Category: 3. Business

CONAKRY, Nov. 12 — China stands ready to build on its long-standing friendship with Guinea, enhance mutual support, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong has said.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks during a visit to the West African country from Monday to Wednesday at the latter’s invitation. He also attended the inauguration of the Simandou iron ore mine project as President Xi Jinping’s special representative.

During his visit, Liu met with Guinean President Mamadi Doumbouya. The two sides held in-depth discussions on China-Guinea relations and cooperation across various fields.

Conveying Xi’s cordial greetings to Doumbouya, Liu commended Guinea’s progress in economic and social development and extended warm congratulations on the rapid and efficient completion of the Simandou project.

Liu underlined the project as a fruit of nearly 70 years of friendship and cooperation between China and Guinea, as well as between China and Africa, noting that it will play a vital role in advancing Guinea’s economic development and the implementation of its Simandou 2040 strategic plan.

During the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) last year, Xi had a successful meeting with Doumbouya, which charted the course for the future development of bilateral relations, said the Chinese vice premier.

Noting that the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has drawn up a blueprint for China’s development over the next five years, Liu said that China is willing to build on its long-standing friendship with Guinea, enhance mutual support, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, fully implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, and join hands to advance modernization.

Doumbouya asked Liu to extend his sincere greetings to Xi.

Guinea views its relations with China from a strategic perspective, cherishes the traditional friendship between the two countries, welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in Guinea, and will create favorable conditions for the two sides to expand cooperation across multiple fields, he said.

Doumbouya also expressed Guinea’s willingness to enhance international cooperation with China and work together to safeguard their sovereignty, security, and development interests.

Liu also attended the signing and unveiling ceremony of the China-Africa Joint Medical Center in Guinea.

Keir Starmer has announced that the UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors will be built in north Wales – but immediately faced a backlash from Donald Trump’s administration after it pushed for a US manufacturer to be chosen.

Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn, will be home to three small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built by British manufacturer Rolls-Royce SMR. The government said it will invest £2.5bn.

SMRs are a new – and untested – technology aiming to produce nuclear power stations in factories to drive down costs and speed up installation. Rolls-Royce plans to build reactors, each capable of generating 470 megawatts of power, mainly in Derby.

The government also said that its Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) will report on potential sites for further larger reactors. They would follow the 3.2GW reactors under construction by French state-owned EDF at Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Sizewell C in Suffolk.

The Labour government under Starmer has embraced nuclear energy in the hope that it can generate electricity without carbon dioxide emissions, while also providing the opportunity for a large new export industry in SMRs.

However, it faced the prospect of a row with the US, piqued that its ally had overlooked the US’s Westinghouse Electric Company when choosing the manufacturer for the Wylfa reactors.

Ahead of the publication of the UK announcement, US ambassador Warren Stephens published a statement saying Britain should choose “a different path” in Wales.

“We are extremely disappointed by this decision, not least because there are cheaper, faster and already-approved options to provide clean, safe energy at this same location,” he said.

The Trump administration last month signed an $80bn (£61bn) deal with Westinghouse, which had been struggling financially, to build several of the same larger reactors proposed at Wylfa. Under the terms of that deal, the Trump administration could end up taking a stake in the company.

A source close to the UK government said: “This is the right choice for Britain. This is our flagship SMR programme, producing homegrown clean power with a British company and we have chosen the best site for it.”

While the ambassador’s intervention is unlikely to change the future of Wylfa, it may put pressure on the UK to choose Westinghouse if it does go ahead with future large reactors.

It is understood that Torness, to the east of Edinburgh, and Hunterston, to the west of Glasgow, would be considered for future large reactors. A source close to the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the government wants to generate nuclear power in Scotland, despite the opposition of the ruling Scottish National party.

Wylfa generated nuclear power from 1971 until 2015, when its last reactor was shut down. Japan’s Hitachi tried to build a new plant there, but these efforts collapsed in 2019 after it failed to agree funding with the government. GBE-N bought the site from Hitachi.

