2025-06-20 11:31

TSX ends down 0.03% at 26,497.57 Advance estimate shows retail sales down 1.1% in May Technology sector declines 0.5% Two sectors end higher, including financials June 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was barely changed on Friday, holding near its recent record high, as investors assessed developments in the Middle East conflict and domestic data that showed signs of an economic slowdown. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended down 8.43 points, or 0.03%, at 26,497.57, extending its sideways pattern since notching a record closing high on June 12. For the week, the index was also down 0.03%. Sign up here. "The fundamental theme is one of market resilience," said Elvis Picardo, a portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth. "We have a lot of moving parts. You've got geopolitical risk, you've got trade talks, you've got central bank action - a host of elements which make it difficult to predict where we'll be in the second half of the year and yet investor sentiment is still leaning towards risk-on, still concerned about the fear of missing out rather than encountering a sudden downside." Canada's retail sales were up in April on a monthly basis but were below estimates, while advanced data showed a drop of 1.1% in May. "The advance estimate sets a somber tone for the second quarter," Maria Solovieva, an economist at TD Economics, said in a note. "In addition, our internal credit and debit card spending data shows a meaningful softening in spending through May, suggesting that consumers tightened their purse strings." The technology sector fell 0.5%, with technology consulting company CGI Inc (GIBa.TO) , opens new tab down 2.1%. Consumer staples was also a drag, losing 0.5%. T (TECKb.TO) , opens new tab is weighing options to expand production of germanium, a strategic metal key to chipmaking, and is currently talking with governments, including Canada and the United States, on available funding, the company told Reuters. Shares of Teck were down 1.2%. Just two of the 10 major sectors ended higher but they included financials, the most heavily weighted sector. It added 0.1%. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/tsx-futures-rise-us-delays-decision-direct-mideast-involvement-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 11:22

TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) - Japan's biggest power generator, JERA, and Australia's Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) , opens new tab have signed a deal for Woodside to supply JERA with liquefied natural gas only during the winter months, the companies said on Friday. The Heads of Agreement was signed at the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference, co-hosted by Japan's industry ministry and the International Energy Agency in Tokyo. Sign up here. Under the deal, Woodside will supply about 200,000 metric tons of LNG annually during the December to February period, starting in fiscal year 2027, a JERA spokesperson said, adding that the deal is for five years. The agreement is unusual in that it covers only three months of the year instead of the whole year, which a regular term contract would cover, Yuya Hasegawa, a director at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said at a press conference. He also said the deal would provide flexibility, allowing JERA not to take supplies when there is no need due to warmer-than-usual winter conditions. Hasegawa said the ministry hoped Japanese companies would consider similar deals with other suppliers. "If it spreads to other sources, it may lead to a reinforcing of Japan's stable procurement," he said. JERA, jointly owned by Tokyo Electric Power (9501.T) , opens new tab and Chubu Electric Power (9502.T) , opens new tab, is Japan's largest LNG buyer. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/jera-woodside-energy-agree-supply-deal-during-winter-months-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 11:17

TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) - An executive from Malaysian state energy firm Petroliam Nasional said on Friday that the first cargo from its portion of supply from the LNG Canada project will be delivered to its customer, Japanese city gas provider Toho Gas, in July. Speaking at an energy conference in Tokyo, Shamsairi Ibrahim, Petronas' vice president of LNG marketing and trading, also said that the company's third floating LNG project is set to commence production in 2027. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/petronas-deliver-its-first-lng-canada-cargo-japans-toho-gas-july-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 11:14

BERLIN, June 20 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's premium brand Audi could build a plant at a new location in the United States under scenarios being considered to placate President Donald Trump in the tariff conflict, the Spiegel news magazine reported on Friday. Audi is considering building a plant in the southern U.S., which would be the more expensive option out of a number of scenarios being considered, with company sources estimating costs of up to 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion), the report said. Sign up here. An Audi spokesperson said that the company aims to build up more of a presence in the United States. "We are currently examining various scenarios for this. We are confident that we will make a decision this year in consultation with the (Volkswagen) group on how this will look in concrete terms," she said in an emailed statement, reaffirming earlier comments made by the company. Audi has no production of its own in the U.S., but Volkswagen has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee and one under construction near Columbia, South Carolina. Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs has already racked up hundreds of millions of euros in costs for German carmakers heavily reliant on their export business, according to an industry representative. BMW (BMWG.DE) , opens new tab, Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) , opens new tab and Volkswagen are in talks with Washington over a possible import tariff deal, seeking to use their U.S. investments and exports as leverage to soften any blow, sources have told Reuters. ($1 = 0.8678 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/audi-could-build-plant-us-placate-trump-spiegel-reports-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 11:02

