COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
Stocks steady near record peaks as Nvidia earnings loom
Global stocks held near all-time highs on Wednesday ahead of the release of results from chipmaking market darling Nvidia, while sterling hovered near a 2-1/2-year high as traders bet that Britain would lag the U.S. in cutting interest rates.
MSCI's gauge of all stocks across the globe gained 0.03% to 831.07, near the record close of 831.34 reached on Aug. 23, as market turmoil earlier in the month faded amid signs policymakers have begun to tame the worst surge in inflation in 40 years.
Europe's benchmark STOXX index climbed 0.4% to a one-month high, boosted by technology stocks ahead of rosy expectations for the Nvidia earnings update later in the day.
Nvidia's market value has ballooned thanks to its dominance of the computing hardware behind artificial intelligence. The stock price is up some 3000% since 2019 and with a market capitalisation of $3.2 trillion, a move in its share price affects the broader market.
Second-quarter revenue will likely have doubled, though even that may disappoint expectations. Options pricing shows traders anticipate a near 10% - or $300 billion - swing in market value, likely the largest earnings move of any company, ever.
The results at the "so-called 'most important company in the world,'" stand between Wall Street and fresh record highs, noted Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda, and set the tone for the sector.
-REUTERS-
Malaysian energy giant Petronas sues South Sudan over local assets deal
Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petroliam Nasional said on Monday its unit had initiated proceedings against South Sudan for allegedly blocking a $1.25 billion sale of its local assets and instead taking over the business.
The company, also known as Petronas, announced on Aug. 7 it would exit South Sudan after running operations in the country for around three decades. It was in talks to sell the local assets to Britain's Savannah Energy but the oil and gas firm pulled out of the deal on the same day.
South Sudan's state-run Nile Petroleum then took control of the local oilfield and assets and said it was seeking international partners to both sustain operations and increase output at the blocks.
"PETRONAS International Corporation has initiated arbitration proceedings at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute on the divestment of its operations in the Republic of South Sudan," the parent company told Reuters in an emailed statement. It declined to comment further due to the ongoing proceedings at the World Bank agency.
Earlier this year, the main pipeline carrying oil from South Sudan through Sudan for export - set up by a consortium including China's CNPC and Sinopec as well as Malaysia's Petronas - suffered stoppages due to war in Sudan.
The exports are an important source of revenue for South Sudan.
Officials at South Sudan's petroleum ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Bloomberg News reported the arbitration proceedings earlier in the day.
-REUTERS-
South Africa could have no power cuts over next 7 months, Eskom says
South Africa could have no scheduled power cuts over the next seven months if state-owned utility Eskom's unplanned electricity losses stay at their current level, its chief executive said on Monday.
Power cuts have restricted economic growth in South Africa for more than a decade, with outages on a record 335 days last year.
But Eskom has not implemented power cuts in more than 150 days, since late March, after a big improvement in the performance of its fleet of mainly coal-fired power stations that caught many analysts off-guard.
CEO Dan Marokane told a briefing on the outlook for the upcoming southern hemisphere summer months, September to March, that there had been a sustained improvement in Eskom's plant performance over the winter months, April to August.
Unplanned capacity losses have averaged around 12 gigawatts or 12,000 megawatts in the past four months, down from peak losses of about 18 gigawatts a year earlier.
"For this coming summer (the) prognosis is that if we stay below 13,000 megawatts of unplanned losses, we will be able to avoid load-shedding," Marokane said, using a term for power cuts.
As well as increased electricity availability at Eskom coal stations including Tutuka, Kendal and Kriel, renewable energy projects operated by independent producers have also delivered more electricity over the past year.
Marokane said Eskom should be able to say early next year when "load-shedding at the chronic level that it was is behind us," with an additional 2.5 gigawatts of generation capacity coming online in the next few months.
-REUTERS-
Top streaming platforms in content hungry India
Apple signed a content deal with Indian telecoms operator Bharti Airtel late on Tuesday in its push for a larger slice of the country's $28 billion entertainment market.
Here are the streaming platforms that dominate Indian screens:
Disney+Hotstar: Owned by Walt Disney's Disney+Hotstar is the market leader in the country's streaming landscape with a roughly 26% share, as per industry data.
The platform has approximately 38 million paid subscribers, Walt Disney Co's latest annual report showed, opens new tab.
It offers content from Star's television dramas, as well as a variety of sports offerings such as cricket, football and tennis. It has the digital rights for the International Cricket Council's matches in India until 2027.
It has monthly, quarterly and annual subscription packages, starting from 299 rupees ($3.56) per month.
Amazon Prime Video: Owned by e-commerce-to-streaming giant Amazon.com, Amazon Prime Video is second to Hotstar with a 23% market share and is estimated to have about 20 million users in India.
Users can stream available movies and TV shows on its platform and can rent movies.
Access to content on the platform is available via prime membership, which is priced, opens new tab between 299 rupees a month to 1499 rupees a year.
Netflix: The global streaming giant which has a 10 million user base in India and views the country as an important demography, is the third-largest platform with a 13% market share.
Netflix, which houses movies, documentaries, TV and animated shows, has four monthly pricing plans in the range of 149 rupees to 649 rupees.
ZEE5: The streaming platform of ZEE Entertainment Enterprises content from Zee's television channels.
