Prysmian lands mega deal while metals and oil slide - Feb 2, 2026

As of February 2, today’s news is dominated by a major contract announcement by Prysmian, significant developments in commodity markets and shifts in global economic and trading scenarios. Prysmian has signed a contract for the delivery of the Eastern Green Link 4 electrical cable interconnector project with GB transmission owners, SP Energy Networks’ transmission business and National Grid Electricity Transmission plc, the company said in a statement. The contract is worth over 2.3 billion euros and will now enter Prysmian’s backlog of projects. Eastern Green Link 4 is a new high voltage direct current electrical link that will connect Fife in Scotland with Norfolk in England. It will be able to transmit up to 2GW of clean renewable energy – enough to power around 2 million homes, and is one of five similar projects being developed that will significantly increase the capacity of the electricity network between Scotland and England. Turning to broader market updates, commodity markets experienced a notable slump, particularly in precious metals, as gold and silver prices fell sharply due to market reactions to Federal Reserve leadership changes. Gold prices declined by 5%, and silver fell over 7%, reflecting investor concerns about a more hawkish monetary stance expected under the newly appointed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Alongside precious metals, oil prices dropped nearly 5%, signaling a widespread retreat from risk assets and influencing global market sentiment as well. In the realm of copper, prices continued to retreat following record highs achieved last week. Speculative pulling back was noted, albeit tempered by positive factory data from China. This data provided some stability in the market, which remains volatile but is still underpinned by strong demand fundamentals. Globally, hedge funds are diversifying their investments away from North America amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and volatility. Interest in Asia-focused strategies has notably risen, reversing the previous year's trends and highlighting a shift in investment preferences. Additionally, Oracle announced plans to raise between 45 billion to 50 billion dollars this year to expand its cloud infrastructure, a move indicative of the substantial financing demands driven by its AI growth initiatives. The company’s efforts come amidst scrutiny over its future profitability and infrastructure investments. On the geopolitical front, President Trump has indicated a reduction in tariffs on Indian goods, contingent upon India's commitment to cease purchases of Russian crude oil. This trade adjustment aims to strengthen US-India relations further.