Investment

Saudi Arabia considering investing in ‘Made in Italy’ fund

Published

1 year ago

September 4, 2023

MILAN, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Italy and Saudi Arabia are in talks about a potential Saudi investment in Rome’s new strategic fund, Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Monday, as the two signed a deal to forge closer economic relations, particularly in energy.

The “Made in Italy” fund, which was approved in May, will have an initial endowment of 700 million euros ($756 million) in 2023 and an additional 300 million next year in state cash.

Sources have previously told Reuters that Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is courting sovereign wealth funds to increase the fund’s firepower. The scheme would support Italian companies operating in key supply chains, while also aiming to boost procurement and reuse of “critical raw materials”.

The fund would help support Italian manufacturing and make the country less reliant on external suppliers, but Meloni’s coalition government is battling to contain a budget deficit.

Meloni has pursued tighter ties with Gulf countries since taking office last October, shrugging off the human rights concerns of previous governments.

Rome and Riyadh said on Monday they had signed an agreement to strengthen economic ties and boost investments in areas of strategic importance such as energy, where possible M&A deals were discussed, Urso told reporters in Milan.

“We have to start from the premise that the world is very different from the values to which we remain firmly committed,” Urso said at an investment event.

Saudi Arabia will focus on energy, sustainability, supply chains and sport to expand its presence in Italy, Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said at the same event.

The Kingdom, which has invested in sports such as soccer in other countries, already hosts the Italian Super Cup event, but has no direct investment in a major soccer club in Italy.

ENERGY HUB

Under Meloni, Italy sees itself playing an increasing role in linking the European Union with energy suppliers in the Middle East and North Africa as the EU cuts its with Russia.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi, seen by Reuters, lasts two years and will automatically be renewed for a further 24 months unless one of the parties notifies the other of its intention to quit six months before the expiry date.

Italian exports to Saudi Arabia totalled just over 4 billion euros in 2022, much from manufacturing, while imports totalled more than 7.4 billion euros, the bulk from oil products.

Also at the Milan event, leading Italian energy company Eni (ENI.MI) and Saudi Acwa Power (2082.SE) agreed to jointly develop a green hydrogen project in the Middle East and Africa.

Acwa Power also struck a separate MoU with regional utility A2A (A2.MI) and electrodes maker De Nora (DNR.MI) to cooperate on green hydrogen.

Saudi Arabia has a well advanced project dubbed NEOM to produce green hydrogen at home while Italy so far has not developed yet any plan to produce it in significant quantity.

($1 = 0.9267 euros)

Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Alexander Smith

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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

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Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

3 weeks ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

4 weeks ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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