Starmer said: “Britain was once a world leader in nuclear power, but years of neglect and inertia has meant places like Anglesey have been let down and left behind.

“This government isn’t just reversing decline, it’s delivering thousands of future-proofed jobs, driving billions in investment and providing cheaper energy bills in the long term.”

However, Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said that building three smaller reactors rather than one larger one at Wylfa would be a mistake because it would not maximise the number of jobs for British workers. The union represents some workers in the nuclear industry.

“Failure to support a gigawatt nuclear power station at Wylfa would be a huge missed opportunity in securing the UK’s energy security,” she said.

Nevertheless, the confirmation of a UK site will be another welcome step for Rolls-Royce, the FTSE 100 maker of jet engines that was chosen as the government’s preferred developer in June.

It owns the majority of Rolls-Royce SMR, alongside Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, France’s BNF Resources, US energy company Constellation, and the Czech utility CEZ, which could order as many as six of the reactors.

Rolls-Royce SMR has more than 1,000 employees, who are racing to produce technology that will also be installed at Temelín in the Czech Republic.

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, a lobby group, said the Wylfa project was “an exciting opportunity for a UK technology, our domestic supply chain and skilled workforce”.

He added: “To achieve the amount of nuclear capacity the country needs for a secure, reliable and price-predictable electricity mix, we will need reactors large and small.

“There will be other projects using different reactor technologies, and potentially further gigawatt-scale plants beyond Sizewell C. Partnership with like-minded allies, including the US, will be a part of delivering that ambition.”

(Bloomberg) — US equity-index futures edged lower and Asian markets opened on a subdued note after a lackluster Wall Street session, as investors stayed cautious with limited economic data clouding the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.

Contracts for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 index retreated 0.2%, after the underlying gauges were largely unchanged Wednesday. However, Bloomberg’s gauge for the Magnificent Seven fell 1.2%, extending declines for a second straight session. Treasuries steadied in early trading Thursday after yields fell across the curve.

The moves were more pronounced in the commodities market as gold and copper advanced on Fed rate-cut bets. Oil extended its drop after slumping by the most since June as a key market gauge flashed weakness and OPEC said global crude supplies surpassed demand sooner than anticipated.

Investor focus is on the yen after Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama issued a fresh warning on currency movements. The yen weakened to the key threshold of 155 per dollar on Wednesday, inching closer to levels where authorities last intervened in markets.

With US earnings season nearing completion, markets are shifting focus to the Fed and the outlook for potential interest-rate cuts. The absence of key indicators — such as unemployment figures and October’s consumer price index — has fueled uncertainty around monetary policy, with the White House confirming those reports are unlikely to be released due to the shutdown.

“While the markets are pricing the end of the government shutdown, there is an even bigger mountain ahead of us, and that is the resumption of all of the economic data that we have missed,” said Michael Landsberg at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management. “As the fog lifts, we will see if market positioning has been correct and it is still clear sailing or if there is a big repricing necessary.”

The S&P 500 edged up 0.1%, lifted in part by a 9% surge in Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares. The Nvidia Corp. rival in AI chips projected accelerating sales growth over the next five years, fueled by robust demand for its data center products. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.1%, paring an earlier decline of 0.6%.

There is “probably some profit taking after strong gains on Monday and ahead of Nvidia earnings next week, especially since recent tech earnings have not been enough to satisfy the bulls,” said Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “Also, there’s probably an element of ‘selling the news’ of the shutdown ending.”

Investors are also paying attention to the progress in ending the longest ever US government shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes the legislation, a hard-fought compromise forged in the Senate and blessed by President Donald Trump, will pass quickly. But he’ll have to keep his fractious party in line in the face of stiff opposition from House Democrats whose leaders are urging them to vote against the legislation.

With the government shutdown delaying key economic data, the real challenge isn’t the short-term drag on growth — it’s the increasing difficulty for investors and the Fed to gauge the economic outlook, noted Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management.

