2024-12-17 21:38

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab on Tuesday said it strongly disputes allegations that it uses conflict minerals in its products and told suppliers earlier this year to stop purchasing those minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. In a statement to Reuters, Apple said it told its suppliers their smelters and refiners must stop buying tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold from the two countries as conflict in the region has escalated. Apple's statement came in response to a criminal complaint filed earlier in the day against the company in France and Belgium, where the Congolese government alleged Apple uses conflict minerals laundered through international supply chains. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/apple-says-it-has-told-suppliers-stop-buying-minerals-congo-2024-12-17/

2024-12-17 21:00

November retail sales stronger than expected Pfizer up after in-line 2025 profit forecast Dow on pace for ninth straight day in the red Indexes off: Dow 0.61%, S&P 500 0.39%, Nasdaq 0.32% NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks retreated on Tuesday and the Dow dropped for a ninth straight session, as investors exercised caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's last policy announcement of the year after economic data indicated consumer spending remained solid. U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in November, buoyed in part by an acceleration in motor vehicle purchases, consistent with strong underlying momentum in a resilient economy. Investors were largely focused on the Fed's policy announcement on Wednesday, almost completely pricing in , opens new tab an interest rate cut of 25 basis points. Of particular attention will be the Fed's summary of economic projections (SEP) and comments from Chair Jerome Powell, which may indicate how aggressive the U.S. central bank will be in cutting rates in 2025. The Fed may slow its easing in an economy that appears to have solid momentum and sticky inflation, and as the incoming Trump administration is expected to impose policies to stimulate growth and potentially reignite rising prices. "This is just kind of standard fare for a pre-Fed day market where you have just a little bit of uncertainty, people are not sure how to position ahead of the SEP and ahead of Powell," said Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group in Salt Lake City, Utah. "Everyone knows we're getting 25 bps ... what Powell is going to say at the press conference, what the SEP is going to tell us, those things people are not quite sure of so you have a little bit of jitters ahead of that." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 267.58 points, or 0.61%, to 43,449.90, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab slid 23.47 points, or 0.39%, to 6,050.61 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab dropped 64.83 points, or 0.32%, to 20,109.06. While the Nasdaq hit a record high on Monday and the S&P 500 is up nearly 27% on the year, the Dow has struggled recently and suffered its ninth straight daily decline, its longest losing streak since February 1978. Treasury yields oscillated between gains and losses on the day as investors braced for a "hawkish cut" from the Fed. Nearly all of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower on the day, led by a 0.9% drop in industrials (.SPLRCI) , opens new tab. Consumer discretionary was the sole advancer, lifted by a 3.6% gain in Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab after Mizuho hiked its price target on the stock by $285 to $515. Wedbush also hiked its price target on the electric vehicle maker to $515 on Monday. The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) , opens new tab, Wall Street's "fear gauge," rose above 15 for the first time in nearly three weeks to close at 15.87, its highest since Nov. 21, and the small-cap Russell 2000 (.RUT) , opens new tab, seen as more sensitive to higher interest rates, dropped 1.2%. Pfizer (PFE.N) , opens new tab jumped 4.7% after the drugmaker forecast 2025 profit roughly in line with Wall Street expectations. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.77-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.79-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 19 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 new highs and 197 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.17 billion shares, compared with the 14.11 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-waver-yields-rise-ahead-fed-meet-retail-sales-deck-2024-12-17/

