For a country that has spent the better part of a decade being told it is sitting on a strategic minerals fortune, Canada has been slow to deploy capital at scale, and at the world's largest mining conference in Toronto this week, the government moved to close that gap. Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson tabled a C$2 billion Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund, a $1.5 billion First and Last Mile
The ISM Services PMI rose to 56.1% in February - its strongest reading in over two and a half years - as new orders and business activity accelerated well beyond expectations. The headline figure climbed 2.3 percentage points from January's 53.8%, marking the 20th consecutive month in expansion territory and beating the consensus estimate of 53.5%. New orders were the standout, jumping 5.5 p
Regardless of whether you believe the Trump administration’s unprovoked attack on Iran was a lurch towards peace in the region, or a distraction from [US] voter preoccupation with the Epstein files, there are material impacts for investors everywhere. While President Trump has signalled that Operation Epic Fury – now on day five - could be over in four to five weeks, markets are already specula
United States private sector hiring rose more than forecast in February, though gains were driven almost entirely by education and health services. Companies added 63,000 jobs, per payroll software company ADP’s National Employment Report. This is higher than the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 48,000, and well above the downwardly-revised 11,000 seen in January. “We've seen an increase in h
United States President Donald Trump has officially nominated Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. Warsh would succeed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for a four-year term if confirmed by the Senate. The White House said Trump’s nomination has been transmitted to the Senate. The transmittal came more than a month after Trump announced he wanted Warsh as the next Fed chairma
Read popular news stories from Azzet’s business editors
British autonomous vehicle startup Oxa raised US$103 million in the first close of its Series D funding round. The funding round was led by Nvidia, with backing from the UK’s National Wealth Fund, in a boost to the country’s technology sector. The fundraising round includes an initial $50 million commitment from the National Wealth Fund, owned by the Treasury and Nvidia’s venture capital arm
Australian household spending swung back to growth in January, driven by services, though the balance of trade unexpectedly narrowed. Household spending was up 0.3%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today. This represents a rebound from an 0.5% loss in December, but was just below economists’ projection of 0.4% growth. “Household spending returned to growth in January, rising i
Apple has announced a series of new M5-powered laptop models, including their most affordable laptop ever in the form of the MacBook Neo. The Neo will come alongside new iterations of the staple Air and Pro, but is a standout for its price tag, starting at just US$599. The new offering from Apple has a 13-inch display and a lightweight, easy-to-carry 1.23-kilogram body weight. This, along
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said the company’s recent investments in OpenAI and Anthropic may be its last, as they plan to go public later this year. While Nvidia said in September that it would invest up to US$100 billion in OpenAI, this deal reportedly stalled amid Huang’s concerns over OpenAI’s business approach and growing competition in the artificial intelligence sector. It instead invest
Broadcom Inc. posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results and issued an upbeat revenue forecast, with the stock rising around 5% in extended trading on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT). The United States-based chip designer reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of US$19.31 billion for the period ending 1 February, up 29% from a year earlier, with adjusted earnings per share of $2.05, which was a b