Here are six things you need to know this morning
Market jitters as the U.S. and Iran trade fire
Stocks diverged and oil prices edged higher on Monday after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend, underscoring the fragility of their agreement to end the war. While the U.S. said it had agreed with Iran to halt the attacks and continue talks, the strikes disrupted shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
Oil prices, which last week fell to pre-war levels, rose slightly on Monday. “The impact on oil prices remains relatively contained,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote. “News that some key markets have even turned oversupplied thanks to the release of strategic reserves and oil tankers quietly making their way out of Hormuz has certainly helped investors react more moderately to the latest escalation,” she added. Investor confidence remained shaky, however, after last week saw markets whipsaw on growing concerns about a tech bubble fueled by the AI boom.
Tech firms were again in the spotlight, with South Korean chip makers SK hynix and Samsung extending last week’s selling and weighing on Seoul’s Kospi. South Korea said Monday it would invest nearly US$1.2 trillion -- equivalent to more than two-thirds of its GDP -- in a new chip-building hub and AI data centres over several years.
China claims new intelligence systems can challenge Anthropic’s Mythos
Chinese artificial-intelligence systems have matched the performance of Anthropic’s powerful model Mythos in some cybersecurity scenarios, a development poised to reset the global tech race and pressure the White House in its overhaul of U.S. AI policy.
Security researchers said that a new AI model, released this month by China’s Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, can match the latest U.S. models when it comes to finding security bugs, although it still lags behind Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s products in other tasks. Overall, the capability gap between top U.S. models and those built by Chinese companies has narrowed significantly, and use of Chinese AI systems has surged as businesses seek to rein in runaway costs. A host of companies, including Microsoft, are weighing how they can offer Chinese models on their platforms, a development that is set to alter the balance of power among tech companies.
Magna Mining has a record quarter
Magna Mining (NICU.TO) shipped 91,724 tonnes of ore from its McCreedy West Mine to Vale Base Metals’ Clarabelle mill in Sudbury, Ontario, with four days remaining in the second quarter, the company said Monday.
The shipment is a quarterly record and beats the 84,953 tons of ore produced in the fourth quarter of 2025. The average grade of the 66,445 tonnes of ore shipped in April and May is 3.55% copper equivalent. Final assays are pending for ore shipped in June. Underground development at McCreedy West during the quarter is anticipated to exceed 2,350 feet, also a record under Magna ownership.
McCreedy West has achieved a Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate (“TRIFR”) of 0.0. Jeff Huffman, COO of Magna, stated, “Our team at Magna has made several significant achievements during Q2, both operationally at McCreedy West as well as at our various development projects in the Sudbury Basin. In addition to achieving record quarterly tonnage shipped at McCreedy West, we anticipate the average grade during the quarter to be near the upper end of our 2026 annual guidance and we have also set a record in terms of underground development during the quarter which will help support production rates in the second half of 2026. Most importantly, we are now over one year of operations at McCreedy West without a reportable injury, an impressive achievement by our team which speaks to our strong safety culture.”
Canada’s first offshore wind farms move closer to reality
Development of Canada’s first offshore wind farms took a significant step forward late Friday when Nova Scotia’s offshore energy regulator released the names of companies qualified to bid on seabed licences.
The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator identified five companies and two groups of companies that won approval after taking part in a review process between October 2025 and January of this year. The eligible companies were required to meet certain financial, technical, legal and social criteria to prove they are capable of completing offshore wind projects. The regulator, however, said the companies that met eligibility requirements had the option of keeping their status confidential, which means the names of some participants may remain a secret at this stage. Meanwhile, the federal-provincial agency confirmed a formal call for bids will be issued some time later this year. And those bids will be subject to ministerial reviews at the federal and provincial levels. So far, the approved companies are based in Canada, Belgium, China, Ireland, Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea and France. In January, a spokesman for one of the companies, Q Energy France, said its estimated timeline for commissioning offshore turbines would be sometime in 2035.
Comcast splitting into two companies
Comcast, just months after shedding most of its cable TV business into Versant Media, is cleaving itself into two separate companies: one housing its namesake cable and tech operations, and the other comprising NBCUniversal media biz. Under the proposed separation, announced Monday, Comcast intends to make a tax-free spin-off of NBCUniversal and Sky.
After the transaction is completed, Comcast shareholders will own shares in both Comcast and NBCUniversal. The split will create “two focused industry leaders, each with significant scale, strong financial profiles and distinct strategic opportunities,” the media conglomerate said. Comcast expects to retain a stake of up to 19.9% ownership position in NBCUniversal for up to one year after the completion of the spin, which it intends to monetize in a tax-efficient manner over time. Mike Cavanagh will be the CEO of NBCUniversal while Comcast’s former CFO Michael Angelakis will become the CEO of Comcast. Goldman Sachs and PJT Partners are serving as financial advisors to Comcast.
Two high profile execs eyeing NBA expansion team in Vegas
Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner’s brother, Joshua Kushner have hired investment bankers and discussed making a bid for the National Basketball Association expansion team in Las Vegas, according to people familiar with their plans. The bid would be for a majority investment in the team, according to the people, who asked to not be identified because the discussions are private. The NBA’s board of governors approved the exploration of a potential franchise expansion in Las Vegas and Seattle in March. Iger and Kushner are discussing making the bid through Thrive Eternal, a company set up by Kushner’s firm to invest in iconic brands and cultural assets. The company operates as a holding company, structured to raise new capital and make investments into businesses without a set exit timeline. Iger is involved with Thrive as an adviser. It’s unclear what the size of the bid and the valuation of the franchise would be. Representatives for Thrive Capital and Iger declined to comment.
