2024-11-14 21:53

SAO PAULO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A Brazilian federal court ruled miners Vale (VALE3.SA) , opens new tab, BHP Group (BHP.AX) , opens new tab and their joint venture Samarco are not criminally liable for the deadly 2015 Fundao tailings dam collapse, according to a statement from the court on Thursday. The dam collapse at an iron ore mine owned by Samarco near the city of Mariana in southeastern Brazil resulted in 19 deaths, left hundreds of people homeless, flooded forests and polluted the Doce River. Judge Patricia de Carvalho ruled to clear the three miners and 21 people, including former executives, "due to the lack of proof of individual actions that would determine direct criminal responsibility for the disaster," the court said. Brazil's Federal Prosecutors Office, which had filed the criminal charges, said in a statement it will appeal against the decision. The ruling on criminal charges is separate from a $31.7 billion civil settlement agreement disclosed in late October, which deals with framework obligations and other claims related to the dam failure. The civil settlement agreement could end more than a hundred lawsuits against the mining companies in the South American country and possibly limit legal action abroad, three sources close to the matter have previously told Reuters. BHP faces a lawsuit in the UK for the Samarco dam disaster, potentially facing $47 billion in damages. BHP, which is based in Australia, said on Friday morning local time that it was waiting to formally receive the Brazilian court ruling to assess implications and any next steps. "This decision does not affect the ongoing class action trial in the UK, which BHP continues to defend as it duplicates the efforts already ongoing in Brazil," BHP said. A spokesperson for Vale said: "The court's decision reinforces that the company acted within the law and in compliance with environmental standards." Samarco said the ruling confirmed that it had always acted in accordance with current legislation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/bhp-awaits-ruling-after-reports-that-unit-cleared-criminal-charges-2015-dam-2024-11-14/

2024-11-14 21:14

Bolivia to sell $5 billion in carbon offset credits Economy Minister Montenegro highlights conservation and reforestation goals Credits aim to end deforestation by 2030, net-zero by 2050 LA PAZ, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Bolivia aims to sell $5 billion worth of carbon offset credits, the government announced on Thursday, in a bid to shore up its economy and finance efforts to stop rampant forest loss. Countries or companies can purchase carbon credits to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions by financing projects that reduce climate-warming emissions elsewhere. "The intention is to conserve, plant and reforest. And it's a way to generate value in this country," Bolivian Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said in a press conference. Bolivia's economy has been struggling, with its foreign reserves nearly depleted and many people unable to get dollars. The country has also been facing increased deforestation and forest fires, smashing its record with at least 10 million hectares (24.7 million acres) burned during this year's fire season. "You all know how much we've spent in putting out fires, trying to control them and we should have resources to prevent, mitigate and get ahead of it," Montenegro said. "If the intentions to plant, reforest and mitigate this type of environmental damage are valued, then it's welcomed." He added that the credits will help the country reach its goal to end deforestation by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The Bolivian "sovereign carbon credits" will comply with rules for offsetting under the Paris Agreement on climate change, meaning that foreign countries could purchase them in order to count the carbon sequestered toward meeting their own national climate targets, according to Laconic Infrastructure Partners, which is assisting with the sale. Laconic said its SADAR Natural Capital Monetization platform manages the data to ensure sovereign carbon products are compliant with the Paris Agreement and local regulatory authorities. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/bolivia-sell-5-billion-carbon-credits-stem-rampant-forest-loss-2024-11-14/

2024-11-14 21:07

Cuba's economy struggles after natural disasters, says Economy Minister Alonso Hurricanes and earthquake damage infrastructure, cause power outages Cuba faces severe shortages, record exodus amid ongoing crisis HAVANA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Cuba is unlikely to see any growth in 2024, Economy Minister Joaquin Alonso said on Thursday, as its already sputtering state-run economy struggles to recover from a string of natural disasters this year. Hurricanes Oscar and Rafael struck the Caribbean island in October and November, knocking out power to millions and exposing new vulnerabilities in an already decrepit and obsolete electrical grid. The storms, together with a powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake earlier this week near the country's second largest city, Santiago - destroyed at least 34,000 homes, officials said, and knocked out infrastructure across the nation. "The economy should not grow this year," Alonso told reporters in Havana. "Indisputably there has to be an impact." Daily rolling blackouts, which have plagued most of the island this year, remain the norm throughout Cuba. Authorities called for extended emergency blackouts in capital Havana on Thursday. "The economic development of a country depends greatly on energy and we have had electrical problems throughout the year and not just this month," Alonso added. Several weeks of managing natural disasters have sapped resources in the Communist-run country already suffering severe shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine. The multi-year crisis had spawned a record-breaking exodus of Cubans off the island. Cuba's economy contracted 1.9% in 2023, the economy ministry said in July. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuba-sees-growth-unlikely-2024-hurricanes-earthquakes-rattle-economy-2024-11-14/

