2024-08-14 00:43

Aug 14 (Reuters) - The dollar softened against its major peers on Wednesday, helping the euro to a near eight-month peak, as the U.S. consumer price index showed inflation is subsiding, reinforcing expectations that Federal Reserve interest rate cuts are near. U.S. CPI rose moderately in July and the annual increase in inflation slowed to below 3% for the first time since early 2021, adding to expectations for a rate cut next month, though likely less aggressive than markets hoped for. The report adds to the mild increase in producer prices in July in suggesting that inflation is on a downward trend. This should give the Fed room to focus more on the labor market amid growing concerns of a sharp slowdown. "It mildly shrank the expectations of targeting a 50-basis point rate cut in September," said Amo Sahota, director, Klarity FX, in San Francisco. "It's been a much quieter reflective approach on the inflation number." The euro was last up 0.18% against the greenback to $1.1014, surpassing the high hit during the market turmoil last week, and was trading at its strongest level since Jan. 2. The dollar index was slightly lower at 102.57. Traders had been widely expecting a rate cut in September before the producer price data, and ramped up bets for a 50 basis-point cut after the release to 56% from 53% a day earlier, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool. Sahota thinks the market is still on track for three 25 bps cuts this year from the Fed, rather than 100 bps by the end of the year. STERLING DIPS, KIWI SLIDES Sterling failed to gain on the weaker dollar and was down 0.29% at $1.2825 after data showed the rise in British consumer price inflation was smaller than expected in July as services prices - closely watched by the Bank of England - rose less rapidly. The pound did soften on the euro, however, which was up 0.47% at 85.87 pence . Financial markets priced in a 44% chance of a quarter-point BoE rate cut in September, up from 36% before the data was released. The kiwi was down 1.28% at 0.5999, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand reduced the cash rate by a quarter point, its first easing since early 2020 and coming a year earlier than its own projections. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's decision to not run for reelection in his party's leadership race next month had little effect on markets, analysts said. The yen was last trading at 147.26 against the dollar. "The Fed is cutting rates. That should be dollar negative," said Vassili Serebriakov, FX strategist, at UBS. "The currency that's probably still likely to do the best against the dollar is the yen. The Bank of Japan is raising rates, and that also contributes to the narrowing of rate differentials." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/dollar-droops-after-benign-inflation-data-kiwi-firm-before-rbnz-decision-2024-08-14/

2024-08-13 23:47

Aug 13 (Reuters) - China-based autonomous driving startup WeRide has received approval from California to test its driverless vehicles with passengers, according to a permit from the state's utility regulator. The move comes as the company seeks a valuation of as much as $5 billion from its New York IPO even as the U.S. is set to ban vehicles with China-developed systems, according to people briefed on the matter. The permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) - issued earlier this month for three years - allows WeRide to ferry passengers in test vehicles with a driver and without one. WeRide will not be allowed to offer rides to the general public and cannot charge any fares. WeRide has 12 active vehicles and will operate in San Jose and nearby areas, CPUC said in a statement to Reuters. Developing and commercializing robotaxis in the U.S. has been tougher than expected with regulatory hurdles, opposition from city agencies and public outrage. Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab Waymo, which has about 700 vehicles in its fleet, is the only U.S. firm operating uncrewed robotaxis that collect fares. General Motors' (GM.N) , opens new tab Cruise restarted testing with safety drivers in April after one of its vehicles hit a pedestrian last year. WeRide, founded in 2017, first received permits from California to test its vehicles without passengers in 2021. The company, which also makes autonomous vans, buses and street sweepers, has driverless permits in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. WeRide did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for further details. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/california-allows-chinese-robotaxi-firm-weride-test-with-passengers-2024-08-13/

2024-08-13 23:20

Suburban residents never expected fire to reach them Many panicked as flames approached One woman died, many lost livelihoods ATHENS, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Vangelis Ilias was returning from holiday on Monday when friends called to tell him the unthinkable. A wildfire in forests north of Athens had suddenly descended on his suburb and was approaching his sculpture workshop. Minutes later, the 55-year-old's shop on a plot between warehouses, fields and a wood seller in Vrilissia, 10 km (6 miles) from the city centre, had been devoured by Greece's worst fire this year. Like many in Vrilissia, Ilias was shocked. When he started his business there two years ago, he never thought wildfires would reach so close. Standing at the workshop, whose sheet metal walls were buckled and blackened, the father-of-two described how the flames leapt from nearby plots to a neighbouring warehouse. "It jumped over to mine and burned it down. From here, it went next door and then to the house next to it," he said, suspecting someone was to blame. "A minor carelessness, negligence, arson and the bad is done." A plaster bust of a soldier lay cracked in the burned wreckage. Other blocks of stone appeared blown apart by the heat. Stoked by gale-force winds and despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters, aircraft and trucks, the blaze moved quickly into the suburbs on Monday, torching homes and stirring panic in neighbourhoods that had never seen wildfires up close. Hundreds took to the streets, their faces covered by bandanas or t-shirts as smoke and ash descended. Many rushed to evacuate. 'FALL AND RISE AGAIN' The fire had been largely extinguished in the suburbs on Tuesday. But the unusual impact on more densely populated areas surrounding the capital was a stark reminder of the dangers of climate change, which has reduced rainfall and increased temperatures in Greece, leaving forests and scrubland bone-dry and ripe for fires come summer. Residents across the neighbourhood were caught unawares. One woman died in a wreath-making business in Vrilissia on Monday. One of her colleagues, 70-year-old Sakis Morfis, said they were all joking together earlier that day. In the early afternoon he drove to buy some dog food nearby and when he returned the whole area was swallowed by smoke. He put his dogs in the car and left. "Everything happened like lightning," said the man, whose home was also burned. "Worst of all, we lost a colleague … a person you see everyday, whom you greet good morning." Authorities echoed the shock. "It's insane, not only unusual, what has happened,” said Harris Mavroudis, deputy mayor responsible for civil protection. "This is a municipality where this has never happened." Ilias the sculptor is stoic and ready to rebuild. He is not afraid to stay in the area - he says that the fire will not return for years now that everything has burned. "Life has shown me many times that this is the way to go: I fall and then I rise again." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/panic-destruction-greece-wildfire-city-meet-2024-08-13/

