2024-05-17 21:04

TSX up 0.7% CPI data on radar next week Tilray Brands drops to bottom of TSX Materials index leads sectoral gains May 17 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Friday to close the week on a high note while hovering near record highs, powered by surging commodity prices as investors await inflation data next week. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) New Tab, opens new tab was up 165.54 points, or 0.74%, at 22,465.37. Silver prices jumped to an 11-year high, copper prices hit a 25-month peak and strength in most metals helped the materials sector (.GSPTTMT) New Tab, opens new tab, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lead sector gains with a 2.8% jump. Next week, investors will gauge Canada's April inflation data on Tuesday for fresh insights into the Bank of Canada's rate-cut timeline. "No doubt a very good week for the bulls... the momentum is positive," said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. "There is still some uncertainty. Investors will be laser-focused on inflation trends to gauge what central banks will do. That's going to be the case in Canada next week." Investors anticipate the BoC to begin rate cuts as early as June or July, compared to the U.S. Federal Reserve's first cut expected in September. 0#BOCWATCH In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab breached the 40,000-point level for the first time ever on Thursday on rising bets of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as investors digested the rally this week. In Canada, the energy sector (.SPTTEN) New Tab, opens new tab posted a 1.2% gain, as economic indicators from big consumers China and the United States bolstered hopes for higher oil demand. Shares in Tilray Brands dropped 7.2% to the bottom of the TSX after the cannabis-lifestyle company announced that it may offer and sell shares of common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $250 million. The broader healthcare (.GSPTTHC) New Tab, opens new tab index was off 1.6%, leading sectoral losses. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-subdued-rate-cut-bets-decline-2024-05-17/

2024-05-17 20:48

Reddit gains on OpenAI partnership GameStop expects Q1 revenue to drop, shares tumble AMD up as Microsoft offers AMD option to Nvidia AI processors Indexes mixed: Dow up 0.34%, S&P up 0.12%, Nasdaq down 0.07% NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 40,000 mark for the first time on Friday, with other major indexes also scoring weekly gains, as data supported expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab edged higher after paring losses while the Nasdaq (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab fell, but both chalked up a fourth straight week of gains. The Dow (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab rose to end the fifth week of advances in a row. Strong corporate results and inflation and other economic data have bolstered investor hopes for Fed rate cuts this year. Eight out of the 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, with energy (.SPNY) New Tab, opens new tab leading gains while technology (.SPLRCT) New Tab, opens new tab was the biggest loser. For the week, Dow gained 1.24%, S&P 500 rose 1.54%, and Nasdaq climbed 2.11%. "Today is a bit of a digestion day: we just broke out through record highs and now we're on a fourth straight week of gains, and the market appears to take a breaker," said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta. Traders see a 68% chance of the Fed's first rate cut in September, the CME FedWatch Tool showed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab rose 134.21 points, or 0.34%, to 40,003.59, the S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab gained 6.17 points, or 0.12%, to 5,303.27 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab lost 12.35 points, or 0.07%, to 16,685.97. "For all the times that I've seen the market hit milestones and new highs, there's almost always consolidation around it even though it seems it's all psychological," said Tom Plumb, chief executive and portfolio manager at Plumb Funds in Madison, Wisconsin. "People have got mixed signals on inflation this week and the next big catalyst is next week when Nvidia reports. So it's one of those days when you seem to be biding your time." Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) New Tab, opens new tab gained 1.1% after Microsoft (MSFT.O) New Tab, opens new tab said it plans to offer its cloud computing customers a platform of AMD artificial intelligence chips that will compete with components made by Nvidia (NVDA.O) New Tab, opens new tab. Reddit (RDDT.N) New Tab, opens new tab rose 10% following a partnership with OpenAI to bring its content to ChatGPT. GameStop (GME.N) New Tab, opens new tab dropped nearly 20% after filing for a mixed-shelf offering and saying it expects first-quarter net sales to drop from a year ago. About 15.6 billion shares changed hands across U.S. exchanges, compared with an average of about 11.7 billion shares over the last 20 sessions. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,039 stocks rose and 2,221 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.09-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 45 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq recorded 157 new highs and 68 new lows. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-edge-lower-rally-loses-some-steam-2024-05-17/

