2025-02-20 19:56

Feb 20 (Reuters) - American boxer Claressa Shields, the undisputed world champion in three weight classes, has been suspended and is under investigation after testing positive for marijuana following her victory over heavyweight Danielle Perkins in Michigan. The Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission suspended the 29-year-old athlete from competing in the state after an 'oral fluid sample' taken after the fight on February 2 showed the presence of marijuana, which is banned in competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). "Ms. Shields' conduct as a licensed professional boxer constitutes an immediate threat to the integrity of professional boxing, the public interest, and the welfare and safety of professional athletes," the Michigan Commission said on Thursday. The World Boxing Organization (WBO), which does not have the authority to suspend boxers, has requested a "show notice" from Shields to provide an explanation. The Michigan Commission is also conducting its own investigation to determine if disciplinary action is necessary. Shields, the only boxer to hold every major world title - WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO - in three weight classes and a two-time Olympic gold medallist, took to social media last week posting, "Clean athletes win". Under the World Boxing Council Clean Boxing Program, both Shields and Perkins have been tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA). Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sports/undisputed-champion-shields-suspended-michigan-after-marijuana-test-2025-02-20/

2025-02-20 19:33

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Southern Co (SO.N) , opens new tab boosted its base capital investment forecast through the end of the decade to $63 billion, or about 30% more than the previous plan, executives with the major U.S. power provider said on Thursday. Transmission projects make up the largest portion of the proposed spending increase. Growing demand from artificial intelligence data centers and population surges in the U.S. South have driven up Southern Co's electricity demand, and pushed broader electricity consumption to record highs, company executives said on an earnings call. Southern serves nearly 9 million customers in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia. Southern's pipeline of data center customers, and other very large electricity users, is more than 50 gigawatts, with subsidiary Georgia Power's share sitting at about 40 gigawatts. About 10 gigawatts of that pipeline are committed projects. The expansion of technologies like generative AI, which need giant data centers, has helped to drive U.S. power demand to record highs in 2024. Shares of Southern Co rose about 2% at mid-afternoon. Despite rising demand, Southern narrowly missed Wall Street expectations for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as it took a hit from higher U.S. interest rates. Southern Co's interest costs for the October-December quarter rose to $693 million from $634 million last year. Total operating expenses rose 9% to $5.28 billion, with operating and maintenance costs climbing 14.6% to $1.99 billion. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/southern-co-misses-fourth-quarter-profit-estimates-higher-interest-costs-2025-02-20/

2025-02-20 19:19

MOSCOW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Russia has extended its gasoline export ban, with exemptions for producers, for six months, the country's government said on Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister "Alexander Novak supported the decision to ban gasoline exports for non-producing companies for the period from March 1 to August 31 this year in order to balance the market during the period of increased demand," the government said in a statement. "Refineries and oil companies that own them will be allowed to export fuel." At the moment, major oil companies are allowed to export gasoline but traders and resellers are banned from doing so, under a measure originally implemented almost a year ago. The initial ban sought to address a sharp rise in wholesale fuel prices and the risk of a shortage on the domestic market. It excludes supplies to the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union, a group of five former Soviet states, and to countries such as Mongolia with which Russia has intergovernmental agreements on fuel supplies. The biggest importers of Russian gasoline include Nigeria, Libya, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-extends-gasoline-export-permit-large-companies-until-end-feb-2025-01-31/

2025-02-20 19:15

NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to withdraw its appeal of a decision by a federal judge late last year to vacate an overhaul of Treasury dealer rules, according to a court document filed on Wednesday. In a statement, the SEC said it decided to dismiss the appeal because the new rule could reduce "liquidity in the Treasury markets, making them more volatile, and increasing debt for taxpayers." One year ago, the SEC under Chair Gary Gensler adopted a rule requiring proprietary traders and other firms that routinely deal in U.S. government bonds to register as broker-dealers, subjecting them to stricter oversight. The rule aimed to address liquidity problems in the $26 trillion Treasury market, something market players said was part of the biggest market structure overhaul in decades. In November, however, a federal judge in Texas vacated the rule saying the SEC had overstepped its legal authority in issuing the regulations. Two separate suits against the SEC dealer rule had been filed by the Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas and the Blockchain Association, as well as by investment associations including Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Managed Funds Association (MFA). Currently under acting chair Mark Uyeda, the agency decision to withdraw its appeal marks a change in course of action of the regulator under a new administration. The SEC said in the court filing the parties involved would pay for their own costs. Last month, AIMA and MFA sent a letter to Uyeda asking the agency to withdraw the appeal of the dealer rule. MFA's CEO Bryan Corbett said in a statement that the decision to withdraw the rule is "consistent with its historical interpretation of the securities laws." AIMA's CEO Jack Inglis also welcomed the decision, saying hedge funds are not dealers. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-regulator-withdraws-appeal-rule-treasury-markets-2025-02-20/

