2024-03-08 18:36

HELSINKI, March 8 (Reuters) - Finland's prime minister said on Friday he had failed to persuade trade unions to call off planned strike action triggered by the government's labour market reforms, extending an ongoing conflict. The standoff began last year when the newly elected right-wing government announced plans to favour local work agreements over centralised bargains, limit political strikes, cut social welfare and make it easier to terminate work contracts. Industrial, logistics and electrical workers will on Monday begin a two-week strike targeting exports, imports and cargo transportation, the latest in a series of trade union actions in protest at the government's plans. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Friday he had urged union bosses to call off the strike because of its cost to companies. "It will have a negative impact on the already struggling Finnish economy and employment," he said, adding that the strikes would not sway government opinion. Companies like refiner Neste (NESTE.HE) , opens new tab, steel maker SSAB (SSABa.ST) , opens new tab and paper producer UPM (UPM.HE) , opens new tab have said they expect significant impact on their business from the planned strike. The unions have said they are most upset by the fact the government no longer wants to include them in negotiations over labour market reforms, and are ready for a long fight if needed. The government and business lobbies say Finland needs to boost productivity and cut its fiscal deficit to fight an ongoing recession and maintain the country's public welfare system for the longer term. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/no-deal-with-striking-unions-says-finlands-prime-minister-2024-03-08/

2024-03-08 18:34

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - Sam Altman's Worldcoin has filed a lawsuit against the Spanish data protection regulator in response to being banned from operating in Spain, a spokesperson for Worldcoin said on Friday. Worldcoin aims to create a global identity system, and involves people getting their irises scanned in exchange for free cryptocurrency and a digital ID. Spain's data protection regulator, the AEPD, said on Wednesday that it had told Worldcoin to stop collecting personal information and stop using data it had already gathered. Worldcoin said in response to the ban that the AEPD was "circumventing EU law" and "spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology". The AEPD did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Worldcoin said in a statement on its website that the company behind the project, Tools for Humanity, had filed a lawsuit against the AEPD's order. The statement said that the AEPD had circumvented the "accepted EU process and rules" and "established procedures under GDPR" (the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation), without giving details. A spokesperson for Worldcoin said that the lawsuit was a motion to suspend the AEPD's order, and that it was submitted to the Administrative Chamber of Spain's High Court. The company also said it had paused all of its "World ID verification services" in Spain, referring to sign-up sites at which people can get their eyeballs scanned by Worldcoin's "orb" devices. More than 4 million people in 120 countries have signed up to have their irises scanned by Worldcoin, according to its website. But the project has drawn criticism from privacy campaigners from Argentina to Germany over the collection, storage and use of personal data. The AEPD said on Wednesday its action against Worldcoin came following complaints regarding insufficient information, the collection of data from minors or not allowing for the withdrawal of consent. https://www.reuters.com/technology/sam-altmans-worldcoin-files-lawsuit-after-spanish-ban-2024-03-08/

2024-03-08 18:33

Canadian dollar weakens 0.2% against the greenback For the week, the loonie advances 0.6% Canada adds 40,700 jobs in February Canadian bond yields ease across the curve TORONTO, March 8 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Friday but held on to much of this week's gains as a bigger-than-expected domestic jobs increase supported the view that the Bank of Canada is not in a rush to cut interest rates. The loonie was trading 0.2% lower at 1.3480 per U.S. dollar, or 74.18 U.S. cents, after earlier touching its strongest level since Feb. 9 at 1.3421. For the week, it was up 0.6%. Gains this week came as the U.S. dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab lost ground against a basket of major currencies. "The market is latching back in again on (Federal Reserve) rate-cut signals," said Amo Sahota, director at Klarity FX in San Francisco. "Generally, the market feels you can put money back into risk assets." On Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank was "not far" from gaining the confidence it needs in falling inflation to begin cutting interest rates. That was a "green light" on rate cuts, as compared to an "amber light" from the Bank of Canada, Sahota said. The Canadian central bank on Wednesday said it was too early to consider easing rates as it kept its benchmark rate on hold at a 22-year high of 5%. Money markets see a roughly 85% chance the BoC waits until June to ease, little changed from before the jobs report. Canada's economy added 40,700 jobs in February, double the expected increase, but wage growth slowed for a second consecutive month and the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.8%. The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, fell 1.2% to $77.96 a barrel, while Canadian bond yields eased across the curve. The 10-year was down nearly 4 basis points at 3.334%. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/c-posts-weekly-gain-jobs-beat-flashes-amber-light-rate-cuts-2024-03-08/