2024-12-17 20:41

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden released a long-awaited study on the economic and environmental impacts of liquefied natural gas exports on Tuesday, saying the results underscored the need for a cautious approach to new permits. Biden in January had paused the Department of Energy's approvals of U.S. LNG exports to big consumers in Asia and Europe so that his administration could conduct the review, triggering complaints from the oil and gas industry. "The main takeaway is that a business-as-usual approach is neither sustainable nor advisable," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters ahead of the release of the study. Granholm said in a letter about the study's findings that rising LNG exports risk dramatically raising greenhouse gas emissions and could also trigger price hikes for U.S. energy consumers. Incoming President Donald Trump, a climate-change skeptic and a big supporter of fossil fuel development, has promised to immediately end the moratorium on new LNG export permits when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20. The study , opens new tab contained various scenarios of the impacts of LNG exports depending on domestic and international climate policies, technologies and resource availability. Across all scenarios, the study found U.S. natural gas supply is sufficient to meet domestic demand for the fuel and global demand for U.S. LNG. But in an unconstrained LNG export scenario, domestic gas prices would rise 31% in 2050, it found, boosting natural gas bills for U.S. households by more than $100 a year with prices varying by region. The study is meant to inform Energy Department decisions on new permits to export the gas. The department is required by law to determine whether exports are in the public interest. Liquefied natural gas is natural gas that has been super-cooled to a liquid state, reducing its volume and allowing it to be transported to places pipelines do not reach. When asked whether the results of the study would give LNG opponents legal grounds to challenge new LNG export permits in court, a DOE official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters it should first be a consideration for any U.S. energy secretary. The official added that proponents of being cautious on LNG have a variety of recourses in Congress and in the courts, which the study could inform. The study said while Europe has been the top destination for U.S. LNG since 2016, especially as the region weans itself off gas from Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, global demand and the destination of U.S. LNG in the future is less certain. "European policies are moving to reduce the use of fossil fuels, including natural gas," the study said. "Demand for natural gas and LNG in Asia is expected to increase in most scenarios." LNG supporters said the U.S. study was influenced by politics in an election year. A study by S&P Global also released on Tuesday said U.S. LNG has contributed more than $400 billion to U.S. GDP over the past decade, supporting about 273,000 jobs and will add about 495,000 jobs through 2040. “LNG exports are not only in America’s national interest, but also in the world’s interest, including our European allies seeking to break free from dependence on Russian gas," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a release about the Biden administration study. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/biden-administration-releases-lng-export-study-urging-caution-new-permits-2024-12-17/

2024-12-17 20:39

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Canadian utility firm Hydro One (H.TO) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it would partner with the country's Indigenous peoples' body, First Nations, to develop and construct a new priority transmission line in Northeast Ontario. Canada had said in April it was providing up to C$5 billion ($3.49 billion) in loan guarantees to help Indigenous groups invest in natural resource projects. The program is expected to give the groups major investment opportunities for oil pipelines, power lines and wind and solar projects. Hydro One said on Tuesday the proposed project is a new, 260-kilometre, 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line, initially energized at 230 kV between the Wawa Transformer Station (TS) in Wawa and the Porcupine TS in Timmins, Ontario. The company said this project, expected to be in service by the end of 2030, is aimed at supporting the rapid increase in electricity demand expected in northern Ontario. ($1 = 1.4309 Canadian dollars) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/hydro-one-partners-with-first-nations-invest-transmission-line-ontario-2024-12-17/

2024-12-17 20:35

Canada targeting net-zero electricity grid by 2050 Regulations will cut nearly 181 megatonnes of emissions by 2050 Province of Alberta says it will challenge regulations in court Dec 17 (Reuters) - Canada unveiled finalized Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) on Tuesday that aim to create a net-zero electricity grid by 2050, abandoning its previous target of having an emissions-neutral grid by 2035. Ottawa dialled back its original target after feedback from some provinces and energy industry participants, who said the draft CER regulations would make electricity supply in Canada less reliable, more expensive and risked creating stranded assets, government officials said in a briefing. Canada already generates 85% of its electricity from clean sources like hydropower, wind and solar, but the less ambitious regulations mean it will be harder for the country to meet its climate target of cutting carbon emissions 45–50% below 2005 levels by 2035. "I wouldn't say we've backed off the ambition in terms of decarbonization of the grid, but we have learned through consultation that there was a need for some more flexibility," Canada's Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told Reuters in an interview. The finalized regulations will cut nearly 181 megatonnes of cumulative carbon emissions from the grid between 2024 and 2050, while the draft regulations had aimed to cut 342 megatonnes by the middle of this century. A previous target of limiting emissions from any power-producing unit to 30 tonnes of carbon per gigawatt hour was changed to a higher limit of 65 tonnes per gigawatt hour. Power-generating facilities will also be able to emit a further 35 tonnes per gigawatt hour if they use emissions offset credits. Another flexibility is that facilities will be expected to stick to an annual emissions limit, instead of a strict performance standard to be met at all times. Co-generation facilities that produce electricity that does not feed into the grid, such as those operated by some oil sands companies in northern Alberta, will not be subject to the CER. Canada's main oil and gas-producing province Alberta was firmly opposed to the draft CER and said the finalized regulations are still unreasonable and interfere with provincial jurisdiction. Alberta plans to challenge the regulations in court. "We would propose a quicker and cheaper alternative solution which involves the federal government completely abandoning any attempt to regulate or otherwise interfere with Alberta's governance over our provincial power grid," the government said in a statement. The finalized regulations are realistic and achievable, albeit quite different from the first draft published in 2023, said Scott MacDougall, program director of electricity at the Pembina Institute. "The CER offers a set of guardrails that define when (net zero) is going to happen and will help spur energy investment," MacDougall said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/canada-pushes-out-target-net-zero-electricity-grid-by-15-years-2024-12-17/

