MARKET MOVEMENTS:
–Brent crude oil is up 0.7% at $68.97 a barrel
–European benchmark gas is down 1.2% at 32.69 euros a megawatt-hour
–Gold futures are down 0.9% at $3,368.40 a troy ounce
–LME three-month copper futures are down 0.2% at $9,913 a metric ton
TOP STORY:
TotalEnergies Maintains Buyback Pace Despite Profit Drop, Higher Debt
TotalEnergies plans to buy back up to $2 billion of shares, maintaining the pace of its payouts to investors even as debt jumped and lower oil-and-gas prices weighed on its earnings.
Investor attention is returning to the sustainability of shareholder returns in a weaker oil-price environment following a quarter dominated by energy market volatility due to Middle East tensions.
The French energy major said Thursday that it would keep its $2 billion quarterly buyback and declared a second interim dividend for 2025 of 0.85 euros a share, up 7.6% from last year.
OTHER STORIES:
Private Equity Gets Bullish on Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants
Private-equity firms that invest in power assets are pouring billions of dollars into natural gas-fired plants as the renewable-energy sector faces headwinds. Many bet that surging demand for electricity and a shortage of equipment to build new gas-fired plants will boost the value of existing ones.
Earlier this month, ArcLight Capital Partners agreed to acquire the Middletown Energy Center natural gas-fired power plant in Ohio’s Butler County. The 484-megawatt plant benefits from a proliferation of data centers in the state that need a lot of electricity to power artificial-intelligence systems, said Angelo Acconcia, a partner at Boston-based ArcLight.
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Fortescue Iron Ore Shipments Rise; Cancels Green Hydrogen Projects — Update
Fortescue reported record annual iron-ore shipments but said it has canceled green hydrogen projects in the U.S. and Australia as the Trump administration cuts support for clean-energy industries.
The Australian miner said it shipped 198.4 million metric tons of steel ingredient iron ore in the 12 months through June, up 4% on the year prior. Production expenses declined by 1%, Fortescue’s first annual reduction in costs since fiscal 2020.
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U.K. Watchdog Invites Comments on Saipem’s $4.86 Billion Merger With Subsea7
The U.K.’s competition watchdog is inviting comments on Saipem’s $4.86 billion merger with Norwegian rival Subsea7 ahead of a possible review into the deal.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Thursday that it is looking to see whether the merger will lead to a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the U.K. for goods or services. Ahead of that, it is inviting comments from interested parties by Aug. 7.
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Valero Net Income Down on Lower Gasoline Prices
Valero Energy’s second-quarter net income fell as lower gasoline prices weighed down refinery revenue.
The San Antonio, Texas, oil refiner posted earnings of $714 million, or $2.28 a share, down from $880 million, or $2.71 a share, a year earlier.
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Imperial Says Priority Is Safety of Trapped Miners After Ground Fall at Its Joint-Owned Mine
Three miners trapped in Imperial Metals’ 30%-owned British Columbia gold mine scrambled to a safety bay before communication to them was cut off Tuesday, triggering an emergency response, said Imperial.
Two separate ground-fall incidents occurred at the Red Chris mine on Tuesday, according to the Vancouver, British Columbia-based mining company. Three contractors were working more than 500 meters away from the area affected by the initial rock fall, said Imperial.
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Teck Resources Lowers Copper Production Guidance, Citing Ongoing Development Work
Teck Resources scaled back its target for annual copper production due to ongoing development work at its mines and potential additional downtime.
The Canadian miner on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of 206 million Canadian dollars, equivalent to US$151.5 million, from C$363 million a year earlier.
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Australian Rare Earth Producer Braces to Take on Rival China With Help from Trump
Lynas Rare Earths reported a jump in fourth-quarter production and revenue, and sounded optimistic about benefiting from President Trump’s efforts to loosen China’s chokehold on critical minerals needed for cars, smartphones and missile systems.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Defense Department agreed to invest in rival producer MP Materials in a deal that included a guaranteed price floor at nearly double recent rare-earth prices.
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Centrica Swings to Loss in Challenging Market
Centrica posted an overall loss in the first half of 2025, reflecting what it called a challenging market.
The U.K energy company on Thursday posted a pretax loss of 43 million pounds ($58.4 million) for the first half of the year, compared with a pretax profit of 1.63 billion pounds in the prior year period.
