TSX Futures Rise as Oil Supports; US Election in Focus
Crude prices lifted futures linked to Canada's major stock index on Monday as investors prepared for the highly anticipated U.S. Presidential election this week and Federal Reserve policy decision. At 6:00 a.m., December futures for the S&P/TSX Index were up 0.4%. ET (11:00 GMT). As polls show, Donald Trump and Kamalah Harris are in a close race for the U.S. elections on Tuesday. The United States is Canada's largest trading partner. This means that the result of the election will have a significant impact on Canada's markets and economy.
Chinese solar firms are ever-nimble and go to places where US tariffs do not reach
The U.S. tariffs on Vietnam and three other Southeast Asian nations have prompted some of the largest Chinese-owned factories to cut production and lay off workers. In the meantime, a number of Chinese-owned solar power plants are being built in Indonesia and Laos. These are outside of Washington's protections on trade. Reports show that their planned capacity would be enough to provide about half of the solar panels installed in the U.S. Chinese solar firms have shrunk their output in existing hubs, while building new factories elsewhere.
U.S. regulators consider the issue of data centers in power plants
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held a technical meeting on Friday to discuss the reliability and cost concerns associated with the growing trend of building data centers that are energy-intensive on the site of U.S. nuclear power plants. The technology industry is racing to build data centers to support technologies such as generative artificial intelligence. However, accessing the huge amounts of electricity required for these centers quickly has become a major problem.
Wall St. ends lower than expected as Meta and Microsoft highlight AI costs
The major U.S. indexes ended lower on Thursday, after Microsoft and Meta Platforms pointed out that artificial intelligence costs could impact their earnings. This dampened the enthusiasm for megacaps which have been driving this year's market rally. Microsoft and Meta Platforms, which own Facebook, saw their shares fall despite the fact that both companies beat earnings expectations in results announced after Wednesday's bell. The other so-called Magnificent 7 megacap technology companies also fell.
Climate Investment Funds Board backs $1 billion Turkey grid upgrade project
Climate Investment Funds, a multilateral lender, has announced that it will provide an initial investment of $1 billion to support a plan to upgrade Turkey’s electricity grid to handle more renewable energy. The CIF board approved a $70million investment from its Renewable Energy Integration Investment Platform (REI), with the goal of attracting an additional $790million to expand and upgrade transmission infrastructure, and $330million for technology.
Nvidia must get EU approval before it can buy AI startup, Run:ai.
The European Commission announced on Thursday that the proposed acquisition by Nvidia of AI startup Run:ai, which threatens the competition in the markets the companies operate in, will require EU antitrust clearance because it poses a threat to the competition. Nvidia may be required to make concessions in order to get the EU's approval. Recently, regulators on both sides have increased their scrutiny over tech deals. Nvidia acquired the Israeli company in April for $700 million, according to Tech Crunch.
Futures on the TSX fall before domestic GDP data
The futures linked to Canada's main index of stocks fell on Thursday, as disappointing earnings from U.S. technology giants dampened the market sentiment ahead of important domestic GDP and U.S. Economic data that will be released later in the day. At 6:00 a.m., December futures for the S&P/TSX Index were down by 0.3%. ET (10:00 GMT). Wall Street futures dropped on Thursday as Meta Platforms' and Microsoft's warnings about artificial intelligence-related costs dampened optimism. Investors could get clues about future U.S.
Budgets for UK mid-caps are boosted by pubs, builders and bookies
The UK midcap stocks rose on Wednesday, as investors deemed that the first UK budget of the new Labour government was less punitive than they had feared. Mid-cap shares outperformed blue-chip stocks, even though UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves had announced a number of new tax increases to the tune 40 billion pounds per year. These would mostly impact businesses. "UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a fair but tough budget. Much of it was expected because the leaks to the market were already known," said Adrian Gosden.
NiSource's profit beats expectations for the third quarter on increased demand for electricity
NiSource, an electric and gas utility, beat Wall Street expectations for the third-quarter profits on Wednesday. This was due to higher residential and industrial power demand. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that power consumption will reach record levels in 2024 and 25. This is due to the demand for AI technology, data centers and rising electricity usage in homes and business amid record temperatures. NiSource's gas distribution revenues increased by 1.2%, to $531m.
Deep sea oil drilling drillers are now subject to new safety regulations in the US
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, released new rules on Tuesday for U.S. off-shore drillers. This is because breakthrough technology allows them to operate in extreme subsea conditions and unlock untapped oil reserves worth billions of dollars. BSEE final rule was issued after Chevron, in August, started production on its Anchor asset. It is owned by TotalEnergies and it was the first project ever to operate with 20,000 pounds per sq inch (PSI) pressure. The reservoir depths reached 34,000 feet (10.363 m).
