Miner BHP To Buy Rival Anglo American For $39 Billion
Mining giant BHP Group (BHP) has made a $38.90 billion U.S. bid for rival Anglo American (AAL).
Australia-based BHP has made an all-stock offer that would give Anglo American’s ordinary shareholders 0.7097 BHP share for each share of Anglo American that is held.
In a news release, BHP said the acquisition will optimize Anglo American’s “assets and long-term growth potential.”
The combined companies would create the world’s largest copper miner, representing 10% of global output. Anglo American has a huge copper mine in South America.
Mining companies are actively trying to shore up copper supplies ahead of projected shortages and the metal’s key role in the energy transition, say analysts.
The deal would also increase BHP’s diamond sector exposure, given Anglo American’s 85% stake in jewelry retailer De Beers.
The mining industry has experienced an increase in mergers and acquisitions in recent years as companies position themselves for shifting global demand.
It is not immediately clear when the acquisition will be completed.
The stock of BHP is down 3% on news of its bid for Anglo American. Over the last 12 months, BHP’s share price has risen 4% to trade at $59.24 U.S.
Anglo American’s stock is up 12% on news of the deal. In the past year, its stock has gained 2% to trade at $3,084.70 U.S. per share.
Navitas Dips on Eve of Shenzhen Conference
Navitas Semiconductor (NASDAQ: NVTS) shares fell Thursday, as the company calling itself the industry leader in next-generation GaNFast™ gallium nitride (GaN) and GeneSiC™ silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors, announced its participation in forthcoming China Electronic Hotspot Solutions Innovation Summit in Shenzhen this weekend. The summit gathers key players in power semiconductors and associated customer design teams for innovations in EV such as 800 V supercharging, battery management, intelligent connected vehicle electronics, and high-power digital power supplies. 2024 EV OEM attendees include experts from Voyah and Dongfeng.
Jacky Xiao, Navitas’ Technical Marketing Manager, will deliver a keynote titled “High-Frequency On-Board Charger Solutions Based on Hybrid Design of SiC and GaN”, to introduce how Navitas can create more efficient, smaller and lighter on-board charging for EVs. Without compromise, customers can select Navitas’ optimal, feature-rich GaN and SiC power devices in robust, thermally-enhanced TOLL and TOLT packaging, to create hybrid powertrain solutions that deliver faster charging, longer range and lower systems costs.
Navitas’ GaNFast power ICs integrate GaN power and drive with control, sensing, and protection to enable faster charging, higher power density, greater energy savings and system cost reduction. New ‘Gen-3 Fast’ GeneSiC MOSFETs have up to 50% improved performance vs. other SiC devices. Summit exhibition attendees can explore the latest in EV-optimized GaNFast and GeneSiC products and complete EV system hardware solutions and learn how to accelerate their leading-edge projects.
NVTS shares lost 11 cents, or 2.7%, to $4.02.
