2025-08-05 12:55
BEIJING, Aug 5 (Reuters) - China has recently allocated more than one billion yuan ($139.1 million) to capital Beijing and several other areas to support recovery of agricultural production hit by floods and drought, state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday. Funds were allocated to Beijing, the northern Chinese province of Hebei and the Inner Mongolia region, as well as Guangdong province in the south, to replant crops, drain farmland and repair flood-stricken infrastructure. Sign up here. Other areas, including Shandong, Hubei and Henan provinces in eastern and central China also received subsidies to support their drought-stricken agricultural industry, according to CCTV. The North China Plain, a vast area that encompasses provinces such as Henan, Hebei and Shandong, has been hit by persistently high temperatures and unseasonally low precipitation since July. The area of crops affected by water shortfalls has been greater than a year earlier and rainfall is expected to remain low in August, with drought conditions potentially worsening in some areas, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs warned on Monday. Further south, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, rice-growing regions have been swamped by record rainfall. Henan province, a wheat-producing area known as China's granary, said on Monday that it received 131.5 million yuan in funding from the central government to help support its farming sector. That was double the amount that the central Chinese province mobilised on its own in mid-July and in early August to safeguard the autumn grain harvest, which accounts for about three quarters of the country's annual grain output. That brings total funds allocated to support the repair of wells, maintenance of irrigation equipment and construction of water projects to 260 million yuan since then, the Henan finance department said on its website on Tuesday. China's autumn grain production faces significant risks and challenges from overlapping floods and droughts, the ministry said. The ministry has issued 34 measures to minimise yield losses in severely affected areas, stabilise production in mildly affected areas and increase output in unaffected areas, Monday's statement said. ($1 = 7.1870 Chinese yuan renminbi) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/china-allocates-funds-support-agriculture-recovery-flood-drought-hit-areas-2025-08-05/
2025-08-05 12:53
Aug 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded $10 million to Elk Creek Resources to help develop a scandium supply chain, it said on Tuesday, as Washington looks to reduce reliance on China for critical minerals. The funding for the NioCorp Developments (NB.O) , opens new tab unit, under the Defense Production Act, will support engineering, drilling and feasibility studies at the Elk Creek project in Nebraska. Sign up here. Shares of NioCorp were up 4.8% in premarket trade. The U.S. has not mined scandium since 1969. Most of the global supply comes from China, Russia and Ukraine. The project is part of broader efforts to reduce U.S. reliance on China and other foreign suppliers of critical minerals, in line with a 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump to boost domestic production. In early July, MP Materials (MP.N) , opens new tab unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal with the U.S. government to boost output of rare earth magnets and help loosen China's grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics. Scandium is prized for making lightweight, high-strength alloys used in aircraft, hypersonic weapons and energy platforms. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-awards-niocorp-unit-10-million-build-scandium-supply-chain-nebraska-2025-08-05/
2025-08-05 12:51
Brent and US crude fall for fourth consecutive session OPEC+ output hike, demand worries add to oversupply outlook Trump again threatens India with high tariffs over Russian oil purchases LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Oil slipped over 1% on Tuesday as rising OPEC+ supply and worries of weaker global demand countered concern about U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to India over its Russian oil purchases. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, together known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, a move that will end its most recent output cut earlier than planned. Sign up here. Brent crude futures were down 82 cents, or 1.2%, to $67.94 a barrel at 1245 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 88 cents, or 1.3%, to $65.41. Both contracts fell by more than 1% on Monday to settle at their lowest in a week. Trump on Tuesday again threatened higher tariffs on Indian goods over the country's Russian oil purchases over the next 24 hours. Trump also said declining energy prices could pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Ukraine. New Delhi called his attack "unjustified" and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening a trade rift between the two countries. Oil's move since Trump's threat indicates that traders are sceptical of a supply disruption happening, said John Evans of oil broker PVM in a report. He questioned whether Trump would risk higher oil prices. "I'd call it a stable market for oil," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS. "Assume this likely continues until we figure out what the U.S. president announces in respect to Russia later this week and how those buyers would react." India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million bpd from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by trade sources. Trump's threats come amid renewed concerns about oil demand and some analysts expect faltering economic growth in the second half of the year. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-slips-opec-output-hikes-counter-russia-disruption-concerns-2025-08-05/
