2024-03-18 19:25

March 18 (Reuters) - Three right-wing groups sued the Biden administration on Monday over its approval of a wind project off the coast of Virginia, alleging it failed to consider the facility's impacts on endangered whales. The federal lawsuit filed by the Heartland Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and National Legal and Policy Center seeks to stop the construction of Dominion Energy Inc's (D.N) , opens new tab Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project pending a new federal analysis of risks to the North Atlantic right whale by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Developing offshore wind power is a major part of President Joe Biden's strategy to decarbonize the U.S. power sector to fight climate change. Both Heartland Institute and CFACT have rejected the mainstream science showing that climate change is driven by human use of fossil fuels. They have also criticized offshore wind as expensive and unreliable. The groups' lawsuit alleges that the NMFS analysis, known as a biological opinion, did not adequately consider the combined impacts of all the offshore wind projects planned along the Atlantic coast on the right whale population. "This erroneous biological opinion issued by NMFS is a classic example of abdication of its duty to provide meaningful protection for an endangered species," Heartland Institute President James Taylor said in a statement. "Playing politics with such an iconic species as the right whale is a truly pathetic example of the Biden administration’s allegiance to climate alarmism." Dominion's project will have 176 turbines located 27 miles (43.45 km) off the coast of Virginia Beach. Construction is expected to start this year and, once built, it will generate enough electricity to power 660,000 homes. Officials from NMFS and the Interior Department, which are among the seven federal defendants named in the suit, would not comment. Earlier this year, the Biden administration released a strategy to protect right whales while supporting its offshore wind goals. Dominion said the lawsuit had no merit. "The overwhelming consensus of federal agencies and scientific organizations is that offshore wind does not adversely impact marine life. We’ve put in place strong environmental protections for this project, and are confident the North Atlantic right whale will be protected," the company said in a statement. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 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/right-wing-groups-sue-us-over-offshore-wind-impact-whales-2024-03-18/

2024-03-18 19:18

Canadian dollar steadies near Friday's nine-day low Home sales fall 3.1% in February Price of U.S. oil settles 2.1% higher Canadian 10-year yield rises to one-month high TORONTO, March 18 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, arresting its recent decline, as oil prices rose and traders awaited domestic inflation data that could offer clues on the prospect of interest rate cuts. The loonie was trading nearly unchanged at 1.3535 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.88 U.S. cents, after hitting a nine-day low at 1.3551 on Friday. "A rebound in U.S. equities and firmer WTI crude oil prices have helped to stall last week's CAD weakness, with the market likely to tread water until the release of tomorrow's Canadian CPI report for February," said George Davis, chief technical strategist at RBC Capital Markets. The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rose to a four-month high on lower crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia and signs of stronger demand and economic growth in China and the United States. U.S. crude futures settled up 2.1% at $82.72 a barrel. Canadian consumer price index data for February, due on Tuesday, is expected to show inflation increasing to an annual rate of 3.1% from 2.9% in January. Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada said that underlying inflation was too high to consider easing as it kept its benchmark rate on hold at a 22-year high of 5%. Data on Monday showed that Canadian home sales fell 3.1% in February after strong growth in the previous two months, while prices steadied after five straight months of declines. Canada's federal budget is likely to allocate billions of dollars for investing in building homes and low-cost housing programs, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said. Canadian bond yields moved higher across the curve, tracking moves in U.S. Treasury yields. The 10-year was up 5.6 basis points at 3.603%, its highest level since Feb. 16. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-arrests-recent-decline-ahead-key-cpi-data-2024-03-18/

2024-03-18 18:52

March 18 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) , opens new tab has increased its pace of repurchasing its own shares, a sign that longtime Chairman Warren Buffett considers them undervalued and a good place to spend excess cash. In its proxy filing on Friday, Berkshire said it repurchased the equivalent of 3,808 Class A shares this year through March 6, spending approximately $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion depending on the dates of the buybacks. Nearly three-quarters of the repurchases took place after Feb. 12. Berkshire repurchased $2.2 billion of its own stock in last year's fourth quarter, and $9.2 billion in all of 2023. Its peak year for buybacks was 2021, when they totaled $27 billion. Buffett, 93, has run Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire since 1965, and oversees buybacks and other major capital allocation decisions. Repurchases help Buffett deploy some of the conglomerate's cash and equivalents, which totaled $167.6 billion at year end. Berkshire has said it will maintain a $30 billion cash cushion, and that "financial strength and redundant liquidity , opens new tabwill always be of paramount importance." Through Friday, Berkshire's share price was up 14% this year, about twice the gain for the Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab. 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/berkshire-hathaway-speeds-up-stock-buybacks-2024-03-18/