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DATE |
STATISTIC | FOR | CURRENT MONTH | PREVIOUS MONTH |
| Monday, April 1, 2024 | Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI 9:30 a.m. | Mar | The PMI rose to 49.8 in March from 49.7 in February. | The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.7 in February of 2024 from 48.3 in the previous month. |
| Thursday, April 4, 2024 | Canadian International Merchandise Trade: 8:30am | Feb | Exports increased 5.8%, while imports rose 4.6%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world widened from $608 million in January to $1.4 billion in February. | In January, Canada's merchandise imports decreased 3.8%, while exports fell 1.7%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade balance changed position for a second consecutive month, moving from a deficit of $863 million in December to a surplus of $496 million in January. |
| Friday, April 5, 2024 | Labour Force Survey: 8:30am | Mar | Employment was little changed in March (-2,200; -0.0%). The unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.1% in March | Employment rose by 41,000 in February. The unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 5.8%, offsetting a decline in January. |
| Friday, April 5, 2024 | IVEY Purchasing Managers Index: 10:00am | Mar | The index jumped to 57.5 in March from 53.9 in February, but was a down from March 2023's reading of 58.2. | The index skidded to 53.9 in February from 56.5 in January but rose from February 2023's reading of 51.6. |
| Wednesday, April 10, 2024 | BoC Interest Rate Decision: 10:00am | Apr | The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5.25% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is continuing its policy of quantitative tightening. | The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5¼% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is continuing its policy of quantitative tightening. |
| Wednesday, April 10, 2024 | Building Permits: 8:30am | Feb | The total monthly value of building permits in Canada increased 9.3% from January to $11.8 billion in February. | The total monthly value of building permits in Canada increased 13.5% from December to $10.8 billion in January. |
| Monday, April 15, 2024 | Wholesale Trade: 8:30am | Feb | Wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) were essentially unchanged (+0.0%), at $82.2 billion in February. | Wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) grew 0.1% to $82.4 billion in January. |
| Monday, April 15, 2024 | New Motor Vehicle Sales: 7:30am | Feb | Statistics Canada said motor vehicle sales zoomed to 137,690 in March, from 116,870 in the prior-year month. | New motor vehicle sales registered at 116,870, compared to 128,830 in the same month the year before. |
| Monday, April 15, 2024 | CREAstats - MLS Sales: 8:30am | Mar | National home sales edged up 0.5% month-over-month in March. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 1.7% above March 2023. | Canadian home prices as measured by the seasonally adjusted Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) were flat on a month-over-month basis in February 2024, ending a streak of five declines that began last fall. |
| Monday, April 15, 2024 | Monthly Survey of Manufacturing: 8:30am | Feb | Manufacturing sales increased 0.7% in February, led by the petroleum and coal product subsector as well as the electrical equipment, appliance and component subsector. | Manufacturing sales rose 0.2% in January, mainly on higher sales of motor vehicles and chemical products. |
| Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | Consumer Price Index: 8:30am | Mar | The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.9% on a year-over-year basis in March, up from a 2.8% gain in February. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.3% in March. | The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.8% on a year-over-year basis in February, down from a 2.9% gain in January. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in February. |
| Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | Housing Starts: 8:15am | Mar | Housing starts totaled 242,200 in March, compared to 260,000 in the prior-year month. | Housing starts totaled 253,000 in February, compared to 223,200 in the same month last year. |
| Wednesday, April 17, 2024 | Canada's International Transactions in Securities: 8:30am | Feb | Canadian investors acquired $24.2 billion of foreign securities in February, led by an all-time high investment in foreign bonds. Meanwhile, foreign investors reduced their exposure to Canadian securities by $8.8 billion, led by a record divestment in government short-term debt securities. | Foreign investment in Canadian securities amounted to $8.9 billion in January, led by acquisitions of government debt securities. Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $7.6 billion, led by sales of equity securities. |
| Monday, April 22, 2024 | Raw Materials Price Index: 8:30am | Mar | The Raw Materials Price Index rose 4.7% from February to March and was up 0.8% year over year in March. | The index increased 2.1% month over month in February 2024 and decreased 4.7% year over year. |
| Monday, April 22, 2024 | Industrial Product Price Index: 8:30am | Mar | The Industrial Product Price Index increased 0.8% month over month in March and fell 0.5% on a yearly basis | The index rose 0.7% on a monthly basis in February and fell 1.7% relative to February 2023. |
| Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | Retail Trade: 8:30am | Feb | Retail sales decreased 0.1% to $66.7 billion in February | Retail sales decreased 0.3% to $67.0 billion in January. Sales were down in three of nine subsectors and were led by decreases at motor vehicle and parts dealers |
| Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | New Housing Price Index: 8:30am | Mar | The index was flat on a monthly basis during March, compared to a gain of 0.1% the month before. The index sank 0.4% last month on an annual basis, identical to March last year. | The national index edged up 0.1% month over month in February. |
| Thursday, April 25, 2024 | Payroll Employment, Earnings and Hours: 8:30am | Feb | The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—decreased by 17,700 (-0.1%) in February, following an increase of 35,700 (+0.2%) in January. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up by 154,700 (+0.9%) in February. | The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 39,800 (+0.2%) in January. |
| Tuesday, April 30, 2024 | GDP: 8:30am | Feb | --- | Real gross domestic product rose 0.6% in January as both services-producing and goods-producing industries posted gains |
Canada’s retail sales stagnated to start the year as consumers pulled back on discretionary spending.
