MARKET MOVEMENTS:
–Brent crude oil is up 2.8% to $62.84 a barrel
–European benchmark gas is up 3% to EUR35.57 a megawatt-hour
–Gold futures are down 1.3% to $3,348.70 a troy ounce
–LME three-month copper futures are up 0.1% at $9,414.50 a metric ton
TOP STORY:
Trump Announces Trade Agreement With Britain
WASHINGTON-President Trump announced an agreement on trade with the U.K. on Thursday, the first in what the White House hopes is a series of such developments since it imposed tariffs against allies and adversaries.
"It's very conclusive and we think everyone's going to be happy," Trump said. "Many countries want to make a deal, and many countries are very unhappy that we happened to choose this one," he added.
Under the deal, the 10% tariff the U.S. imposed against U.K. goods will remain, though some products will be exempted and auto tariffs against U.K. cars will be lowered to 10%. The U.K. has also committed to import more U.S. goods, including Boeing planes.
Trump said the deal with the U.K. is nearly complete and includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, significantly increasing access for American beef, ethanol and "virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers."
OTHER STORIES:
EU Targets American Aircraft, Car Parts for Possible Tariffs
BRUSSELS--The European Union said it could target American cars, auto parts, airplanes and other products with tariffs if negotiations with the U.S. break down.
The European Commission, the bloc's executive body, on Thursday released a fresh list of about 95 billion euros of American products that it says could face tariffs, equivalent to about $107 billion. The commission will consult with member states and industry about the potential targets before finalizing its list.
The list includes American aircraft, cars and car parts, chemicals, electrical equipment and machinery. It puts American spirits--including whiskey--back in the firing line after they were previously removed from an earlier list of potential targets.
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Conoco Cuts CapEx View on Volatile Economic Status
Conoco Phillips' first-quarter earnings rose slightly, but the oil driller reduced its capital-expenditure projection due to a volatile economic backdrop.
The Houston oil producer posted earnings of $2.8 billion, or $2.23 a share, up from $2.6 billion, or $2.15 a share, a year earlier.
Leaving out certain one-off items, Conoco logged adjusted earnings of $2.09 a share, topping the average analyst target of $2.05 a share, as tallied by FactSet.
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Siemens Energy Expects Limited Hit From U.S. Tariffs
Siemens Energy said it expects a limited direct impact from U.S. tariffs on its fiscal second half, and reported a surge in profit for the last quarter.
The German maker of energy equipment last month raised its outlook for the year to September, citing a strong performance in its fiscal second quarter. The company confirmed on Thursday both its annual guidance and preliminary results for the March quarter that showed higher orders, revenue and earnings.
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ExxonMobil Signs Deal to Supply Low-Carbon Ammonia to Marubeni Corp.
ExxonMobil signed a long-term offtake agreement that will see it provide about 250,000 tons of low-carbon ammonia annually to Marubeni Corp. from a low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia facility in Baytown, Texas.
Marubeni will in turn supply the ammonia mainly to Kobe Power Plant.
The Baytown facility is expected to be the world's largest of its kind upon startup, the company said.
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Cenovus Energy Raises Dividend, Logs Fall in Quarterly Earnings
Cenovus Energy bumped up its dividend despite the heightened uncertainty caused by the Trump administration's tariffs and a drop in earnings in the first three months of the year.
The Canadian oil and natural gas company said the increased payout is part of its commitment to return excess cash to its shareholders and is underpinned by resilience at anticipated oil prices and a push to complete several big growth projects.
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China Again Absent from Agricultural Export Buying
After showing up as a customer on last week's agricultural export sales report, China is largely absent in this week's report from the Department of Agriculture.
In its latest weekly export sales report, the USDA said that China only purchased 2,100 metric tons of U.S. soybean exports for the week ended May 1, a far cry from the usual amount the country buys. In total, U.S. soybeans sold 386,500 metric tons across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 marketing years, landing on the low side of estimates from analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.
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Canada Stocks of Principal Crops Fall, Though Soybean Stocks Increase
OTTAWA--Stocks of most of Canada's main field crops have fallen, though stocks of soybeans are up as of the end of the first quarter.
