Morning Chatter 5 July 2023

Canada

PRE-OPEN

Canadian markets are looking to a lower open,?tracking declines in?U.S. stock index futures?ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting, while Sino-U.S. tensions and weak economic data from Beijing further dampened the mood.?European shares?were down as slowing services sector activity in the euro zone stoked concerns about a sharp hit to global growth. In Asian equity markets, Japan's?Nikkei?closed lower as investors booked profits after a recent rally, with Fast Retailing dragging the index, while?Chinese stocks?ended in the red on slow services activity expansion. The?U.S. dollar?was treading water against other major currencies, while?gold?prices rose. Oil benchmark?Brent?edged lower on concerns over a global economic slowdown.

?Northstar Gold Corp.(CSE: NSG) (OTCQB: NSGCF)?announce results of a recent surface sampling program at the historic Cam Copper Mine site on the Company's 100%-owned, flagship Miller Property, situated 18 km southeast of the town of Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The Cam Copper Mine is a road accessible satellite high-grade copper system situated 2.4 km southwest of the Allied Gold Zone, the advanced, near-surface bulk-tonnage alkalic gold-telluride exploration target being actively explored by Northstar (Figure 1).

High-Gradecopper assays ranging between 0.99% and 31.8% copper?were returned from 19 select surface grab samples containing massive to semi-massive sulphides (including massive chalcopyrite and bornite) and collectively weighing 43.39 kg, recently collected near the historic?Cam Copper Mine?site on the Miller Property in Pacaud Township.?The weighted average grade of the 19 select samples collected from the historic muck pile and bedrock exposure near the historic shaft was 14.0% copper?(Table 1).

In addition to high-grade copper, one select sample that assayed 31.8% copper also returned 452 g/t silver, suggesting silver can also be a significant mineralization component.

The Cam Copper Mine reportedly hosts two separate lenses (Zone 1 and Zone 2 - Figure 2) of massive copper sulphides about 40 metres apart striking and plunging southeast along the contact with the Round Lake Granite Batholith. Underground development took place between 1929 and 1953 which includes sinking of a 220' (66.7m) vertical shaft with 213' (64.5m) of cross cutting and 267' (80.9m) of drifting. The recent surface sampling results verify historic reporting of a 1955 shipment of 346 tons of hoisted underground ore which produced 43,411 lbs. of Cu1?at a Noranda smelter for a recovered grade of?6.3% Cu. The ore was shipped directly from the mine site to the smelter without requiring further concentration in a mill. A previous 1948 shipment of 22 tons of ore to Noranda reportedly graded?12.72% Cu, 0.84 oz/t Ag and 0.03 oz/t Au2, presumably from Zone 1.

Management Commentary

"Northstar's limited Cam Copper Mine sampling program substantiates a high-grade Critical Minerals copper component to the spectrum of alkalic gold-telluride-copper zones at the Miller Gold Property," states Brian P. Fowler, P.Geo., Northstar's President, CEO and Director. "Northstar is fully permitted to drill test the down plunge extension of the Cam Copper massive sulphide zones and, in addition to expansion drilling at the Allied Gold Zone, is formulating exploration plans targeting similar high-grade massive sulphide copper zones along strike southeast of the Cam Copper Mine site.”

To view the source version of this press release, please visit?https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/172329

?Tocvan Ventures Corp.?(CSE: TOC; OTCQB: TCVNF; FSE: TV3)?provides an update and sampling results from a Bulk Sample being completed at its Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico. The leaching process has concluded, and the Company’s technicians are now washing and prepping the leach pad for final sampling, decommissioning and precious metal recovery. The leaching process was active for 44 days, extracting gold and silver from over 800 tonnes of bulk sample material.?Sampling of the Bulk Sample material was completed in May, (News Release, May 16, 2023) results from ALS (Hermosillo) provided?an average grade of 1.9 g/t Au and 12.7 g/t Ag.?An onsite laboratory was used to sample the pregnant solution during the program with weekly duplicate samples sent to certified labs LTM (Hermosillo) and SGS (Durango). LTM (Hermosillo) will provide an official calculated head grade and recovery of gold and silver based on their final analysis of the data. The Company is pleased with the progress of data capture throughout the process and encouraged by the early indications of successful gold and silver recovery.

