2024-01-14 16:46

PARIS, Jan 14 (Reuters) - France and steelmaker ArcelorMittal (MT.LU) have agreed on a 1.8 billion-euro ($1.97 billion) investment to cut greenhouse emissions at a steel plant in Dunkirk, northern France, finance ministry officials said on Sunday. The French government's subsidy package, which could be up to 850 million euros, had already been cleared by the European Commission and is part of President Emmanuel Macron's strategy to cut emissions at France's 50 most polluting sites. The money will finance electric furnaces and a direct reduction plant, which will cut French carbon emissions from the industrial sector by 5.7%, the finance ministry said in a statement. ($1 = 0.9133 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/france-arcelormittal-agree-2-bln-investment-cut-french-plant-emissions-2024-01-14/

2024-01-14 15:27

BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Iraq's wheat reserves are sufficient for a year, Minister of Commerce Atheer Daoud Al-Ghurairy said on Sunday. Visiting the Baghdad International Fair, the minister added that the food staples basket, which includes sugar, rice, legumes and cooking oils, covers the country's needs for six months. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/iraq-has-wheat-reserves-sufficient-year-says-minister-commerce-2024-01-14/

2024-01-14 13:59

NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A recent rally that has boosted nearly every corner of the U.S. stock market has left energy shares behind, and bullish investors are betting upcoming earnings reports and rising geopolitical tensions could spark a rebound for the struggling group. The energy sector (.SPNY) has slumped nearly 3% since late October, a period during which the S&P 500 (.SPX) has surged 16%. The benchmark index rose 24% for all of 2023, while energy fell 4.8%, the second-largest drop last year among S&P 500 sectors. The sector's struggles have continued even as other economically sensitive groups such as banks and small-cap stocks have benefited from investors' growing belief that the economy will be able to navigate a "soft landing" where growth remains stable while inflation subsides. One key reason for the sector's underperformance has been a sharp downturn in oil prices. U.S. crude is down over 20% since late September, to around $73 a barrel, pressured by strong supplies, particularly in the U.S., and concerns about tepid demand in China and Europe, investors said. "Right now, oil prices have been ... leading the stocks," said Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. "So if oil prices can break out a little bit from here, which would catch people a little off guard, this energy group is going to start playing catch up real quick." Strategists at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII) this week upgraded their rating on the energy sector to "favorable" from "neutral," saying "oil prices will bottom with the global economy and then finish the year higher." A potential rise in Middle East tensions and any OPEC actions on production are factors that could influence near-term oil prices. Prices for U.S. crude jumped as much as 4.5% on Friday before settling up 0.9%, after several oil tankers diverted course from the Red Sea following overnight air and sea strikes by the United States and Britain on Houthi targets in Yemen. The energy sector ended up 1.3% on the day. "While a resolution of the problems in the Red Sea would be bearish for oil, it appears as though the situation is escalating and the risk should drive oil prices higher," wrote Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading. Another key factor for the group will be upcoming quarterly earnings reports. Oil services firm SLB (SLB.N), formerly called Schlumberger, reports next week, with Baker Hughes and Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) among those expected later in the month. Energy is expected to post the worst full-year 2023 earnings performance of any sector, falling nearly 26% overall, LSEG data showed. But its earnings are expected to increase 1.6% in 2024. Ahead of results, WFII strategists this week also pointed to "historically cheap" valuations for energy shares, noting that the sector trades at around 10 times trailing earnings versus a trailing P/E ratio of 22 times for the overall S&P 500. Improving earnings trends and enticing valuations are among the factors supporting energy shares along with the potential for the group to be a hedge should geopolitical tensions rise, said Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital. The firm is overweight energy in its portfolios, including shares of Conocophillips (COP.N) and Chevron (CVX.N). While energy earnings are improving, the sector's estimated performance this year is still expected to trail the 11.1% increase for the overall S&P 500 in 2024. Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Management, said he thinks oil is fairly priced, pointing to expected slowing of the U.S. economy and doubts the Middle East conflict would give the commodity a lasting boost. Pavlik said he has "slightly less than market exposure" to energy shares, preferring other sectors such as industrials and technology. "I think there are other areas of the market that will benefit most likely more than energy," Pavlik said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/wall-st-week-ahead-red-sea-tensions-put-focus-struggling-us-energy-stocks-2024-01-12/

2024-01-14 11:19

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/volcano-erupts-southwest-iceland-2024-01-14/

2024-01-14 11:05

BUCHAREST, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Romanian farmers and truck drivers continued sporadic protests across the country on Sunday as negotiations with the coalition government over high insurance rates and slow subsidy payments resumed. Convoys of tractors and trucks began gathering five days ago on national roads, mainly near large Romanian cities, slowing or blocking traffic. Farmers and hauliers also briefly blocked a border crossing with Ukraine in northeastern Romania on Saturday, and tried to prevent entrance to the Black Sea port of Constanta. They are demanding the government address high insurance premia and excise levels on diesel fuel, loan moratoriums, the time taken to pay farm subsidies and drought damages as well as technical measures to reduce long waiting times at border crossings. Truckers have also asked that lorries coming from the European Union have a separate line at border crossings and in Constanta port than trucks from outside the bloc, including Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the world's biggest grain exporters and Constanta has become Kyiv's largest alternative export route since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, with grains arriving at the port by road, rail and barge across the Danube. The port shipped 36 million metric tons of grain last year, up 50% from the previous year. Ukrainian grain accounted for roughly 40% of the total, or 14 million tons. After talks with transport and farm ministries on Saturday, protesters were set to meet the finance minister on Sunday. Romania holds local, parliamentary, presidential and European elections this year. German farmers also began a week of nationwide protests against subsidy cuts on Monday while Polish truck drivers and farmers have blocked several crossings with Ukraine since late 2023, demanding that the EU reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies obtain permits to operate in the bloc. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/romanian-farmers-truck-drivers-protest-about-subsidies-taxes-2024-01-14/

2024-01-14 10:33

DAR ES SALAAM, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The collapse of an illegal small-scale gold mine has killed at least 22 people in northern Tanzania following heavy rains, a senior government official said on Sunday. The accident happened early on Saturday in the Simiyu region after a group of people aged between 24 and 38 years old started mining in an area where activity had been restricted due to ongoing heavy rains, Simon Simalenga, the region's Bariadi district commissioner, told Reuters. "Initially we were told that there were 19 to 20 people who were trapped in the mines but unfortunately we ended up retrieving 22 bodies," he said, adding that the search and rescue operation was continuing although almost all the rubble that had buried them had now been removed. Simalenga said the group had discovered an area rich in minerals around two to three weeks previously and moved to start mining before the government had approved physical and environmental safety and procedures. "The regional mining officer visited them and stopped them from mining as it was working on the required procedures," he said. The group defied the order, he added, starting to mine late on Friday before part of the area caved in and buried them inside. The government has worked for years to improve safety for small scale miners but unsafe and unregulated illegal mining still occurs in Tanzania, which is Africa's fourth-largest gold producer after South Africa, Ghana and Mali. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/collapse-goldmine-tanzania-kills-22-official-says-2024-01-14/