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(C) Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A sign at the approach road leads to Albemarle’s lithium evaporation ponds at its facility in Silver Peak, Nevada, U.S., January 9, 2019. Picture taken January 9, 2019. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo

By Scott Murdoch and Poonam Behura

(Reuters) – Shares of Australia’s Liontown Resources shot up 11.5% after the lithium developer’s board backed on Monday a refreshed A$6.6-billion ($4.3-billion) bid from Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Corp, the world’s biggest producer of the battery material.

Emerging Australian lithium companies are experiencing a surge in buyouts as their lower valuations and cash needs lure some of the world’s top producers of lithium and others racing to secure supplies.

The new cash offer of A$3 a share represents a premium of 14.5% to Liontown’s last close of A$2.62 on Sept. 1 and is 20% higher than Albemarle’s offer of A$2.50 a share made in late March that the target had rejected as too low.

“The waiting game looks to have paid off,” Citigroup (NYSE:C) analysts said.

“We see the offer as bullish for lithium, signalling that the largest producer is keen to secure more supply at a premium, or has a bullish view on long-term price with low jurisdictional risk.”

The offer was Albemarle’s fourth, after it proposed A$2.20 a share on Oct. 20 last year and A$2.35 in March, before the rejected offer of A$2.50 was made public.

Monday’s news drove Liontown shares to their highest since July 14, to stand at A$2.92.

Liontown said its board intended to unanimously recommend shareholders vote for the new offer in the absence of a superior proposal, and after completion of an independent expert’s report to examine the deal.

Albemarle has been granted a limited period of exclusive due diligence as well as to enter into a mutually acceptable scheme implementation deed, Liontown said in a statement.

Lithium is in hot demand for electric vehicle batteries, and projects in top supplier Australia have become more attractive than those in other major producer Chile, which detailed in April a plan to nationalise its industry.

Liontown controls two major lithium deposits in Western Australia, with first production set for mid-2024 from its flagship Kathleen Valley project, which is among the world’s largest and highest-grade hard rock lithium deposits.

Liontown also has supply deals with Ford Motor (NYSE:F), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and the battery unit of South Korea’s LG Chem.

Liontown said Greenhill (NYSE:GHL) & Co and UBS would act as financial advisers and Allens as its legal adviser for the revised proposal. JPMorgan and Barrenjoey are advising Albemarle.

($1=1.5504 Australian dollars)

(C) Reuters

Investing.com – U.S. stock futures were trading in a right range frollowinga positive week among major benchmark averages, with markets set to remain closed on Monday for a public holiday.

By 6:50pm ET (10:50pm GMT) Dow Jones Futures, S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq 100 Futures were down by 0.1% apiece.

Ahead in the week, investors will be closely monitoring factory orders, trade balance, Markit and ISM services PMIs and nonfarm productivity, as well as speeches from Williams, Bowman, Logan, and Barr.

During Friday’s trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115.8 points or 0.3% to 34,837.7, the S&P 500 gained 8.11 points or 0.2% and the NASDAQ Composite finished flat at 14,031.8.

On the data front, nonfarm payrolls data came in above expectations at 187K, while the unemployment rate lifted to 3.8%.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.1%, the S&P 500 added 2% and the NASDAQ lifted 2.4%.

On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 4.181%.

(C) Reuters

Investing.com – European stock markets traded higher Monday, helped by gains in Asia after a strong week on Wall Street, ahead of a speech by ECB head Christine Lagarde.

At 03:35 ET (07:35 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.6% higher, the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 0.6% and the CAC 40 in France gained 0.8%.

Activity is likely to be limited Monday with the U.S. on holiday.

Sentiment boost by Chinese equity market gains

European equity indices have benefited from the positive tone seen in Asia overnight, with the Chinese markets the best performers on increased optimism that a series of small policy steps from Beijing might lead to a substantial stimulus package in the near future.

Sentiment was also boosted Monday as property developer Country Garden Holdings earned bondholder approval to extend some debt deadlines, averting a potential default.

Chinese authorities have tended to focus their measures on the beleaguered property sector, including increasing local dollar liquidity and loosening some mortgage rules last week.

China is a major market for a number of Europe’s largest companies, and the faltering recovery of its economy, the second largest in the world, has weighed on the eurozone economy.

ECB head Lagarde set to speak

Back in Europe, the picture is less optimistic.

Data released earlier Monday showed that German exports fell 0.9% in July from a month earlier as global demand continued to falter.

“Trade is no longer the strong resilient growth driver of the German economy that it used to be, but rather a drag,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macroeconomics at ING.

Additionally, the number of jobless in Spain rose by 0.9% in August from a month earlier, leaving a total of 2.70 million people out of work.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is set to speak later Monday, and her comments will be parsed for clues for likely monetary policy action at the central bank’s next meeting later this month.