Agitated Leach Update

As previously announced, an additional 350 tonnes of crushed material and 250 tonnes of raw-bulk sample are available for gravity recovery and later agitated leach testing. Samples were collected from the fine fraction of screened material not included in the heap leach pile?averaged 2.1 g/t Au and 14.8 g/t Ag.?The fine fraction along with additional bulk sample material will be used in testing gravity recovery methods with later agitated leach, as suggested by the leaching study completed by LTM, showing potential for the high recovery of both gold and silver. A?new agitated cyanide bottle roll test?by LTM of 20 Mesh material has?returned 81% recovery of Gold and 99% recovery of Silver?after a?72-hour retention time. Over the retention time, a moderate low sodium cyanide consumption of 0.47 kg/t and moderate CaO consumption of 1.72 kg/t were recorded. LTM recommends bottle roll studies be completed for three different grind sizes (100 Mesh, 140 Mesh and 200 Mesh) to evaluate the impact to extraction.

“We are extremely excited to have successfully completed this important step and await the final results imminently.”?Stated Brodie Sutherland, CEO.?“The data we have received so far has all been very encouraging and suggests heap leach recovery at Pilar will match or exceed the recoveries recorded at neighboring open pit mines. In addition, continued studies of the gravity and agitated leach recovery methods look to prove an even stronger case for high gold and silver recovery at Pilar through advanced techniques.”

See Full News Release & More Photos

?CMC Metals Ltd.?(TSXV: CMB)(Frankfurt:ZM5P)(OTCQB:CMCXF)?announce that drilling has commenced at its Silverknife Property, north-central British Columbia, Canada. The program will comprise of an initial 3,000 meters focused on exploring recent discoveries identified as gravity anomalies in the northernmost portion of the Silverknife Project. Approximately 10-12 holes will be completed reaching depths of up to 400 meters, with projections of mineralization to be encountered at depths of between 50-75 meters from surface (see Figures 1 and 2).

Silverknife is located immediately adjacent to the west of the Silvertip Mine owned by Coeur Mining Ltd. ("Couer"). Silvertip is one of the highest-grade underground carbonate replacement ("CRD") silver-lead-zinc deposits in the world. Coeur have recently announced several new discoveries in the Silvertip area, a new mineralization model, and have postulated that Silvertip is likely The resources at Silvertip a small part of a larger mineralizing system and that they have identified evidence that the resources outlined to date (at the immediate SilverTip area) are only one of several potential mineralizing spokes (see Figure 3)."

Recent indications of the presence of critical minerals such as germanium, gallium and indium in the Silvertip area are encouraging. CMC will therefore be testing any mineralized core in this drill program as well we will be testing previous core and surface samples at Silver Hart for these critical minerals.

Mr. John Bossio, Chairman noted, "Our Company is very fortunate to have identified highly prospective areas right next door to SilverTip, one of the most significant high-grade silver-lead-zinc CRD discoveries being actively explored. The level of prospectivity on Silverknife and Amy has increased significantly due to the recent discoveries and findings by Coeur in the Silvertip region. Our plan for this season is very ambitious as we hope this program will results in a significant discovery at Silverknife and also serve to identify new prospects on our other properties in the Rancheria Silver District."

Mr. Kevin Brewer, President and CEO noted, "I am very pleased with the hard work and commitment of our exploration team and service companies in preparing for this season and having this project start on schedule. Mapping and drilling has commenced at Silverknife and we hope to get early results.”