“As data releases resume, the case for a Fed rate cut in December should re-emerge, reinforcing a risk-on backdrop,” she said. “This environment favors US equities, particularly big tech and cyclicals poised to benefit from a more accommodative Fed stance.”

Still, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said she favored holding rates steady amid still-strong growth that could slow or stall progress on cooling inflation.

Treasuries rallied Wednesday, with the 10-year yield closing five basis points lower at 4.07%, fueled by expectations the Fed will cut interest rates in December. Bond traders were also piling into Treasury options, targeting a drop in the 10-year yield below 4% in coming weeks.

Corporate News:

Cisco Systems Inc. shares gained in late trading after the network-equipment giant boosted its 2026 forecast, showing progress in its effort to capture more artificial intelligence spending. Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed it will plow as much as $10 billion into the US over the next five years to boost its local operations. Anthropic PBC plans to spend $50 billion to build custom data centers for artificial intelligence work in several US locations, including Texas and New York, the latest expensive pledge for infrastructure to support the AI boom. Volkswagen AG and Rivian Automotive Inc. have ambitions of selling the electric vehicle technology they’re developing together to other carmakers in the future. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as of 9:26 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures fell 0.3% Japan’s Topix rose 0.6% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.1% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1589 The Japanese yen was little changed at 154.77 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1116 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6535 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $101,494.07 Ether fell 0.5% to $3,406.57 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.08% Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 1.685% Australia’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.37% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $58.31 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

The bank now expects annual net income of
18 billion t
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21 billion reais ($3.33 billion-$3.89 billion), down from a previous forecast of 21-25 billion reais.

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In the third quarter, the bank’s agribusiness default ratio hit 5.34%, up from 3.49% in the prior three-month period and above its overall 90-day default ratio of 4.93%, which rose 72 basis points sequentially.

“Given this scenario, we have acted with transparency and implemented effective measures to address the situation, responding quickly and decisively,” the bank said in its earnings report.

Banco do Brasil posted an adjusted net profit of 3.79 billion reais ($701.35 million) for the third quarter, down 60.2% from a year earlier but slightly above the 3.71 billion reais expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

The lender’s return on equity, a gauge of profitability, was down 1,276 basis points year-on-year to 8.4%, but unchanged quarter-over-quarter.

In another revision, Banco do Brasil also raised its estimate for cost of credit in 2025 to a range between 59 billion and 62 billion reais, from the 53 billion to 56 billion reais forecast before.

($1 = 5.4039 reais)

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Washington, DC: An IMF staff team led by Jesmin Rahman visited Kampala from November 3 to 7 to conduct Uganda’s post-financing assessment (PFA).[1] 

Economic growth was broad-based, reaching 6.3 percent in FY2024/25. Inflation remains stable and below the 5 percent medium-term target of the Bank of Uganda (BoU). Gross international reserves strengthened, supported by higher exports, capital inflows, and stepped-up foreign exchange purchases by the BoU.

The fiscal position deteriorated significantly in FY2024/25 due to higher current spending, including one-off items. Macroeconomic conditions are expected to remain favorable in the near term, with further improvement anticipated once oil production begins in FY2026/27. However, the outlook is subject to downside risks, including global trade and financial uncertainties as well as fiscal policy slippages.

The staff team assessed Uganda’s capacity to repay the IMF as adequate under a combination of external and domestic shocks. The IMF team thanks the authorities for their productive engagement and hospitality.

The IMF Executive Board is expected to consider Uganda’s PFA in January 2026. 

[1] A Post Financing Assessment (PFA) is expected for countries with outstanding credit above the absolute or quota-based thresholds that do not have an IMF-supported program or a staff-monitored program. It reports on the member’s policies, the consistency of the macroeconomic framework with the objective of medium-term viability, and the implications for the member’s capacity to repay the Fund. PFA Factsheet.