WGC TotalEnergies CEO will propose lifting force majeure on Mozambique LNG project
BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) - TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), opens new tab plans to propose to the Mozambique government to lift the force majeure on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project there and plans to resume construction by mid-summer, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Tuesday.
The French energy major is also looking at reducing the capital expenditure of its Papua LNG project by 20%-25%, he told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Gas conference.
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Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Boost of £14,200,000,000 for new nuclear power plant 'will lead to lower bills'
A new nuclear power station on the east coast of England will be given a £14.2 billion boost to finally get it off the ground. Sizewell C in Suffolk has been mooted as the site of a new facility since at least 2009, when Ed Miliband identified it in his role as the Energy Secretary in the previous Labour government. A decade and a half later, after returning to the same role, Miliband has secured funding from Chancellor Rachel Reeves as part of her major spending review. He said the move would lead to 'lower bills and good jobs for energy security'. The new power station at Sizewell would help fill the gaps left as all the UK's existing nuclear plants, except Sizewell B, are gradually phased out by the mid-2030s. Miliband said: 'We will not accept the status quo of failing to invest in the future and energy insecurity for our country. Craig Munro breaks down Westminster chaos into easy to follow insight, walking you through what the latest policies mean to you. Sign up here. 'We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis.' Sizewell C is described as a 'sister project' to Hinkley Point C in Somerset, which is currently under construction and is set to become the first new nuclear power station in the UK since 1995. However, building work at Hinkley Point is far behind schedule and the budget for the project has ballooned massively since it began in 2017. It is now expected to become operational around 2030. Like Hinkley Point C, it is expected that Sizewell C will be jointly owned by the British government and French energy giant EDF. Campaign groups have said the construction of the new facility would have a 'devastating impact' on its stretch of the Suffolk coast, which is susceptible to erosion. It is set to be built on a platform seven metres above sea level to protect it from the sea as it rises due to climate change. The Labour government has also backed the development of small modular reactors to supply nuclear-sourced power to millions of homes and power-hungry sites like AI data centres. More Trending Once all these projects are in operation, they will 'deliver more new nuclear to grid than over the previous half century combined', according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Reeves, who will announce the Sizewell C funding later today at the GMB Union Congress, said: 'Today we are once again investing in Britain's renewal, with the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation. 'This landmark decision is our Plan for Change in action. 'We are creating thousands of jobs, kickstarting economic growth and putting more money people's pockets.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Government finally reveals who will get winter fuel payout after U-turn MORE: New solar panels 'could cut people's bills by £530 per year' MORE: Universal digital 'BritCards' on an app could soon be used to prove who you are
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
TRADING DAY London calling, stocks crawling higher
ORLANDO, Florida, June 9 (Reuters) - TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist I'm excited to announce that I'm now part of Reuters Open Interest (ROI), an essential new source for data-driven, expert commentary on market and economic trends. You can find ROI on the Reuters website, and you can follow us on LinkedIn and X. Trade tensions, policy uncertainty and shaky economic data continue to cloud the near-term outlook for world growth, but they remain on the back burner for now as investors kick off the week by pushing global stock markets higher. In my column today I look at why the dollar has depreciated significantly this year regardless of how U.S. stocks and bonds have performed. The main reason? Hedging. More on that below, but first, a roundup of the main market moves. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Today's Key Market Moves London calling, stocks crawling higher It was a fairly quiet start to the week across global markets on Monday, with strong equity gains in Asia followed by a grind higher on Wall Street which lifted the MSCI World index to a fresh record high. The main areas of focus for investors were China's economic 'data dump' for May, then the high-level U.S.