According to data from Statistics Canada, retail sales across the country were flat in this year’s first quarter, marking the weakest pace of consumer spending since the second quarter of 2023.
The drop in retail sales was led by spending at gas stations as the cost to fill a vehicle’s tank rose between January and March. On the flipside, car sales rose during Q1.
However, excluding gas stations and automotive dealers, core retail sales were unchanged in the period as consumers cutback discretionary spending on clothing and other items.
Regionally, sales were down in seven Canadian provinces, with the largest declines seen in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec.
The weak retail sales bolster the case that the economy is slowing and could embolden the Bank of Canada to begin cutting interest rates at its next policy meeting in June.
Rally Halts, Japan Leads Losses
Asia-Pacific markets took a breather after two straight days of rallies, mirroring moves on Wall Street ahead of first-quarter gross domestic product figures from the U.S. due Thursday.
The Nikkei 225 Index erased gains from the day before, losing 831.6 points, or 2.2%, to 37,628.48. The yen was still trading firmly beyond the 155 mark against the greenback, at 155.63.
The Bank of Japan kicked off its monetary policy meeting Thursday as investors continue to monitor for action against yen weakness. The yen slid past the 155 mark against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, hitting a fresh 34-year low.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index advanced 83.27 points, or 0.5%, to 17,284.54.
Investors will also assess South Korea’s advance first-quarter GDP growth of 3.4% year on year, the highest quarterly growth since the fourth quarter of 2021.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 eked higher 8.66 points, or 0.3%, to 3,530.28.
In Korea, the Kospi retreated 47.13 points, or 1.8%, to 2,628.62.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index sank 5.38 points, or 0.2%, to 3,287.75.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index tumbled 274.32 points, or 1.4%, to 19,857.42.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand were closed in honour of ANZAC Day
16:39 PM EST
TSX Moves Doggedly into Green
New Gold, MAG in Forefront
Equities in Canada’s largest centre survived a volatile day Thursday, coming out on the positive side, on the strength of resource stocks.
The TSX Composite gained 11.66 points to wrap up Thursday at 21,885.38.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.25 cents at 73.23 cents U.S.
Gold led the sectors making headway Thursday, with New Gold acquiring 12 cents, or 5.1%, to $2.48, while OceanaGold hiked a dime, or 3.3%, to $3.13.
In materials, Teck Resources climbed $5.42, or 8.7%, to $67.65, while MAG Silver popped $1.15, or 7%, to $17.70.
In energy, Secure Energy rumbled 49 cents, or 4.4%, to $11.56, while Advantage Oil jumped 36 cents, or 3.5%, to $10.73.
Sylogist led the tech sector downward, losing 36 cents, or 3.9%, to $8.88, while BlackBerry ditched 15 cents, or 3.8%, to $3.80.
Real-estate stocks also plunged, with StorageVault giving back 31 cents, or 6.1%, to $4.76, while FirstService gave up $4.91, or 2.3%, to $207.30.
In health-care, Tilray lost 11 cents, or 4.4%, to $2.41, while Chartwell Retirement Residence units parted with three cents to $12.46.
