2024-05-21 11:16

DUBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates and United States will invest more in artificial intelligence as part of a strategic partnership, the UAE's state minister for AI Omar Sultan Al Olama said on Tuesday. The UAE, led by government-backed firm G42, is striving to become a global leader in AI, invested heavily in it to help the Gulf nation diversify away from oil. The stakes have risen as neighbouring Saudi Arabia has begun pitching itself as a prospective hub for AI activity outside the United States. "In terms of our investments, since the U.S. is now considering the UAE as a strategic partner, and the UAE is reciprocating that by considering the U.S. as a strategic partner, you will see more deals naturally," Al Olama told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Dubai. Microsoft (MSFT.O) New Tab, opens new tab is investing $1.5 billion in G42, the two companies announced last month, giving the U.S. giant a minority stake and a board seat and allowing the two to deepen ties. As part of the deal, which the two companies said was backed by assurances to the U.S. and UAE governments over security, G42 would use Microsoft cloud services to run its AI applications. That partnership comes amid Washington's efforts to hobble Beijing's technological advances, with the United States adding four Chinese companies to an exports blacklist for seeking to acquire AI chips for China's military. Asked about further potential divestment of Chinese tech companies by the UAE, Al Olama said "government-to-government the UAE is a neutral country, and in that sense, we are going to be a country that allows the world to do business in the UAE". Al Olama said a diversified energy mix, including nuclear energy, was key for attracting AI investment to the tiny Gulf country. "We will have the ability to expand our energy infrastructure based on the need of the data centres," the minister said. This includes discussions about small modular nuclear reactors but there were no concrete plans yet, he said. The UAE has operated a South Korean-built nuclear plant since 2021. The country plans to also tender as soon as this year for four more nuclear reactors, Reuters reported last month, citing three sources. On Tuesday, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire flagged during a visit to Abu Dhabi that Paris was open to the UAE investing in its nuclear energy industry. He also said he the two countries would sign a strategic partnership on AI. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/uae-us-see-more-ai-partnerships-uae-minister-says-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 11:15

DUBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made reassuring comments about King Salman's health during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday after the royal court said on Sunday the monarch will undergo treatment for a lung inflammation, state TV reported. Due to King Salman's health issue, Crown Prince Mohammed, the de facto Saudi leader, postponed a visit to Japan that had been scheduled to begin on Monday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. The 88-year-old monarch would be treated with antibiotics until the inflammation subsides after he underwent medical tests at the royal clinics at Jeddah's Al Salam Palace due to "high temperature and joint pain", the state news agency cited the royal court as saying on Sunday. "The crown prince reassures everyone of the health of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (the king)...praying to God Almighty to bless him with a speedy recovery and to grant him good and sound health," state TV said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/crown-prince-reassures-saudis-about-kings-health-state-tv-reports-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 11:08

NEW DELHI, May 30 (Reuters) - India's capital, Delhi, has recorded its first heat-related death this year, media reported on Thursday, as India's northwest swelters in record high temperatures. The heat-related fatality was a 40-year-old labourer who died of heatstroke on Wednesday, The Indian Express newspaper reported. RECORD DELHI HEAT, READINGS UNDER REVIEW The temperature in Delhi reached a record high of 52.9 degrees Celsius (127.22°F) in the Mungeshpur neighbourhood on Wednesday, while parts of northwest and central India have been experiencing heat wave to severe heat wave conditions for weeks. The reading for Mungeshpur may be revised however, as maximum temperatures in other parts of the city ranged from 45.2°C to 49.1°C. Delhi's lieutenant governor on Wednesday asked the government to ensure measures were taken to protect labourers by providing water and shaded areas at construction sites and granting them paid leave from noon to 3 p.m. WHY IS INDIA IS SEEING MORE HEAT WAVES? The India Meteorological Department has said a confluence of weather patterns has driven up temperatures. Summer temperatures often peak during May in India, but the IMD predicted 7-10 heat wave days in northwestern regions this month, compared with the usual 2-3 days. This was largely due to fewer non-monsoon thundershowers and an active but weakening El Nino, a climate pattern that typically leads to hot and dry weather in Asia and heavier rains in parts of the Americas, the IMD has said. Warm, westerly winds blowing in from Pakistan also contributed to the heat. Other parts of India have already seen summer temperatures climbing to record peaks, including eastern and southern India, where temperatures in April were among the highest on record. EXTREME HEAT A heat wave alert has been in place for large parts of India since last week. The IMD threshold for a heat wave is when the maximum temperature reaches 40°C in the plains, 30°C in hilly areas, 37°C in coastal areas and when the departure from the normal maximum temperatures is at least 4.5 degrees. Rajasthan state has also been reeling under scorching heat, with mercury touching 50°C in some districts. Government data shows four people have died since March with 451 cases of heat stroke reported on Wednesday itself. Asia has sweltered in a hotter summer this year - a trend scientists say has been worsened by human-driven climate change. NEAR TERM RELIEF Heat wave conditions will reduce over the next two to three days due to a gradual fall in temperature along with rainfall and southwesterly winds blowing from the Arabian Sea to northwest India, the IMD said New Tab, opens new tab on Wednesday. Late on Wednesday, some parts of Delhi received a spot of light rain. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-northwest-braces-more-heatwaves-amid-elections-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 10:00

