Swiss mining and commodity trading giant Glencore said Friday it is in merger talks with British-Australian rival Rio Tinto.Glencore said it was in preliminary discussions with Rio Tinto “about a possible combination of some or all of their businesses”.The deal could proceed as an all-share merger, it said in a statement.The Financial Times was first to report that the duo were discussing a “megamerger” to create the world’s largest mining company.Together, they would have a value of more than US$260 billion, the paper said.As a combined force they would have greater leverage to acquire copper resources, a metal that is growing in demand as countries expand electrical networks to harness renewable energies.Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle in December outlined plans to become one of the world’s largest copper producers. “Our portfolio, in particular in copper is world class,” he told an investor presentation. “The coal business supports the energy needs of today as we transition in the world.”The “current expectation” is that Rio Tinto would acquire Glencore by a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, Glencore said.Rio Tinto separately confirmed the merger talks in a statement.The two groups said there was no certainty that the preliminary talks would result in a merger.Rio Tinto said it had until February 5 to announce whether or not it is going ahead with a takeover offer.While Rio Tinto is exiting coal, Glencore announced in August last year it had decided against spinning off its coal business.- Coal concerns -Glencore said at the time its shareholders viewed the polluting fossil fuel as a cash-generating activity.The mining group had considered merging newly acquired Elk Valley Resources with its own coal activities and spinning it off.But Glencore said it needed the cash flow from its coal mines to invest in raw materials useful for the green transition, such as copper and cobalt.The strategy was criticised by environmental charities and shareholders, who noted that coal is banned from some investment portfolios.Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has excluded Glencore shares from its portfolio since 2020.Oil, gas and coal companies are under pressure to transition away from fossil fuels, the biggest contributor to climate change.

Global stocks were mixed Thursday while oil prices bounced higher as markets looked ahead to key US employment data expected to influence monetary policy.The geopolitical outlook remained a major uncertainty for traders after the United States toppled Venezuela’s president, and as China targeted Japanese imports following Tokyo voicing support for Taiwan.US defense stocks saw some sharp gains after President Donald Trump called for a 50-percent hike of the US defense budget next year. But US indices overall were indecisive, with the Dow advancing, the Nasdaq retreating and the S&P 500 ending flat.Investors were awaiting the release of US data on non-farm payrolls Friday, a crucial guide for Federal Reserve decision-makers. They meet at the end of the month amid debate on whether they will cut interest rates for a fourth successive time.”With a March rate cut essentially priced in as a coin-toss, tomorrow’s jobs report does provide the basis for a potential market-moving event if we see any particularly strong deviation from expectations,” said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.Analysts expect the US economy added 55,000 jobs in December, while unemployment dipped to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent in November.Equity markets in Asia struggled Thursday, with Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo all closing lower.Tokyo stocks were weighed down after China announced an anti-dumping probe into imports from Japan of a key chemical used to make semiconductors.The move comes with the two Asian giants at loggerheads since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Japan may react militarily in any attack on Taiwan.Seoul edged higher to another record close, though tech giant Samsung fell back after saying it expected its fourth-quarter profit to reach a record $13.8 billion.Oil prices rebounded after suffering a second steep fall in a row Wednesday on Trump’s comments that Venezuela would turn over millions of barrels to the United States following its ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.Traders will also be keeping an eye on a US Supreme Court ruling, which could come as soon as Friday, on the legality of many of Trump’s punishing tariffs.- Key figures at around 2115 GMT – New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 49,266.11 (close)New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 6,921.46 (close)New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.4 percent at 23,480.02 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 10,044.69 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 8,243.47 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: FLAT at 25,127.46 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.6 percent at 51,117.26 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 26,149.31 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,082.98 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1661 from $1.1675 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3437 from $1.3458Dollar/yen: UP at 156.95 yen from 156.76 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.70 from 86.74 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 3.4 percent at $61.99 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 3.2 percent at $57.76 per barrelburs-jmb/jgc