2024-08-12 22:58
HOUSTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab issued a layoff notice to 59 employees as part of its workforce reshuffle following its $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, according to a filing with the Texas Workforce Commission. Exxon said more than 1,500 Pioneer employees were offered jobs as part of the merger. Pioneer had roughly 2,200 employees. The layoff notifications include 39 workers from Las Colinas, an area in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas, home to Pioneer Natural Resources' former headquarters, according to the filing. Exxon did not say how many of the 59 people would be laid off and how many would take new jobs at the company. Employees who received the warnings have either been offered transition roles or declined offers to join Exxon, the company said in a statement. The job cut notifications filed this month also include 18 workers from Midland, within the Permian Basin, and two from the Concho Valley, both located in West Texas, as per the filing. The merger combined Pioneer's more than 850,000 net acres in the Midland Basin with Exxon's 570,000 net acres in the Delaware and Midland Basins. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-lays-off-59-workers-starts-job-cuts-after-pioneer-acquisition-close-2024-08-12/
2024-08-12 21:54
ESHKOL COUNCIL, Israel, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Farming can develop in mysterious ways. Israeli researchers learned about that when the war in Gaza seemed to have all but wrecked their work on a more resilient strain of the cocoa plant that could help alleviate a global shortage of the beans. Just days after Israel's agriculture research centre, the Volcani Institute, sent 140 seedlings to a facility in southern Israel to study how this tropical plant could be grown in dry conditions, the area came under attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. The Oct. 7 assault that sparked the war in Gaza, paralysed southern Israel and left the facility shut down for months without electricity or irrigation. "When we came back in January we saw everything around us, all the experiments that died," said Talli Ilani, a researcher at the R&D Darom site. Everything except for 18 cocoa seedlings. While the team had not planned on testing the selected cocoa strains specifically for drought resistance, they may have found just that. "It's a very unusual result, to find a strain that can withstand 3-1/2 months of drought as new fresh seedlings and also severe cold front," said Ellen Graber, a senior principal scientist at the Volcani Institute. "It means that we may be able to develop strains that can expand the growing regions for cocoa." Bad weather and disease have hurt cocoa production and sent global cocoa prices soaring. Graber now plans to clone the surviving plants - which she refers to as "super heroes" - and test them for other qualities such as resistance to pests, and identify the genes responsible for their resilience. The Volcani Institute has developed resilient plant strains in the past, including drought-resistant wheat that ripens earlier and with a higher nutrient content, as well as a chill-resistant basil that yields all year round. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/high-hopes-israel-super-hero-cocoa-that-survived-frontline-conditions-2024-08-12/
2024-08-12 21:49
Q2 adjusted net income seen between $135 mln and $155 mln Q1 adjusted net income $178 mln, beats Visible Alpha consensus Shares fall as much as 5.5% in early trade Aug 13 (Reuters) - James Hardie Industries (JHX.AX) , opens new tab warned of a challenging second quarter on Tuesday, sending its shares down more than 5%, even as the fibre cement maker stuck by its annual profit forecast after beating analysts' estimates for the first quarter. The Australia-listed firm forecast an adjusted net income of $135 million to $155 million for the second quarter, down from the $178.9 million reported for the prior corresponding period, citing softness in the North American market. "We continue to expect the North American market for exterior products to be down low- to mid-single digits over the course of our fiscal year, and now anticipate that the market backdrop will be particularly challenging during our fiscal second quarter," CEO Aaron Erter said in a statement. The Dublin-based firm said its adjusted net income came in at $178 million for the first quarter ended June, beating the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $167.3 million. Global net sales, three-quarters of which come from the North American segment, rose 4% to $992 million. "Whilst the Q2 guide is soft and points to a market that is deteriorating and not improving... a positive that FY25 guidance is unchanged," analysts at Jarden wrote in a note. James Hardie reaffirmed its full-year income forecast of between $630 million and $700 million. Meanwhile, analysts at Jefferies said the second-quarter guidance is "curious... given typical seasonality we have observed historically which suggests 2Q25 is typically a stronger quarter." Shares of James Hardie fell as much as 5.5% to A$47.060 by 0037 GMT, while the broader benchmark index (.AXJO) , opens new tab was largely flat. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/fibre-cement-maker-james-hardies-q1-profit-rises-2-2024-08-12/
2024-08-12 21:49