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan Partly due to the absence of top-tier economic news this week, world markets have found a relatively calm plateau with stocks near their latest records - and even fizzing metals prices cooling a touch. Wednesday's release of both Nvidia's (NVDA.O) New Tab, opens new tab quarterly earnings and the Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes loom largest as potential game changers - but the broad constellation of influences remains bullish. After recording its lowest close since just before the pandemic on Friday, Wall St's VIX volatility gauge is comfortably subdued and even Treasury market volatility (.MOVE) New Tab, opens new tab has subsided to seven-week lows. U.S. financial conditions, as measured by the Chicago Fed's index, are at their easiest since January 2022 - just before the Fed kicked off its credit tightening campaign. And even though futures markets retain expectations of about 41 basis points of Fed easing over the remainder of this year, Fed officials themselves seem in no rush. U.S. economic surprises are indeed at their most negative since January 2023, but that's reflecting a welcome cooling of growth that the Atlanta Fed still estimates to be running close to 3.5% this quarter. Excluding the energy sector, annual U.S. earnings growth is running north of 10% and rising. And even some of the more doggedly bearish Wall St strategists are throwing in the towel on year-end targets. Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson on Monday lifted his base-case 12-month forecast for the S&P500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab to 5400 points - only 2% from Friday's close but 20% higher than his previous forecast of 4500. Moving into Tuesday's session, a packed diary of Fed speakers dominates. S&P 500 futures are flat, with the Nasdaq (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab having eked out another record on Monday. Treasury yields edged down a touch and the dollar (.DXY) New Tab, opens new tab has stalled broadly. Canada's April inflation release might feed the voracious appetite for price clues - with headline annual consumer price gains there expected to ease to 2.7% from 2.9%. But much of the speculation now spins on the artificial intelligence theme and Nvidia's latest update tomorrow. Traders are pricing in a big move for Nvidia’s shares after the chipmaker reports, though expectations for volatility are more muted than in the past. Nvidia's options are primed for an 8.7% swing in either direction by Friday, according to data from options analytics firm Trade Alert. That would translate to a market cap swing of $200 billion - larger than the market capitalization for about 90% of S&P 500 companies. While massive by most measures, that implied move would fall far short of the 16.4% jump Nvidia’s shares notched after the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report. Commodities too have been pumped up of late, mostly in metals where a mix of China's latest property market rescue plans and considerable speculative activity sent copper and gold to new records on Monday. But even these have calmed down a bit today, with both stepping back from new milestones overnight. Oil prices too fell back from Monday's three-week highs - helping take some of the heat out of Treasury yields. Asian and European bourses slipped back earlier. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (.HSI) New Tab, opens new tab was the big underperformer with losses of more than 2% as doubts linger about the effectiveness of China's latest attempts to backstop its housing bust and geopolitical rhetoric around Taiwan appearing to have risen several notches in recent days. G7 finance ministers, meantime, head to Italy this week for a meeting in Stresa on Thursday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is pushing for them to agree on a plan to use the income stream from some $300 billion worth of frozen Russian sovereign assets to back a larger loan to Ukraine. Proponents of the plan say this could provide up to $50 billion up front for Ukraine, without confiscating the assets, as opposed to just using about $3.5 billion a year in interest earnings. Speaking in Frankfurt on Tuesday, Yellen also said the United States and Europe need to respond to China's industrial policies in a "strategic and united way" to keep manufacturers viable on both sides of the Atlantic. Key diary items that may provide direction to U.S. markets later on Tuesday: * Canada April consumer price inflation * US corporate earnings: Autozone, Lowe's, American Resources, Trip.com, Urban Outfitters, XP, Viasat, Alvotech etc * Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller, New York Fed President John Williams, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, Cleveland Fed chief Loretta Mester, Boston Fed chief Susan Collins and Richmond Fed boss Thomas Barkin all speak. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey speaks Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 09:45

