LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvian miner Minsur has announced an investment of at least $2 billion in five years as it expands its copper and tin operations, an executive told Reuters on Thursday.

Minsur is set to invest around $543 million in an underground project in Justa mine, which is owned by the firm and Chilean mining company Copec, Minsur corporate affairs executive Gonzalo Quijandria said in a phone interview with Reuters.

Another $381 million will be invested to expand the processing plant and to improve the Justa mine camp, which began operations in 2021, Quijandria said.

The mine produced 126,036 fine metric tons of copper last year and was the world’s seventh most productive copper mine, according to official data.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer.

Minsur also operates the only mine in Peru for tin, a relatively rare element, and produces about 9% of this metal globally, according to the company.

Regarding such a production, Quijandria said Minsur plans to invest $462 million in its tin production line and another $100 million in tin exploration projects in the country.

“They are sustaining investments that include new tailings dams in the San Rafael mine and improvements in the Pisco smelter,” he said.

Minsur also plans to invest some $342 million in the modernization of its polymetallic producer Minera Raura.

Earlier on Thursday, Peru’s ministry provided a different breakdown of figures from the company, and Reuters did not receive an immediate response to a query about the discrepancy.

The announcement followed a meeting between Minsur CEO Juan Luis Kruger and Peru’s energy and mines minister, Oscar Vera.

The Mina Justa Subterranea project will be the second largest and most modern underground mine in Peru,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Minsur expects to present the first permits for the project in the first months of next year, with production expected to start in 2027.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle, Paul Simao and Leslie Adler)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street lost earlier momentum and the dollar advanced on the last trading day of August, as closely-watched inflation data offered few surprises and investors turned their focus to Friday’s crucial employment report.

The tech-laden Nasdaq closed modestly higher, while the S&P 500 joined the Dow in negative territory.

All three indexes posted losses for the month, with the S&P 500 suffering its biggest percentage drop since February and the tech-laden Nasdaq clocking its largest slide this year.

“In August, a little bit of enthusiasm surrounding AI and the big tech names has been digested,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. “Investors are looking for a theme that broadens support beyond the big seven stocks that contributed the most to returns over the course of the year.”

Among a smattering of U.S. economic reports, the Commerce Department’s closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index – the Fed’s preferred inflation yardstick – nailed consensus, soothing fears of an upside surprise, which could have helped provoke yet another interest rate hike in September.

“The PCE data came in inline with most expectations, and now we’ve got tomorrow’s employment report and then CPI and PPI along the road to the next Fed meeting,” Sroka added. “Employment has really been the missing piece for the Fed. The Fed says unemployment needs to rise and there needs to be more slack in the labor market to ease wage pressure. And we haven’t seen that yet.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 168.33 points, or 0.48%, to 34,721.91, the S&P 500 lost 7.21 points, or 0.16%, to 4,507.66 and the Nasdaq Composite added 15.66 points, or 0.11%, to 14,034.97.

European shares reversed earlier gains to close lower as falling consumer staples and luxury stocks offset gains in financials and real estate.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.20% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.25%.

Emerging market stocks lost 0.84%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.38% lower, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.88%.

The greenback advanced against a basket of world currencies in the wake of U.S. economic data, while the euro sagged following cautious comments by a leading European Central Bank hawk.

The dollar index rose 0.42%, with the euro down 0.74% to $1.0843.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.53% versus the greenback at 145.50 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2669, down 0.39% on the day.

U.S. Treasury yields slid in choppy trading after data reinforced expectations that the Fed will hold interest rates steady in September.

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 5/32 in price to yield 4.0984%, from 4.118% late on Wednesday.

The 30-year bond last rose 14/32 in price to yield 4.2023%, from 4.228% late on Wednesday.

Oil prices jumped, boosted by a U.S. inventory drawdown and production cuts by the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations.

U.S. crude rose 2.45% to settle at $83.63 per barrel, while Brent settled at $86.86 per barrel, up 1.16% on the day.

Gold prices inched lower in the wake of the PCE report, in opposition to the dollar.

Spot gold dropped 0.1% to $1,939.84 an ounce.

(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Nick Zieminski)

By Shristi Achar A and Noel Randewich

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended lower and the Nasdaq higher on Thursday after U.S. inflation data matched estimates, underscoring expectations the Federal Reserve could pause its monetary tightening, while Salesforce climbed following an up upbeat forecast.

The Nasdaq reached its highest in over four weeks after a Commerce Department report showed the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, considered the central bank’s preferred inflation gauge, climbed 3.3% in July on an annual basis, in line with expectations.

