Financial Wire

Financial News

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Commodities

UK to Invest $510.5 Million in Somerset Gigafactory to Boost EV Supply

The UK has unveiled a 380 million British pounds ($510.5 million) grant to support the construction of one of Europe's largest electric-vehicle battery plants, to boost domestic battery manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports, the Department for Business said on Thursday.Peter Kyle, UK Business Secretary, announced the grant for battery maker Agratas to build a gigafactory in Somerset, part of a broader push under the country's Modern Industrial Strategy to bolster advanced manufacturing.The gigafactory is projected to generate about 43 billion British pounds in economic output over 25 years and reduce the UK's reliance on imported batteries.The facility will supply battery cells to Jaguar Land Rover, a key customer, as Britain races to scale up electric vehicle production.The project, which forms part of more than 700 million British pounds in total investment, is projected to support about 4,200 direct jobs and thousands more across the supply chain.The investment comes as the UK seeks to position itself as a competitive hub for battery manufacturing, with ministers citing more than 360 billion British pounds in private investment secured since the launch of the industrial strategy, supporting up to 120,000 jobs.Together with the Agratas funding, the UK government outlined additional support measures for the automotive and manufacturing sectors.The measures include 47 million British pounds for battery research and development, and 190 million British pounds to boost the automotive industry's transition to electrification.Car manufacturers, including Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover, will receive a combined 90 million British pounds under the DRIVE35 program to advance prototype development and new technologies aimed at lowering EV costs.Suppliers in key manufacturing regions such as northeast England and the West Midlands will also be eligible for 100 million British pounds in grants to support the transition to electric vehicle production.

Sectors

Sector Update: Health Care

Health care stocks were mixed late Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index adding 0.1% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) easing 0.1%.The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) increased 0.2%.In corporate news, STAAR Surgical (STAA) needs to show that the rebound in China is sustainable after the firm reported much higher preliminary Q1 net sales than consensus, Wedbush said in a note. Wedbush raised the company's price target to $26 from $21, while keeping its neutral rating. STAAR shares jumped 23%.

$STAA
Sectors

Sector Update: Tech

Tech stocks were mixed Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) fractionally lower and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 1.2%.The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 1.9%.In corporate news, Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI said on X that it is offering a new ChatGPT Pro tier for $100 per month. Also, OpenAI expects to report $2.5 billion in ad revenue this year and $100 billion by 2030, Axios reported. Microsoft shares were down 0.5%.

$MSFT
Research

Research Alert: CFRA Keeps Sell View On Share Of Nvr, Inc.

CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:We revise our 12-month target price to $6,100 from $7,158, 14.5x our 2027 EPS view, near the 10-year mean. We lower our 2027 EPS view to $420.72 from $461.28 and 2026 to $405.94 from $421.05. We think NVR's volume comps will be a somewhat easier hurdle to clear in 2026. However, we believe ASP and margin expectations are quite optimistic for 2026 and 2027, given the strong 2025 net order average selling price vs. peers, which we attribute to its low overlapping footprint with peers. We expect the consumer to be cautious of home purchases due to high home prices. Meanwhile, the longer end of the yield curve faces upward pressure from growing U.S. debt, which could offset relief from rate cuts on mortgage rates. We see the market pricing some of this in with shares trading at a 30% premium to peers vs. its historical 70% premium. NVR has room to support its shares via repurchases as its balance sheet has $1.9B in cash and we expect a stable labor market to support $1.2B in FCF generation in 2026 and 2027.

$NVR
Sectors

Sector Update: Consumer

Consumer stocks were higher late Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) increasing 0.8% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) rising 1.6%.In corporate news, Netflix (NFLX) may outperform its own guidance for the full year as the impact of earlier-than-expected price increases takes hold, UBS Securities said in a note emailed Thursday. Netflix shares were up 2.8%.

