By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
(Reuters) - Electricity and gas provider Just Energy Group Inc said it filed for creditor protection in Canada and plans to do the same in the United States, citing massive costs from the Texas deep freeze last month.
It became the second Texas electricity company to take the step in the face of extraordinary electricity charges during the cold snap.
Last week, Texas’ largest and oldest electric power cooperative, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc, filed for bankruptcy protection in Houston, citing a disputed $1.8 billion debt to the state’s grid operator.
Just Energy said on Tuesday it expects to receive a loan that would enable it to pay the state’s grid operator more than $250 million for power. It would be unable to cover the bill without the loan.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
South African Rand coins are seen in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/Illustration
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand rebounded in early trade on Tuesday, after sinking to a two-month low in the previous session in a broad emerging market sell-off, as rising U.S. Treasury yields hurt appetite for riskier assets.
At 0640 GMT, the rand traded at 15.4700 against the dollar, 0.42% firmer than its previous close. The currency slipped to a two-month low of 15.5700 on Monday.
“The rand is a little stretched up here and we could see a pullback in the short term,” said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE, adding, the trading range for the day was likely to be 15.3500/15.5500.
Platinum rises as much as 3.5% SPDR Gold holdings hit lowest since April 2020 (Adds comments, updates prices)
March 9 (Reuters) - Gold rose nearly 2% on Tuesday, as it gained respite from a retreat in U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar following a slide to a nine-month low in the last session.
Spot gold rose 1.5% to $1,706.01 per ounce by 1308 GMT, having earlier risen as much as 1.8% to $1,711.16.
U.S. gold futures climbed 1.4% to $1,701.80.
“Given the metal’s zero-yielding nature, falling yields may provide a tailwind for bulls to elevate prices higher,” said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM.
But while gold may extend gains near term, “fundamentally, the pendulum swings in favour of bears especially when factoring in how global sentiment is improving on vaccine rollouts and COVID-19 cases are falling globally.”
Mexico's central bank on Monday said it will hold two dollar auctions of $750 million each on March 3 and March 8 through its $60 billion swap line with the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Portugal's largest utility EDP announced plans to invest an unprecedented 24 billion euros ($29 billion) over five years mostly in renewable power and grids in the United States and Europe as it seeks to accelerate by 20 years its push to go "completely green".