NEW DELHI/JAKARTA, June 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Pertamina on Friday sought 200,000 barrels per month of 90-octane grade of gasoline for July-September delivery, according to a document seen by Reuters. It is the state-run company's third term tender between May and June, issued by its trading arm Pertamina Patra Niaga, Reuters record shows. Sign up here. There are no restrictions on the origin of the cargo. Some of the earlier tenders had excluded Singapore-origin cargoes. The tender closes on June 23 and is valid till June 27, the document showed. The earlier tender that was valid till June 16 sought to buy up to 1.2 million barrels of term gasoline cargoes monthly. Another set of term tenders that were valid till May 30 and had restrictions of Singapore-origin cargoes was awarded to multiple suppliers in China, at least one Indian supplier and a few international traders, market sources said. Pertamina Patra Niaga did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indonesias-pertamina-seeks-more-term-gasoline-document-shows-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 10:51

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets today I'm excited to announce that I'm now part of Reuters Open Interest (ROI) , opens new tab, an essential new source for data-driven, expert commentary on market and economic trends. You can find ROI on the Reuters website , opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab Sign up here. Last month's China-U.S. trade showdown turned world markets' focus to Geneva, and that's where attention is yet again, only this time for European talks with Iran, as President Donald Trump has delayed a decision on direct U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war to allow a two-week window for negotiations. It's Friday, so I'll provide a quick overview of what's happening in global markets and then offer you some weekend reading suggestions away from the headlines. Today's Market Minute * Iran said on Friday it would not discuss the future of its nuclear programme while under attack by Israel, as Europe sought to draw Tehran back into negotiations and the United States considers whether to get involved in the conflict. * Investor unease about an increasingly uncertain environment is rising, as Norway's shock rate cut on Thursday highlights how U.S. tariffs, Middle East conflict and a shaky dollar make global monetary policy and inflation even harder to predict. * The Federal Reserve took a slightly hawkish turn on Wednesday, indicating it is worried more about rising inflation than slowing growth. But Chair Jerome Powell suggested this outlook should be taken with a large grain of salt, writes ROI markets columnist Jamie McGeever. * The Israel-Iran conflict has boosted global diesel prices, with gains outstripping the jump in crude prices, highlighting the vulnerability of diesel-heavy European consumers even as the region’s refiners get a windfall. Read the latest from ROI energy columnist Ron Bousso. * UK finance minister Rachel Reeves insists higher economic growth is her top priority, but the government's current plan to address the country's chronically low investment is unlikely to be ambitious enough. What may be needed is a structural rethink of the finance ministry itself, argues Mike Peacock, the former head of communications at the Bank of England. Relief at two-week Middle East window Even though U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, Wall St futures fell sharply during the day as tensions over the Israel-Iran war boiled. But those losses were mostly reversed before the market re-opened on Friday after Trump gave Tehran a fortnight to come up with a compromise before he decides whether to add U.S. firepower to Israel's air attacks on Iranian nuclear installations. Drone and missile attacks between the two warring sides continue, however. As is always the case with Middle East conflicts, the price of oil is the lodestar. Iran is OPEC's third-largest producer. U.S. crude came within a whisker of five-month highs on Thursday before falling back today to just over $75 per barrel. While a major concern, the rise in energy prices is still shy of a "shock", with crude prices down 7% year-on-year despite the tense situation. Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany along with the European Union's foreign policy chief were due to meet their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in Geneva on Friday to try to de-escalate the conflict. If Trump goes to the wire with his decision about direct U.S. involvement in the war, this will coincide with the expiration of his 90-day pause on "reciprocal" tariff hikes across the world, further fogging up the windscreen for world markets. Treasury yields were steady going into Friday's open, as investors juggled the energy picture and this week's relatively hawkish Federal Reserve meeting. The dollar fell back (.DXY) , opens new tab from Thursday's highs. While the median forecast from Fed policymakers is still two interest rate cuts over the rest of the year, inflation forecasts were nudged higher and 7 of the 19 central bankers now expect no further easing in 2025. But confident forecasting is next to impossible now for the major central banks as they try to balance edgy oil prices, uncertain tariff hikes and multiple geopolitical risks. The Bank of England and Bank of Japan also left their key policy rates unchanged this week, largely for those reasons. Two rate cuts did emerge this week, however. Swiss interest rates returned to zero as expected as the Swiss National Bank battles the deflationary effects of currency strength , largely due to the franc's "safe haven" appeal. Norway surprised with a quarter point cut as well, taking the heat out of an oil-driven crown that had hit two-year highs this week. Stock