Source: CNBCTV18
A startup founded by former Tesla Inc. executive Drew Baglino has signed letters of intent to sell technology designed to address one of the artificial intelligence boom’s biggest bottlenecks: aging infrastructure and a transformer shortage.
Baglino, chief executive officer and founder of Heron Power Electronics Co., said his company has inked preliminary deals with firms including Crusoe Energy Systems, which is developing OpenAI’s Stargate site.
Traditional transformers, which adjust voltage levels, are essential for transmitting and distributing electricity to anything that requires power. A shortage of transformers globally has caused long project delays and stymied the buildout of cheap renewables, just as power demand has skyrocketed.
KKR & Co. has a record volume of commercial-property financings lined up, and expects more deals as property prices reset and other lenders pull back amid market volatility.
The investment firm’s pipeline has reached an all-time high of $42 billion, the second such record set this year, according to a Tuesday note by Matt Salem, Joel Traut and Patrick Mattson in KKR’s real estate credit group.
Higher interest rates have weighed on market prices for many types of real estate for the last few years. Meanwhile, tariff concerns since early April have made it harder for landlords to obtain financing, increasing their demand for private credit.
KKR & Co. has a record volume of commercial-property financings lined up, and expects more deals as property prices reset and other lenders pull back amid market volatility.
The investment firm’s pipeline has reached an all-time high of $42 billion, the second such record set this year, according to a Tuesday note by Matt Salem, Joel Traut and Patrick Mattson in KKR’s real estate credit group.
Higher interest rates have weighed on market prices for many types of real estate for the last few years. Meanwhile, tariff concerns since early April have made it harder for landlords to obtain financing, increasing their demand for private credit.
Donald Trump will attend the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit at The Hague, the White House said, as the US president seeks to rally the alliance’s members to step up defense spending.
“I can confirm he will be going to the NATO summit,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.
Trump has said he wants members of the alliance to spend 5% of GDP on the military, in what would amount to a substantial increase from current levels for many nations.
The alliance will discuss a target that would see nations commit to spending 3.5% of GDP on core defense and another 1.5% in defense-related outlays on areas including infrastructure, cyber defense and civilian preparedness. That’s expected to include expanding ground-based air-defense capabilities.
A wide swath of emerging-market currencies fell Tuesday, weighed down by a bounce in the dollar.
MSCI’s gauge of EM currencies was down 0.1% Tuesday, led by the zloty. The 1.2% drop came as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he’ll seek a vote of confidence to shore up support for his coalition government after the defeat of a political ally in Sunday’s presidential election.
US moves to extend the rollback of some tariffs on China are supportive of the greenback against a broad range of currencies, according to Brendan McKenna, an economist at Wells Fargo.
Beaten-down Ecuador bonds jumped the most among emerging-market peers on Tuesday after the nation’s top finance officer said the government plans to return to capital markets next year.
Finance Minister Sariha Moya said the Andean nation is planning a debt sale with guarantees from multilateral lenders in 2026, assuming its economic plan is working. Sovereign bonds rallied across the curve, climbing the most in nearly a month, with those due in 2030 gaining 2.3 cents to around 81 cents on the dollar.
While Moya didn’t lay out details, her remarks were taken well by investors who have piled into Ecuador debt as President Daniel Noboa vows to put the serial defaulter back on sound financial footing. The bonds have handed investors a return of 14% this year, one of the best performances in emerging markets, bolstered by Noboa’s four-year plan to boost growth in the dollarized economy.
Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund is joining a Microsoft Corp.-backed initiative to bankroll $30 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure globally, as the oil-rich Gulf nation looks to tap into the booming sector.
The Kuwait Investment Authority will become the first non-founder financial anchor in the AI Infrastructure Partnership, according to a statement on Tuesday that didn’t disclose any financial commitment. Microsoft, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and BlackRock Inc. had in March added Elon Musk’s xAI and chipmaker Nvidia Corp. to the initiative.
US President Donald Trump attacked fiscal conservative Rand Paul as “crazy” Tuesday morning as he pressed reluctant Republican senators to move forward swiftly with his massive tax and spending package.
The Kentucky senator earlier said on CNBC that he wouldn’t vote for the president’s signature legislation because it would increase the legal US debt limit.
“I’m just not for that. That’s not conservative,” said Paul, who also has argued the tax measure would add too much to the national debt.
Trump quickly responded with a series of social media posts, saying the senator “never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!)”
South Africa’s economy is 37% smaller than it would have been had the country tracked its emerging-market peers and sustained annual growth of 4.5% since 2010, a report by Investec Wealth & Investment International said.
