2024-12-31 00:17
Crypto stocks drop Boeing dips as South Korea begins crash investigation U.S. stock markets closed on Jan 9 (Thursday) Indexes down: Dow 0.97%, S&P 500 1.07%, Nasdaq 1.19% NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed in negative territory on Monday in light volume at the top of a holiday-shortened week in the second-to-last trading session of an eventful year in which all three indexes posted strong double-digit gains. End-of-year tax positioning, valuations, climbing Treasury yields and uncertainties about 2025 all contributed to the risk-off sentiment. The three major U.S. stock indexes bounced off early lows but still were down more than 0.5%. The broad selloff dragged all 11 major S&P 500 sectors into negative territory on the day. "Investors are saying the S&P, even after this recent sell off, is up over 50% in the last two years," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors, in New York. "Maybe we should take some chips off the table and protect those gains. And when you have thin volume, it doesn’t take a lot (to move markets)." Despite recent weakness, 2024 has been a banner year for U.S. equities. The Nasdaq is on track for about a 30% annual gain and the S&P 500 is headed for more than a 24% rise for 2024. The Dow remains up just over 13% from the last closing levels of 2023. On the sector level, technology (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab, communication services (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab and consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab were on course to notch gains of nearly 30% or more, while materials (.SPLRCM) , opens new tab appear poised to nab the dubious distinction of the only sector to have lost ground on the year. It was a year during which geopolitical tensions came to a boil in the Middle East and elsewhere, while the Federal Reserve cut U.S. interest rates for the first time in over four years. In U.S. politics, former President Donald Trump was convicted of 32 felonies early in the year, then won re-election to a second term after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race to be replaced as Democratic candidate by Vice President Kamala Harris. Chip maker Nvidia's (NVDA.O) , opens new tab stock shot up nearly 180% this year as investors placed heavy bets on the promise of emergent artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In November, Nvidia replaced rival chip maker Intel (INTC.O) , opens new tab in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. "Next year is going to be much more volatile for investors, in particular in the first quarter," Pursche added. "However, I do think there’s a good chance of stocks doing reasonably well and having mid-single-digit returns next year." "The combination of likely lower taxes and a friendlier regulatory environment is likely to result in stocks rising well beyond fair valuations," Pursche said, citing investor expectations that Trump will deliver on his campaign promises. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 418.48 points, or 0.97%, to 42,573.73, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 63.90 points, or 1.07%, to 5,906.94 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab lost 235.25 points, or 1.19%, to 19,486.79. All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 lost ground on the day, with consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab suffering the largest percentage decline, falling 1.6% Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab shares fell 1.6% after South Korea's acting president Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection of its entire airline operation following the deadliest air accident in that country's history, involving a Boeing 737-800. Crypto stocks including MicroStrategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab and MARA Holdings (MARA.O) , opens new tab tumbled from 3.8% to 8.2% Biden declared a national day of mourning on Thursday Jan. 9 to mark the death on Sunday of former President Jimmy Carter. The U.S. stock market will be closed that day. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 55 new highs and 231 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,604 stocks rose and 2,765 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.72-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 15 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 118 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 14.48 billion shares, compared with the 14.75 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. (This story has been refiled to delete the fourth bullet point) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/wall-st-futures-slip-elevated-treasury-yields-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 23:27
NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro filed a complaint with a federal energy regulator against PJM Interconnection on Monday, arguing that the largest U.S. power grid operator must change its market rules or risk soaring electricity costs. PJM Interconnection, which runs the electrical grid covering more than 65 million Americans across parts of 13 states from Illinois to New Jersey, has faced increased public scrutiny since July, when it said its annual capacity auction would result in record-high payments to power plants in its system. "It is difficult to escape the conclusion that PJM's capacity market is currently failing," Shapiro, a Democrat, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania said in the complaint filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The complaint argues, in part, that PJM's capacity market price cap is unreasonably