markets (.STOXX) , opens new tab, (.HSI) , opens new tab around the world rallied on Friday as the oil price fell back, with Japan's Nikkei (.N225) , opens new tab bucking that trend and ending slightly in the red again. A relatively thin trading session is expected on Wall Street later following the holiday on Thursday, though unfolding events in the Middle East will continue to create considerable trepidation before the close. The Philadelphia Fed's June business survey tops the data diary. Next week's events are led by Fed boss Jerome Powell's semi-annual congressional testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday and the release of the Fed's favored inflation gauge - the personal consumption expenditures measure - on Friday. A NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday adds to the geopolitical focus. Elsewhere, sterling was firmer in the wake of the BOE decision, even with a surprisingly poor UK retail sales readout for May. There was some marginally better news from UK public borrowing numbers. While slightly above forecasts for May, the government has borrowed 37.7 billion pounds over the first two months of the 2025/26 fiscal year, less than the 40.7 billion pounds the Office for Budget Responsibility had predicted. In China, foreign direct investment from January to May fell 13.2% from the same period last year, more than had been forecast. And the European Union said it will bar Chinese companies from participating in EU public tenders for medical devices worth 60 billion euros or more ($68.9 billion) per year after concluding that EU companies are not given fair access in China. Weekend reading suggestions * MONETIZING DEBT: With no end in sight for outsize U.S. deficits and debt accumulation, the Fed "will almost certainly" be forced to monetize enough federal debt to prevent a default at some point , opens new tab, according to former Bank of England policymaker Willem Buiter and Professor Anne Sibert. Higher inflation and interest rates "are all but assured", they wrote in a column on Project Syndicate. "The Fed will have no choice but to engage in sovereign debt purchases that it knows to be incompatible with its monetary-policy objectives," they concluded. "The inflation surge could be no more than three years away." * EMOTIONAL FED?: Central bank communication is one of the most closely watched signals by markets, but it is not just what is said, but how it is said, , opens new tab argue economists Dimitris Anastasiou, Apostolos Katsafados, Christos Tzomakas and Steven Ongena in a paper on CEPR's VoxEU site. "Even subtle emotional cues can shift expectations and pricing behaviour in financial markets," they wrote. "Portfolio managers, particularly in the banking sector, may need to recalibrate models to include emotional tone as a market-moving variable." * US FIRMS MUSCLE IN: U.S. defense giants, backed by a Congressional delegation, used this week's Paris Airshow to showcase their cutting-edge technology and court European partners as they seek to tap into the rising regional military spending. Reuters' Joe Brock, Giulia Segreti, Paul Sandle and Tim Hepher show how despite the pledges by many European nations to boost military self-sufficiency, the continent remains heavily reliant on U.S. defense firms such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Anduril, Palantir and Elon Musk's SpaceX. * G6-PLUS?: President Trump's early departure from this week's G7 summit in Canada left the group without an overarching agreed communique and raised questions about the future shape of the group , opens new tab. Writing on the Chatham House site, the RIIA's economy and finance director Creon Butler outlines different formats that could be considered, including "G6-plus" without the full attendance of the United States or "G7-plus" with invited guests and limited issue-specific statements. * REFINING OKLAHOMA: Nestled beneath Oklahoma's Wichita Mountains sits a warehouse containing the only machine in the United States capable of refining nickel, a crucial energy transition metal now dominated by China. President Donald Trump has said he wants to boost U.S. production of minerals and, as Reuters' Ernest Scheyder shows, Oklahoma's push into minerals processing marks a turn in efforts to wean America off Chinese rivals. The state houses the country's only nickel refinery, its largest lithium refinery, two lithium-ion battery recycling plants, a rare earths magnet facility, and several electronic waste collection facilities. That's more than in any other state. Chart of the day During the parade of central bank meetings this week, Swiss interest rates returned to zero, and Norway's central bank surprised markets with a quarter point cut. Both decisions were currency-related and have been influenced by the swooning dollar and rising geopolitical tensions. The supercharged Swiss franc has drawn safe-haven demand and threatens Switzerland with deflation, as it flirts with 10-year highs against the green back. The Norwegian crown is highly linked to the oil price and hit its strongest level in two years this month as crude shot higher on Middle East worries. The major central banks all held the line, largely due to growing uncertainty over trade, oil prices and war. Today's events to watch * Philadelphia Federal Reserve's June business survey (8:30 a.m. EDT), May leading indicator (10:00 a.m. EDT); Canada May house prices, retail sales and producer prices (8:30 a.m. EDT) * European foreign ministers meet Iranian counterpart in Geneva * European Union finance ministers meet in Luxembourg, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos attends * U.S. corporate earnings: Accenture, Kroger, Carmax, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Darden Restaurants Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2025-06-20/