?Churchill Resources Inc.?(TSXV: CRI)?announces today that, as a result of a review by staff of the Ontario Securities Commission, the Company is issuing the following news release regarding the Company’s technical disclosure set out in the National Instrument 43-101 –?Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects?technical report entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Florence Lake Nickel Property, Located on Labrador Inuit Lands in the Area Southwest of Postville, North-Central Labrador, Province of Newfoundland and Labrador” dated May 10, 2023 with an effective date of May 5, 2023 (the “Technical Report”) prepared for Churchill by Dr. Derek H.C. Wilton, P.Geo., FGC Jeremy S. Brett M.Sc., P.Geo. and Paul Sobie, P.Geo.

As a result of the appendices of the Technical Report incorporating excessive technical data and information concerning the Florence Lake property, the Company has amended the Technical Report to remove all such appendices. The Technical Report will be re-filed and be available under the issuer’s profile on SEDAR at?www.sedar.com.

Green Rise Foods Inc.?(TSXV: GRF)?announced that the Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC") and the Board of Directors have approved the refinance of its Green Rise 1 ("GR1") range mortgage and amendment to its credit facility.

The total principal to be refinanced is $12.7 million at a fixed annual interest rate of 5.75% and for a term of three years. The GR1 range located in Leamington, Ontario, is directly next to the Mastronardi Produce ("Mastronardi") Head Office, which is the Company's fresh produce distributor. Mastronardi owns and distributes the Sunset brand of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The credit facility will increase the Company's operating lines to $7.3 million and reduce the fixed coverage ratio to 1.1:1. In addition, an $0.8 million revolver will be provided for the purposes of funding annual CAPEX.

Both the refinanced mortgage and updated credit facility will have an effective date of July 1, 2023, under the definitive documentation.

ABOUT GREEN RISE:?Green Rise is a grower of fresh produce with 72 acres of greenhouse ranges located in Leamington and Kingsville, Ontario. The "best-in-class" contract grower of fresh produce, the Company takes pride in providing high-quality, consistent, and reliable products to meet the growing consumer demand for locally grown fresh produce. The Company is proud to be an environmentally sustainable investment, producing locally grown, bee-pollinated fresh produce using less water than field-grown produce. The Company's first range is EFI (Equitable Food Initiative) certified.?

?Weaponizing Critical Minerals, China Selects Gallium as Tool of Choice

By Alastair Neill on Jul 04, 2023 10:57 am

Yesterday there was an announcement out of China that will have massive ramifications for the semiconductor industry. China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs decided to implement export controls on items related to gallium and germanium (Ge) to take effect on August 1, 2023. Furthermore, this same announcement as translated by Google states: “If exporters export without permission this constitutes a crime and will be held criminally responsible.”

The post?Weaponizing Critical Minerals, China Selects Gallium as Tool of Choice?appeared first on?InvestorIntel.

?Brookfield Corp: The company's reinsurance arm will buy?American Equity Investment Life Holding?in a deal worth about $4.3 billion as the Canadian investment firm ramps up its insurance business, the companies said. The cash-and-stock deal valued at $55 per share was initially proposed by Brookfield in late June, the firms said in a statement. It represents a 35% premium to AEL's last close on the New York Stock Exchange before media reports of a possible takeover proposal from Brookfield emerged last week. Brookfield and AEL said the deal consists of $38.85 in cash and the rest in Brookfield Asset Management's shares.?

?Teck Resources Ltd: China investment corporation (CIC) said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fullbloom Investment Corporation, sold some of its shares in Teck Resources. The company sold 3,000 Class B subordinate voting shares for gross proceeds of nearly C$169,000 at about C$56.30 apiece, CIC said. CIC said the transaction was undertaken to adjust its portfolio. Fullbloom now holds 50.8 million of Class B shares of Teck, or about 9.895% of the issued and outstanding Class B Shares.

ECONOMIC DATA (EST)

1300?Overall comprehensive risk?for Q3: Prior 9.11

COMPANIES REPORTING?