Aug 13 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Markets looked a whole lot more placid on Monday, a week after equities plunged and volatility measures spiked, but intensifying geopolitical tensions and looming economic data threaten to disrupt the relative calm. The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab ended virtually unchanged on the day, as gains in Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab and other tech stocks offset declines in most other sectors. The index is now down 5.7% from its July all-time high, recovering after being down 8.5% from its peak a week ago. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab also was little changed on Monday. The Cboe volatility index (.VIX) , opens new tab was last at 20.71 points, falling during the session to its lowest point since the start of the month. The VIX a week ago logged its largest ever intraday jump and closed at over 38 points, its highest closing level since October 2020. Part of Monday's calm may have stemmed from a market holiday in Japan, with the country's Nikkei index (.N225) , opens new tab and yen currency at the center of the latest global storm in markets. But investors were looking ahead: Wednesday's U.S. consumer price index report will give a crucial read on inflation with markets now worried that an overly depressed CPI number will fan fears of a downturn. A weaker-than-expected jobs report was one of the catalysts for the recent market selloff, as some investors suspect the Fed may be too late in cutting interest rates. Tuesday's report on U.S. producer prices provides an inflation-data appetizer ahead of Wednesday's main course. Inflation also was top of mind in India, where data on Monday showed retail inflation fell in July to a near five-year low. Tensions in the Middle East were keeping markets edgy. The U.S. Defense Department said over the weekend it had ordered the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East as the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies after the killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah. Oil prices jumped on Monday, with U.S. crude settling up over 4%, on concerns the conflict would tighten global crude supplies. The U.S. presidential race was also a focus. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - Singapore GDP (Q2) - Japan corporate goods price index (July) - US producer price index (July) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-2024-08-12/
2024-08-12 21:39
WELLINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The New Zealand government said on Tuesday that it would introduce new legislation to make it easier for companies and researchers to develop and commercialize products using gene technologies such as gene editing. Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins said in a statement that rules and time-consuming processes have made research outside the lab almost impossible. "These changes will bring New Zealand up to global best practice and ensure we can capitalise on the benefits," she said. Current, regulations mean that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cannot be released out of containment without going through a complex and vigorous process and it is difficult to meet the set standard. Furthermore, gene editing is considered the same as genetic modification even when it doesn't involve the introduction of foreign DNA. Under the new law, low-risk gene editing techniques that produce changes indistinguishable from conventional breeding will be exempted from regulation, local authorities will no longer be able to prevent the use of GMOs in their regions and there will be a new regulator of the industry. "This is a major milestone in modernising gene technology laws to enable us to improve health outcomes, adapt to climate change, deliver massive economic gains and improve the lives of New Zealanders," Collins said. The government hopes to have the legislation passed and the regulator in operation by the end of 2025. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/science/new-zealand-loosen-gene-technology-regulation-make-commercialization-easier-2024-08-12/
2024-08-12 21:04
S&P/TSX closes up 0.43% on jump in crude price Tourmaline Oil to buy Crew Energy for C$1.3 bln US data on inflation and retail sales this week Aug 12 (Reuters) - Canada's benchmark index inched up on Monday as calm returned after a week of turmoil, but rising tensions in the Middle East and upcoming data from the U.S. this week kept investors on edge. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab closed up 95.01 points at 22,406.31, rising 0.43%. The increase was further aided by two major local acquisitions. Oil prices surged on Monday to $80.06 a barrel on fears that rising tensions in the Middle East could lead to a broader conflict and choke crude oil supplies globally. This fueled the energy stocks index (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab which rose roughly 3%, and was further boosted by Canada's biggest gas driller Tourmaline Oil Corp's (TOU.TO) , opens new tab C$1.3 billion ($945.87 million) offer to buy smaller rival Crew Energy (CR.TO) , opens new tab. The energy index accounts for close to 18% of the total weight of the S&P/TSX composite index. "The Canadian market obviously welcomes uncertainty in the Middle East for the oil stocks," said Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer at Baskin wealth Management. "Of course, the world doesn't want to see any of that," he added, highlighting why investors were on the edge. Canada's materials sector (.GSPTTMT) , opens new tab also logged gains, pulled up by a 63% spike in Osisko Mining (OSK.TO) , opens new tab, which jumped to the top of the TSX after South Africa-based Gold Fields Ltd (GFIJ.J) , opens new tab agreed to acquire the Canadian miner for C$2.16 billion ($1.57 billion). Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) , opens new tab shares rose 9.4% as the gold miner beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit, adding to the sector's rise. Other miners also tracked gains in gold and copper prices. Investors were cautious ahead of a host of economic data expected in the United States this week, including the U.S. consumer price index due on Wednesday to gauge the Federal Reserve's stance on its monetary policy. "Ideally, we don't want to see too soft data to show that the U.S. is falling into recession," said Allan Small, senior investment adviser at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth. "But at the same time we don't want to see strong data which would show us persistent inflation." U.S. retail sales data is expected on Friday. Markets are hoping for an interest rate cut at the U.S. central bank's September meeting. ($1 = 1.3744 Canadian dollars) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-gain-commodity-boost-us-cpi-tap-2024-08-12/