2024-11-14 21:05

South Korea added to monitoring list, Malaysia removed Trump administration takes over currency policing in 2025 No nations labeled currency manipulators during Biden era Trump has frequently complained about dollar's strength WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - No major U.S. trading partner manipulated its currency in the year to June 30, the Treasury Department said on Thursday in the Biden administration's final semi-annual currency report before turning over policing of foreign exchange practices to President-elect Donald Trump. Trump, who has frequently complained that the strong dollar is eroding U.S. trade competitiveness, ended his first term in the White House with Treasury declarations of Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators in December 2020 over their market interventions to weaken the value of their currencies. Trump also directed then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to label China a currency manipulator in August 2019, a move made at the height of U.S.-China trade tensions. The Treasury Department dropped the designation in January 2020 as Chinese officials arrived in Washington to sign a trade deal with the U.S. For much of the past four years, however, foreign exchange interventions by U.S. trading partners have moved in the opposite direction, to push up the values of their currencies against the dollar, mainly to fight inflation. President Joe Biden's term will end with the Treasury Department having made no manipulation declarations, but frequently raising concerns about China's foreign exchange practices in its semi-annual currency reports. The department's latest analysis , opens new tab found that for the four quarters ended June 30, no major U.S. trading partners met all three criteria for "enhanced analysis" of their currency practices. That process leads to intensive consultations and can ultimately produce trade sanctions. The Treasury Department said China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Germany were on its "monitoring list" for extra foreign exchange scrutiny. Malaysia, which was on the previous report's list, dropped off, while South Korea was added due to its large global current account surplus and its sizable goods and services trade deficit with the U.S. Countries that meet two of the criteria - a trade surplus with the U.S. of at least $15 billion, a global account surplus above 3% of GDP, and persistent, one-way net foreign exchange purchases - are automatically added to the list. CHINA DISCREPANCIES China was kept on the monitoring list because of its large trade surplus with the U.S. and because of a lack of transparency surrounding its foreign exchange policies, the Treasury Department said. The report noted that despite a slight decline in China's current account balance to 1.2% of GDP, its export volumes had risen sharply, indicating a decline in export prices. It said that trend continued beyond the monitoring period to the third quarter of 2024. "Partially as a result of weak domestic demand, China has increasingly relied on foreign demand to drive growth this year, with net exports contributing an unusually high share (43%) of real growth in the third quarter," the report said. "Thus, while the reported current account surplus is not material, the rapidly growing export volumes amid falling prices will likely have large impacts on China's trading partners." The report also reiterated a call for more transparency in China's foreign exchange practices, including use of a daily fix to prevent weakening of the yuan without official explanation. It said these policies "make China an outlier among major economies and warrant Treasury's close monitoring." Trump has vowed to impose tariffs of at least 60% on imported Chinese goods, regardless of Beijing's currency practices, and wants a 10%-20% duty on imports from the rest of the world. The currency report said Japan was kept on the monitoring list because of its $65 billion trade surplus with the U.S. during the review period as well as an increase in its global current account surplus to 4.2% of GDP from 2% a year earlier. The Treasury Department said Japan's Ministry of Finance had intervened three times since April to shore up the yen's value: on April 29, May 1 and July 11-12. It noted that Japan's actions were transparent, but reiterated that intervention "should be reserved only for very exceptional circumstances without prior consultations. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/us-treasury-finds-no-currency-manipulation-final-biden-era-foreign-exchange-2024-11-14/