Volvo) Car sees jump in monthly sales

In corporate news, Volvo (OTC:VLVLY) Car (ST:VOLCARb) stock rose 1.2% after the Swedish carmaker reported an 18% rise in monthly auto sales for August compared to last year, propelled by European and U.S. demand.

Crude steady; OPEC+ supplies eyed

Oil prices steadied at high levels Monday on optimism that top crude producers will agree to further output cuts to the end of the year, keeping supplies tight on a global scale.

Russia said last week that it will outline more reductions in supply this week, adding to the growing expectation that Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, will also extend a one million barrel per day cut into October.

By 03:35 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.1% higher at $85.58 a barrel, while the Brent contract traded largely flat at $88.53, with volumes light on account of the U.S. market holiday.

Both contracts ended last week at their highest levels in more than half a year, rebounding having weakened in the two previous weeks.

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,969.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.0804.

(C) Reuters.

Investing.com — Chinese shares jump as traders bet that recent U.S. unemployment figures may convince officials at the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady this month, while markets awaited more possible stimulus measures from Beijing. Elsewhere, international leaders prepare to attend the G20 summit in India later this week, although the gathering will not feature Chinese President Xi Jinping.

1. Chinese stocks surge

Shares in China rallied on Monday, buoyed by a slow drip of stimulus measures by Beijing and U.S. labor market figures which bolstered predictions that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates at its next policy meeting.

The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indices both jumped by more than 1% each in a day of relatively thin trading stemming from the U.S. end-of-summer holiday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, meanwhile, climbed by more than 2%, fueled by news that Country Garden Holdings had received approval from its bondholders to extend some debt deadlines. The stock rose by over 15%, making it one of the top performers on the Hang Seng, as hopes grew that the embattled property developer would be able to avert a possible default.

Monday’s stock market gains were also underpinned by Friday’s U.S. jobs data which showed that the unemployment rate ticked higher while wage growth cooled. Markets are betting the Fed will keep interest rates on hold at their meeting later this month — a potential relief for Asian shares that have been battered by elevated rates over the past year.

2. Oil prices choppy

Oil prices held near three-week highs in choppy trading amid optimism that top crude producers will agree to further output cuts that could keep global supplies tight.

Russia has said that it will outline more reductions in supply this week. The statement added to speculation that Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, will also extend a one million barrel per day cut into October.

Bets that the Fed will not hike rates further this month — and, by extension, not place extra downward pressure on economic activity — also bolstered oil prices.

By 05:21 ET (09:21 GMT), the U.S. crude futures traded 0.1% lower at $85.44 a barrel, while the Brent contract dipped by 0.2% to $88.42 per barrel, with volumes light due to the U.S. market holiday.

Both contracts ended last week at their highest levels in more than half a year, rebounding after having weakened in the two previous weeks.

3. G20 summit ahead

World leaders will convene in New Delhi for the G20 summit later this week, with the group’s western members at odds with developing nations like China and Russia over major issues like the war in Ukraine and climate change.

Illustrating the divide is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision not to attend, a move that threatens to remove some of the luster off of the event. Xi’s presence could have provided a possible chance for him to speak face-to-face with U.S. President Joe Biden during a time of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Xi and Biden last met at the previous G20 forum in Indonesia in November.

Biden said on Sunday that he was “disappointed” by Xi’s plan to skip the meeting, but noted that he was “going to get to see him.” However, Biden did not say when exactly this discussion would happen.

4. Novo Nordisk unveils weight-loss drug Wegovy in Britain

Copenhagen-listed shares in Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) (CSE:NOVOb) rose in early European trading on Monday after the Danish drugmaker released its popular weight-loss injection in Britain.

Novo Nordisk has been attempting to grow the European presence of the drug, known as Wegovy, although this campaign has been hampered as it struggles to keep up with strong U.S. demand.

The British launch of Wegovy, which is shown to help patients shed around 15% of body fat when used with exercise and other lifestyle changes, will be “controlled and limited,” the company said. It will be the second release of the drug in Europe in a little over a month. In the region, Wegovy is also currently available in Denmark, Norway and Germany.

Soaring demand for Wegovy, as well as Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, have pushed the firm’s shares to fresh highs. On Friday, the stock at one point topped fashion giant LVMH to become Europe’s most valuable listed business.

5. Lagarde speech in focus

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is set to speak later in the session, with investors eager to hear any clues ahead of this month’s policy-setting meeting.

What exactly the ECB plans to do with interest rates remains a cause for debate in the build-up to the September 14 event. According to Reuters, money markets saw a 30% chance of 25 basis point rate hike as of last Thursday, shrinking from as high as 60% in the prior week.

Like other central banks around the world, ECB officials are faced with the task of cooling price gains without sparking a wider economic meltdown. The solution to the problem has been a tightening cycle that has brought borrowing costs up to a record high last reached when the ECB was attempting to prop up the euro in 2001.

Data showing Eurozone inflation well above the ECB’s 2% target and contracting business activity have only added to the uncertainty, a prospect that could lead to volatility in bond markets and the euro prior to the gathering.