2025-02-20 19:07

Markets show reduced sensitivity to U.S. tariff news Investors shift focus to Ukraine ceasefire, China tech Some fear markets are complacent LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The outsized swings in markets on the back of Donald Trump's every word on tariffs just weeks ago have faded to mere flickers, as investors switch their focus elsewhere, and bet against a full-scale trade war really materialising. There is a nagging doubt for others, however, that markets could be growing complacent. China is one of the few trading partners on which Trump has increased tariffs, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HSI) , opens new tab is up 14% year to date, led by a surge in tech stocks. Similarly, traders are banking on less volatility in the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso - both slightly stronger than they were at the start of the year - and an index of European auto stocks - also vulnerable to tariffs - hit a seven-month high this week. (.SXAP) , opens new tab To be sure, they are not immune. European autos took a small knock after more tariff chatter on Wednesday, but they remain up nearly 10% in 2025, and size of the swings are less than they were. State Street has tracked media headlines and measured them against moves in currencies and equities to get a sense of how sensitive each market has been to trade-war news. "A few months ago, tariffs were the key thing to look at. Now the media continues to talk about tariffs but the market is not paying attention," said Marija Veitmane, head of equity research at State Street Global markets. "Nearly 40% of all equity market volatility could be explained by a trade war narrative. Now it's got to less than 2%," Veitmane added. Part of the reason is the lack of clarity over the scope, timing and targets of Trump's overall trade policy. "We don't know, from threats to reality, what tariffs will imply," Monica Defend, head of the Amundi Investment Institute, said. "We cannot forecast with reasonable confidence." DISTRACTED AND DESENSITIZED? Meanwhile, markets have moved on from last year's so-called U.S. exceptionalism narrative that framed Europe and China as tariff victims and bet on Trump's deregulation and tax cuts to safeguard U.S. growth. The S&P 500, (.SPX) , opens new tab which rallied sharply in the weeks after Trump's victory, is up just 5% year to date, compared with a near-9% gain in Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab, while the U.S. dollar has weakened against a basket of major currencies. . Chinese tech stocks have soared as investors latch onto the buzz around AI startup DeepSeek and President Xi Jinping held a rare meeting with tech executives. What's more, few tariffs have actually been imposed, compared with the far-reaching blanket duties Trump initially threatened. Mohit Kumar, Jefferies chief Europe economist, says markets have become "increasingly desensitized". "The feeling in the market is it's a negotiating tool ... and it's just too expensive to go and out and trade on headlines," he said. In early February, the Canadian dollar hit a 20-year low after Trump announced sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico. When he postponed them, the currency rebounded almost as quickly as it had fallen in its largest single-day swing in nearly five years. The loonie has continued to strengthen since then, with some investors and analysts now arguing this is one example of the complacency in markets. Australian bank Westpac is recommending clients short the Canadian currency, as it is "materially under-pricing the potential for renewed tariff risks." Paul Mackel, HSBC's global head of FX research, said in a note there is now "little Trump policy premium in the broad dollar, if any at all. This is complacent, in our view." And tariffs of course could still appear. "From Trump's perspective, you can't keep threatening (tariffs) and not doing it, because then there's no point," said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio manager at Natixis Investment Managers. "So one of these is going to stick, and all of a sudden we're down 5%." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-tariffs-2025-02-20/

2025-02-20 19:04

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday said it is revising a list of more than 600 energy and other infrastructure projects it had earmarked to be fast-tracked under President Donald Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency. The Army Corps, a federal engineering service with permitting authority over projects involving wetlands and waterways, posted the list of priority projects requiring faster environmental approval review last week, without public notice. That move followed an energy emergency executive order that Trump signed on January 20. But the agency on Thursday said it will remove the list from its website database until it determines which projects meet the criteria laid out in Trump's executive order. The list's removal is the latest example of the Trump administration having to backtrack on a hastily-executed action. "The USACE is in the process of reviewing active permit applications relative to the Executive Order," Army Corps spokesperson Doug Garman said. "The data field will be added back once we refine which permit actions may be covered by the EO." The list included numerous high-profile fossil fuel projects, such as Enbridge's (ENB.TO) , opens new tab Line 5 oil pipeline under Lake Michigan, several natural gas power plants, and liquefied natural gas export terminals proposed by Cheniere (LNG.N) , opens new tab and Venture Global (VG.N) , opens new tab. But it also included projects that had already been cancelled or completed, and dozens of renewable energy projects, which were not included in the national energy emergency order. Other federal agencies have also had to backtrack in recent days. Reuters last week reported that 325 workers were sent notice they had been laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration, which works around the world to secure dangerous nuclear materials. Later that day, an uncertain number of those layoffs were rescinded, causing chaos in NNSA offices. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had to rehire employees who had been working on the government's bird flu response, after firing them a few days earlier. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-army-corps-revising-list-energy-emergency-projects-fast-track-2025-02-20/