Excluding volatile food and energy components, the core PCE price index rose 4.2% in July, year-on-year, also in line with estimates.

Traders’ expectations for a pause in rate hikes at the Fed’s September policy meet remained at an 88.5% chance, while their bets on the central bank keeping rates unchanged in November stood at 51%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

“Investors believe the Fed is data dependent, and the data is in the market’s favor. All these interest rate hikes are paying off,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Investors are awaiting more comprehensive non-farm payrolls data due on Friday for greater clarity on the Fed’s likely monetary path.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury notes eased to 4.09%, lifting major growth stocks such as Amazon, which gained 2.2%.

The most traded stock in the S&P 500 was Tesla, with $27.7 billion worth of shares exchanged during the session. The electric car maker’s shares rose 0.46%.

Salesforce rallied 3% following upbeat revenue forecasts from the cloud-based software provider as it benefits from price hikes and a resilient demand.

Weekly jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 26 fell to 228,000, compared with estimates of 235,000 claims, reining in investor sentiment, the Labor Department said in a report.

The data follows smaller-than-expected growth in private payrolls on Wednesday that signaled a softening labor market and drove the S&P 500 to a three-week closing high.

The S&P 500 declined 0.16% to end at 4,507.66 points.

The Nasdaq gained 0.11% to 14,034.97 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.48% to 34,721.91 points.

All three main indexes posted losses for August, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq logging their first monthly declines since February.

For the month, the S&P 500 fell 1.8%, the Dow fell 2.4% and the Nasdaq fell 2.2%.

Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, seven declined on Thursday, led lower by healthcare, down 1.21%, followed by a 1.03% loss in utilities.

Among other stocks, Dollar General slumped 12% after the discount retailer cut its annual same-store sales forecast. Rival Dollar Tree’s shares fell 1.7%.

Dismal manufacturing data from China hit the U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies JD.com and Baidu, down 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.8-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 22 new highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 71 new highs and 101 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 10.2 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 10.5 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru, and by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Richard Chang)

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a Georgia criminal indictment accusing him of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat and asked to be tried separately from some of his 18 co-defendants.

Fulton County indicted Trump in August on 13 felony counts, including racketeering, for pressuring state officials to reverse his 2020 election loss in the state and allegedly setting up a fake slate of electors to undermine the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.

“As evidenced by my signature below, I do hereby waive formal arraignment and enter my plea of NOT GUILTY to the Indictment in this case,” Trump said in a court filing in Fulton County Superior Court.

The plea means that Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, will not appear in person in an Atlanta court next week to face the charges.

Trump’s lawyers also asked the judge to sever his case from some of his co-defendants who have sought a speedy trial in the case. This would put Trump’s case on a different schedule from that of a co-defendant, Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer for Trump’s 2020 campaign, whose trial is set to begin on Oct. 23.

Trump’s lawyers argued that they did not have sufficient time to prepare for the trial date set for Chesebro.

Fulton County prosecutors are seeking an October start to the trial. Some of Trump’s co-defendants in Georgia, including attorney Sidney Powell, Trevian Kutti and Ray Smith, have also waived formal arraignment and entered not guilty pleas.

Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer for Trump who challenged the 2020 election results, also pleaded not guilty on Thursday. She also opted not to appear in person in court.

Ellis is charged with racketeering and pressing state officials to violate their oaths. Prosecutors say she urged Georgia lawmakers to back the fake elector plan.

The 98-page Georgia indictment filed in mid-August charges Trump and 18 other defendants with a total of 41 criminal counts.

The Georgia case is Trump’s fourth indictment. He faces a New York state trial in March involving a hush money payment to a porn star and a federal trial in May in Florida for allegedly mishandling federal classified documents.

Another indictment, in federal court in Washington, accuses him of illegally seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump is due to stand trial in March 2024 in that case, one day before Republican voters in more than a dozen U.S. states decide whether to give him a chance to recapture the White House.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all criminal cases and could spend much of next year in court, even as he campaigns to retake the White House.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, additional reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone, Howard Goller and Jonathan Oatis)

CoreWeave Valuation Jumps to $8 Billion amid AI Boom and Microsoft Partnership

CoreWeave continues to elicit strong interest amid the artificial intelligence boom. The cloud computing provider is reportedly exploring a minority stake sale in a deal that could value it as much as $8 billion. The multi-billion valuations come on the heels of reports indicating that OpenAI, another sensational AI play, is on course to become a multi-billion business generating over $1 billion in revenues annually.

CoreWeave Valuation

The Roseland, New Jersey-based startup has engaged the services of an adviser as it looks to sell about 10% of equity stakes at a valuation of between $5 billion and $8 billion. While the company previously specialized in Ethereum mining, it appears to have struck gold on leveraging Nvidia’s graphics chips to develop data centers.

