The Chinese government is negotiating with the European Union within the World Trade Organization's framework regarding limits on duty-free steel imports, Commerce Ministry Spokesperson He Yadong said in a press briefing Thursday.
The bloc's measures constitute trade protectionism, could "severely" impact China-Europe steel trade, and hurt stable global supply chains, He said in the briefing.
Earnings for both AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) and Origin Energy's (ASX:ORG) Energy Markets are expected to remain in line with expectations for the fiscal year 2026, with a potential upside if wholesale electricity price volatility increases in June, Jefferies said in a Friday note.Continued moderation in electricity prices is driven by improved reliability of coal-powered electricity generation combined with renewable generation and storage, as demand continues to grow. Electricity demand in April is up 2% on the prior-year period, with renewable generation accounting for 44.2%, increasing 5.1 percentage points year-over-year.Peak volatility is expected from June to August.It forecast earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of AU$2.13 billion for AGL, in line with the mid-point of guidance range at AU$2.12 billion, but 0.7% below consensus.It also forecast EBITDA of AU$1.68 billion for Origin, 1.8% above the guidance range mid-point of AU$1.65 billion.The investment firm has buy ratings for both AGL and Origin and set a price target of AU$12.76 per share for AGL and AU$13.04 per share for Origin.
AusQuest's (ASX:AQD) ongoing drilling at the Cangallo porphyry copper-gold project in Peru is expected to further extend mineralization and underpin a significant new copper discovery with material resource upside, according to a Friday note by Euroz Hartleys.Stage three reverse circulation drilling at the project highlighted extensive copper-gold mineralization from near surface. It encountered intercepts of 176 meters at 0.4% grade of copper and 0.1 grams per tonne grade of gold from 40 meters, as well as 236 meters at 0.3% copper and 0.1 g/t grade of gold from two meters.Drilling is increasingly vectoring toward a higher-grade hypogene core, particularly in the southern parts where stronger copper grades have been reported with chalcopyrite mineralization observed. Success in identifying a coherent higher-grade zone would represent a key inflection point, potentially confirming Cangallo as a large-scale, multi-phase development opportunity.The nearby Playa Kali and Lantana projects add attractive exploration optionality, with confirmed surface copper mineralization and well‐defined targets.The investment firm retained its speculative buy recommendation and AU$0.12 price target on AusQuest.AusQuest's shares were up nearly 3% in recent Friday trade.
ST Engineering (SGX:S63) named Lam Wai Meng Jeffrey as its deputy chief executive officer, effective June 1, according to a Thursday Singapore bourse filing.Shares of the engineering company were up nearly 2% in Friday trading.Jeffrey presently holds multiple roles across the company's units.