2025-08-05 12:48
Aug 5 (Reuters) - August, an AI startup founded by Columbia University alumni and that caters to midsize law firms, said on Tuesday it had raised $7 million in a seed funding round led by venture capital firms NEA and Pear VC. WHY IT MATTERS AI's ability to handle routine, document-heavy tasks is unlocking new efficiencies for lawyers, particularly because the legal field is built on vast volumes of literature such as case law, contracts and filings. Sign up here. By automating time-consuming paperwork, AI platforms such as August are freeing up lawyers to focus on higher-value work. It also helps to cut costs, a crucial benefit for midsize law firms that lack the resources of their deep-pocketed rivals. CONTEXT August was founded in 2023 by Rutvik Rau, Thomas Bueler-Faudree and Joseph Parker, who met at Columbia University. Besides NEA and Pear VC, the startup secured backing from angel investor Gokul Rajaram, Ramp's vice president of product Geoff Charles, OpenAI's head of engineering David Azose and Bain Capital Ventures partner Kevin Zhang. The company is based in New York and currently has a team of 12. It expects to expand the workforce to 25 to 30 by the end of the year, Rau told Reuters in an interview. August operates in a competitive arena dominated by some established players, most notably Harvey, an OpenAI-backed legal AI startup, which caters to elite law firms and big professional services companies. KEY QUOTES "The future is one where AI partners with individuals to be a step further than where the industry is today," Rau said. "We're enabling lawyers to be more productive by eliminating some of the work, so they can actually spend a lot more time working with their clients, understanding their needs and being the strategic value partner for them." https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/ai-startup-by-columbia-graduates-raises-7-million-target-midsize-law-firms-2025-08-05/
2025-08-05 12:46
Aug 5 (Reuters) - HSBC on Tuesday raised its year-end S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab index target by more than 800 points to 6,400, citing euphoria around artificial intelligence and easing U.S. policy uncertainty. The upgrade comes after similar moves from other brokerages, including Goldman Sachs and BofA Global Research, last month. Sign up here. "The AI trade is powering the tech/AI cohort higher (roughly half of the S&P 500), while reduced policy uncertainty (namely tariffs) is fueling the 'rest' of the market," HSBC strategists wrote in a note. The S&P 500 has rebounded 30.8% since its April 8 low, following U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs. The index notched fresh highs in July, driven by upbeat earnings from tech giants Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab, which renewed investor optimism around AI. HSBC's new target represents a marginal 1.1% upside to the index's last close at 6,329.94. Its previous target was 5,600 for the index. The brokerage expects slower growth in the U.S. in the second half of the year, allowing the Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates, and sees the tariff impact to remain muted and temporary. But in its bull-case scenario, HSBC expects the index to end the year at 7,000. "We believe there is still room for margins to expand in tech...don't see valuations as stretched for the tech sector," HSBC strategists said in a note to clients. https://www.reuters.com/business/hsbc-lifts-sp-500-year-end-target-6400-ai-boom-easing-policy-uncertainty-2025-08-05/
2025-08-05 12:19
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N) , opens new tab beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday, benefiting from a rebound in refining margins as fuel demand remained firm. U.S. refiners are posting upbeat quarterly profits, recovering from the losses in the previous quarter on stronger diesel margins. Sign up here. Marathon's rivals Valero Energy (VLO.N) , opens new tab, Phillips 66 (PSX.N) , opens new tab and HF Sinclair (DINO.N) , opens new tab all exceeded Wall Street estimates. Diesel cracks - a measure of margins - averaged $17 per barrel during the quarter, in line with the first quarter. However, they ended the three-month period higher at $21 per barrel, TPH & Co analyst Matthew Blair said in a note earlier. Fuel makers also saw an unexpected boost in profits from higher demand for key products in recent months, easing the slump since 2022 highs, driven by a post-pandemic recovery and war-related supply disruptions. The margins also benefited from improved capture rates, which reflect a refining company's ability to capitalize on favorable market conditions. "Our second-quarter results reflect actions we have taken to deliver on our strategic commitments...in refining, our team delivered 97% utilization and 105% margin capture; and we remain constructive on the long-term outlook," said CEO Maryann Mannen. Marathon's throughput volumes for the quarter were 3.1 million barrels per day (mmbpd), unchanged from last year, but now expects 2.9 mmbpd in the third quarter. Its refining and marketing margin per barrel rose to $17.58 in the quarter from $17.53 a year earlier. The company reported adjusted profit of $3.96 per share for the three months ended June 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of $3.29 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/top-us-refiner-marathon-petroleum-beats-quarterly-profit-higher-refining-margins-2025-08-05/
