2024-03-19 13:07
GENEVA, March 19 (Reuters) - Every major global climate record was broken last year and 2024 could be worse, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday, with its chief voicing particular concern about ocean heat and shrinking sea ice. The U.N. weather agency said in its annual State of the Global Climate report that average temperatures hit the highest level in 174 years of record-keeping by a clear margin, reaching 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Ocean temperatures also reached the warmest in 65 years of data with over 90% of the seas having experienced heatwave conditions during the year, the WMO said, harming food systems. "The WMO community is sounding the Red Alert to the world," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, who took over the job in January. "What we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern." She later told reporters that ocean heat was particularly concerning because it was "almost irreversible", possibly taking millennia to reverse. "The trend is really very worrying and that is because of the characteristics of water that keep heat content for longer than the atmosphere," she said. Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, coupled with the emergence of the natural El Nino climate pattern, pushed the world into record territory in 2023. WMO's head of climate monitoring, Omar Baddour, told reporters there was a "high probability" that 2024 would set new heat records, saying that the year after an El Nino was typically warmer still. Tuesday's report showed a big plunge in Antarctic sea ice, with the peak level measured at 1 million km2 below the previous record - an area roughly equivalent to the size of Egypt. That trend, combined with ocean warming which causes water to expand, has contributed to a more than doubling of the rate of sea-level rise over the past decade compared with the 1993-2002 period, it said. Ocean heat was concentrated in the North Atlantic with temperatures an average 3 degrees Celsius above average in late 2023, the report said. Warmer ocean temperatures affect delicate marine ecosystems and many fish species have fled north from this area seeking cooler temperatures. Saulo, a meteorologist from Argentina who has promised to strengthen global warning systems for climate disasters, said she hoped the report would raise awareness of the "vital need to scale up the urgency and ambition of climate action". "That's why we spoke about the Red Alert because we must care for the people and how they will suffer from these more frequent, more extreme events," she told reporters. "If we do nothing, things will become worse and that will be our responsibility." Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-red-alert-world-smashes-heat-records-2023-2024-03-19/
2024-03-19 13:03
March 19 (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis targeted a fuel tanker, MADO, in the Red Sea with naval missile and Israel's Eilat port and resort region with winged missiles, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Tuesday. MADO is a Marshall-Islands flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker heading to Singapore from Saudi Arabia, maritime shipping trackers showed. The Houthis described it as American, but Equasis's shipping database indicates that it is owned by Naftomar Shipping & Trading Co Ltd of Greece. Naftomar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran-aligned Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles at international commercial shipping in the Red Sea region since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's military assault in Gaza. The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to take longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. The United States and Britain, along with other navies, have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response. In a separate attack, Houthi militants killed at least 18 people in the central Yemeni province of Al Bayda, the official Yemeni news agency Saba reported on Tuesday. The Houthis control most of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the main Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The militants since 2014 have been in a civil war with Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by Western governments and Saudi Arabia. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/houthis-target-vessel-red-sea-yemeni-military-source-says-2024-03-19/
2024-03-19 13:02
NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - Investors will be asking companies for data on indirect greenhouse gas emissions that new U.S. financial disclosure rules exclude, the International Sustainability Standards Board's (ISSB) chair told Reuters. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this month dropped a requirement for companies to disclose so-called Scope 3 emissions from rules it had drafted on climate change reporting. The decision deviated from voluntary standards developed by ISSB, which is part of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, the world's accounting standards setter. Scope 3 emissions account for greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, released in the atmosphere from a company's supply chain and the consumption of its products by customers. For most businesses, Scope 3 emissions represent more than 70% of their carbon footprint, according to consulting firm Deloitte. "Investors say Scope 3 is important," ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber said in an interview. "If all companies report Scope 3, absent local regulation but because they are being asked by investors and banks, the result is (that information) is out there." Other jurisdictions, including