$NFLX
Australia

Bullish Shares Lower After Rosenblatt Downgrade

Bullish (BLSH) shares fell 5.5% in Thursday trading after Rosenblatt downgraded the stock to neutral from buy with a price target of $39.Trading volume stood at over 627,400 shares, versus the daily average of 1.9 million.Price: $36.44, Change: $-2.19, Percent Change: -5.67%

$BLSH
Australia

Bitdeer Technologies Shares Fall After Cantor Fitzgerald Downgrade

Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) shares fell 1% on Thursday after Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight and cut its price target to $10 per share from $20.Trading volume stood at over 4.2 million shares compared with a daily average of nearly 8.2 million.Price: $10.24, Change: $-0.13, Percent Change: -1.21%

$BTDR
Australia

Hormel Foods Shares Fall After JPMorgan Downgrade

Hormel Foods (HRL) shares were down 2.5% in late Thursday trading after JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight and lowered the price target to $23 from $28.Trading volume stood at about 4.2 million shares, compared with a daily average of about 4.7 million.Price: $21.11, Change: $-0.53, Percent Change: -2.45%

$HRL
Australia

Zscaler Shares Fall After BTIG Downgrade

Zscaler (ZS) shares were down about 12% in late Thursday trading after BTIG Research downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.Trading volume exceeded 5.6 million shares, compared with a daily average of over 2.7 million.Price: $121.93, Change: $-15.92, Percent Change: -11.55%

$ZS
Australia

Gitlab Shares Lower After Guggenheim Downgrade

Gitlab (GTLB) shares fell 7.5% in Thursday trading after Guggenheim downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.Trading volume stood at over 7.9 million shares, versus the daily average of about 6.3 million.Price: $19.73, Change: $-1.62, Percent Change: -7.57%

$GTLB
Australia

Telus Shares Fall After Canaccord Downgrade

Telus (TU) shares were down 5.7% in Thursday trading after Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock to hold from buy and lowered the price target to CA$17.50 from CA$21.Trading volume stood at over 9.3 million shares, compared with a daily average of about 5.9 million.Price: $11.91, Change: $-0.73, Percent Change: -5.74%

$TU
Australia

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Shares Lower After B. Riley Downgrade

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) shares fell 1.3% in Thursday trading after B. Riley downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, and cut its price target to $24.50 from $27.Trading volume stood at over 3.5 million shares, versus the daily average of 2.6 million.Price: $22.80, Change: $-0.31, Percent Change: -1.34%

$BXSL
Australia

Tradeweb Shares Fall After TD Cowen Downgrade

Tradeweb Markets (TW) shares were about 2.7% lower in Thursday trading after TD Cowen downgraded the stock to hold from buy and trimmed its price target to $129 from $130.Trading volume stood at more than 777,000 shares, compared with a daily average of about 1.5 million.Price: $123.00, Change: $-3.44, Percent Change: -2.72%

$TW
Australia

Kosmos Energy Shares Fall After Goldman Sachs Downgrade

Kosmos Energy (KOS) shares were down 7.4% in Thursday trading after Goldman Sachs downgraded the company's stock to sell from neutral, with a $2.25 price target.Trading volume stood at about 22.4 million shares, compared with a daily average of 26.6 million.Price: $2.58, Change: $-0.20, Percent Change: -7.04%

$KOS
Mining & Metals

Excalibur Metals Closes $3.6 Million Private Placement Financing

Excalibur Metals (EXCL.V) on Thursday said it closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of $3.6 million.The company in a statement said it had issued 18 million units, with each consisting of a share and one-half of a warrant at a price of $0.20 per unit. Each full warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to acquire one additional share at a price of $0.30 until April 8, 2028.The company added that the net proceeds will be used for exploration expenditures, working capital, investor relations and general & administrative expenditures."To demonstrate continued support of the Company, certain officers and a director of the Company and their affiliates (each, a "Related Party") participated in the Offering and acquired an aggregate of 725,000 Units for total gross proceeds of $145,000," added the company.The company's shares were last seen unchanged at $0.24 on the TSX Venture Exchange.