-REUTERS-
Global stocks held near all-time highs on Wednesday ahead of the release of results from chipmaking market darling Nvidia, while sterling hovered near a 2-1/2-year high as traders bet that Britain would lag the U.S. in cutting interest rates.
MSCI's gauge of all stocks across the globe gained 0.03% to 831.07, near the record close of 831.34 reached on Aug. 23, as market turmoil earlier in the month faded amid signs policymakers have begun to tame the worst surge in inflation in 40 years.
Europe's benchmark STOXX index climbed 0.4% to a one-month high, boosted by technology stocks ahead of rosy expectations for the Nvidia earnings update later in the day.
Nvidia's market value has ballooned thanks to its dominance of the computing hardware behind artificial intelligence. The stock price is up some 3000% since 2019 and with a market capitalisation of $3.2 trillion, a move in its share price affects the broader market.
Second-quarter revenue will likely have doubled, though even that may disappoint expectations. Options pricing shows traders anticipate a near 10% - or $300 billion - swing in market value, likely the largest earnings move of any company, ever.
The results at the "so-called 'most important company in the world,'" stand between Wall Street and fresh record highs, noted Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda, and set the tone for the sector.
-REUTERS-
Malaysian energy giant Petronas sues South Sudan over local assets deal
Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petroliam Nasional said on Monday its unit had initiated proceedings against South Sudan for allegedly blocking a $1.25 billion sale of its local assets and instead taking over the business.
The company, also known as Petronas, announced on Aug. 7 it would exit South Sudan after running operations in the country for around three decades. It was in talks to sell the local assets to Britain's Savannah Energy but the oil and gas firm pulled out of the deal on the same day.
South Sudan's state-run Nile Petroleum then took control of the local oilfield and assets and said it was seeking international partners to both sustain operations and increase output at the blocks.
"PETRONAS International Corporation has initiated arbitration proceedings at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute on the divestment of its operations in the Republic of South Sudan," the parent company told Reuters in an emailed statement. It declined to comment further due to the ongoing proceedings at the World Bank agency.
Earlier this year, the main pipeline carrying oil from South Sudan through Sudan for export - set up by a consortium including China's CNPC and Sinopec as well as Malaysia's Petronas - suffered stoppages due to war in Sudan.
The exports are an important source of revenue for South Sudan.
Officials at South Sudan's petroleum ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Bloomberg News reported the arbitration proceedings earlier in the day.
-REUTERS-
South Africa could have no power cuts over next 7 months, Eskom says
South Africa could have no scheduled power cuts over the next seven months if state-owned utility Eskom's unplanned electricity losses stay at their current level, its chief executive said on Monday.
Power cuts have restricted economic growth in South Africa for more than a decade, with outages on a record 335 days last year.
But Eskom has not implemented power cuts in more than 150 days, since late March, after a big improvement in the performance of its fleet of mainly coal-fired power stations that caught many analysts off-guard.
CEO Dan Marokane told a briefing on the outlook for the upcoming southern hemisphere summer months, September to March, that there had been a sustained improvement in Eskom's plant performance over the winter months, April to August.
Unplanned capacity losses have averaged around 12 gigawatts or 12,000 megawatts in the past four months, down from peak losses of about 18 gigawatts a year earlier.
"For this coming summer (the) prognosis is that if we stay below 13,000 megawatts of unplanned losses, we will be able to avoid load-shedding," Marokane said, using a term for power cuts.
As well as increased electricity availability at Eskom coal stations including Tutuka, Kendal and Kriel, renewable energy projects operated by independent producers have also delivered more electricity over the past year.
Marokane said Eskom should be able to say early next year when "load-shedding at the chronic level that it was is behind us," with an additional 2.5 gigawatts of generation capacity coming online in the next few months.
-REUTERS-
Top streaming platforms in content hungry India
Apple signed a content deal with Indian telecoms operator Bharti Airtel late on Tuesday in its push for a larger slice of the country's $28 billion entertainment market.
Here are the streaming platforms that dominate Indian screens:
Disney+Hotstar: Owned by Walt Disney's Disney+Hotstar is the market leader in the country's streaming landscape with a roughly 26% share, as per industry data.
The platform has approximately 38 million paid subscribers, Walt Disney Co's latest annual report showed, opens new tab.
It offers content from Star's television dramas, as well as a variety of sports offerings such as cricket, football and tennis. It has the digital rights for the International Cricket Council's matches in India until 2027.
It has monthly, quarterly and annual subscription packages, starting from 299 rupees ($3.56) per month.
Amazon Prime Video: Owned by e-commerce-to-streaming giant Amazon.com, Amazon Prime Video is second to Hotstar with a 23% market share and is estimated to have about 20 million users in India.
Users can stream available movies and TV shows on its platform and can rent movies.
Access to content on the platform is available via prime membership, which is priced, opens new tab between 299 rupees a month to 1499 rupees a year.
Netflix: The global streaming giant which has a 10 million user base in India and views the country as an important demography, is the third-largest platform with a 13% market share.
Netflix, which houses movies, documentaries, TV and animated shows, has four monthly pricing plans in the range of 149 rupees to 649 rupees.
ZEE5: The streaming platform of ZEE Entertainment Enterprises content from Zee's television channels.
-REUTERS-
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