high and threatens to add billions of dollars to power bills while failing to substantially increase grid reliability. If certain market rules remain in place, ratepayers across the PJM region could see as much as a $20.4 billion increase in costs, the complaint said. In the last annual auction, PJM agreed to pay power generators roughly 900% more than it paid the previous year, attributing the surging prices to tightening power supplies and rising electricity demand. At least some of those costs will be paid by homes and businesses in PJM's territory. "Fundamentally this is a supply/demand problem that is leading to high consumer pricing, driven primarily by policy choices that are pushing resources off the system, along with data center and electrification demand growth,” PJM spokesperson Susan Buehler said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pennsylvania-governor-complains-regulator-about-pjms-power-market-rules-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 21:47
SAO PAULO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian miner Vale (VALE3.SA) , opens new tab has reached an agreement with local authorities to pay up to some 11 billion reais ($1.78 billion) to renegotiate two railway concession contracts, the firm announced in a securities filing on Monday. Brazil's government has been aiming to remove discounts given to rail companies by the previous administration when some received early contract renewals. In its filing, Vale noted that it has reached agreement on general terms with the government and land transport regulator ANTT for the renegotiation of the Carajas and Vitoria a Minas railways concessions, which in 2020 were extended through 2057. The company added that the agreement still awaits additional approvals, and will lead to an increase of 1.7 billion reais in its provisions related to railways concessions. ($1 = 6.1778 reais) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/vale-reaches-18-bln-agreement-with-brazil-authorities-over-railway-concessions-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 21:39
Decision is 'least bad' option available, U.S. judge writes Gramercy, two others free to pursue claims in separate courts HOUSTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Lawsuits by three firms seeking to improve their chances of obtaining proceeds in an auction of shares in Citgo Petroleum's parent can go ahead, a U.S. judge ruled in an order issued on Monday. The decision could reduce the proceeds of any sale, the court officer overseeing the auction in federal court in Delaware had said in a motion seeking to block the parallel lawsuits. Shares in Citgo parent PDV Holding are being auctioned to repay $21 billion in claims for debt defaults and expropriations by Venezuela and state oil firm PDVSA. PDV is a U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA and is the indirect sole stockholder of Citgo. The three related firms - Gramercy Distressed Opportunity Fund, G&A Strategic and Girard Street Investments - brought parallel lawsuits in other courts after their claims left them unlikely to fully recoup claims in the Delaware court auction. Gramercy declined to comment. The court officer overseeing the auction had asked the judge to bar their Texas and New York claims, saying they could reduce bids. He had recommended bids by Elliott Investment Management affiliate Amber Energy that were contingent on an injunction being issued. Elliott had threatened to quit the auction if the injunction was not issued. A spokesperson declined immediate comment. U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark, who called rejecting the injunction his "least bad option," firmly opposed the Special Master's motion to enjoin. The special master is a court officer overseeing the auction. The proposed motion lacks a legal basis, and evidence of new bids being prepared show the claims by Gramercy and others "are not nearly as big of a problem as the Injunction Motion portrays them," Stark wrote. The share auction was "never intended" to be free of a risk others might try to seize Venezuela assets. "The fundamental premise of the Special Master's Motion, that an injunction is necessary, is unproven," Stark wrote. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/judge-citgo-share-auction-rejects-bid-block-gramercy-fund-lawsuits-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 21:25
CHICAGO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A shareholder of agribusiness Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) , opens new tab is pressing the company's CEO to resign for failing to clearly tell investors about problems with its internal accounting practices that have sparked a criminal investigation first reported by Reuters. In a LinkedIn post entitled "Investor-misery has a name: ADM," Hartwig Fuchs said ADM was the worst stock in his portfolio this year and blamed ADM CEO Juan Luciano. Fuchs was the board chairman of German trading firm Alfred C. Toepfer International when ADM owned a majority stake in the firm. Fuchs left Toepfer in 2009 and Chicago-based ADM acquired it in 2014. "A German proverb says: The fish always stinks from the head," Fuchs wrote in his post, dated Sunday. ADM declined to comment on Fuchs' post on Monday. It was not immediately clear how many ADM shares Fuchs owns. ADM was forced to amend years of financial reporting in March and November after discovering sales between its nutrition business and other core units were not recorded properly. The company cut its 2024 profit outlook last month, citing policy uncertainty, slow demand and "internal operational challenges." Federal prosecutors in recent months have expanded their inquiries into whether ADM or its employees committed crimes including securities fraud and conspiracy, according to subpoenas reviewed by Reuters and people familiar with the probe. Government investigations are not evidence of wrongdoing and do not necessarily result in charges. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan on Monday declined to comment on the investigation. ADM's stock price is down nearly 30% from a year ago, and ADM's shareholders, including Fuchs, are asking questions and pointing fingers as to who is to blame. "If a highly paid CEO of such an important company cannot manage to provide clarity within a few months - i.e. fully clear up the scandal, comunicate (sic) with full Transparency about what went wrong and what will be done in the future, regain investors trust and, above all, protect the company from long-term damage - then he has to go," Fuchs wrote in his post. ADM is facing other headwinds including low crop prices, uncertainty around biofuels regulations and a possible tariff battle between the United States and China that could upend global trade flows as soon as January, after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/adm-shareholder-presses-ceo-resign-criminal-probe-continues-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 21:08
Child freezes to death Winter rain and cold grip displaced in Gaza Hunger also rife Hopes of ceasefire fade GAZA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Yahya Al-Batran woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning to find his wife, Noura trying to wake their newborn twin sons Jumaa and Ali as they lay together in the makeshift tent the family occupied in an encampment in the central Gaza Strip. Intense winter cold and heavy rain across the coastal enclave in previous days had made their lives a misery but what he heard was more serious. "She said she had been trying to wake Jumaa up, but he was not waking up, and I asked about Ali and she said, he was not walking up either," he told Reuters on Sunday. "I held up Jumaa, he was white and freezing like snow, like ice, frozen." Jumaa, a month old, died of hypothermia, one of six Palestinians who have died of exposure and cold over recent days in Gaza, according to doctors. Ali was in critical condition on Monday in intensive care. In the second winter of the war in Gaza, the weather has added an extra element of suffering to hundreds of thousands of people already displaced, often multiple times, while efforts to agree a ceasefire go nowhere. The death of Jumaa al-Batran shows how severe the situation facing vulnerable families remains. Israeli authorities say they have allowed thousands of aid trucks carrying food, water, medical equipment and shelter supplies into Gaza. International aid agencies say Israeli forces have been hampering aid deliveries, making the humanitarian crisis even worse. Yahya al-Batran's family, from the northern town of Beit Lahiya, fled their home early in the war for al-Maghazi, an open air patch of dunes and scrubland in central Gaza which Israeli authorities decreed as a humanitarian zone. Later on, as al-Maghazi became increasingly unsafe, they moved to another encampment in nearby Deir al-Balah city. "Since I am an adult I may take this and endure it, but what did the young one do to deserve this?" Jumaa's mother, Noura al-Batran said, as she held embraced her son's colourful blanket to her chest. "He could not endure it, he could not endure the cold or the hunger and this hopelessness." TATTERED TENTS Around the area, dozens of tents, many already tattered from months of use, have been blown away or flooded by the strong winds and rain, leaving families struggling to repair the damage, patching torn sheets of plastic and piling up sand to hold back the water. "The water seeped inside and on the mattresses and my children's clothes. I changed the children’s clothes this morning to their underwear," said Sabreen Abu Shanab, a mother of three, whose tent was flooded. "They were sleeping and soaked wet to their underwear. I swear. The pants and underwear (were all soaked). Everything is soaked, the blankets, the pillows, everything," added the woman. Abu Shanab suffers from asthma and despite medication, she has not been feeling better for a month because of the cold weather and the lack of heavy blankets and clothes. It is another aspect of the humanitarian crisis facing Gaza's 2.3 million population, caught by the relentless Israeli campaign against the remnants of Hamas and dependent on an erratic aid system increasingly vulnerable to looting as order has broken down. Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, and turned the enclave into a wasteland of rubble and destroyed buildings. The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, said on Sunday that the aid is nowhere near enough and a ceasefire was desperately needed to deliver as famine loomed. Earlier this month, Israeli and Hamas leaders expressed hopes that talks brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States could lead to an agreement to halt the fighting and return Israeli hostages held by Hamas, potentially opening the way to a full ceasefire agreement. But optimistic talk of a deal before the end of the year has faded and it remains unclear how near the two sides are to an agreement. Even as the displaced suffer, Israeli troops have been battling Hamas fighters in the ruined area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, now out of reach of emergency services cut off by the fighting. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/displaced-gaza-newborn-freezes-death-twin-fights-his-life-rain-floods-tents-2024-12-30/