Statistics Canada reported the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer decreased by 17,700 (-0.1%) in February, following an increase of 35,700 (+0.2%) in January. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up by 154,700 (+0.9%) in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 3.68 points to end the session at 578.33.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower midday, with information technology down 1.8%, health-care pointed downward 0.9%, and real-estate off 0.8%
The three gainers were gold, prospering 4%, materials, stronger by 2.2%, and energy, edging up 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks tumbled Thursday after the latest U.S. economic data showed a sharp slowdown in growth and pointed to persistent inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 375.19 points, or 1%, at Thursday’s close to 38,085.73, weighed down by steep declines in Caterpillar and IBM
The S&P 500 index flopped 23.21 points to 5,048.42.
The NASDAQ Composite fell 100.99 points to 15,611.76.
Meta plunged 10.5% after the social media giant issued light revenue guidance for the second quarter. That would be the stock’s biggest one-day decline since October 2022. International Business Machines also fell 8.3% after missing consensus estimates for first-quarter revenue.
Meta’s report raises concern ahead of other big tech releases. Microsoft and Alphabet are slated to post earnings after the close Thursday.
U.S. gross domestic product expanded 1.6% in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast GDP growth would come in at 2.4%.
Following the GDP print, traders moved down expectations for an easing of Federal Reserve monetary policy. Traders now forecast just one interest rate cut this year.
The lackluster GDP added further pressure to an already-tense market contending with concerns over a pullback in growth among technology earnings.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slumped yields to 4.70% from Wednesday’s 4.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices climbed 95 cents to $83.76 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices revived $5.90 to $2,344.30 U.S. an ounce.
11:26 AM EST - Alset Capital Inc. : Announced that its 49% owned investee company, Cedarcross International Technologies Inc., has entered into a two-year AI Computing leasing agreement, with an arm's length counterparty. The Agreement is expected to generate approximately CAD$5.5 million in total revenue, with aggregate gross margin of approximately CAD$4.4 million over the contract's duration. Under the terms of the Agreement, Cedarcross Technologies will provide approximately 700,000 compute hours annually, totaling 1.4 million AI compute hours over the contract's duration. This agreement, with an esteemed arm's length third-party enterprise client, underscores Cedarcross Technologies growing influence and capabilities in the realm of AI infrastructure. The Agreement outlines a structured monthly payment plan, with Cedarcross Technologies expecting to receive approximately CAD$223k monthly. Alset Capital Inc. (V.KSUM) shares were off 2 cents at 0.36.
]]>The Race to Build AI Infrastructure: Who Will Power the Next Tech Revolution?
VANCOUVER – USA News Group – The economic impact of the AI revolution is growing at a hyperbolic rate, with analysts at PWC projecting AI’s potential contribution to the global economy to hit US$15.7 trillion by 2030. Behind the scenes powering this shift are many players building out the infrastructure to provide the supercomputing power necessary to fulfill AI’s soaring demand, which alone is projected to consume enough energy to power a small country. While analysts are projecting the Computing Power Market to surpass US$81.3 billion by 2032, the biggest logistical threat to the AI wave are shortages and rising prices of GPUs, the chips that are used to propel generative AI programs. The current leader in providing GPUs is chipmaking giant NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), however there are other important players moving their pieces into place to also make an impact, including Alset Capital Inc. (TSXV: KSUM), VERSES AI Inc. (NEO: VERS) (OTCQB: VRSSF), Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI), and SAP SE (NYSE: SAP).
One of the most sought after GPUs in the AI arms race is the Hopper H100 AI GPU from NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), which currently has a 2-3 month wait time to deliver orders. Meanwhile speculators are buying up the H100s and driving the price beyond $40,000 per unit, creating advantages in the market for entities with contracts in place to buy these GPUs faster, and cheaper than competitors.
This is precisely the advantage that Alset Capital Inc. (TSXV: KSUM) has captured through its 49%-owned investee company Cedarcross International Technologies Inc., which offers access to the world’s fastest AI servers, powered by NVIDIA’s H100 HGX Servers. Recently, Alset announced that Cedarcross has just entered into a two-year AI Computing leasing agreement, which is expected to generate approximately C$5.5 million in revenue, and comes with a gross margin of approximately 80% over the contract’s duration.
