2025-06-13 23:51
June 13 (Reuters) - Traders on Friday exchanged the most $80 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil call options since January, expecting more upside to prices after Israeli airstrikes on Iran sparked fears of a wider Middle East conflict. Call options grant the holder a right to buy futures contract at the preset price and date, and a rise in volumes can help gauge market sentiment. Sign up here. About 33,411 contracts of August-2025 $80 call options for WTI crude oil were traded on Friday on a total trading volume of 681,000 contracts, marking the highest volume for these options this year, according to CME Group data. The last time trading was this high for $80 call contracts was on January 10, with 17,030 February-2025 $80 call options traded on a total trading volume of 301,866 contracts. Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled 7% higher as Israel and Iran launched air strikes, feeding investor worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $72.98 a barrel, up $4.94, or 7.62%. During the session, WTI jumped over 14% to its highest since January 21 at $77.62. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/traders-pile-into-80-us-oil-bets-tensions-rise-middle-east-2025-06-13/
2025-06-13 22:07
June 13 (Reuters) - Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT.O) , opens new tab said on Friday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has declared effective the registration for its bitcoin treasury deal. The company said it raised about $2.3 billion through a mix of debt and equity agreements with participation from around 50 investors. Sign up here. It said in May that the bitcoin will be held on Trump Media's balance sheet alongside existing cash and short-term investments totaling $759 million as of the end of the first quarter. Several companies, including video game retailer GameStop (GME.N) , opens new tab and Strategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab, are adding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to their balance sheets to capitalize on rising token prices as the Trump administration embraces digital assets. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-medias-registration-bitcoin-treasury-deal-becomes-effective-2025-06-13/
2025-06-13 21:34
SAO PAULO, June 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian meatpacker Minerva (BEEF3.SA) , opens new tab said on Friday it signed a contract to sell the Colonia plant in Uruguay to Allana for $48 million, as part of its efforts to get antitrust approval for the purchase of other two plants in the country. Minerva has proposed to Uruguay's watchdog Coprodec to sell one of the three plants it wishes to buy from Marfrig (MRFG3.SA) , opens new tab - the Colonia unit - immediately following the deal, after the regulator blocked Minerva's acquisition of the three assets last year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/minerva-sell-uruguayan-plant-48-million-ease-antitrust-worries-broad-deal-2025-06-13/
2025-06-13 21:22
June 13 (Reuters) - A slew of companies seeking to launch exchange-traded funds tracking the price of crypto token Solana amended their filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. The amendments are intended to address the queries of the U.S. markets regulator, but there is "no sense of urgency" on the SEC's part to move forward with the launches, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Sign up here. The filings were made by the Canary Marinade Solana ETF, 21Shares Core Solana ETF and Bitwise Solana ETF, among others. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/crypto-token-solana-etf-hopefuls-amend-filings-with-sec-2025-06-13/
2025-06-13 21:04
Companies fulfill Trump's requirements for deal Agreement includes $11 billion in new investments Nippon Steel says it will take 100% stake in US Steel No details on 'golden share' to be issued to US government June 13 (Reuters) - U.S President Donald Trump approved Nippon Steel's (5401.T) , opens new tab $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel (X.N) , opens new tab on Friday, capping a tumultuous 18-month effort by the companies that survived union opposition and two national security reviews. Trump signed an executive order saying the tie-up could move forward if the companies sign an agreement with the Treasury Department resolving national security concerns posed by the deal. The companies then announced they had signed the agreement, fulfilling the conditions of Trump's directive and effectively garnering approval for the merger. Sign up here. "We look forward to putting our commitments into action to make American steelmaking and manufacturing great again," the companies said in the statement, thanking Trump. They added the agreement includes $11 billion in new investments to be made by 2028 as well as governance, production and trade commitments. Nippon Steel will buy a 100% stake in U.S. Steel, a spokesperson for the Japanese company in Tokyo said on Saturday. The steelmakers provided no detail on the "golden share" they pledged to issue to the U.S. government, raising questions about the extent of U.S. control. U.S. Senator David McCormick of Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is headquartered, said last month the golden share would give the government veto power over key decisions relating to the American steel icon. Reuters has reported that Nippon Steel would invest an additional $3 billion for a new mill after 2028. The takeover will set up the ailing U.S. firm to receive the critical investment, allowing Nippon Steel to capitalize on a host of American infrastructure projects while its foreign competitors face steel tariffs of 50%. The Japanese firm also avoids the $565 million in breakup fees it would have had to pay if the companies had failed to secure approvals. For Nippon Steel, the world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, securing a foothold in the U.S. is key to its global growth strategy. The U.S. steel market, including high-grade steel, Nippon Steel's specialty, is growing amid rising global trade tensions. 