Total wheat stocks were down 1.2% from a year earlier to roughly 15.4 million metric tons as of March 31, Statistics Canada said Thursday.
On-farm stocks were 7.6% lower at 11.3 million tons, while commercial stocks jumped 22.6% 4.1 million tons, the agency said.
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Cascades 1Q Shy of Views as Tariff Worries Weigh
Cascades swung to a slightly slimmer-than-anticipated first-quarter profit as tariff uncertainty and lower sales volumes weighed on the Canadian company's paper-products business.
The Kingsey Falls, Quebec, maker and recycler of packaging, tissue paper and other products swung to a profit of 7 million Canadian dollars ($5.1 million), or C$0.07 a share, from a loss of C$20 million, or C$0.20 a share, a year earlier.
MARKET TALKS:
Gold Futures Slide as Market Risk Appetite Grows -- Market Talk
1527 GMT - Gold futures slide in volatile trading on a stronger U.S. dollar and a recovery in risk sentiment. Futures are down 1% at $3,357.80 a troy ounce. The dollar has found some solid footing, logging its third straight week of modest gains, while U.S. indexes and bitcoin have rallied, StoneX's Fawad Razaqzada says in a note. This renewed appetite for risk has dragged on gold's safe-haven appeal. Optimism around trade--with U.S. negotiations with China on the table for the weekend and a deal with the U.K. announced--have driven the rally, Razaqzada says. That said, while the market is pricing in some optimism for a China deal, the negotiations could be long and drawn-out, limiting the upside potential for risk assets and gold's slide, he adds. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
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Ag Exports Called Key Part of U.S.-U.K. Trade Deal -- Market Talk
1120 ET - President Trump says that a trade deal with the U.K. will open the country up to 'billions' in U.S. exports. Speaking from the White House, the President notes that agricultural exports will be a big part of that. No specifics were offered, but for U.S. agriculture demand from the U.K. has been minimal. Corn export sales were roughly 66,000 metric tons in the 2023/24 marketing year, according to USDA data -- with soybean sales at 120,389 tons and wheat sales at 10,450 tons. These figures are a very small fraction of overall U.S. agricultural export sales. Specifics on the deal are expected in upcoming weeks, Trump told media at the White House. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
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U.S. Natural Gas Turns Lower as Storage Increases -- Market Talk
1057 ET - U.S. natural gas futures slip as the EIA reports a second straight triple-digit weekly inventory build. Gas in underground storage increased by 104 billion cubic feet last week to 2,145 Bcf, which was 30 Bcf or 1.4% above the five-year average. The injection was slightly bigger than the 101 Bcf estimate in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts. With an early start to the injection season, storage has flipped from a 230 Bcf deficit in the first week of March to the current surplus. Nymex natural gas is off 0.7% at $3.595/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
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Trade Deal May Only Have Limited Macroeconomic Impact for U.K. -- Market Talk
1048 ET - A deal between the U.S. and U.K. is important for certain industries, the macroeconomic impact of the deal for the U.K. is likely to be limited, J.P. Morgan's Allan Monks says in a research note. Details of the agreement are coming Thursday after President Trump earlier said he will announce a deal with the U.K. The analyst notes that even with a deal in place, it appears as though U.K. exports will still be subject to the 10% baseline tariff imposed by the U.S. on goods imports from all other countries; the deal is expected to involve some reductions in the 25% sectoral tariffs on cars, aluminum and steel, he adds. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)
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Livestock Futures Lightly Moved in Early Trading -- Market Talk
1031 ET - Livestock futures on the CME are little changed in early trading, with live cattle up 0.1% and lean hogs flat. The USDA reported lower export sales for beef and pork than this time last week, with China reducing its previously announced beef purchases by 5,500 metric tons. For cattle, futures continue to get support on indications of strong domestic beef demand -- but prices are expected to ease soon, says AgResource in a note. "A seasonal top in beef prices is expected by the end of the month, but the questions going forward surround the depth of seasonal summer correction," says the firm. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
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Copper Recovers From Late April Sell-Off -- Market Talk
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May 08, 2025 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
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