-China trade talks in London. The two are connected - the U.S. is a less important market for China than it used to be, underscored in May's trade figures from Beijing and reflected in the lack of concrete progress from the negotiations in London. China's total exports rose 4.8% in May from a year earlier but this masks a huge split between the U.S. and the rest of the world. Exports to the U.S. plunged 34.4% year-on-year in value terms, the sharpest drop since February 2020 just before the pandemic, while exports to the rest of the world rose 11.4%. Monthly data are volatile, of course, and May's figures were also distorted by tariffs. Still, U.S.-bound shipments worth $28.8 billion last month were just 9% of the total $316 billion. Economist Phil Suttle notes that is less than half the average share in the decade leading up to President Donald Trump's first trade war. The London talks are expected to continue on Tuesday. But as was the case following Trump's telephone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, there is little indication of a significant breakthrough, far less China bending to U.S. demands. "U.S. Treasury Secretaries who live in unbalanced economies might not want to throw barbs such as the 'most unbalanced in modern history' at China without first looking at some data," Suttle wrote on Monday. "The choice to fight an opponent should be conditioned on a clear-headed view of its strengths and weaknesses. The U.S. has done a marvelous job of (once again) deluding itself on this front," Suttle added. Still, divisions between the two countries and the threat to global supply chains are proving no barrier to rising stock markets. Japan's Nikkei and the MSCI emerging and Asia ex-Japan indexes rose around 1%, Hong Kong-listed tech stocks rose nearly 3%, and Wall Street closed in the green. Meanwhile, the dollar's trend this year of declining despite U.S. stocks and bonds rising was on full display on Monday. Wall Street closed slightly higher and Treasury yields fell as much as 5 basis points at the short end of the curve, yet the dollar slipped. Many analysts say one of the main reasons for this is non-U.S. investor hedging - more on that below. Dollar floored as investors seek that extra hedge All three major U.S. asset classes – stocks, bonds and the currency – have had a turbulent 2025 thus far, but only one has failed to weather the storm: the dollar. Hedging may be a major reason why. Wall Street's three main indices and the ICE BofA U.S. Treasury index are all slightly higher for the year to date, despite the post-'Liberation Day' volatility, while the dollar has steadily ground lower, losing around 10% of its value against a basket of major currencies and breaking long-standing correlations along the way. The dollar was perhaps primed for a fall. It's easy to forget, but only a few months ago the 'U.S. exceptionalism' narrative was alive and well, and the dollar scaling heights rarely seen in the past two decades. But that narrative has evaporated, as U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial economic policies and isolationist posture on the global stage have made investors reconsider their exposure to U.S. assets. But why is the dollar feeling the burn more than stocks or bonds? Non-U.S. investors often protect themselves against sharp currency fluctuations via the forward, futures or options markets. The difference now is that the risk premium being built into U.S. assets is pushing them – especially equity holders – to hedge their dollar exposure more than they have in the past. Foreign investors have long hedged their bond exposure, with dollar hedge ratios traditionally around 70% to 100%, according to Morgan Stanley, as currency moves can easily wipe out modest bond returns. But non-U.S. equity investors have been much more loath to pay for protection, with dollar hedge ratios averaging between 10% and 30%. This is partly because the dollar was traditionally seen as a 'natural' hedge against stock market exposure, as it would typically rise in 'risk off' periods when stocks fell. The dollar would also normally appreciate when the U.S. economy and markets were thriving – the so-called 'Dollar Smile' – giving an additional boost to U.S. equity returns in good times. A good barometer of global 'real money' investors' view on the dollar is how willing foreign pension and insurance funds are to hedge their dollar-denominated assets. Recent data on Danish funds' currency hedging is revealing. Danish funds' U.S. asset hedge ratio surged to around 75% from around 65% between February and April. According to Deutsche Bank analysts, that 10 percentage point rise is the largest two-month increase in over a decade. Anecdotal evidence suggests similar shifts are taking place across Scandinavia, the euro zone and Canada, regions where dollar exposure is also high. The $266 