2024-03-08 18:29

March 8 (Reuters) - New York Community Bancorp's (NYCB.N) , opens new tab turnaround will likely take a long time as analysts expect profits to remain under pressure from the lender's efforts to boost reserves for potential bad loans in its commercial real estate portfolio. This week's $1.05 billion capital raise has helped stem the rout in its stock and assuage near-term worries, but exposure to New York's rent-controlled multi-family properties - apartment buildings with more than four units - remains an overhang. The trouble at the bank captured in six graphics: CRE CONCENTRATION Loans tied to multi-family properties, NYCB's primary focus for five decades, made up 44% of its $84.6 billion portfolio as of Dec. 31. Nearly 8.3% of such loans were "criticized", meaning at higher risk of default, the bank disclosed in January. "We are somewhat encouraged that overall credit quality trends could remain manageable in the near-term, though we would expect the company to seriously examine reserve levels for adequacy," analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a note. The multi-family portfolio includes properties subject to rent control regulations, which limit landlords' freedom to increase rents at a time when borrowing rates remain high. Office loans accounted for 4% of the total portfolio, NYCB said. More than half of the office portfolio is in Manhattan, where the vacancy rate is 15%, according to Moody's. LOAN LOSS PROVISIONS The bank's credit loss provisions jumped more than four times to $552 million in the fourth quarter versus the year-ago quarter. But, analysts say it will need to build reserves further to cover the risk of more loans souring, especially CRE. NYCB's current loan loss reserve ratio - a measure of reserves against total loans - for CRE appears low at 1.4%, Raymond James analyst Steven Moss said. Its peers have a median ratio of 2.48%, he added. The key question now is whether this week's capital raise is enough "to manage through the challenges within the loan portfolio that still lie ahead," J.P. Morgan's Steven Alexopoulos, who covers NYCB, said in a note. DEPOSIT OUTFLOW NYCB disclosed this week that it had lost $5.8 billion, or 7%, of deposits over the last month. The bank's recent woes, which included a massive surprise goodwill impairment, could also lead to higher deposit costs and squeeze its net interest margins, analysts said. Still, NYCB's uninsured deposits are relatively low at nearly 20%. D.A. Davidson analyst Peter Winter said the 7% deposit fall was less than expected "given all the turmoil" as well as several credit rating downgrades. Silicon Valley Bank and the two others who failed last year, in contrast, had higher levels of uninsured deposits. STOCK PERFORMANCE NYCB's shares have lost nearly two-thirds of their value following a sell-off after the bank's dismal Jan. 31 earnings report and a 70% cut to its dividend. They were down another 5% on Friday. Souring investor sentiment has also hammered the KBW Regional Banking Index (.KRX) , opens new tab, which is down 7.3% over the same period. The stock will likely remain around current levels until investors get more clarity on the state of the bank's multi-family loan book, Raymond James' Moss said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/nycb-turnaround-faces-rocky-road-commercial-real-estate-exposure-drag-2024-03-08/

2024-03-08 18:24

GRUENHEIDE, Germany, March 8 (Reuters) - Tesla's (TSLA.O) , opens new tab German plant near Berlin will resume operations next week, the head of its works council said on Friday, after a power outage stopped production. The Tesla electric vehicle (EV) factory has been closed since March 5 after a fire at a nearby power pylon, which police are investigating as an arson attack. German police said they believed a letter from a far-left organisation called the Volcano Group claiming responsibility for the fire was authentic. "We will restart the factory next week," Michaela Schmitz told a gathering of several hundred workers at the electric vehicle (EV) production site, known as a Gigafactory. Some were holding a banner saying "We won't be shut down!" "Alongside many chapters of outstanding achievements, this attack will go down as a dark chapter in our history. But also that will not stop us," said Schmitz. The attack has left the site's 12,500 employees in limbo and means the U.S. EV maker is unable to produce around 6,000 vehicles a week, resulting in losses that are expected to be at least several hundred million euros. Tesla's plant in Gruenheide has for years been the subject of criticism by some locals and activists, who are concerned about its environmental impact. Schmitz said that Tesla employees would receive information about the restart soon, but did not give any further detail on the potential timing of it. "Colleagues have been condemned to sit at home, instead of contributing successfully together to the energy transition," Schmitz added. Tesla has previously said that the factory might be without electricity until the end of next week. Germany's federal prosecutors office said on Friday it had taken over the investigation into the arson attack, looking into charges of terrorism and "anti-constitutional sabotage". (This March 8 story has been corrected to change the weekly output capacity to 6,000 cars in paragraph 7) https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/teslas-german-plant-restart-next-week-says-works-council-head-2024-03-08/

2024-03-08 18:17

March 8 (Reuters) - General Motors (GM.N) , opens new tab said on Friday it is resuming sales and cutting the price of its Chevrolet Blazer EV after software quality issues prompted the largest U.S. automaker to halt deliveries in late December. GM said it has made significant software updates addressing concerns from early owners including customizable multi-color ambient lighting, revised Driver Information Center graphics with battery percentage display and more. Current Blazer owners will get a software update to address the issues. GM said it would cut the price of the Blazer by about $5,600 to $6,500 based on the trim level. The automaker also said the Blazer has regained eligibility for a U.S. $7,500 EV tax credit after new battery sourcing rules from the U.S. Treasury on Jan. 1 made many EVs ineligible. The Blazer price cuts and restored tax credit bring the effective price for qualified buyers down to $42,695 from the original $56,715 for the lowest-priced model. Other automakers, including Ford Motor (F.N) , opens new tab, have cut prices of EVs in recent months. Several EVs have regained eligibility for tax credits since January including the Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen ID.4, Honda Prologue and Cadillac Lyriq. Separately, GM on Feb. 26 resumed sales of its 2024 model year Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size trucks after briefly halting them to address intermittent software quality issues. GM CEO Mary Barra said last month the Detroit automaker has "already revamped the software development process and more importantly the validation process.... Right now, we're going through a little bit of a learning, pain or learning, pains as we make this transition." https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gm-resuming-sales-chevy-blazer-ev-after-resolving-software-issue-2024-03-08/