2024-05-17 20:12

MEXICO CITY, May 17 (Reuters) - Mexican state energy company Pemex started sending 16,300 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to its new Olmeca refinery this week, less than 5% of its total capacity, internal data seen by Reuters showed, signaling another delay. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had built hugely ambitious infrastructure project in his home state Tabasco, describing it as "a dream come true," with the promise of weaning the country off gasoline and diesel imports, most of which come from the U.S. With two weeks away from the presidential election, Pemex officials have been keen to show progress with the refinery in Dos Bocas, and that Lopez Obrador's promises had been kept. However, the previously unreported data also showed that in August, the refinery is scheduled to receive 170,000 bpd, still half of the feedstock needed for the 340,000-bpd plant. The volumes, which two sources familiar with the operations confirmed, raise fresh questions over the progress of the roughly $16 billion project, which has been running behind schedule and over budget. Inaugurated in July 2022, the refinery was then projected to run at half capacity the following July and reach full capacity in 2023. But several deadlines have not been met. Earlier this month, however, Pemex backtracked again and said it would process only 177,000 bpd this year before ramping up to full capacity in 2025. The slow start at the new refinery in the southeastern part of the country means Mexico will still have to rely on refined fuel imports. Mexico will also continue to export its heavy crude oil against earlier expectations that the new refinery would lead to a sharp decline, easing tight supplies globally as major Middle East producers have reduced exports to meet their OPEC+ pledges. During Pemex's last quarterly earnings call at the end of April, officials said the refinery would start producing diesel later this month and that gasoline would follow. Diesel is widely considered easier to produce than gasoline. They did not mention crude oil processing rates or targets. Pemex also has not publicly disclosed how much crude oil the new refinery has received so far. The data seen by Reuters was included in a document the refining arm of Pemex sent to the exploration and production arm to allow for planning up until August. The initial amount sent to the refinery this week was less than 1% of the 1.8 million bpd Pemex currently produces. EXAGGERATED PROGRESS It is common for new refineries to start up gradually but the government has been touting its success. Two sources familiar with the internal data told Reuters that the surprisingly small volume of crude oil the refinery is receiving were for one processing line only, and that it was unclear when the second one would start. One of the sources added that the government had exaggerated progress ahead of the June 2 election. Claudia Sheinbaum, the candidate for Lopez Obrador's National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party, maintains a strong lead over her main rival in polls. Pemex and the president's office did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters previously revealed that Pemex asked its trading unit in March to cancel up to 436,000 bpd of exports for April because it said it needed these volumes for the domestic refining system. Some of this was meant for the new refinery. A few days later, sources said Pemex planned to cut another 330,000 bpd for May - although it later reversed the second round of cuts, causing chaos and confusion among international buyers that had been banking on supplies from Mexico. One buyer of Maya crude oil said the market was surprised when Pemex backtracked on cancellations considering there was such a huge cut a month earlier. Another source at a refinery said buyers had to take term cargoes for May even though they had bought other grades, like Iraqi Basra crude, to replace supply they expected to be cut. Mexico's energy ministry has not yet published monthly updates on how many barrels of crude oil Pemex's six local refineries have processed in April or May so far. Until the end of March, the latest for which official numbers are available, the data base shows no allocations at all for the Olmeca refinery. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/mexico-presidents-dream-pemex-refinery-hits-another-delay-internal-data-shows-2024-05-17/