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Ether was set for its largest two-day gain in nearly two years on Tuesday amid speculation about the outcome of applications for U.S. spot exchange-traded funds that track the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency, while bitcoin also approached a record high. Ether , which underpins the ethereum blockchain network, was 8% higher on the day at $3,775, its highest in two months, after jumping 13.8% on Monday. Top cryptocurrency bitcoin was last up 2.2% at $71,000, around 4% shy of its March peak of $73,803.25. The U.S. markets watchdog will give its ruling on some spot ether ETF applications this week. Analysts and investors said Tuesday's jump was a result of unconfirmed talk that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission might approve these products, after investors had previously thought they would be rejected. Bitcoin rallied sharply earlier this year after the SEC gave approval to several spot bitcoin ETFs, which have seen billions of dollars in inflows. So far in 2024, bitcoin has gained 67%, but ether is now close behind, with a gain of 60%. "Ethereum has taken pole position in the latest crypto rally ahead of Thursday's first final SEC deadline to decide on an ETH ETF," said Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro, using ether's market ticker. "Outright approval is a long shot, but any guidance on a pathway to eventual acceptance would be a big step forward." VanEck, ARK Investment Management and seven other issuers have filed with the SEC to list spot ether ETFs. The SEC must decide on VanEck's and ARK's filings, which are first in line, by May 23 and May 24 respectively Joseph Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities, cited reports saying the SEC had asked exchanges that would list the ether ETF to update their filings and separate Bloomberg ETF research that showed analysts have raised their informal probabilities of approval. An SEC spokesperson said they did not comment on individual filings. "Opposing the ETH ETF after the BTC one was approved always seemed like an odd case for the SEC to try to push, unless they were willing to open up questions on Ethereum's securities status more broadly, and it's likely that the call has come in somewhere to not take that fight," Edwards said. Crypto markets took another leg higher last week, after data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation drove a rally in risk assets. (This story has been corrected to fix the day in paragraph 2 and to fix the full name of the regulator in paragraph 9) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/cryptocurrencies-gain-investors-turn-optimistic-ether-etfs-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 08:18

May 21 (Reuters) - The pound was within striking distance of its 2-month high versus the dollar on Tuesday but was set to break a seven-day winning streak against the euro ahead of key economic data. Closely-watched consumer price inflation data is due on Wednesday and "flash" PMI data on British business activity will follow the next day. Good risk appetite and a slightly more dovish repricing of expectations for European Central Bank monetary path have supported the pound in the last one and a half weeks, analysts said, mentioning its correlation with the U.S. stock index S&P. Market participants see sterling as riskier than the safe-haven dollar and the single currency. The pound dropped 0.05% at 85.44 euro per pound , after rising for seven sessions from around 86 pence on May 10. "Since the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, it has been well understood that the June rate cut scenario depends on this week's CPI and the next one due June 19," said Paul Mackel, global head of forex research at HSBC. "We maintain GBP-USD is expensive versus what interest differentials imply," he added, recalling that the Bank of England's (BoE) Chief Economist Huw Pill, who has been more guarded about the disinflation, will speak on May 24. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said on May 9 that future cuts might need to be more than those markets priced in, but the next day Pill said that betting too heavily on a rate cut at its June rate meeting would be a bad idea. Policymaker Megan Greene said last week the BoE should wait for more conclusive evidence that inflation pressures are becoming less stubborn before it moves to cut rates. Sterling rose 0.1% to $1.2715; it hit $1.2725 the day before, its highest level since March 21. The pound rose around 2% this month as the U.S. dollar fell due to weak growth and inflation figures, while British data was stronger than expected. In the long term, "our broad disposition toward the pound remains constructive, particularly versus the EUR", said Barclays analysts in their weekly research notes. "This is because spillovers from a dovish BoE repricing tend to be limited, demand is resilient, and the prospect for closer ties with the EU should trigger a partial, yet sizeable, unwind of the pound's Brexit premium following the next UK general election," they added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-set-break-7-day-winning-streak-versus-euro-before-data-2024-05-21/