2024-03-18 18:18

BRUSSELS, March 18 (Reuters) - The European Union and the Philippines said on Monday they would resume negotiations on a free trade agreement as the EU seeks to tap into Asia's faster economic growth and gain access to critical raw materials. Free trade negotiations stalled in 2017 over EU concerns about the human rights record of then Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, who was succeeded in June 2022 by Bongbong Marcos. EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc welcomed the "positive change of direction" taken by the Philippines' new administration, while encouraging further progress on human and labour rights. The European Union is the Philippines' fourth largest trade partner. Trade in goods was worth 18.4 billion euros ($20 billion) in 2022 and 4.7 billion euros ($5.1 billion) in services in 2021. A trade deal could increase trade by 6 billion euros, Dombrovskis said. The EU has targeted agreements with southeast Asian countries and has accords with Singapore and Vietnam and is in negotiations with Indonesia and Thailand. The EU is eying Filipino raw materials such as nickel, copper and chromite that it needs for its green transition and for which it is currently heavily reliant on China. The Philippines' Commissioner for Trade Alfredo Pascual said his country wanted to secure capital and know-how from EU companies to engage in more domestic processing. His country already benefits from the EU's tariff-free GSP+ system for developing countries, but aims to rise to upper middle class income status, when GSP+ would no longer apply. "We want to be able to lock in the benefits of GSP+, plus more," Pascual said. The Philippines currently benefits from tariff-free access to the EU for about two-thirds of products, including coconut oil, vacuum cleaners, tuna and pineapples. A free trade deal could allow exports of seaweeds, tobacco, wood and ornamental plants, Pascual said. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/eu-philippines-resume-stalled-trade-negotiations-2024-03-18/

2024-03-18 17:27

NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Trade groups representing the private fund management industry sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday over a rule requiring firms that routinely deal in government bonds and other securities to register as broker-dealers. The SEC adopted the rule last month to enforce stricter oversight and risk management controls on proprietary traders and other firms that it says have become important sources of liquidity in the U.S. Treasury market. The groups say the rule is confusing and could capture investors that regularly trade securities but which are not dealers. As such, they allege it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law which requires regulators to act within their authority, justify new rules and take on board feedback. The National Association of Private Fund Managers (NAPFM), MFA, and the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) filed the lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth to vacate the rule, they said in a statement. "The Dealer Rule is indeterminate and leaves certain market participants uncertain of their need to comply with the dealer regulatory framework," said Bryan Corbett, president and CEO of MFA. "Alternative asset managers are not dealers. They are customers of dealers," he said. The case is the third brought by the groups in recent months and is part of a broader wave of litigation by Wall Street firms looking to take advantage of conservative-leaning courts to overturn rules that could hurt their bottom line. A spokesperson for SEC said the commission "undertakes rulemaking consistent with its authorities and laws governing the administrative process, and we will vigorously defend challenged rules in court." The SEC rule is part of a push by regulators to improve the resilience of the U.S. government bond market at times of stress. The SEC introduced another major rule last year that will force more Treasury trades through clearing houses. The broker-dealer rule, which was first proposed in March 2022, would apply to trading firms that either routinely express interest in trading at the best available prices on both sides of the market, or mainly derive revenue by trading the spread on government bonds, or from incentives offered by trading venues. The final rule scrapped certain criteria that investors had said were too broad and could inadvertently capture market participants such as corporations, insurers and pensions. Still, the hedge fund groups said it could capture non-dealing activity, harming investors and markets. "This rule will force certain hedge funds – who are not dealers and have never been considered dealers – to either register as dealers, thereby subjecting them to an unworkable regulatory framework, or force them to significantly curtail or cease altogether their trading activity," Jack Inglis, AIMA CEO, said in the statement. "Both results will lead to unnecessary and significant harm to markets, investors, and certain funds," he said. The same three groups sued the SEC in December last over two new rules aimed at boosting transparency of short-selling. Along with other associations they also filed a suit in September last year over new private funds rules. 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/hedge-fund-industry-groups-sue-us-sec-over-treasury-market-dealer-rule-2024-03-18/

2024-03-18 17:14

NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - U.S. home builder confidence rose in March to the highest level since July due to lower mortgage rates and an improved pricing environment amid a continued existing home inventory shortage, the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index of builder confidence rose to 51 this month from an unrevised 48 in February. A Reuters poll showed economists expected the outlook to remain unchanged at 48 in March. "Buyer demand remains brisk and we expect more consumers to jump off the sidelines and into the marketplace if mortgage rates continue to fall later this year," NAHB Chairman Carl Harris said in a statement. Traffic slowed during the second half of last year on the back of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes, which were launched in March of 2022 in an effort to curb rising inflation. The monetary policy tightening drove the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to two-decade highs near 8% in October. With the U.S. central bank likely near the end of its rate hiking cycle, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.74% for the week ended March 14, according to Freddie Mac. The drop has drawn buyers from the sidelines, raising the index of prospective buyers from a 13-month low of 21 in November to 34 in March, the highest since August 2023, according to the NAHB. The easing of mortgage rates has also allowed builders to hold off on slashing home prices. As recently as December, more than a third of builders reported offering price concessions. In March, that was down to 24%, the lowest level since July 2023, the NAHB said, but 60% were still offering some form of incentive. The boost in builders' sentiment may lead to an increase in single-family home starts throughout 2024, according to Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics. "More than half of home builders continue to offer some kind of incentive to encourage sales," she said. "Those incentives, along with a shortage of existing homes for sale and an increase in single-family housing starts, should support new home sales in the months ahead." The U.S. government is scheduled on Tuesday to release housing starts and building permits data for February, with a Reuters poll indicating both likely rebounded from their drops in January. New home sales are expected to have risen for a third straight month in February, according to another Reuters poll - that data is due to be released next week. 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/us-homebuilder-confidence-highest-level-since-july-nahb-says-2024-03-18/