(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Tuesday, with trade tensions, upcoming Federal Reserve rate decision and mega-cap tech earnings likely to be in focus. In the United States, companies accounting for roughly a third of the S&P 500's market capitalization are due to unveil their quarterly earnings results this week. Amid AI hype and concerns about stretched valuations, ...
(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Tuesday, with trade tensions, upcoming Federal Reserve rate decision and mega-cap tech earnings likely to be in focus. In the United States, companies accounting for roughly a third of the S&P 500's market capitalization are due to unveil their quarterly earnings results this week. Amid AI hype and concerns about stretched valuations, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla are slated to report their quarterly results later this week. The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, with investors looking for clues on the Fed's future rate path. President Trump is expected to nominate a new Federal Reserve Chair within days. Meanwhile, India and the European Union have concluded negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement after nearly 20 years. Among the key announcements expected are cuts in tariffs on European cars and wine, as well as on Indian electronics and textiles. According to European Council President Antonio Costa, the "mother of all trade deals" sends a significant political message against rising tariffs and protectionism amid global uncertainties triggered by Trump's policies. Asian markets were broadly higher as data showed profits at China's industrial firms rose 0.6 percent year-on-year in 2025 after three years of declines. After U.S. President Trump threatened to hike tariffs on goods imported from South Korea to 25 percent, citing Seoul's failure to ratify trade deal, the ruling Democratic Party reportedly said it will pass a planned investment bill in the U.S. by February. The Japanese yen held firm after two straight sessions of sharp gains amid speculation of possible joint currency intervention. The dollar traded lower on geopolitical concerns while gold jumped over 1 percent to scale a new record high above $5,060 an ounce due to a looming U.S. government shutdown and concerns over President Trump's policie...
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Seeking Alpha More on AGNC Investment AGNC Investment: 3 Floating Preferred Shares Offer Over 9% Yield If You Want mREIT Dividends, Rithm Capital Outshines AGNC Investment Flight To Safety: Why AGNC's 13.4% Dividend Is The Ultimate Recession Hedge AGNC Investment Q4 earnings trail consensus as backdrop improves AGNC Investment Non-GAAP EPS of $0.35 misses by $0.02
onurdongel/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson , Head of Commodities Strategy | Ewa Manthey , Commodities Strategist Energy – US LNG plants reduce gas intake US natural gas prices continued their rally yesterday, with front-month Henry Hub settling almost 29% higher at $6.80/MMBtu. This takes the total gains since 19 January to almost 120%. Yet the move in US natural gas is even more aston...
onurdongel/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson , Head of Commodities Strategy | Ewa Manthey , Commodities Strategist Energy – US LNG plants reduce gas intake US natural gas prices continued their rally yesterday, with front-month Henry Hub settling almost 29% higher at $6.80/MMBtu. This takes the total gains since 19 January to almost 120%. Yet the move in US natural gas is even more astonishing when looking at the spot Henry Hub price, which briefly broke above $30/MMBtu in recent days. It’s been driven by a severe winter storm across the US. This is impacting natural gas production and boosting heating demand. The storm is estimated to have hit around 11% of US natural gas production. The key question for the outlook, obviously, is how long this disruption lasts. There are some signs that production is already recovering, with gas output from the Permian estimated to be up 11% day-on-day yesterday. If this trend continues, it suggests prices have likely peaked. Developments in the US natural gas market remain a concern for the European market, as supply disruptions could weigh on US LNG exports to Europe. In recent days, US LNG plants have significantly reduced their gas intake, estimated to be down around 48%, which will translate into reduced LNG exports from these plants. TTF continues to trade at a healthy premium to Asian LNG to ensure LNG cargoes move into Europe, where storage has now fallen below 45% full. It’s looking increasingly likely that storage will end the 25/26 heating season at below 25% full. This would also be below the levels seen in 2022. The difference between 2022 and 2026 is that we are currently seeing significant LNG supply ramp-ups, which should help soothe supply concerns to some extent. Oil prices settled lower yesterday, with ICE Brent closing down more than 0.4%. The US winter storm should also support demand for heating fuels, as reflected in the heating oil crack. Freezing conditions will disrupt US oil output. The weather...
Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to trial premium subscriptions The firm also plans to test subscriptions for features, such as its Vibes video generation app, which the firm says "can bring your ideas to life with new AI visual creation tools". Under the plan, access to the platforms' core services would remain free to use. The new offerings would give access to features including expanded artifi...
Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to trial premium subscriptions The firm also plans to test subscriptions for features, such as its Vibes video generation app, which the firm says "can bring your ideas to life with new AI visual creation tools". Under the plan, access to the platforms' core services would remain free to use. The new offerings would give access to features including expanded artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Technology giant Meta is set to trial premium subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp users in the coming months in its latest experiment with paid services. Meta announced Vibes in September as part of the latest version of the Meta AI app. It also aims to use Manus, a Chinese-founded AI firm it bought in December for a reported $2bn (£1.46bn), in its subscription plans, according to TechCrunch, which first reported the story. The company will also continue to offer standalone Manus subscriptions to businesses. At the time, Meta said the deal would help improve its own AI by giving people access to "agents" - tools which can do complex things with minimal user interaction such as planning trips or making presentations. "Manus's exceptional talent will join Meta's team to deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including Meta AI," it said in a blog post. Based in Singapore after relocating from China, Manus has sought to set itself apart from rival AI developers with what it claims can be a "truly autonomous" agent. Unlike many chatbots which need to be repeatedly asked for things before a user can get their desired response, Manus says its service can plan, execute and complete tasks independently in accordance with instructions. Last year, Facebook tested placing a limit on how many links some users can share when they post on the social media platform. Notifications seen by some users based in the UK and US said they could only share a certain number of links in Facebook posts without a sub...
Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to trial premium subscriptions The firm also plans to test subscriptions for features, such as its Vibes video generation app, which Meta says "can bring your ideas to life with new AI visual creation tools". Under the plan, access to the platforms' core services would remain free to use. The new offerings would give access to features including expanded artificial...
Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to trial premium subscriptions The firm also plans to test subscriptions for features, such as its Vibes video generation app, which Meta says "can bring your ideas to life with new AI visual creation tools". Under the plan, access to the platforms' core services would remain free to use. The new offerings would give access to features including expanded artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Technology giant Meta is set to trial premium subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp users in the coming months in its latest experiment with paid services. The company announced Vibes in September as part of the latest version of the Meta AI app. It also aims to use Manus, a Chinese-founded AI firm it agreed to buy in December for a reported $2bn (£1.46bn), in its subscription plans, according to TechCrunch, which first reported the story. Meta will also continue to offer standalone Manus subscriptions to businesses. At the time, the firm said the deal would help improve its own AI by giving people access to "agents" - tools which can do complex things with minimal user interaction such as planning trips or making presentations. "Manus's exceptional talent will join Meta's team to deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including Meta AI," it said in a blog post. Based in Singapore after relocating from China, Manus has sought to set itself apart from rival AI developers with what it claims can be a "truly autonomous" agent. Unlike many chatbots which need to be repeatedly asked for things before a user can get their desired response, Manus says its service can plan, execute and complete tasks independently in accordance with instructions. In January, Beijing said it would investigate the Meta deal to assess whether it broke China's technology export laws or national security regulations. Last year, Facebook tested placing a limit on how many links some users can share when they post on the soci...
Silver’s record-breaking rally is being driven by a collision of unprecedented physical demand and speculative interest in a relatively illiquid market, according to a leading refiner and trader. “There’s immense silver demand, in a way that we’ve really not seen before,” MKS PAMP SA Chief Executive Officer James Emmett told Bloomberg News in an interview. “It’s not a market that traditionally has...
Silver’s record-breaking rally is being driven by a collision of unprecedented physical demand and speculative interest in a relatively illiquid market, according to a leading refiner and trader. “There’s immense silver demand, in a way that we’ve really not seen before,” MKS PAMP SA Chief Executive Officer James Emmett told Bloomberg News in an interview. “It’s not a market that traditionally has that level of speculation, and you are definitely seeing more price action driven by short-term players.” Silver more than doubled last year – its best annual performance since 1979 – and has continued an extraordinary rally by gaining a further 50% so far this year. On its way to a record above $117 an ounce on Monday, the white metal posted its biggest intraday jump since the global financial crisis in 2008. Worldwide upheaval and the so-called debasement trade, whereby investors retreat from sovereign bonds and currencies in favor of hard assets like precious metals, have underpinned the blistering rally. But silver has rallied harder and faster even than gold, with wild intraday swings reflecting a market overwhelmed by speculative interest. Part of this is due to lower liquidity. At current prices, based on average volumes in London, the daily value of gold transactions in London is about five times that of silver. Even then, recent price moves have been much more extreme than usual. Investors have been driven by a fear of missing out and are “chasing the price action,” Emmett said. Some investors, concerned they had missed the bandwagon for gold, used silver as a substitute and “a sort of macroeconomic geopolitical play,” he said. Read More: Silver Retail Buying Keeps Supplies Tight as Rally Gathers Pace Physical demand remains a crucial driver of silver prices, with retail and wholesale orders continuing to outstrip supply, Emmett said. In part, market tightness in the broader wholesale market is due to large amounts of metal moving to India even as outflows from Co...