Richelieu Hardware Ltd: Expected Q2 earnings of 55 Canadian cents per share

EX-DIV

Neighbourly Pharmacy Inc: Amount C$0.04

World Markets

(07:37 EST)

Euro STOXX 50 futures?were down 8 points at 4,408,?FTSE futures?lost 5 points to 7,517.5, and?German DAX futures?dropped 23 points at 16,130, by 0430 GMT.

Asian shares?fell after a slowdown in China's services activity dented sentiment and as markets turned their focus to the release of Federal Reserve minutes and a key U.S. jobs report later in the week.

Oil?prices were mixed after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced they would extend and deepen output cuts into August, while concerns over a global economic slowdown weighed on market sentiment.

S&P 500 Index Mini Futures: 4,488.25; down 0.09%; 4 points

DJIA Mini Futures: 34,593.00; down 0.13%; 44 points

Nikkei: 33,269.33; down 0.46%; 153.19 points

MSCI Asia, Ex-JP: 520.08; down 0.7%; 3.69 points

EUR/USD: $1.0877; down 0.02%; 0.0002 point

GBP/USD: $1.2707; down 0.06%; 0.0008 point

USD/JPY: 144.53 yen; up 0.05%; 0.07 point

Spot Gold: $1,924.90; down 0.01%; $0.19

U.S. Crude: $70.87; up 1.55%; $1.08

Brent Crude: $75.80; down 0.59%; $0.45

10-Yr U.S. Treasury Yield: 3.8497%; down 0.007 point

10-Yr Bund Yield: 2.4495%; down 0.005 point

US

PRE-OPEN

US Markets are looking to a lower open as investors?wait on the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting due later in the day, while Sino-U.S. tensions and weak economic data from Beijing further dampened the mood.

U.S. markets look to reopen after a shortened one Monday and Tuesday’s Fourth of July holiday. Stocks have performed solidly this year. The first half was the Nasdaq’s best in 40 years, and the S&P 500′s strongest since 2019. The Dow was positive, too, although the blue chip index’s gains lagged the others. With earnings season slated to kick off late next week with the big banks, investors for now will keep an eye on economic data and anything that comes out of the Federal Reserve. The central bank will release its June meeting minutes at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday while New York Fed President John Williams is scheduled to speak at 4 p.m.

Adobe Inc:?EU antitrust regulators will decide by Aug. 7 whether to clear the Photoshop maker's $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma after a preliminary review, according to a European Commission filing on Monday. The Commission earlier this year warned the deal threatens to significantly affect competition in the market for interactive product design and whiteboarding software. Britain's competition watchdog on Friday gave Adobe a week to offer remedies to address its concerns or face a deeper investigation.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd: The company is exploring options for its video streaming platforms Youku and Tudou, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. One of the options under consideration is to inject the assets into Alibaba Pictures Group and bolster the scope of the Hong Kong-listed company, Bloomberg reported.?

Altria Group Inc: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Monday it dismissed a complaint against the Marlboro cigarette maker and e-cigarette maker Juul Labs that was brought after Altria bought a 35% stake in Juul. The agency also said it would vacate an FTC administrative law judge's decision in favor of the companies in February 2022. Since it has been vacated, it cannot be cited as precedent, the agency said in the statement announcing it was dropping the litigation. Altria said on Monday it was pleased by the FTC dropping its complaint.

Amazon.com?Inc?&?Rivian Automotive Inc: The e-commerce giant will deploy its first European vans from the U.S. electric vehicle maker in Germany over the coming weeks as part of long-term plans to electrify its transportation network, it said on Tuesday. Amazon said 300 electric vans will hit the roads in the Munich, Berlin, and Dusseldorf regions as part of a 100,000-vehicle order it made in 2019 from Rivian, in which it is the largest shareholder. Separately, the Biden administration is preparing to restrict Chinese companies' access to U.S. cloud-computing services, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the situation. The new rule, if adopted, would likely require U.S. cloud-service providers such as Amazon and Microsoft to seek U.S. government permission before they provide cloud-computing services that use advanced artificial-intelligence chips to Chinese customers, the newspaper said.

Apple Inc: The iPhone maker infringed two telecommunications patents used in devices including iPhones and iPads, London's Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday, dismissing the tech giant's appeal in a long-running dispute with a U.S. patent holder. Texas-based Optis Cellular Technology sued Apple in 2019 over its use of patents which Optis says are essential to certain technological standards, such as 4G. Tuesday's ruling is the latest decision in the legal battle between Apple and Optis, which began in 2019 and has prompted six separate trials and several appellate hearings in Britain alone. Separately, seven companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook-owner Meta and Microsoft say they meet the EU's new criteria of "gatekeeper" that means they have to meet tougher rules, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Tuesday.

AXT Inc: The semiconductor wafer maker said on Monday it would seek permits to keep exporting gallium and germanium substrate products from China, after Beijing abruptly imposed export controls on the metals key to chipmaking. California-headquartered AXT, which has manufacturing facilities in China, said its Chinese subsidiary Tongmei would immediately proceed to apply for the permits. "We are actively pursuing the necessary permits and are working to minimize any potential disruption to our customers," said AXT Chief Executive Officer Morris Young.

BlackRock Inc?&?Nasdaq Inc: Nasdaq refiled an application with the U.S. securities regulator to list an exchange-traded fund by BlackRock that will reflect the price of bitcoin to add additional details, according to a filing made public on Monday. The refreshed filing, submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, said that Coinbase Global will provide market surveillance in support of the proposed ETF from the world's largest asset manager. The move comes after the regulator reportedly had concerns over the initial filings by Nasdaq as being unclear and incomplete. It had flagged similar concerns to Cboe related to a filing from Fidelity.?

Fidelity National Information Services Inc: Private equity firm GTCR LLC is in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in the merchant business of the payment processing company in deal that values the division at between $15 billion and $20 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The deal would be the largest in GTCR's history and would enable FIS to undo its $43 billion acquisition of WorldPay, which it completed four years ago. GTCR plans to finance the deal half through equity financing and half through borrowing, two of the sources said. The sources requested anonymity and cautioned that deal talks could collapse at the last minute.

Meta Platforms Inc: Italy expects to take until the end of the year for an initial assessment of Facebook parent in a tax case that could land the U.S. company with a bill of around 870 million euros and prove a test case for the tech sector. Separately, Meta on Tuesday lost its fight against a German data curb order that strikes at the heart of its business model as Europe's top court backed the German antitrust watchdog's power to also investigate privacy breaches. The ruling from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) potentially hand antitrust authorities more leeway in Big Tech probes. Meanwhile, Meta plans to launch a Twitter-rivalling microblogging app called Threads on Thursday and will allow users to retain followers from photo-sharing platform Instagram, and keep the same username, a listing on Apple's App Store showed.?

Moderna Inc: The vaccine maker said it had signed a memorandum of understanding and a land collaboration agreement to work towards opportunities for it to research, develop and manufacture mRNA medicines in China. "Any medicines produced under this agreement will be exclusively for the Chinese people ... and will not be exported," a spokesperson told Reuters in an email in response to a query. He declined to comment on the size of the deal and did not immediately provide any other details. Chinese media outlet Yicai reported on Tuesday that Moderna was set to make its first investment in China that could be worth around $1 billion, and that Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel was visiting Shanghai.

Norfolk Southern Corp: The company has sued rail car owners over cleanup costs stemming from the February derailment of a Norfolk-operated train in East Palestine, Ohio, that caused a toxic chemical spill. The company said the Superfund law, which sets cost-sharing procedures for cleaning up heavily polluted sites, makes responsible parties strictly liable for the remediation of those sites. Norfolk Southern also said it was seeking damages from Occidental and several others for failing to properly maintain the rail cars and failing to follow hazardous materials transportation regulations.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc: The company said it would buy privately held?Ulterra Drilling Technologies?from the affiliates of Blackstone Energy Partners for $370 million cash and 34.9 million shares. Patterson added it intends to fund the $370 million cash consideration using cash on hand and revolving line of credit. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Tesla Inc: The U.S. automaker cut prices in Japan of its Model 3 and Y electric vehicles by low single-digit percentages from the start of this month, it said. The company slashed prices for all variants of its lower-priced Model 3 by about 3%, its website showed, while reducing those of all Model Y variants by around 4%. Separately, Tesla and its chief Chinese rival BYD achieved record deliveries of their China-made vehicles in the second-quarter, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data showed, as a fight for market share heats up. Tesla sold 93,680 China-made electric vehicles (EVs) in June, up 18.72% from a year earlier, when Tesla's factory in Shanghai delivered 78,906 China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after the city ended a two-month COVID-19 lockdown. The automaker sold 247,217 China-made cars over April-June, the most since it started delivering vehicles from Shanghai in early 2020, the data also showed.

United Parcel Service Inc: The Teamsters Union said United Parcel Service "walked away" from negotiations over a new contract, a claim that the parcel delivery firm denied amid growing chances of a strike. "The Teamsters have stopped negotiating despite UPS's historic offer that builds on our industry-leading pay," the company said, adding that the union should return to negotiations. The union had earlier in the day said UPS made an offer that was unanimously rejected and that the company had "walked away from the bargaining table." The conflicting statements come as a contract covering full- and part-time employees of UPS in the United States that deliver, load trucks and handle packages expires at midnight on July 31.

ECONOMIC DATA (EST)

1000?Durable goods R mm?for May: Prior 1.7%

1000?Durable goods ex-defense R mm?for May: Prior 3.0%

1000?Durable goods ex-transport R mm?for May: Prior 0.6%

1000?Nondefense capital ex-air R mm?for May: Prior 0.7%

1000?Factory orders mm?for May: Expected 0.8%; Prior 0.4%

1000?Factory orders ex-transport mm?for May: Prior -0.2%

1300?Overall comprehensive risk?for Q3: Prior 7.99

Europe, Asia, India

China's services activity?expanded at the slowest pace in five months in June, a private-sector survey showed, as weakening demand weighed on post-pandemic recovery momentum.

Companies caught out by?China's decision to restrict exports of two metals widely used in?semiconductors?and electric vehicles were racing to secure supplies on Tuesday as some industry suppliers worried that curbs on rare earth exports could follow.

Japan's service activity?maintained a brisk pace of growth in June as the relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions revived consumer demand, a private-sector survey showed.

Airbus?is stepping up testing of radical new wing technology as the planemaker lays the foundation for a future successor to its best-selling A320 series, but faces a battle to bring down costs.

Advent-owned?NielsenIQ?on Tuesday won EU antitrust approval to acquire German market research firm?GfK?on the condition GfK sells its consumer panel business to address the regulator's competition concerns.

Arrival SA?&?Nikola Corp: Arrival will terminate plans to merge with a blank-check firm and Nikola will offload its newly acquired battery unit, the companies said on Monday, amplifying concerns over the struggles electric vehicle (EV) startups face in building scale. The British electric vehicle company had said in April it would merge with Kensington Capital Acquisition to bolster its depleting cash pile. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, Nikola will liquidate the assets of Romeo Power, an EV battery maker it acquired less than a year ago, to energize the business.

Barclays Plc?&?Natwest Group Plc: Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has summoned chief executives of banks to address concerns that savings rates for customers are too low, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Top bankers at Natwest, Barclays, HSBCL and Lloyds are expected to attend a meeting at the FCA on Thursday, to discuss the pricing of cash savings and how banks communicate with their customers on rates, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. "We do think there is more value that can be provided to consumers, we are not happy with some of the lower savings rates we see, and we want banks to be supporting customers . . . and people to be able to make informed choices," the report added, citing a person familiar with the FCA's position.

HSBC Holdings Plc: Europe's largest bank said on Tuesday it would target business with India's wealthy as it launched its global private banking business in the country. The bank said the new unit was aimed at 'high-net-worth' and 'ultra-high-net-worth' clients in India with investable assets of more than $2 million. HSBC is in talks to recruit a team of senior Middle East wealth managers from stricken rival Credit Suisse as part of its efforts globally to bulk up in private banking, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Pfizer Inc: South Korea's Samsung Biologics announced on Tuesday two deals with Pfizer worth around a combined 1.2 trillion won to manufacture products for the U.S. pharmaceutical giant. The latest deals will see the biotech division of the Samsung Group produce biosimilar products ranging from oncology and inflammation to immunotherapy in the period to 2029 at its new Plant 4 in South Korea. The latest orders bring this year's combined tally of orders from Pfizer to $1.08 billion, Samsung Biologics said in a statement. Tuesday's announcements include a 922.7 billion won contract, as well as an additional 254.3 billion won order that is a follow-up to a deal previously announced in March.?

Ryanair Holdings Plc: The Irish airline flew a record 17.4 million passengers in June, its highest for a single month and a 9% increase from a year earlier, the low-cost carrier said on Tuesday. The previous traffic record of 17 million was set in May. The airline, Europe's largest by passengers carried, cancelled more than 900 flights, affecting some 160,000 customers, mainly due to air traffic control strikes last month. Flights were on average 95% full in June, unchanged on a year earlier.

UBS Group AG: A Swiss proxy adviser representing some former Credit Suisse shareholders has backed a class-action lawsuit seeking a better price from UBS for its takeover of its cross-town rival, it said on Tuesday. Ethos Foundation, which represents a Swiss pension funds that owned more than 3% of Credit Suisse, "has decided to support the Lausanne-based legal start-up LegalPass in its legal action against the exchange ratio set in the context of the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS," it said in a statement.

Lamborghini's?combustion engine models are sold out until the end of production, its chief executive was quoted as saying in the WELT newspaper, as the luxury carmaker transitions towards a pure hybrid lineup.

Indian auto parts maker Samvardhana Motherson International (SMIL) said on Tuesday it will buy a majority stake in Japan-based auto-part maker Yachiyo Industry's four-wheeler business from Honda Motor to expand its product range.

India is considering bilateral agreements with countries such as Japan to allow them to use carbon credits linked to green hydrogen production in India in exchange for investment and purchase deals, two government sources and one industry source told Reuters.

Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday sought to forge closer ties and boost cooperation within the expanding Eurasian bloc but stressed the group is not directed against any other states.

Indian meter manufacturer Genus Power Infrastructures said on Tuesday that it signed agreements for setting up a platform to fund smart metering projects with an affiliate of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC at an initial commitment of $2 billion.

ECONOMIC DATA (GMT)

0755?Germany HCOB Services PMI?for June: Expected 54.1; Prior 54.1

0755?Germany HCOB Composite Final PMI?for June: Expected 50.8; Prior 50.8

0800?Euro Zone HCOB Services Final PMI?for June: Expected 52.4; Prior 52.4

0800?Euro Zone S&P Global Composite Final PMI?for June: Expected 50.3; Prior 50.3

0830?United Kingdom S&P GLBL/CIPS Services PMI Final?for June: Expected 53.7; Prior 53.7

0830?United Kingdom Composite PMI Final?for June: Expected 52.8; Prior 52.8

0830?United Kingdom Reserve Assets Total?for June: Prior $183,320.23 mln

0900?Euro Zone Producer Prices mm?for May: Expected -1.8%; Prior -3.2%

0900?Euro Zone Producer Prices yy?for May: Expected -1.3%; Prior 1.0%

Source (but not limited too) Reuters, CNBC, Financial Post, Financial Times, Globe & Mail, InvestorIntel, Kitco, Refinitiv