MARKET TALKS:
Base Metal Prices Mixed in Muted Trading — Market Talk
1118 GMT – Base metal prices are mixed, with LME three-month copper flat on $9,931.50 a metric ton and LME three-month aluminum up 0.6% at $2,655.50 a ton. Trading is relatively muted as the market digests macroeconomic news, tariff dynamics, physical supply constrains and evolving regulation. Copper remains a focal point due to the looming U.S. import tariff, Britannia Global Markets’ Neil Welsh says in a note. Investors are still assessing the policy’s full implications, with significant uncertainty surrounding its scope and potential exemptions, Welsh says. The uncertainty has caused the premium for U.S. commodities exchange Comex copper prices to expand to around $3,200 a ton more than LME prices. This has prompted heightened volatility and a recalibration of trading strategies, Welsh adds. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
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Nestle CEO Signals Prices Could Rise Further to Recoup Cocoa, Coffee Costs — Market Talk
1106 GMT – Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe says the company could raise prices further in response to sharp increases in the costs of cocoa and coffee, but that most of the hikes are behind it. “We might need a little bit more, but most of it is already done and will be reflected in the next quarters,” Freixe tells analysts during an earnings call. The Swiss company behind Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate bars had to take action on prices as it is facing an unprecedented scenario where the costs of two major commodities have surged relative to historical levels, he says. Shares fall 5.7%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)
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Palm Oil Ends Higher, Tracking Gains in Rival Oils — Market Talk
1013 GMT – Palm oil closed higher, driven by gains in rival edible oils in Asian trading. Strength in soybean oil overnight likely supported trade for palm oil futures, Kenanga Futures analysts write in a note. Key importer India is also expected to restock on festival demand. The analysts peg support for the October futures contract at 4,275 ringgit per ton and resistance at 4,400 ringgit per ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives October contract closed 15 ringgit higher at 4,330 ringgit a ton. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
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Repsol’s Upstream Division Drives Surprisingly Strong Beat — Market Talk
0921 GMT – Repsol delivered a surprisingly strong beat to consensus expectations, RBC Capital Markets analysts Biraj Borkhataria and Adnan Dhanani write. Madrid-listed energy company’s second-quarter net income of 702 million euros was well ahead of consensus expectations of 499 million euros. The beat was primarily driven by the upstream division, they write. The operating environment also looks supporting going into the third quarter, with refining margins potentially delivering a boost to earnings, they add. Meanwhile, Repsol should be a beneficiary from any short-term outages during the U.S. hurricane season, they write. Outages in the U.S. would limit supply and deliver a boost to margins. Shares trade up 1.4% at 13.385 euros. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
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Tesla Shares Slump Premarket After Profit Falls — Market Talk
0814 GMT – Tesla shares slide premarket after Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker posted lower net income for the second quarter. Tesla stock closed 0.1% higher at $332.56 on Wednesday ahead of results. Shares are down 6.3% at $311.75 in premarket trading Thursday. The company booked $1.17 billion in net income for the quarter, down from $1.4 billion the year prior. It also logged $22.5 billion in revenue, down 12% on year. Revenue from its automotive business fell 16%. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)
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TotalEnergies’ Earnings Meet Expectations — Market Talk
0800 GMT – TotalEnergies’ second-quarter earnings are in line with expectations, Jefferies analysts Giacomo Romeo and Kai Ye Loh write. Cash flow from operations pre-working capital is 5% above expectations, they write. Overall, the sustainability of its $2 billion quarterly buyback will be in focus when the management takes questions from investors later Thursday. Shares trade down 1.4% at 52.58 pence. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
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Anglo American Delivers Where It Counts — Market Talk
0757 GMT – Anglo American’s key division reported a solid second-quarter production results, RBC Capital Markets analysts write. It is a challenging reporting period for the miner given the extensive restructuring that is taking place. However, the good news is that production and unit cost guidance for the businesses that it will keep remain unchanged, the analysts write. Copper production was in line with the analysts’ expectations while diamond production and refined PGM production was below. Steelmaking coal production of 2.1 million metric tons was 27% ahead of expectations, they write. Shares trade up 0.2% at 2,352 pence. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
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Gold Futures Slip as Trade Developments Dent Safe-Haven Demand — Market Talk
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July 24, 2025 08:18 ET (12:18 GMT)
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