williams. It also said Saudi Arabia was interested in meeting with Codelco and Enami, the state-run mining companies tasked with bringing the Chilean government into the lithium industry. Both companies are seeking private sector partners to launch new lithium projects - Codelco in the Maricunga salt flat, and Enami in brine deposits known as Altoandinos. The Mining Ministry and Codelco did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Enami said it has not received any meeting requests from Saudi officials or companies. Chile's mining ministry in April said it had been approached by the Saudi embassy in Santiago about hosting a delegation this year to discuss potential investments in the sector. Saudi ambassador in Chile Khalid Alsaloom in a social media post last week said he met with Williams to discuss topics of mutual interest. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-mining-minister-visit-chile-july-source-says-2024-06-14/

2024-06-14 22:52

Adobe up after lifting full-year revenue forecast US consumer sentiment ebbs in June; inflation worries linger Indexes: Dow down 0.2%, S&P 500 down 0.04%, Nasdaq up 0.1% NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq eked out a fifth straight record closing high on Friday following gains in Adobe and other technology-related shares, while the S&P 500 and Dow ended slightly lower. The S&P 500 ended its four-day run of record closing highs, but still climbed more than 1% for the week. The S&P 500 technology sector (.SPLRCT) New Tab, opens new tab rose 0.5%, hitting another record high close. The communication services sector (.SPLRCL) New Tab, opens new tab rose 0.6%, leading gains among sectors. Adobe (ADBE.O) New Tab, opens new tab shares jumped 14.5% a day after the company raised its annual revenue forecast on more demand for its artificial intelligence-powered software. "You've had a big rally this week, led by big-cap tech. Under the surface, we have a lot of areas acting weak," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in New York. The Russell small-cap index (.RUT) New Tab, opens new tab fell 1.6%, adding to recent losses, while the S&P 500 industrials sector (.SPLRCI) New Tab, opens new tab was down 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab fell 57.94 points, or 0.15%, to 38,589.16. The S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab lost 2.14 points, or 0.04%, at 5,431.6 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab added 21.32 points, or 0.12%, at 17,688.88. For the week, the Dow was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 rose 1.6% and the Nasdaq was up 3.2%. Investors are still trying to gauge how soon the Federal Reserve might be able to cut interest rates. Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said he was relieved after data this week showed inflation in May had cooled, but he would still like to see "more months" of similar data before cutting interest rates. On Wednesday, Fed policymakers dialed back their projections for three cuts this year to just one. In a report on Friday, a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index slipped to 65.6 in June, sharply lower than expectations. Nvidia (NVDA.O) New Tab, opens new tab shares ended up 1.8% after briefly surpassing Apple (AAPL.O) New Tab, opens new tab as the world's second-most valuable company. A BofA Global Research report showed U.S. value stock funds had $2.6 billion of outflows, while investors poured $1.8 billion into U.S. growth stock funds in the week to Wednesday. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.12 billion shares, compared with the 12.10 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 2.39-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.51-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 16 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 30 new highs and 192 new lows. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/wall-street-futures-pull-back-markets-eye-cautious-fed-2024-06-14/

2024-06-14 20:06

NIAMEY, June 14 (Reuters) - Niger has shut off oil exports to China via its pipeline to Benin's coast, Oil Minister Mahamane Moustapha Barke Bako said on Thursday, deepening a standoff between the West African neighbours. At the Agadem oilfield in eastern Niger, the minister oversaw the padlocking of a section of the 2,000-km (1,243-mile) pipeline through which exports to China were meant to flow under a memorandum of understanding with state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) worth $400 million. Cross-border relations have been strained since Benin blocked crude exports via its port from landlocked Niger in May and demanded the junta reopen its border to Benin's goods and normalise relations. Earlier in June, authorities in Benin detained five Niger nationals for allegedly entering Benin's Seme-Kpodji pipeline terminal under false pretences - charges Niger has rejected, insisting the group was there to supervise the loading of crude in line with an agreement with Benin. "We can't just sit back while our oil is stolen by other people, because we're not there where it's loaded," the minister told workers, explaining the decision to halt flows, according to a broadcast on state television. The tensions go back to a July 2023 coup in Niger, which led regional bloc ECOWAS to impose strict sanctions for more than six months. Trade flows in the region were expected to normalise after the bloc lifted sanctions, but Niger has kept its borders closed to goods from Benin. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/niger-halts-oil-pipeline-exports-china-over-benin-spat-2024-06-14/