It calculated that matching those expansion rates would have lifted the country’s nominal gross domestic product to almost 12 trillion rand ($670 billion) last year, from 7.5 billion rand. The slow growth partly coincided with an era of endemic government corruption — known in South Africa as state capture — under former President Jacob Zuma, which his successor Cyril Ramaphosa estimates cost the economy at least 500 billion rand.
The inertia caused by power outages, crime, disintegrating infrastructure and foreign-policy missteps dragged growth down to an average of about 1% a year over the past 15 years, the report said.
The venture capital model honed and perfected in Silicon Valley is proving a bad fit for the clean tech industry, and investors should instead accept that they’ll need to commit much bigger sums of money for longer periods of time.
“In traditional VC, the model is to make 100 bets, 90 of which will completely fail, and of the 10 remaining maybe a couple will have real exponential growth,” JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Rama Variankaval said in an interview. However, “the amount of capital you’d need to replicate that in climate is enormous, so you might need to accept a revised model where you are picking fewer, more concentrated bets.”
The collapse of the Dutch government risks slowing decisions related to Europe’s planned investment spree, said ING Groep NV Chief Executive Officer Steven van Rijswijk.
At a time when Europe is facing its biggest security initiative since the Cold War and tariff uncertainties, the government is needed to play an active role in areas such as digital and defense infrastructure investment, Van Rijswijk said in an interview in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
“A lot of big decisions needed to be made, not only separately, but also together with other European countries to make Europe a stronger continent. This is an important moment,” the CEO of the Netherlands’ biggest bank said.
US job openings unexpectedly rose in April in a broad advance, indicating demand for workers remains healthy despite heightened economic uncertainty.
Available positions increased to 7.39 million from a revised 7.20 million reading in March, according to Bureau of Labour Statistics data published Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 7.10 million openings.
Signet Jewelers Ltd. raised its profit outlook for the full year and lifted the low end of its sales guidance, signaling confidence in the new chief executive’s overhaul strategy and consumers’ willingness to spend despite economic turbulence.
The owner of the Kay Jewelers and Zales chains expects earnings per share, excluding some items, in a range of $7.70 to $9.38 for the current fiscal year, an increase from the previous forecast. Sales for the period are expected to be at least $6.57 billion, up from the previous floor of $6.53 billion.
Shares of Signet jumped as much as 17% on Tuesday morning. The company’s stock was down 17% so far this year through Monday’s close.
Beijing criticised as protectionist the European Union’s plan to curb Chinese medical device manufacturers’ access to public procurement contracts and vowed to take action to protect the country’s interests.
China urged the EU to handle any differences through dialogue and cooperation to safeguard trade relations, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “China will closely monitor the EU’s follow-up actions” and will take measures to protect the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the ministry said in the statement.
Beijing criticised as protectionist the European Union’s plan to curb Chinese medical device manufacturers’ access to public procurement contracts and vowed to take action to protect the country’s interests.
China urged the EU to handle any differences through dialogue and cooperation to safeguard trade relations, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “China will closely monitor the EU’s follow-up actions” and will take measures to protect the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the ministry said in the statement.
Stocks were little changed Tuesday (June 3), following modest gains seen in the first session of June, as growth concerns increased and traders awaited more details on potential US trade deals.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around the flatline. The Nasdaq Composite was also flat.
Tuesday’s declines follow the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cutting its US growth outlook. The OECD now sees the US economy expanding by just 1.6%, down from 2.2%.
Treasury yields declined, as traders sought out safety. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield dropped 4 basis points to 4.418%.
The Toyota group’s proposal to privatise Toyota Industries Corp. is drawing criticism from investors and analysts, who argue the ¥4.7 trillion ($33 billion) deal significantly undervalues the company and risks alienating shareholders with what many view as an unpalatable transaction.
The planned tender offer of ¥16,300 per share from a group led by Toyota Motor Corp.’s Chairman Akio Toyoda represents an 11% discount to Tuesday’s closing price for the company, which makes textile looms, forklifts and car components.
The Toyota group’s proposal to privatise Toyota Industries Corp. is drawing criticism from investors and analysts, who argue the ¥4.7 trillion ($33 billion) deal significantly undervalues the company and risks alienating shareholders with what many view as an unpalatable transaction.
The planned tender offer of ¥16,300 per share from a group led by Toyota Motor Corp.’s Chairman Akio Toyoda represents an 11% discount to Tuesday’s closing price for the company, which makes textile looms, forklifts and car components.
South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party nominee Lee Jae-myung is on track to win the presidential election, bringing to an end three-tumultuous years of conservative rule, according to an exit poll released soon after the voting ended.
Lee, is projected to secure 51.7% of the vote, according to a joint exit poll on Tuesday by South Korea’s three broadcasters, KBS, MBC, SBS. His main rival, the ruling People Power Party’s candidate Kim Moon-soo, is estimated to get 39.3%, the survey of more than 80,000 voters showed.