$EXCL.V
Treasury

US Treasury Closing Levels

3:00 Thursday vs 3:00 Wednesday2yr 100-04 vs 100-05; 3.777% vs 3.790%5yr 99-26+ vs 99-25+; 3.911% vs 3.918%10yr 98-22 vs 98-21+; 4.287% vs 4.289%30yr 97-23 vs 97-27+; 4.895% vs 4.885%2/10 50.809 bps vs 49.745 bps5/30 98.163 bps vs 96.448 bps

Oil & Energy

NATO Chief Says 34-Nation Coalition Moves to Safeguard Hormuz Shipping

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Thursday a 34-country coalition led by the UK is aligning with the US to ensure the Strait of Hormuz remains open for global trade.Rutte made the remarks at the Ronald Reagan Institute's Center for Peace Through Strength.Rutte said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed, "we have to bring together a coalition... to make sure that the principle of free shipping... is upheld," highlighting coordinated action with the US.He said contributions differ by nation, adding the Netherlands will likely deploy "mine hunters... and radar technology," describing the effort as "practical support" to secure shipping lanes.Rutte added conditions remain uncertain, noting the situation is "two days into the ceasefire," and developments in shipping lanes will be reviewed "day by day" as operations evolve.The US president is focused on reopening routes quickly, adding that the mission aims "to make sure that this principle of free shipping is maintained" beyond immediate military coordination.Rutte added the coalition spans beyond NATO, noting participation from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, calling it a broad-based international maritime effort.He said the UK-led group is aligning "military, political and economic tools," describing it as a strategic shift with European allies taking stronger roles in regional and global security.Participating nations agree that the Strait must not close. Rutte stressed "we cannot accept the strait to be closed," underscoring urgency around maintaining uninterrupted maritime access.Rutte said even smaller maritime nations contribute meaningfully, noting countries like the Netherlands remain relevant, while NATO allies form the bulk of the coalition securing the vital route.

Commodities

Market Chatter: Chile Weighs Measures to Curb Power Price Hikes, Boost EV Adoption

Chile is exploring measures to mitigate rising electricity costs while maintaining incentives for electric vehicle adoption, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing the energy minister."We're talking about a technical solution that I think is doable," Chile Energy Minister Ximena Rincon said. "It will bring important relief to families and will also provide legal certainty."The move comes two weeks after the newly inaugurated administration implemented the sharpest fuel price hikes in decades, amid the ongoing Middle East conflict that has roiled energy markets.The government announced in late March a package of limited relief measures, including a delay of the electricity tariff hike originally scheduled for April until July.The Ministry of Energy did not respond immediately to' request for comments.Rincon said officials are now working on a longer-term solution to avert price increases.Chile is highly exposed to energy market volatility, as it relies on imports for nearly all of its petroleum needs.President Jose Antonio Kast and Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz said fiscal pressures inherited from the previous administration of Gabriel Boric left them with little choice but to pass on the full impact of surging global oil prices to consumers in one move.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

Australia

Solaris Resources Gets Environmental Impact Assessment Approval for Warintza Project in Ecuador

Solaris Resources (SLSR) said Thursday it has received technical approval for the Environmental Impact Assessment of its Warintza Project in southeastern Ecuador.The approval follows an extensive review by the Ministry of Environment and Energy and triggers the release of a second $50 million financing tranche from Royal Gold (RGLD) as part of a larger $200 million agreement reached in May 2025 to advance the project toward a final investment decision, Solaris said.The project now moves into a government-led Free, Prior and Informed Consultation process with local communities, as Solaris targets full permitting by the end of 2026, it added.The third $50 million tranche will be available in the first year after the closing date, the company said.Price: $9.44, Change: $+0.42, Percent Change: +4.60%

$RGLD$SLSR
Research

Research Alert: CFRA Downgrades Opinion On Shares Of Salesforce.com To Buy From Strong Buy

CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:We cut our 12-month target to $210 from $240, on a lower revised P/E of 14x our CY 2027 EPS, well below historical amid a SaaSpocalypse that is driving investor fears. We are tempering our outlook following our downgrade of the application software space to neutral from positive earlier this year for well-known reasons (e.g., seat growth concerns, competitive pressures, enterprise shift to AI Agents). In recent weeks, we have seen Anthropic/OpenAI get more aggressive releasing enterprise tools (Claude Managed Agents launched yesterday) that we think will only accelerate ahead of IPOs and as new compute capacity gets aggressively added. This is only likely to create more uncertainty about the tail end risk (beyond 2027), which is likely could constrain multiples. Still, we think CRM is better positioned than most SaaS providers and remain constructive given our view of its core business/stickier ecosystem, Agentic AI momentum, and greater ability to pivot to a more consumption/transactional based model.

$CRM