the European Union and the state of California, have passed laws that will require companies to disclose Scope 3 emissions. The SEC said that Scope 3 emissions-reporting requirements would burden companies and were not yet reliable. The regulator acknowledged that some companies will end up making these disclosures for other jurisdictions. "I don't think the (SEC) rule is saying Scope 3 is not important, it is saying the methodologies still need to evolve and because of the uptake around the world this will be a matter of evolution," Faber said. A SEC spokesperson declined to comment. Some of the companies and trade groups that sent more than 16,000 comment letters in response to the SEC's draft climate rules urged the regulator to accept disclosures based on ISSB's recommendations as an alternative to the SEC's own rules. In a further move away from the SEC's more prescriptive draft, the regulator will also allow large companies to determine whether emissions from their own operations and the power they purchase -- so-called Scope 1 and Scope 2 -- constitute material information that investors need to have. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/accounting-body-says-investors-want-climate-data-that-us-rules-exclude-2024-03-19/
2024-03-19 13:01
Annual consumer prices slows to an eight-month low Core inflation metrics ease to more than two-year low Money markets increase bets for June rate cut OTTAWA, March 19 (Reuters) - Canada's inflation rate surprisingly cooled in February to its slowest pace since June, and closely-watched core inflation measures eased to more than two-year lows, data showed on Tuesday, prompting investors to increase their bets for a June rate cut. Annual headline inflation cooled to 2.8% last month, beating analyst expectations for a 3.1% rise, and below 2.9% increase in January. On the month, the consumer price index rose 0.3%, less than a forecast 0.6% rise, Statistics Canada said. Money markets increased their bets for a first 25 basis point rate cut in June to more than 75%, from 50% before the inflation data. The bets for an April rate cut increased to over 28% from 18% before the numbers were released. "We expect central bankers will sound more dovish in April, thereby setting up a rate-cutting cycle beginning in June," said Royce Mendes, head of macro strategy for Desjardins Group. The drop in inflation also weakened the Canadian dollar to a three-month low, with the loonie trading 0.54% lower in the day at 1.3604 against the dollar, and Canadian government 10-year bond yields fell 9.5 basis points to 3.502%. Canadians in February benefited from softer price growth in food purchased from stores, and a drop in prices of cellular plans and internet services, which were the main contributors to the deceleration, Statscan said. The rise in grocery prices eased to 2.4%, slower than the headline inflation rate for the first time since October 2021. Analysts warned that with the current data, a rate cut in June was warranted and any further delay could hurt the economy. "By delaying any decision to cut until June, the Bank of Canada runs the risk ... an outcome that could see it play catch-up with the economy in the second half of this year," Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex, said in a note. Canadian data diverged from the US, its biggest trading partner, which last week saw a jump in consumer prices for February, throwing cold water on any remaining hopes of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve before June. The Bank of Canada's (BoC) preferred measures of core inflation edged down to their lowest levels in more than two years. CPI-median slowed to 3.1% from 3.3% in January while CPI-trim decreased to 3.2% from 3.3%. CPI-median has slowed or held steady for six consecutive months and is now at the lowest pace since the 3.1% recorded in November 2021. CPI-trim's pace decelerated for the second consecutive month and is now slowest since July 2021. The BoC has said it is looking for sustained evidence of downward momentum in underlying inflation to consider lowering interest rates. The central bank in January projected headline inflation to remain around 3% in the first half of 2024, before cooling to 2.5% by the end of the year. It will update its forecasts next month. Its next rate announcement is on April 10. The bank increased rates by 475 basis points to a 22-year high between March 2022 and July 2023 and has kept them on hold since then for five consecutive meetings in its efforts to cool inflation. At its last rate announcement in March, the bank said underlying inflation meant it was too early to consider a cut. Offsetting the inflation deceleration in February was a year-over-year increase in gasoline prices, which rose 0.8% in February after a 4% decline in January, Statscan said. Excluding volatile food and energy, prices rose 2.8% compared with a 3.1% rise in December. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/canadas-inflation-rate-unexpectedly-eases-28-february-2024-03-19/
2024-03-19 12:48