The exit polls correctly predicted the outcome of 2022 elections when Lee lost by less than 1 percentage point, the smallest margin in South Korea’s electoral history. Lee has been consistently leading in most opinion polls in the run-up to the election.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said it would need to ditch its cautious approach to cutting interest rates and act more aggressively if officials saw a threat of undershooting their 2% inflation target.
Bailey said Tuesday that he does not yet see a case for moving away from the BOE’s gradual rate reductions, but suggested its response to uncertainty could change in future.
Remaining cautious “is not a reasonable view if you think that there is a threat to the integrity of the anchor, which is the inflation target,” he told lawmakers on Parliament’s Treasury Committee. “Clearly, in that case, the answer, I think, is that you should act more aggressively.”
Oil inventories have risen sharply across the world in recent weeks, a sign of the pressure that higher output from OPEC+ could place on the global crude market as the year progresses.
Crude oil stockpiles globally rose by about 170 million barrels in the past 100 days, according to Kayrros, which monitors inventories. Data from OilX, part of consultant Energy Aspects, shows they’ve been swelling since February.
Inventories matter because they offer clues on whether producers are pumping more or less crude than consumers need.
Dollar General Corp. raised its annual guidance after the first quarter topped expectations. The discount chain also said it expects to mitigate a significant amount of the tariffs currently in place.
The company sees same-store sales gaining as much as 2.5% this fiscal year, up from guidance in March calling an increase as high as 2.2%. The retailer also slightly raised it expectations for earnings per share.
Shares of Dollar General rose about 8% at 7:07 a.m. in premarket trading in New York. The stock had jumped 28% this year through Monday’s close.
Dollar General’s low-income shoppers have been feeling squeezed by inflation, and Todd Vasos, the retailer’s chief executive officer, has warned that they are skimping on necessities. The company also has a lot of exposure to imports from China, which has been a major target of the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders pulled his Freedom Party out of the Netherlands’ ruling coalition, collapsing the government and likely triggering a snap election.
The Dutch cabinet will meet at 1:30 p.m. in The Hague to discuss the way forward. The four-party coalition, led by Wilders’ Freedom Party, lasted about a year.
Wilders left over the refusal of his three coalition partners to agree to his plans to curb migration, which included closing the border to asylum seekers, temporarily halting family reunification and returning asylum seekers to Syria.
Citi has raised its price target on Broadcom by $66 to $276, implying an 11% upside ahead of the chipmaker’s earnings report on Thursday. Analysts maintain a buy rating and expect Broadcom to beat expectations, citing strength in its AI segment.
Shares in Constellation Energy rose 11% in pre-market trading after the company signed a 20-year agreement to supply nuclear power to tech giant Meta Platforms. Under the deal, Meta will purchase approximately 1.1 gigawatts of electricity from Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Centre in Illinois, with supply set to begin in 2027.
US steel stocks surged on Monday after Donald Trump said he would double tariffs on steel imports from 25% to 50%. Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs soared 22%, while Steel Dynamics and Nucor gained over 13% and 12% respectively. The VanEck Steel ETF also rose more than 3%.
Trump made the announcement at a rally in Pennsylvania, saying the increase was aimed at securing the domestic steel industry. The move reignited global trade tensions, drawing sharp criticism from the European Union, which warned it was prepared to introduce countermeasures.
Trump also promoted a new agreement between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel, claiming it would keep the company under American control and create tens of thousands of jobs, though he avoided describing it as a merger.
US Treasury yields slipped on Tuesday after the OECD downgraded the country’s growth outlook, citing rising trade tensions and tariff uncertainty. The 10-year yield fell over 5 basis points to 4.41%, while the 2-year dropped to 3.92%.
The OECD now expects US growth to slow to 1.6% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026, down from its previous 2.2% forecast. It also lowered its global outlook, warning that protectionist trade policies and policy uncertainty are weighing on business confidence and financial conditions.
Tensions between the US and China have flared again, and the EU has criticised Trump’s proposed doubling of steel tariffs, signalling possible retaliation. Investors are now watching for fresh US data on job openings, durable goods, and factory orders.
Asia-Pacific markets ended Tuesday on a mixed note as investors digested weak Chinese factory data. A private survey showed China’s manufacturing activity contracted in May at its fastest pace since September 2022, with the Caixin/S&P Global PMI falling to 48.3—well below expectations.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index led regional gains, rising 1.53%, while China’s CSI 300 added 0.31% in volatile trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished flat, and the Topix slipped 0.22%.
Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.63%, despite a larger-than-expected current account deficit of AU$14.7 billion for Q1 2025, though this was narrower than the previous quarter’s revised figure.
Let's Connect with CNBCTV 18
Network 18 Group :
©TV18 Broadcast Limited. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 2025 . All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy