Friday, 25 September 2026

S&P's baseline forecast projects Asia-Pacific gross domestic product to expand 4.6% this year, according to S&P.

The upgrade marks a 0.2 percentage point increase from the projection S&P issued a quarter earlier.

Looking further out, S&P sees regional growth easing to 4.4% in 2027.

London's FTSE 100 held roughly flat at 10,705.26 points, with a rally in energy shares offsetting weakness elsewhere, according to reporting from AOL and LSE.

Oil prices moved back above $100 a barrel after five consecutive sessions of declines, and energy stocks on the index rose 2.2%. The gain in crude producers helped absorb losses in other sectors.

Pharmaceutical stocks were the heaviest drag on the blue-chip index, falling 1.5%. The midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.7%.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark British gilt climbed to 5.353%.

Gran Tierra Energy has filed a definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of a special meeting where stockholders will vote on the sale of its Colombian and Ecuadorian businesses to Maurel & Prom. The filing was lodged on September 15, 2026, according to the company's announcement.

The proposed transaction values the Colombian and Ecuadorian operations at approximately USD 1.33 billion, subject to adjustment, under a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement entered into on August 5, 2026.

Gran Tierra's board of directors unanimously recommends that stockholders approve the Share Purchase Agreement and the transactions contemplated by it, including the sale.

The special meeting will be held virtually on October 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time.

Atlas Energy Solutions disclosed two power equipment contracts worth a combined $613.5 million in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Investing.com.

The larger contract covers balance-of-plant equipment priced at roughly $340.5 million, scheduled to ship over the second half of 2027. Costs on that purchase are backstopped by a reimbursement agreement with an AI lab, not named in the filing, that will also take the project's power output.

The same day, subsidiary Atlas Energy Solutions Shackelford 1 struck a $273.0 million deal with Wyoming Machinery Company for about 328 MW of generation kit and engineering work, with installments running from September 2026 to January 2028.

Fitch Ratings has raised several short-term price assumptions for metals and mined commodities, citing year-to-date prices and supply-and-demand dynamics, according to Marketscreener.

Copper assumptions for 2026 and 2027 were revised upward, with Fitch pointing to a tight supply-demand balance and solid demand growth.

Coking coal assumptions for the same two years were also lifted. Fitch attributed the change to higher prices since the start of the year, break-even operating costs, resilient demand in China, and a tight supply-demand balance.

Lithium moved the other way. Fitch cut its 2026 price assumption for the battery metal.

Two infrastructure financings closed in the same news cycle, one funding solar construction robots and the other packaging a multi-state site portfolio into bonds.

Planted, an Oakland company that builds solar power plants using its own construction robots, raised USD 31.8 million to expand its fleet and launch a next-generation machine, according to a report published on completeaitraining.com.

Separately, Accelerate Infrastructure Opportunities finalized a USD 450 million securitization, with bonds secured by a diversified pool of infrastructure sites across 39 states that support digital infrastructure, renewable energy and transportation projects, according to asreport.americanbanker.com.