2024-05-17 19:47

Ban aims to curb another revenue stream for Russia Biden administration official says US still engaged in G7 talks Says needs to take into account African, UAE, industry concerns BRUSSELS/LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - The United States is re-evaluating the strictest elements of a ban on Russian diamonds from the Group of Seven major democracies, after opposition from African countries, Indian gem polishers and New York jewellers, seven sources said. The sanctions package, agreed in December and including a ban across the European Union, represents one of the industry's biggest shakeups in decades. Two of the sources familiar with the negotiations said the Americans had disconnected from G7 working groups on the stringent controls, with one describing them as "there but not engaging". The U.S. State Department declined to comment. A senior Biden administration official said Washington had not changed its position and that the United States would keep working with the G7. "We will want to make sure that we strike the right balance between hurting Russia and making sure that everything is implementable," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The G7 sanctions aim to hit another stream of revenue for the Kremlin's war effort in Ukraine, even though at around $3.5 billion, according to Russian state-run miner Alrosa's (ALRS.MM) New Tab, opens new tab 2023 results, diamonds represent a small fraction of the profits Moscow earns from oil and gas. Since March, importers to G7 countries must self-certify that diamonds do not originate from Russia, the world's leading producer of rough diamonds. Sanctions were imposed on direct imports of Russian gems in January. From September, the EU ban will require diamonds of 0.5 carats and above to pass through Antwerp, a centuries-old diamond hub in Belgium, for traceability certification using blockchain - the digital ledger used by cryptocurrencies. Sources said G7 powers had agreed that Antwerp would be the logical first hub, with others to be added later. But three of the sources said Washington had cooled on enforcing traceability and that discussions on implementing tracing had stalled. The Biden administration official said the commitment to implementing a traceability mechanism by Sept. 1 applied to the European Union, not the United States, citing the language in a G7 leaders' statement in December. "We need to do this in a way that takes into account concerns from African partners and African producers, takes into account Indian and UAE partners ... and makes sure we can also make it workable for U.S. industry," said the official. "Is there a traceability mechanism that satisfies all of that? We're still engaged, we haven't walked away from the idea... on the other hand, we couldn't sign up to definitely having this in place by Sept. 1st." The presidents of Angola, Botswana and Namibia wrote to G7 leaders in February to say that a pre-determined entry point for the G7 market would be unfair, impinge on freedoms, and hurt revenues. The three nations account for 30% of diamond output. Italy, which holds the presidency of the G7, declined to comment on the U.S. position. Any softening of the phased ban risks leaving loopholes and allowing Russian diamonds into boutiques in New York, London and Tokyo - a threat highlighted when Belgian authorities seized suspected Russian stones worth millions of dollars in February. Advocates of the sanctions say a traceability mechanism is needed to deliver a robust ban and that without the full engagement of the United States, which accounts for 50% of the G7 diamond jewellery market, it cannot be effective. They blamed some of the industry pushback on fears of greater market transparency. A Belgian official familiar with the negotiations said it was paramount to maintain the determination to keep loopholes firmly closed. CERTIFYING AT SOURCE A previous U.S. ban on Russian diamonds excluded stones polished elsewhere, allowing diamonds processed in India and traded in hubs like Dubai to reach the U.S. market. The G7 ban followed months of wrangling between Western capitals. Diamond miners such as De Beers, a unit of Anglo American (AAL.L) New Tab, opens new tab, Indian cutters and jewellery retailers have strongly lobbied against the ban. They say the measures are poorly designed, will increase bureaucracy and inflate prices. De Beers told Reuters it supported a ban but that diamond-producing countries should certify origin at the source. "The opportunities for, and likelihood, of Russian diamonds infiltrating the legitimate supply chain are in fact higher when you move further away from the source," the company said. Virginia Drosos, chief executive of Signet (SIG.N) New Tab, opens new tab, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewellery, urged the U.S. government in a letter seen by Reuters to "stand against... the G7 Belgian solution." Belgium has introduced a pilot tracing scheme based in Antwerp in which some 20 diamond buyers are participating, among them French luxury groups LVMH (LVMH.PA) New Tab, opens new tab and Kering (PRTP.PA) New Tab, opens new tab as well as Switzerland's Richemont (CFR.S) New Tab, opens new tab, one of the sources said. An LVMH spokesperson said its Tiffany & Co brand was participating. Kering and Richemont did not comment. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Reuters in March that he was open to additional hubs being established for certification if they matched Antwerp's standards, and that concerns were inevitable. "If you implement something that is changing the game, (it) takes some time to iron out some issues." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-lukewarm-g7-russian-diamond-ban-after-industry-backlash-2024-05-17/

2024-05-17 18:43

May 17 (Reuters) - Cloud cover and rain showers over the next few days are set to help crews battling a large wildfire near the Canadian oil sands city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, local authorities said on Friday. Overnight, the fire stayed about 5.5 km (3.4 miles) from the landfill on the city's southern outskirts where crews are continuing to build a containment line. The municipal authority of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, said the fire was largely unchanged at 196 sq km (76 square miles). "Fire behavior will be subdued today with cloud cover and rain showers. The next few days show a similar forecast with precipitation values varying from 20 mm (0.8 inches) to 80 mm of total precipitation by Tuesday," it said in a statement. Fort McMurray is the hub for most of Canada's oil output. A huge wildfire in 2016 forced the evacuation of 90,000 residents, burned down 2,400 buildings and idled more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of production. There have been no reports of fire-related disruption to Alberta oil and gas production. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rain-is-set-help-crews-battling-blaze-near-canadian-oil-city-2024-05-17/

2024-05-17 18:20

May 17 (Reuters) - The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) said on Friday electricity supplies are sufficient to meet expected summer demand this year under baseline conditions, but reliability concerns remain. Some 40,733 megawatts (MW) of power resources are ready to meet expected peak demand, which is projected to be 33,301 MW, the company said in a statement. During the summer of 2023, the peak demand was 30,206 MW. In July 2013, New York experienced its highest peak of 33,956 MW following a week-long heatwave. Peak demand represents the average total electricity consumption by consumers within an hour. One megawatt of electricity can serve about 800-1,000 homes. Since last summer, the grid has deactivated four generating units, totaling 59 MW in capacity and added 12 new generating units, all of which are clean energy sources, with a combined capacity of 452 MW, the statement added. The Comprehensive Reliability Plan conducted by NYISO has assessed the grid's reliability until 2032, revealing a continual reduction in reliability margins statewide. Considering various factors such as unavailable generation and operating reserve needs, the reliability margin stands at 752 MW under standard conditions. However, during extreme weather conditions, reliability margins are expected to fall short. Separately, the New York State Public Service Commission (NYPSC) said average electricity prices for full-service residential customers are expected to be lower than last year, depending on location, demand and market prices. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/new-yorks-electric-grid-prepped-summer-demand-flags-reliability-concerns-2024-05-17/