Fitch has held its forecast for Brent to average $76/bbl over the course of the year, significantly below current spot price levels."
Other News:
There are two major risks to mining in 2022, according to Jefferies: the risk of a hard landing in China and the risk of a Fed policy misstep that leads to disappointing global growth.
As it stands, China has been switching from a headwind to a tailwind because of improving Chinese credit growth in recent months. "Which leaves the Fed. Barring a policy mistake that significantly impacts the global economy, commodity prices should continue to outperform," Jefferies said.
EMEA HEADLINES
ECB President Lagarde pushes back against acting 'hastily' over interest rate hikes
Financial markets that have been pricing in faster-than-expected European interest rate hikes should, as they say, cool their jets.
That's according to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who pushed back at speculation in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that published Friday. The comments came in response to a question as to why the central bank doesn't just fight higher prices with interest rate increases.
Investors Bet Ukraine-Russia War Will Be Averted
Russian troops are continuing to build up on the Ukrainian border, but investors are piling into bets that there won't be a war.
The Russian ruble and Ukrainian hryvnia have strengthened against the dollar in recent days, appreciating 3% and 1.5% this month so far, respectively. The currencies traded at multiyear lows in the last week of January.
Shell, BP Amassed Cash in 2021 as Energy Shortage Unfolded -- Talking Markets
High oil and gas prices boosted forecast-beating 2021 profits for Shell and BP, and are expected to continue doing so this year, allowing both U.K. energy giants to strengthen their balance sheets for energy-transition investments.
After the coronavirus pandemic shocked the energy industry in 2020, oil and gas companies have bounced back. Prices soared going into the winter of 2021 as supply growth couldn't cope with recovery in hydrocarbon demand.
Volvo Cars 4Q Net Profit Fell as Component Shortages Continued to Weigh
Volvo Car AB on Friday reported a drop in fourth-quarter net profit as component shortages continued to weigh on production volumes, though the auto maker sees sales volumes increasing this year amid strong demand.
The company said the negative effect of volumes was offset by pricing and a shift toward high margin models.
British American Tobacco Launches Buyback Program of Up to GBP2 Bln, 2021 Pretax Profit Up
British American Tobacco PLC said Friday that it was launching a share-buyback program of up to 2 billion pounds ($2.71 billion), and that 2021 pretax profit rose after booking lower costs.
The FTSE 100 cigarette maker--which houses the Kent, Dunhill and Lucky Strike brands--said its buyback program will start on Monday and will end no later than Dec. 31. It added that the number of ordinary shares permitted to be purchased is 229.4 million.
Saab Lifts Dividend as 4Q Earnings, Orders Beat Forecasts
Saab AB on Friday lifted its dividend as fourth-quarter earnings and order bookings beat forecasts.
The Swedish defense company said it posted a net profit in the quarter of 733 million kronor ($78.7 million) compared with SEK598 million a year earlier, while sales fell 4.4% to SEK11.94 billion.
Rovio Entertainment Sees Strong Revenue Growth This Year
Rovio Entertainment Oyj on Friday posted a slightly lower-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit but said it expects strong revenue growth this year.
The company behind the Angry Birds mobile-gaming franchise reported a net profit of 6.2 million euros ($7.1 million) for the quarter from EUR3.0 million a year earlier, as revenue rose 15% to EUR78.9 million.
Anglo American Platinum Expects 2021 Headline Earnings, Headline EPS to Rise
Anglo American Platinum Ltd. said Friday that it expects to report that 2021 headline earnings and headline earnings per share rose, and that this was in part driven by a 22% increase in the rand basket price for platinum group metals.
The South African miner said it expects headline earnings for the year to be between 74.8 billion and 80.8 billion South African rand ($4.93 billion to $5.33 billion) compared with ZAR30.3 billion in 2020.
UK Regulator Gets Binding Commitments From Google Over Privacy Proposals
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that it has secured commitments from Alphabet Inc.'s Google to address competition concerns over its proposals to remove user-tracking technology and other functions from its Chrome internet browser.
The regulator said the company's commitments are legally binding, and that it will supervise Google to ensure that its Privacy Sandbox--the new technologies it is developing to replace third-party cookies, which are used to track browsing habits across multiple websites--is developed in a way that benefits consumers.
Germany's Inflation Decelerated in January
Germany's annual rate of inflation rose in January, though at a slower pace than in December when it posted the highest reading since the summer of 1992, according to final data released by the German statistics office Destatis on Friday.
Consumer prices rose 4.9% on year measured by national standards, in line with the forecast by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. They rose 5.1% on year by European Union-harmonized standards, also in line with the economists' forecast.
UK Economy Grew Modestly in 4Q Despite Omicron
The U.K. economy expanded modestly in the final quarter of last year, despite a drop in output in December as the Omicron variant of coronavirus hit activity.
U.K. gross domestic product grew 1% in the final three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics said Friday, matching a revised 1% expansion recorded in the third quarter.
Russia's Massive Military Drills on Ukraine Border Stir Invasion Fears
Russia kicked off large-scale military exercises in Belarus on its western borders with Poland and Lithuania and along its southern flank near Ukraine, an escalation of the standoff between Moscow and Western powers and a possible precursor to a Russian invasion of a smaller neighbor.
Western officials believe the Russian exercises in Belarus could open a possible new vector to launch an attack on Ukraine, adding to the 100,000 troops Moscow has already deployed to the Russian-Ukrainian border. The Kremlin says the military activity is in response to a threat from the West to its own security.
GLOBAL NEWS
OPEC Supply Issues Risk Heightening Oil-Market Volatility
Chronic oil supply issues among a group of major producing nations threaten to increase tightness and volatility in the energy market and push prices higher still, the International Energy Agency said Friday.
Failures by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies to meet supply pledges have helped propel oil prices to their highest levels since 2014. There were signs that the shortfall was deepening, likely tightening an already stretched market, the Paris-based agency said in its monthly market report.
The Stock Market Hasn't Looked This Cheap in Nearly Two Years
U.S. stocks appear cheaper than they have since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic-but such bargains won't be enough to power the next leg of the bull market, investors say.
Although major indexes are still hovering near record levels, a punishing January selloff in technology and other growth stocks brought valuations down closer to historical norms.
Surging Inflation Heightens Fed Debate Over How Fast to Raise Rates
The question facing Federal Reserve officials ahead of their policy meeting next month is no longer whether they will raise interest rates but rather by how much.
Another strong inflation report released Thursday is intensifying debate within the central bank over how to accelerate a series of interest-rate increases this spring to ease surging prices and cool the economy, according to officials' most recent public comments and interviews.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-11-22 0630ET
