The dollar index (DXY) rose to 101.44 on Wednesday, its highest level in 13 months since May 13, 2025. Demand was supported by safe-haven buying after a sharp pullback in global technology shares and by firmer expectations for Fed rate hikes. Markets are pricing a 37% chance of a 25-basis-point hike in July and 70% in September, according to CME FedWatch. The yen slid to 161.57, while the euro touched $1.1375 and sterling and the New Zealand dollar also came under pressure.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said it has coordinated with Iran, Oman, the United States and others and confirmed that conditions for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz have been met. More than 11,000 stranded seafarers are set to begin transiting the waterway, which previously carried about 20% of global seaborne oil volumes. Following the announcement, Brent and WTI crude futures fell 0.45% and 0.48%, respectively. The report also noted weaker U.S. tech stocks and mixed Asian equity performance, while the main catalyst was the confirmation that Hormuz transits can resume.

Nickel Industries said it will pay US$169 million for a 17.5% interest in Indonesia’s TMI HPAL project, securing battery-grade nickel supply of about 6,775 tonnes a year from September 2027. The company said the project comes with cost and schedule protections, including a construction guarantee tied to delivering nameplate capacity by September 2027. Nickel Industries said it will fund the investment from existing cash and operating cash flow.

The U.S. Department of Energy said it will provide $17.5 billion in conditional loans to help utilities and energy companies purchase long-lead equipment for five nuclear projects. The program is designed to support the goal of having 10 new large commercial reactors with completed designs under construction by 2030. Projects must be jointly owned with Westinghouse, with each partner committing $500 million in equity up front, for a total of $1 billion. The financing structure also requires lining up major power buyers such as AI data center hyperscalers, including Meta, which are seeking steady, large-scale baseload electricity.

California plans to sue the Trump administration, alleging it bought back the Golden State Wind offshore lease for about $120 million and required the money to be redirected into Gulf Coast oil and gas assets. The state says the move is part of a broader federal reversal of clean-energy policy that has already ended two of five California offshore wind leases, with nearly $2.6 billion spent on buybacks. The dispute underscores a shift in policy toward fossil fuels that directly supports oil assets through mandated investment.

Veedol Corporation Ltd (formerly Tide Water Oil Co.) reported full-year FY26 consolidated net profit of ₹191.62 crore, up 13.5% year on year. The board recommended a 1100% final dividend of ₹22 per share, implying a total payout of ₹38.33 crore. The company also said its major shareholder Andrew Yule has not pledged or otherwise encumbered its holding, supporting shareholding stability. The disclosure forms part of routine annual reporting and regulatory filings, with no sudden event or policy change.

The U.S. National Security Agency has been forced to stop using Anthropic’s latest AI models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, after the Trump administration imposed export controls on the startup. The models had shown unusually strong capability in internal NSA testing to uncover software vulnerabilities. In a congressional hearing this month, Sen. Mark Warner said NSA Director Gen. Joshua Rudd told him Mythos broke into “almost all of our classified systems” within hours, comments later cited by The Economist.

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