What are the differences between Trump and Harris' energy policies?
Both Donald Trump, a Republican, and Kamala Harrias are Democrats. They both want to increase production while keeping prices low for consumers. The main difference is that Harris wants to favor clean energy technologies that are crucial in fighting climate change. Trump, on the other hand, would roll back green regulations which hinder oil and coal drilling. Next Tuesday, voters in the United States will have to face the same contrast as they head to the polls to elect their next president.
US Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Auction draws only $22 Million in Bids
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced on Tuesday that the offshore wind development rights offered in the Gulf of Maine attracted bids of $21.9 million for the first half of eight areas. Avangrid, a developer of offshore wind power, and Invenergy both walked away from the auction with two leases each. The 14 companies qualified to bid were Avangrid and Invenergy. BOEM estimates that once developed, these lease areas could power over 2.3 million homes.
Sustech, a Japanese startup, has seen its valuation soar to over $800 million in the latest funding round
Sustech, a Japanese energy technology startup, is expected to raise $50m from investors. This will value the company at over $800m, according to people familiar with the matter. The Tokyo-based company wants to tap into the fast-growing global demand for cleaner energy. Sources said that the valuation of Sustech, which is 124 billion Japanese yen (816 million dollars), in its fourth fund-raising round, represents a 3.5 times increase from 35 billion yen last year.
WiseTech shares soar after the CEO of WiseTech takes on a new role.
Australian shares rose Friday, with mining and technology stocks leading the way. WiseTech surged after its former CEO moved into a consultant role, and Whitehaven Coal soared on higher-than-expected quarter output. As of 2347 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8231.3. The benchmark is expected to lose 0.6% per week, the biggest loss since late September. Even as iron ore fell, miners gained 0.3%, and they were on course for a weekly increase of 0.1%. This is their first gain in four weeks. BHP gained 0.2% and Rio Tinto 0.9%.
Statkraft CEO: Statkraft will sell assets in 3 countries
Statkraft's CEO announced on Wednesday that the Norwegian utility, Europe's biggest renewable energy producer and Statkraft's state-owned subsidiary, would sell assets in India as well as Croatia and The Netherlands, to concentrate the group's investment on fewer markets. Statkraft announced its strategy in June and cut its growth goals for solar, battery storage, and onshore wind, as well as their offshore wind and hydrogen ambitions.
A group of armed men claims to have taken control of the rare earth mines in Myanmar
A group of rebels fighting Myanmar's ruling army has claimed control of a mine hub, a major supplier to China of rare earth oxides. This will likely disrupt shipments of materials used in clean technology and other technologies. In Kachin State, around the towns Panwa & Chipwe and adjacent to Yunnan Province in southwestern China, rare earth mining is concentrated. Naw Bu, the spokesperson for Colonel Kachin Independence Army, said on Tuesday that Panwa was under control by the Kachin Independence Army on October 19.
Iberdrola profits jump 50% after focusing on the U.S. and Britain
Iberdrola, Europe's biggest utility, announced on Wednesday that it had increased its net profit by 50% for the first nine-month period of the year. This is a good sign as this shows the company's focus on Britain and America has paid off. This is part a larger shift towards building and upgrading electricity grids. A more selective approach to renewables will be taken, with a preference given to offshore wind projects. The spanish company reported a net profit of 5.47 billion euro ($5.91 billion) for the period.
Eletrobras and Ocean Winds have agreed to evaluate offshore wind projects in Brazil
The Brazilian power company Eletrobras signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ocean Winds on Tuesday to study the development and deployment of offshore wind farms. In the future, offshore wind farms will be a key technology for generating large amounts of renewable energy in Brazil. The world's sixth-largest producer of onshore energy, in terms of capacity, does not have any offshore farms because it lacks a regulatory framework to support these projects.
Prabowo wants to increase Indonesia's energy independence through biofuels and oil and gas reforms
Officials have stated that Indonesia's new Government aims to revitalize oil and gas production. They plan to reduce regulations, reactivate inactive wells, and increase output in producing assets to reverse a decades-long drop in output.The new president, Prabowo Subianto, took his oath on Sunday. He also plans to continue the efforts of the previous administration to exploit the massive gas finds in South Andaman, and to increase the use of biofuels.Indonesia…
US lawmakers question the SLB of oil service companies' exemption from Russian sanctions
Dozens U.S. Both political parties sent representatives to urge the Biden administration on strengthening sanctions against Russian oil shipments. They also questioned the exception granted to SLB, the largest oilfield service company in the world to operate within the country. The U.S., Europe and other countries have been trying to reduce Moscow's revenue from energy for the fight against the war since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