2024-06-14 19:48

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 14 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) New Tab, opens new tab, Magda Chambriard, has announced her new management team, with the appointment of three directors with technical know-how and a long history in the country's state-run firms. Fernando Melgarejo, appointed as chief financial officer, will take over the role from Sergio Caetano Leite, who was ousted alongside former CEO Jean Paul Prates last month, said the firm in a filing on Friday. Renata Baruzzi will become the chief officer for engineering, technology and innovation; and Sylvia dos Anjos will head up exploration and production. The changes take place as Petrobras looks to speed up its investment plan, to meet requests from Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to have the firm invest more, boosting the economy and generating local jobs. Melgarejo has spent around 37 years at the Banco do Brasil conglomerate - a state-run bank. He is currently a member of the board of directors and audit committee of energy firm Neoenergia (NEOE3.SA) New Tab, opens new tab, chairman of the board of Grupo Litel and a trustee of the Banco do Brasil Foundation. Chambriard chose from Petrobras' own internal pool of talent in the case of Baruzzi and dos Anjos. Baruzzi, currently managing the Integrated Logistics Management area at Petrobras, first joined the state-run firm around 38 years ago, said the filing. Dos Anjos, a retired Petrobras geologist, has more than 42 years' experience in the E&P area, said the firm. They will replace directors Carlos Jose do Nascimento Travassos and Joelson Falcao Mendes, who will remain in their positions until the new directors are approved by the company's corporate governance. Current executive officers Clarice Coppetti, Mauricio Tolmasquim, Claudio Schlosser, Mario Spinelli and William Franca da Silva will retain their positions under Chambriard for the time being, but Petrobras said "any other appointments will be communicated to the market in due course." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/petrobras-ceo-name-new-management-team-friday-newspaper-says-2024-06-14/

2024-06-14 19:44

TORONTO, June 14 (Reuters) - A former Air Canada manager who is wanted for his alleged role in a $20 million gold heist, the largest in Canadian history, is preparing to turn himself, his lawyer told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp on Friday. Simran Preet Panesar faces charges in connection with the April 2023 theft from Toronto's Pearson airport. His lawyer, Greg Lafontaine, told CBC that Panesar was out of the country but did not say where. Lafontaine said he had informed authorities that Panesar planned to return to the country voluntarily within the next few weeks to surrender. "He is anxious to have an opportunity to demonstrate his absolute innocence," Lafontaine said. Lafontaine told CBC that Panesar was very confident in the justice system and that "when this prosecution is over, he will have been absolved of any wrongdoing." Police said in April they had arrested six people and were looking for three more. The suspects, including two Air Canada employees, are accused of forging an airway bill to steal a cargo arriving from Switzerland of 6,600 gold bars weighing 400 kg (882 pounds) and C$2.5 million in foreign currency, police officials said. Lafontaine's office said he was not able to comment further. Police said earlier this month that they had arrested and charged Archit Grover, another individual allegedly involved in the gold heist. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/suspect-canadas-largest-gold-heist-surrender-2024-06-14/

2024-06-14 19:35

June 14 (Reuters) - Nearly a week of torrential rainfall appeared to be winding down in South Florida on Friday after a slow-moving weather system dumped more than two feet (60 cm) of precipitation in the Everglades and a foot or more in parts of populous Miami-Dade County. With the storm pushing out to sea on Friday, the region was under threat of more flooding, which had already sporadically forced the closure of major roadways. Five counties and numerous cities remained under a state of emergency. The skies were expected to drop another one to two inches (2.5-5cm) of rain, including on North Miami Beach, which experienced more than 20 inches as of Friday morning, said William Churchill, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. "They don't need any more," Churchill said. "Quite a few areas saw over a foot of rain. But this is really the final day of it." The storm, drawing its strength from warm Gulf and Atlantic waters, hit the west coast of the peninsula on Monday and reached the east coast on Tuesday. It then stalled, bringing a deluge that has not let up for days. Social media images showed numerous stalled cars in flooded roadways, people wading in hip-deep waters and others paddling small boats and kayaks down suburban streets that resembled canals. The heaviest rain fell in the Everglades, with almost 28 inches in the Big Cypress National Preserve, Churchill said. Fort Lauderdale, in Broward County just north of Miami, got 14 inches. After about 175 storm-related calls on Wednesday including 35 water rescues from people stuck in cars, rescue calls virtually dried up overnight Thursday into Friday, Broward County Battalion Fire Chief Michael Kane said. "We were blessed that this is coming to an end," he said. Evan Scott Piper, the Mayor of North Miami Beach, which was swamped with more than 20 inches of rain, told Reuters, "Thank God this is going to end." Even though rain is expected to taper off, officials said the risk of flooding persisted across an area where about 7 million people reside. Crystal Wager, mayor of Miami Shores, where 21.6 inches of rain fell, said water was still rising. "It's like it's coming up from the ground," Wagar said. "The water has no place to go, but we have all the city pumps running and we'll weather it." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/rain-weary-south-floridians-await-sun-after-days-long-deluge-2024-06-14/