2024-12-17 20:19

Tentative deal includes $100.4 billion in fresh disaster aid, $10 billion in economic aid for farmers Partial government shutdown would begin on Saturday without congressional action WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Top Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress unveiled a stopgap measure on Tuesday to keep federal agencies funded through March 14, which would avert a partial government shutdown that would otherwise begin on Saturday. The measure would likely keep the roughly $6.2 trillion federal budget running at its current level, funding programs ranging from the military, air traffic controllers and federal regulators for areas ranging from drug safety to securities markets. It also includes $100.4 billion in new emergency funding to help states including North Carolina and Florida recover from devastating hurricanes, as well as western wildfires and other recent disasters. That money would include $29 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund; $21 billion for aid to farmers hit by flooding and other losses; and $10 billion in economic assistance for them, according to House of Representatives Republican leadership aides. State and local communities would receive $12 billion in block grants and $8 billion would be earmarked for the Transportation Department's highway and road disaster relief. Nearly $5.7 billion in new funding would go to the Pentagon's Virginia-class submarine building by General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) , opens new tab and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N) , opens new tab. Should lawmakers fail to act in time, federal agencies would enter a partial shutdown beginning on Saturday. House Speaker Mike Johnson leads a narrow and restive 219-211 Republican majority and has repeatedly over the past year had to rely on Democratic support to pass major legislation. Party hardliners signaled on Tuesday that they were unhappy with the bill, meaning that Johnson will once again need to reach across the aisle to pass it. "One of the things we know very clearly is that House Democrats will be needed to pass government funding," No. 3 House Democrat Pete Aguilar said at a Tuesday press conference. RISING DEBT The stopgap measure is needed because Congress failed to pass its one-dozen annual appropriations bills in time for the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1. The government's "mandatory" programs, which include Social Security and Medicare retirement and healthcare benefits and represent about two-thirds of the budget, renew automatically. That has contributed to the rising federal debt, which exceeds $36 trillion. Congress will have to address that again early next year, when a 2023 deal to extend the nation's "debt ceiling" expires. Failure could shock bond markets with potentially severe economic consequences. Democrats had pushed for a longer bill funding the government through the end of its current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, but Republicans wanted to wait for final agreement until after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20 and their party takes its majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Trump and congressional Republicans campaigned all year on a promise of significantly cutting the number of federal workers and proposing deep cuts to many of the government's programs. He has created an advisory committee called the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Tesla founder Elon Musk, the world's richest person, and former presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Neither has any government experience. Now that the temporary funding bill has been unveiled, rank-and-file members of Congress will review its details. It was unclear when the first votes on the bill, by the House, would occur. Once passed there, the Senate would aim to vote by a midnight Friday deadline, and then send it to Democratic President Joe Biden to sign into law. Riding along in this spending bill is a one-year extension of federal farm programs, including commodity subsidies and food and nutrition benefits for low-income people. Without such an extension, prices for milk, cheese and other dairy products would skyrocket after Dec. 31. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-congress-negotiators-reach-deal-stopgap-funding-bill-lawmakers-say-2024-12-17/