2024-11-14 21:00

PPI rises 0.2% on monthly basis in October Weekly jobless claims lower than forecast Industrials lead sector losses with defense stocks dragging Walt Disney up after beating Q4 earnings estimates Indexes down: Dow 0.47%, S&P 500 0.60%, Nasdaq 0.64% Nov 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dampened investors' hopes for another interest rate cut this year by saying the U.S. central bank need not rush to ease monetary policy. Powell said at a Dallas Fed event that with the economy still growing, the job market solid and inflation still above the 2% target, the Fed can deliberate carefully on rate cuts. While traders were still betting on a 25-basis point reduction at the Fed's December meeting, the probability fell to 62% from 76% earlier in the afternoon and from 82.5% on Wednesday, the CME FedWatch tool showed. "The comments from Powell put more cold water on what used to be a very optimistic outlook on the path for rate cuts," said Adam Hetts, global head of Multi-Asset at Janus Henderson Investors. "However, we can't take for granted that inflation and labor are in balance so this is an encouraging message on the economy." As of 4:13 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 207.33 points, or 0.47%, to 43,750.86, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 36.21 points, or 0.60%, at 5,949.17 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab dropped 123.07 points, or 0.64%, to 19,107.65. Powell spoke after data showed the producer price index for final demand rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in October, in line with forecasts, though the annual rise of 2.4% was a touch higher than expectations. Jobless claims dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Nov. 9, lower than forecast. "There's more and more evidence that inflation remains higher than the Fed's 2% target," said Melissa Brown, managing director for Investment Decision Research at SimCorp in New York. "The numbers were roughly in line with expectations but sometimes investors step back and say, 'What does this really mean?' It leads to more uncertainty about what the Fed does after the December meeting." Last week's post-U.S. election rally has been waning as focus has also turned to potential inflationary pressures from policy changes such as higher tariffs expected from President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Some other Fed policymakers have shifted their attention back to inflation risks as they weighed in on when, and how fast and far, to cut interest rates. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said high union wage settlements and the possibility of coming tariff increases could make Fed officials more cautious about thinking they have won their battle against high inflation. Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors, industrials (.SPLRCI) , opens new tab was the biggest decliner, losing 1.7% on the day, with some of its biggest drags from defense companies, which had rallied sharply in the days after the election. RTX Corp (RTX.N) , opens new tab was the defense sector's biggest weight on Thursday, ending down 3.9% after falling to its lowest level since Sept. 19. General Dynamics (GD.N) , opens new tab was also a big drag, ending down 6.9% after hitting its lowest level since Oct. 31. The blue-chip Dow had some support from a 6% rally in Walt Disney (DIS.N) , opens new tab after the entertainment giant reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates and offered robust guidance for the coming years. Consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) , opens new tab was the second weakest S&P 500 sector, falling 1.5%, with some pressure from electric vehicle makers. Shares of EV maker Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab closed down 5.8% and Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O) , opens new tab dropped 14.3% after Reuters reported that Trump's transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation. Tapestry (TPR.N) , opens new tab shares closed up 12.8% after hitting their highest level since July 2013. The Coach parent said it was terminating its $8.5 billion deal for Capri Holdings (CPRI.N) , opens new tab after the deal was blocked by a U.S. judge. Capri's shares rose 4.4%. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.8-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 177 new highs and 90 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 1,362 stocks rose and 2,912 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.14-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 new highs and 190 new lows. On U.S. exchanges 15.34 billion shares changed hands compared with the 13.68 billion average for the last 20 sessions. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-muted-ahead-economic-data-powell-speech-2024-11-14/

2024-11-14 20:55

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that New York-based insurer MetLife's (MET.N) , opens new tab unit, American Life Insurance Co, agreed to settle its potential civil liability for over 2,300 apparent violations of sanctions against Iran. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $178,421 settlement with the MetLife unit. The apparent violations related to insurance policies provided to entities in the United Arab Emirates that were owned or controlled by the government of Iran, the Treasury Department added. The settlement amount reflected OFAC's determination that the apparent violations were voluntarily self-disclosed and were not egregious, the department added. Washington's sanctions on Iran ban nearly all U.S. trade with the country, block the Iranian government's assets in the United States and prohibit U.S. foreign assistance and arms sales, according to the Congressional Research Service. The U.S. and Iran have had tense relations for decades. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-treasury-department-says-metlife-unit-settles-over-iran-sanctions-violations-2024-11-14/