CoreWeave has already started building data centers based on Nvidia chips to enable clients to take advantage of artificial intelligence-related computing as a service. As demand for AI-powered data centers grows, the company is enjoying booming business and is projected to achieve revenues of $1.5 billion next year. Nvidia’s CEO has already touted the company as one of the many that are doing extremely well in embracing AI.

The startup is familiar in the money markets, having already raised $421 million in equity this year. The high intake does not come as a surprise, given the ever-growing demand for startups with significant exposure to the game-changing technology. Nvidia is one of the companies believed to have invested in the cloud computing provider as it remains bullish about its long-term prospects.

Early this month, the startup secured $2.3 billion in debt financing from Magnetar Capital and funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities. The investment underscores how funds and investors are jostling to gain exposure to its business.

Microsoft’s Billion Dollar Opportunity

In addition, CoreWeave has emerged as an exciting AI startup on Microsoft, announcing plans to spend billions of dollars on its cloud infrastructure. CoreWeave has emerged as an ideal partner for the software giant, given that it offers simplified access to Nvidia’s graphics processing units, which are the best in running AI models.

Earlier this year, Microsoft signed a deal with CoreWeave to ensure OpenAI, which operates the viral ChatGPT, has adequate computing power. The deal came on CoreWeave reiterating that it can deliver computing power that is 80% less expensive than what is on offer in other legacy cloud providers.

CoreWeave already offers access to the less expensive Nvidia A40 GPUs that are ideal for visual computing. It also has access to A100 for its data centers, chips best known for data analytics, and high performance. Consequently, Microsoft has seen it as an ideal partner for strengthening its cloud unit, which is facing stiff competition from Google and Amazon.

Google is increasingly working with other companies as it looks to integrate as many AI tools and models into its cloud. The company has already inked deals with Meta Platform and Anthropic to have their AI tools and models in its cloud. The integration is part of the tech giant’s plan to become a go-to platform for everything AI as it looks to attract as many corporate clients as possible.

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street lost earlier momentum and the dollar bounced back on the last trading day of August, as closely-watched inflation data offered few surprises and bolstered the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will press the policy pause button at next month’s monetary policy meeting.

The tech-laden Nasdaq was modestly higher, the S&P 500 was essentially flat, while the Dow turned negative.

All three indexes remain on course to notch losses for the month, with the S&P 500 suffering its biggest percentage drop since February and the tech-laden Nasdaq clocking its largest slide this year.

“In August, a little bit of enthusiasm surrounding AI and the big tech names has been digested,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. “Investors are looking for a theme that broadens support beyond the big seven stocks that contributed the most to returns over the course of the year.”

Among a smattering of U.S. economic reports, the Commerce Department’s closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index – the Fed’s preferred inflation yardstick – nailed consensus, soothing fears of an upside surprise, which could have helped provoke yet another interest rate hike in September.

“The PCE data came in inline with most expectations, and now we’ve got tomorrow’s employment report and then CPI and PPI along the road to the next Fed meeting,” Sroka added. “Employment has really been the missing piece for the Fed. The Fed says unemployment needs to rise and there needs to be more slack in the labor market to ease wage pressure. And we haven’t seen that yet.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105.83 points, or 0.3%, to 34,784.41, the S&P 500 lost 0.29 points, or 0.01%, to 4,514.58 and the Nasdaq Composite added 40.23 points, or 0.29%, to 14,059.54.

European shares reversed earlier gains to close lower as falling consumer staples and luxury stocks offset gains in financials and real estate.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.20% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.14%.

Emerging market stocks lost 0.78%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.39% lower, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.88%.

The greenback gained ground against a basket of world currencies in the wake of U.S. economic data, while the euro sagged following cautious comments by a leading European Central Bank hawk.

The dollar index rose 0.41%, with the euro down 0.71% to $1.0846.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.59% versus the greenback at 145.41 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2664, down 0.42% on the day.

U.S. Treasury yields were last a bit lower in choppy trading after data reinforced expectations that the Fed will hold interest rates steady in September.

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 7/32 in price to yield 4.0906%, from 4.118% late on Wednesday.

The 30-year bond last rose 14/32 in price to yield 4.2023%, from 4.228% late on Wednesday.

Oil prices jumped, boosted by a U.S. inventory drawdown and production cuts by the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations.

U.S. crude rose 2.45% to settle at $83.63 per barrel, while Brent settled at $86.86 per barrel, up 1.16% on the day.

Gold prices inched lower in the wake of the PCE report, in opposition to the dollar.