PARIS, March 19 (Reuters) - European stock market operator Euronext (ENX.PA) , opens new tab does not plan to go into cryptoasset trading without firm backing from its regulators, Chief Executive Stephane Boujnah said on Tuesday. Once reluctant exchanges are now moving into the crypto space as bitcoin recovers from a crash to hit all-time highs of nearly $74,000 last week, gaining more than 50% this year, as inflows into U.S. listed bitcoin funds surged. London Stock Exchange Group , opens new tab this month said it plans to accept applications for crypto exchange-traded notes later this year, debt securities that provide professional, but not retail, investors, with exposure to cryptoassets. Deutsche Boerse in Frankfurt also said this month it had launched a regulated platform for the trading of cryptocurrencies for institutional investors. But Boujnah indicated he was in no rush to join his European rivals as regulators for Euronext, whose largest trading operations are in Italy, France and the Netherlands, remain lukewarm at best towards crypto. "We always considered this is an issue we cannot engage without absolute backing from supervisors," he told reporters. "We've always been very cautious about cryptoassets ... a little for conceptual reasons and a lot because our regulators themselves are extremely so." Boujnah added that regulators in Rome and Amsterdam were clearly against it, while France’s regulator was very cautious. "Our regulators don't have the same sense of humour," he quipped. In his comments, the Euronext boss was referring to the direct business of trading cryptoassets, not to crypto underlyings. Sixty-eight crypto-backed exchange-traded products(ETPs) are available for professional investors on Euronext, in Amsterdam and Paris, a spokesperson for the exchange said. An exchange-traded product is a financial security traded on stock exchanges, representing a pool of underlying assets, commodities, or indexes, offering investors exposure to various markets, sectors, or strategies. The Technology Roundup newsletter brings the latest news and trends straight to your inbox. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/euronext-will-not-go-into-crypto-asset-trading-without-regulator-backing-2024-03-19/
2024-03-19 12:48
Crypto-related stocks drop as bitcoin falls Nvidia shares rebound but chip sector ends lower Indexes rise: Dow 0.83%, S&P 0.56%, Nasdaq 0.39% March 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three major indexes closed higher on Tuesday after shares in hotshot chipmaker Nvidia shook off early losses and investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting conclusion on Wednesday for clues on interest rate policy. Shares in Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab pulled out of the red to close up 1% after it revealed pricing and shipment plans for its hotly anticipated Blackwell B200 artificial intelligence chip, which it says could be 30 times faster than current chips. Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles attributed Tuesday's overall gains to improving sentiment after Nvidia's shares turned around along with ongoing bullishness about the economy's direction. "You're continuing to see money go into the market and not just technology," said James. "It certainly helps when you're seeing the large cap tech names today like Nvidia show relative strength from where they opened. But it's continuing the overall bullish theme that's been going on since the year started." At 04:15 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 320.33 points, or 0.83% , to 39,110.76, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 29.09 points, or 0.56%, to 5,178.51 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 63.34 points, or 0.39%, to 16,166.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab outpaced its Wall Street peers, supported by a 2% gains in Home Depot (HD.N) , opens new tab and advances of more than 1% in both McDonald's (MCD.N) , opens new tab and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) , opens new tab. In the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors only communications services (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab lost ground and that ended down just 0.2% after an almost 3% rally on Monday. Energy (.SPNY) , opens new tab led gains, rising 1.1% as oil prices rose. Investors were preparing a day ahead of the Fed's policy update, including a press conference from Chair Jerome Powell. Robust inflation data has pulled back bets for the first rate cut in June to about 59% from about 69% at the start of last week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. "There's optimism that the Fed's not going to surprise us a lot on Wednesday," said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management. "We think three cuts are still on the table." But, Goldman still sees Powell reminding the market that he is cautious about inflation and that policy will depend on economic data and expects the central bank to update its inflation and economic growth projections. Among other movers, crypto-exchange operator Coinbase Global (COIN.O) , opens new tab fell almost 4% while miner Riot Platforms (RIOT.O) , opens new tab fell almost 3% along with a 5% slide in bitcoin. MicroStrategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab shares fell 5.7% after the company announced it had completed a $603.75 million convertible debt offering - its second in a week - to fund bitcoin purchases. AI server maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O) , opens new tab shares tumbled just under 9% after it announced it will sell 2 million shares that could fetch about $2 billion. Spire Global (SPIR.N) , opens new tab shares soared 30.4% after it announced a collaboration with Nvidia for AI-driven weather prediction. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.25-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, which showed 286 new highs and 53 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 2,517 stocks rose and 1,768 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about a 1.42-to-1 ratio and it recorded 98 new highs and 126 new lows. The S&P 500 posted 49 new 52-week highs and one new low. On U.S. exchanges 10.74 billion shares changed hands compared with the 12.37 billion average for the last 20 sessions. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-tread-water-ahead-fed-meet-2024-03-19/