Under the agreement, Cedarcross is set to supply ~700,000 compute hours each year, amounting to approximately 1.4 million AI compute hours over the term of the contract. The deal, struck with a respected, independent third-party enterprise client highlights Cedarcross's expanding presence and expertise in the AI infrastructure sector, and its increasing value for Alset. This also follows up on other distribution agreements from earlier in the month, including one that will bring in C$2.3 million in gross revenue, and another that comes with a supply agreement that permits Cedarcross to purchase Nvidia high-performance computing servers from Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI), through its partnership with Earthmade Computing.
"We are very enthusiastic about Cedarcross's strategic collaboration with Earthmade Computing to purchase Nvidia HPC servers directly from Super Micro Computer, Inc.," said Morgan Good, CEO of Alset regarding the supply agreement. "This Agreement not only ensures the seamless procurement of vital AI computing hardware but also solidifies Cedarcross's competitive positioning in the industry."
With these two recent announcements, Cedarcross has solidified agreements poised to generate a cumulative expected gross revenue of C$7.8M year to date. These agreements span across its compute leasing business and its high-performance computing distribution vertical, marking significant milestones in Cedarcross's growth trajectory, and delivering early solid returns for Alset’s investments in the process.
Setting up intelligent software systems for potential clients, VERSES AI Inc. (NEO: VERS) (OTCQB: VRSSF) has announced at least six Beta engagements of its flagship GeniusTM platform. These engagements include a series of potentially significant clients, an agreement with an yet-to-be-named national US pharmacy retailer and a partnership involving potential smart city projects in Abu Dhabi.
“For an early-stage company we have so much going on, especially in the last few months,” said Gabriel René, founder and CEO of VERSES. Additionally, VERSES has received over 3,700 sign ups for the limited private preview of its Genius™ Public Beta program. To date, the company has grown to around 100 employees across 60 remote locations, and has raised $65 million.
VERSES has also made a bold claim that the machine-learning methods behind ChatGPT and the rest of AI's advances for the past 20 years will never get the industry to artificial general intelligence (AGI)—a human level of AI that can reason and learn in new ways. The company says it will release the public beta version of GeniusTM later this summer.
As part of its mission to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise, enterprise application software provider SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) recently signed a partnership expansion with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) to benefit SAP’s portfolio of cloud solutions and applications. As per the deal, the two companies are collaborating to build and deliver SAP Business AI to include scalable, business-specific generative AI capabilities across SAP’s offerings, providing instant access to a broad range of large language models (LLMs). Together, SAP and NVIDIA plan to make the new integrated capabilities available before the end of the year, as SAP will use NVIDIA’s generative AI foundry service to fine-tune the LLMs with new NVIDIA NIMTM microservices.
"Strategic technology partnerships, like the one between SAP and NVIDIA, are at the core of our strategy to invest in technology that maximizes the potential and opportunity of AI for business," said Christian Klein, CEO and Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. "NVIDIA's expertise in delivering AI capabilities at scale will help SAP accelerate the pace of transformation and better serve our customers in the cloud."
Leading innovator in enterprise, cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge IT infrastructure Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI) recently announced its upcoming X14 server portfolio that’s set to have future support for the Intel Xeon 6 processor. The new system will combine Supermicro’s Building Block Architecture, rack plug-and-play and liquid cooling solutions, while also including the Intel Xeon 6 processor’s help to deliver optimized solutions for any workload at any scale, with superior performance and efficiency.
"Supermicro leads the industry in the design and delivery of a wide range of application optimized solutions, and our new X14 systems with the upcoming Intel Xeon 6 processors will further expand our already broad range of offerings," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "With our production capacity of 5,000 racks per month globally, including 1,350 liquid-cooled 100 kW racks, and lead time as short as 2 weeks, Supermicro is unmatched in its ability to design, build, validate, and deliver fully customized, workload-optimized rack-scale solutions to our customers, including the most advanced AI hardware available today."
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