Spot gold was essentially flat, at $1,941.13 an ounce.

(Reporting by Stephen Culp; editing by David Evans and Nick Zieminski)

(Reuters) – More than 173,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Florida and Georgia on Thursday after Hurricane Idalia made landfall on the west coast of Florida early Wednesday, according to data from PowerOutage.us.

Those totals were down from peaks of around 288,000 outages in Florida and over 217,000 out in Georgia.

Idalia plowed into the Big Bend region of Florida, where millions of residents had evacuated or hunkered down in anticipation of a dangerous surge of tidal water, but the storm’s power ebbed as it headed toward Georgia.

By Thursday, Idalia was a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean with maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) located about 120 miles (195 kilometers) southeast of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Southern Co’s Georgia Power unit currently has the most outages with around 65,000 customers out in Georgia.

Duke Energy have the second most outages with around 29,700 customers out in Florida.

Major outages by state:

State Outages

Florida 91,200

Georgia 82,000

Total Out 173,200

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Brijesh Patel and Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Rahul Paswan and Anjana Anil; Editing by Mark Porter, Bill Berkrot and Josie Kao)

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group called on Thursday for an end to clashes in northeast Syria, where the Kurdish-led force it backs has been locked in deadly fighting with Arab tribes.

“The violence in northeast Syria must cease,” the coalition said in a statement, saying that “distractions” from fighting IS sleeper cells risked a resurgence of the group.

Clashes broke out on Sunday after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces arrested Ahmad Al Khubail, alias Abu Khawla, who headed its Deir al-Zor Council.

The SDF said Abu Khawla was arrested and dismissed from his post for complicity in multiple crimes, including drug trafficking and failing to address the looming IS threat in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor.

The province is home to several large Arab tribes and Abu Khawla’s arrest sparked clashes between them and the SDF. At least 40 fighters from both sides and another 15 civilians have been killed in the violence, according to local sources and witnesses.

The U.S.-led coalition helped the SDF – which includes a smaller Arab component – oust IS from swathes of territory in northern and eastern Syria over the last seven years.

IS lost its last territorial bastion of Baghouz, which lies in Deir al-Zor, in 2019 to the SDF. IS still operates sleeper cells across parts of Syria and have waged hit-and-run attacks.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Leslie Adler)

LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvian miner Minsur has announced an investment of at least $2.25 billion as it expands its copper operations, the country’s mining ministry said on Thursday.

The announcement followed a meeting between Minsur CEO Juan Luis Kruger and Peru’s Energy and Mines Minister Oscar Vera.

Minsur is set to invest $1.8 billion in the Justa mine, which is owned by the firm and the Chilean mining company Copec <COPEC.SN>. The deposit’s reserves are expected to rise by 30%.

The mine produced 126,036 fine metric tons of copper last year and was the world’s seventh-most productive copper mine, according to official data.

“The Mina Justa Subterranea project will be the second-largest and most modern underground mine in Peru,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Minsur expects to present the first permits for this project in the first months of next year, with production expected to start in 2027.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer behind Chile. Minsur also plans to invest some $450 million in the modernization of its polymetallic producer Minera Raura.

Minsur did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It operates the only mine in Peru for tin, a relatively rare element, and produces about 9% of this metal globally, according to the company.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Paul Simao)

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google was hit with a lawsuit on Thursday by Danish online job-search rival Jobindex, a year after the latter complained to EU antitrust regulators that the U.S. tech giant unfairly favoured its own job-search service.

The Danish Media Association on behalf of Jobindex sued Google at a Danish court alleging copyright violations.

Jobindex has accused Google of copying job ads to its own service without permission and wants compensation and damages for copyright violations.

This is the first lawsuit in the Danish courts under new EU copyright rules regarding platforms’ liability for content uploaded to their services that came into force in 2021.

“We’re willing to compete with Google, but it must be on equal terms, not with Google for Jobs having products on its shelves that aren’t theirs,” Jobindex Chief Executive Kaare Danielsen said in a statement.

Danish Media Association CEO Mads Brandstrup urged Danish authorities to implement the copyright rules against Big Tech.

Jobindex has not used Google’s tools for flagging copyright infringing content, a Google spokesperson said. 

“The Jobs function in Google Search was created to make job search as simple as possible, making it easier for people to find relevant job results more quickly and increasing traffic and job matches for participating job providers,” she said.

“Any job provider – big or small – can take part. No one is included in the Jobs function in Search unless they want to be – and we respect any decision not to participate in these features.”

The EU antitrust watchdog has yet to act on Jobindex’s complaint.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Richard Chang)