billion Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan reported a $6.9 billion foreign currency gain last year, mainly due to the stronger dollar. Unless the fund has increased its hedging ratio this year, it will be sitting on huge foreign currency losses. "Investors had embraced U.S. exceptionalism and were overweight U.S. assets. But now, investors are increasing their hedging," says Sophia Drossos, economist and strategist at the hedge fund Point72. And there is a lot of dollar exposure to hedge. At the end of March foreign investors held $33 trillion of U.S. securities, with $18.4 trillion in equities and $14.6 trillion in debt instruments. The dollar's malaise has upended its traditional relationships with stocks and bonds. Its generally negative correlation with stocks has reversed, as has the usually positive correlation with bonds. The divergence with Treasuries has gained more attention, with the dollar diving as yields have risen. But as Deutsche Bank's George Saravelos notes, the correlation breakdown with stocks is "very unusual". When Wall Street has fallen this year the dollar has fallen too, but at a much faster pace. And when Wall Street has risen the dollar has also bounced, but only slightly. This has led to the strongest positive correlation between the dollar and S&P 500 in years, though that's a bit deceptive, as the dollar is sharply down on the year while stocks are mildly stronger. Of course, what we could be seeing is simply a rebalancing. Saravelos estimates that global fixed income and equity managers' dollar exposure was at near record-high levels in the run-up to the recent trade war. This was a "cyclical" phenomenon over the last couple of years rather than a deep-rooted structural one based on fundamentals, meaning it could be reversed relatively quickly. But, regardless, the dollar's hedging headwind seems likely to persist. "Given the size of foreign holdings of both stocks and bonds, even a modest uptick in hedge ratios could prove a considerable FX flow," Morgan Stanley's FX strategy team wrote last month. "As long as uncertainty and volatility persist, we think that hedge ratios are likely to rise as investors ride out the storm." What could move markets tomorrow? 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.
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
Chelsea warn AC Milan over Mike Maignan deal as transfer talks drag on
Chelsea will not revisit a deal for AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan if the move is not completed before Tuesday's transfer deadline. The Blues have been in negotiations with the Serie A giants for the French stopper as they haggle over a transfer fee. An opening offer of €15million (£12.6m) was rejected by Milan and it is believed that a deal could be struck for just €18m (£15m), meeting in the middle as the Italians value him at €25m (£21m). In the grand scheme of football transfer fees it seems like a tiny hurdle to overcome, but a deal is proving more difficult than you might think. Sky Sports report that negotiations have been continuing throughout Monday and an agreement has not been reached. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. The report states that unless a transfer has been finalised by 7pm on Tuesday June 10 then Chelsea will walk away from a deal. Chelsea offered one of Djordje Petrovic or Kepa Arrizabalaga to Milan in a proposed swap deal for Maignan, but the Rossoneri have no interest in either goalkeeper, favouring a cash-only agreement. The 32-cap France international is out of contract at the San Siro in 2026 and could leave on a free transfer next summer. The transfer window closing on Tuesday evening is unusual and has been brought in to allow clubs participating in the Club World Cup to bring in players before it starts. There are now two transfer windows this summer, with the first running from June 1-10 before the Club World Cup starts on June 15. There is then a second window which runs from June 16 till September 1. The Sky Sports report states that the Maignan deal is different to the one that Chelsea are pursuing for Borussia Dortmund's Jamie Gittens in that Tuesday's deadline is not a final one. More Trending Discussions are ongoing over a move for the English winger and the Blues are happy to revisit them after the first transfer window closes if the transfer is not done in time. Dortmund turned down an initial bid worth €35m (£29.5m) for the 20-year-old and want a significantly bigger offer, closer to €50-60m (£42-50m). Much like with Maignan, it is just the transfer fee that is the issue, with Gittens keen on the switch to west London. Personal terms have been agreed between Chelsea and the winger, but club-to-club negotiations have some way to go. MORE: Man Utd, Liverpool and Tottenham battling it out for Bournemouth standout MORE: Arsenal struggle for breakthrough in latest Benjamin Sesko talks with RB Leipzig MORE: Chelsea told to sign 'exciting' €28m Norway international star in summer window
