** Shares of MP Materials MP.N up 3.6% to $28.57 premarket, after popping on Mon in wake of Financial Times report that U.S. President Donald Trump planning to stockpile critical deep-sea metals

** MP's shares on Mon closed up nearly 22% at $27.59, a two-year high, following FT report that Trump drafted an executive order to enable stockpiling of metals found on Pacific Ocean seabed to counter China's dominance in battery minerals and rare earth supply chains

** According to the report, stockpile would "create large quantities ready and available on U.S. territory to be used in the future", in case of a conflict with China that might constrain imports of metals and rare earths

** MP's shares on Mon notched their biggest daily pct gain since the Las Vegas, Nevada-based rare earths miner went public in 2020 after SPAC merger. YTD, shares up 77%

** Also following the report, shares of Canada-based TMC The Metals Company jumped 45% on Mon to $2.83, highest since Jul 2023, bringing their 2025 advance to ~153%

** TMC shares up another 11.3% before the bell to $3.15

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))