'GREAT PARTNER' Still, some Nippon Steel investors are concerned about short-term financial pressure due to the scale of the additional investment commitment. The Japanese government, rushing to try to secure a trade deal with the U.S. by the time Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meet at the Group of Seven summit starting on Sunday, applauded the Nippon-U.S. Steel agreement. "The government of Japan welcomes the U.S. government's decision, as we believe this investment will enhance innovation capabilities in the U.S. and Japanese steel industries and further strengthen the close partnership between our two countries," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto said in a statement on Saturday. Friday's announcement was hardly guaranteed, even if many investors had seen approval as likely after Trump headlined a rally on May 30 giving his vague blessing to an "investment" by Nippon Steel, which he described as a "great partner." Shares of U.S. Steel had dipped earlier on Friday after a Nippon Steel executive told Japan's Nikkei newspaper that the takeover required "a degree of management freedom" to go ahead after Trump said the U.S. would be in control with the golden share. The bid has faced opposition since Nippon Steel launched it in December 2023. After the United Steelworkers union came out against the deal last year, both then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, expressed their opposition as they sought to woo voters in the presidential campaign in the swing state of Pennsylvania. Shortly before leaving office in January, Biden blocked the deal on national security grounds, prompting lawsuits by the companies, which argued the national security review they received was biased. The Biden White House disputed the charge. The steel companies saw a new opportunity in the Trump administration, which opened a fresh 45-day national security review into the proposed merger in April. But Trump's public comments, ranging from welcoming a simple "investment" in U.S. Steel by the Japanese firm to floating a minority stake for Nippon Steel, spurred confusion. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-steel-shares-slip-nippon-steel-faces-trumps-hurdle-over-control-2025-06-13/
2025-06-13 21:00
S&P/TSX composite index was down 0.42% at close Fall was contained by rise in energy, gold stocks Crude oil price up by 7% to $74.23 per barrel Spot gold rose 1.6% at $3,428.10 an ounce June 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index retreated from recent highs on Friday, dragged down by investor fears of a wider conflict after an Israeli attack and Iranian retaliation rattled global markets. Investors rushed to safe-haven gold, pushing its price higher, while panic around the prospect of an all-out war triggered a spike in crude oil futures. Sign up here. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab closed down 0.42% at 26,504.35 points, falling from its all-time peak seen a day ago. Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel, Iranian media reported. This was in response to a strike by Israel on Iran's nuclear sites, spurring widespread tensions in a politically fragile region. Israel has warned that the strikes were the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons. Iran, which produces close to 4 million barrels of crude oil per day, has promised a harsh response. Investors on the TSX withdrew from financial, technology and industrial stocks while some poured money into energy and gold companies. "You see a sell-off after a brief pickup (on TSX) because of the uncertainty of what could happen over the weekend after Iran's response," Elvis Picardo, senior portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth, said. The conflict could have reverberations across the globe, Picardo said, adding, with the Middle East, the fear is always of disruption to the flow of oil that has inflationary consequences across sectors and economies. The fall in the composite index on the Toronto Stock Exchange was limited by gains in energy and gold mining shares as prices of crude oil and gold climbed. Brent crude futures rose almost 7% to $74.23 a barrel. Spot gold rose 1.55% to $3,437.18 an ounce. The capped energy index (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab rose 2.77% and helped cushion the impact of the fall of the composite index. Energy shares account for almost 17% of the total weight on the main index. Materials index (.GSPTTMT) , opens new tab, or the tracker of mining companies, rose 1.41% especially because of a rise in gold mining stocks as investors prefer to take refuge in the precious metal during times of uncertainty. Mining companies claim a weight of 12.5% in the benchmark index. The benchmark index achieved a second consecutive record high on Thursday and appears poised to secure its third straight weekly gain, provided losses remain contained. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/tsx-futures-fall-israels-strikes-iran-dampen-risk-appetite-2025-06-13/