2024-08-13 23:04

NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Heavy rain made about 10% stronger by human-caused climate change triggered the landslides that killed more than 200 people in India's southern state of Kerala last month, a team of international scientists has concluded. The landslides on July 30 in the coastal state's Wayanad region were its worst disaster since 2018, when floods killed more than 400 people. The study, released on Wednesday by the World Weather Attribution group, which examines the role of climate change in extreme weather, found that single-day monsoon downpours in Wayanad have become 10% heavier because of climate change. Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had blamed unexpectedly heavy rainfall for the casualties, saying the region received 572 millimetres (23 inches) of rain over the preceding 48 hours, more than double the 204 millimetres (8 inches) forecast. One-day bursts of rain in Kerala will become another 4% heavier if the world does not move away from fossil fuels and global warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius, the study said. "The increase in climate change-driven rainfall found in this study is likely to increase the potential number of landslides that could be triggered in the future," it said. Minimising deforestation and quarrying, reinforcing susceptible slopes, and building retaining structures to protect vulnerable areas were some of the other measures it recommended to prevent similar disasters in future. Some experts told Reuters earlier this month that heavy rainfall in the fortnight before the landslides, which softened the soil, as well as over-development and unchecked tourism in the state may also have been contributing factors. "In addition to mitigation, adaptation is critical", said Maja Vahlberg, one of the authors of the study, calling for more stringent assessment of landslides and better early warning and evacuation systems. The landslides were the latest in a series of weather-related calamities in India that some experts have linked to climate change, from soaring temperatures and long heatwaves to torrential rains and cyclones. The World Weather Attribution group concluded in a report in May that extreme temperatures in Asia the preceding month were made worse by human-driven climate change. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/climate-change-intensified-rain-that-caused-deadly-indian-landslides-study-finds-2024-08-13/

2024-08-13 22:45

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT.O) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it had increased its stake in rival Bitfarms (BITF.TO) , opens new tab to 18.9%. Riot acquired 1 million common shares of Bitfarms on Tuesday, representing about 0.22% of issued and outstanding Bitfarms common stock. The acquisition takes the total count of Bitfarms shares owned by Riot to about 85.3 million. Bitfarms said earlier in the day its co-founder and chair Nicolas Bonta, one of the three board members top shareholder Riot sought to replace, would leave the company immediately. The two companies have been locked in a dispute since April, when Riot made an unsolicited $950-million offer to acquire Canada-based Bitfarms. Bitfarms said the bid undervalued it significantly and adopted a "poison pill" to fend off any attempt at a hostile takeover. A poison pill refers to shareholder rights plans used by corporate boards to thwart hostile takeover bids. Riot withdrew its offer at the time, but is now seeking three seats on the Bitfarms board and has said it is "ready to engage" with the reconstituted board on a potential transaction. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bitcoin-miner-riot-platforms-raises-stake-rival-bitfarms-189-2024-08-13/

2024-08-13 22:12

CAIRO/WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Projectiles launched in the direction of a U.S. airbase in a gas field in Syria's Deir al-Zor province did not hit the facility, two U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Earlier, a security source told Reuters that Iran-backed militia targeted the base with six shells, all of which fell in the vicinity of the U.S. base, adding that the U.S.-led coalition responded to the attack with artillery. The U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the projectiles did not hit the base and there were no injuries. The official cited initial reports that can change. Lebanese pro-Iranian television channel Al Mayadeen said U.S. warplanes were flying intensely in the skies of Deir al-Zor countryside following the attack. ConocoPhillips (COP.N) , opens new tab said it was aware of reports of damage to a U.S. and coalition base in eastern Syria bearing the name Conoco, but its assets in Syria were divested in the early 2000s. On Tuesday, the Pentagon said eight U.S. service members were injured in a drone attack on a base in Syria last week. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/projectiles-did-not-impact-us-base-syria-us-officials-say-2024-08-13/