2024-07-31 00:48

US crude stocks draw for a 5th week on robust exports -EIA Tensions in the Middle East rise on killing of top Hamas leader WTI records biggest daily gains since Oct 2023 OPEC+ likely to stick to output policy at Aug. 1 meeting NEW YORK, July 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 3% on Wednesday as investors worried the conflict in the Middle East could widen after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran, and after a sharp fall in U.S. crude stockpiles. Global benchmark Brent crude futures for September delivery , which expired on Wednesday, settled up $2.09, or 2.66%, at $80.72 a barrel. The more active October contract gained $2.77 to $80.84. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $3.18, or 4.26%, to settle at $77.91 a barrel, their biggest daily gain since October 2023. Still, Brent finished July with nearly a 7% monthly decline with WTI down nearly 4% for the month. U.S. crude stocks decreased by 3.4 million barrels last week, government data showed, more than triple the 1.1 million-barrel decline analysts had expected in a Reuters poll. Stocks fell for a fifth straight week, the longest streak of drawdowns since January 2021. "Robust exports have helped to offset lower refining activity and strong imports to encourage a fifth consecutive draw to crude inventories," said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, calling the report "modestly supportive" for oil prices. "Geopolitical risk remains the key driver of today's rally," Smith said. A day earlier, Brent and WTI both lost about 1.4%, closing at their lowest levels in seven weeks after falling last week on hopes of a Gaza ceasefire agreement that could ease Middle East tensions and accompanying supply concerns. Tensions in the oil-producing region heated up overnight on news that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran. This came a day after the Israeli government claimed it killed Hezbollah's most senior commander in an airstrike on Beirut in retaliation for Saturday's rocket attack on Israel. Separately, the U.S. also conducted a strike in Iraq in the latest conflict in the region. "Overnight developments and elevated geopolitical risk merely provide temporary reprieve for oil benchmarks. Unless oil and gas infrastructure is hit, the latest spike is unlikely to last," said Gaurav Sharma, an independent oil analyst in London. A 0.4% fall in the U.S. dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab also supported prices. A weaker dollar can boost demand for oil by making the greenback-denominated commodity cheaper for holders of other currencies. Limiting gains were concerns about fuel demand in China, the world's top crude oil importer. China's manufacturing activity in July shrank for a third month, an official factory survey showed on Wednesday. Ample spare production capacity held by OPEC members also weighed on prices. OPEC+ is expected to stick to their current deal on production and start unwinding some output cuts from October. Top ministers from OPEC+, will hold an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting (JMMC) on Thursday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/oil-claws-back-some-losses-after-israel-retaliates-against-hezbollah-2024-07-31/

2024-07-31 00:40

July 30 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Philadelphia on Tuesday dismissed a long-running lawsuit accusing Uber Technologies of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors rather than its employees, saying a third trial would be futile after two separate juries deadlocked. The decision by U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson comes after a pair of six-day trials in March and June in which jurors could not agree on whether Uber exerted enough control over drivers for luxury service UberBLACK in Philadelphia to be considered their employer under federal wage law. Uber has faced scores of similar lawsuits. Filed by three drivers in 2016 on behalf of a class of potentially hundreds of others, the proposed class action was at one time seen as an important bellwether. Baylson in one of the first decisions of its kind in 2018 said the drivers were not Uber's employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed him two years later, paving the way for the case to go to trial. On Tuesday, Baylson said the plaintiffs had not shown that they could convince a third jury to rule in their favor, and that granting them another trial would waste the court's resources. "No single litigant has the right to continuously monopolize a district court's docket in this manner," wrote Baylson, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush. Uber in a statement said it was "thrilled that Judge Baylson finally said 'enough.'" "The fact of the matter, evidenced by multiple failures to convince a jury otherwise, is that drivers on Uber are independent contractors," the company said. Shannon Liss-Riordan, who represents the plaintiffs and tens of thousands of other Uber and Lyft drivers in similar cases around the country, said she planned to appeal the decision. She noted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2020 ruled that Uber drivers are the company's employees under state unemployment insurance law. "It makes no sense that Uber drivers are employees in Pennsylvania for purposes of unemployment but not for wages. The court was unfortunately very mistaken about the law here," Liss-Riordan said in an email. Like many other cases against Uber, the lawsuit claims that drivers were owed the minimum wage and overtime pay. Employees are entitled to many rights not extended to independent contractors and can cost companies up to 30% more, according to several studies. Despite the barrage of lawsuits against Uber and other app-based services, few have yielded final rulings on how gig workers should be classified. Many cases have been sent to private arbitration or settled. And the industry has won several victories, including a California Supreme Court ruling last week upholding a ballot measure that allows app-based drivers to be treated as independent contractors. Baylson on Tuesday credited "the herculean efforts of plaintiffs' counsel" in litigating the Philadelphia case for eight years, but said he had an obligation to manage the court's docket. "As this case now presents the prospect of an endless loop of deadlocked juries, swift resolution is warranted," he wrote. The case is Razak v. Uber, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:16-cv-00573. For the plaintiffs: Shannon Liss-Riordan and Jeremy Abay of Lichten & Liss-Riordan For Uber: Christian Angotti of Littler Mendelson; Heather Richardson of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher Read more: U.S. judge says Uber drivers are not company's employees Worker advocates tell 3rd Circuit that drivers are Uber's employees 3rd Circuit will be first appeal court to consider classification of Uber drivers U.S. Supreme Court rejects Uber bid to avoid driver pay lawsuit Penn. Supreme Court says Uber driver is employee entitled to unemployment benefits California top court upholds ballot measure treating Uber, Lyft drivers as independent contractors Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/fearing-endless-loop-mistrials-judge-tosses-uber-driver-classification-case-2024-07-30/

2024-07-31 00:23

NEW YORK, July 31 (Reuters) - The dollar added to losses on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but opened the door to reducing borrowing costs as soon as its next meeting in September. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in comments after the statement from its two-day meeting that an interest rate cut could be on the table as early as September if inflation moves down in line with expectations, growth remains reasonably strong and the labor market remains as it is. But he also said that the U.S. central bank remains data dependent and has not made any decisions about future meetings. "The Fed wants to let the data play out a little bit longer, even at the risk of falling behind the curve," said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive in Toronto. Traders have fully priced in a September rate cut, which may take pressure of the Fed to signal a certain move then. "Everyone in the market knows it's priced in, the Fed knows it's priced in, so really not pushing back against that is a kind of implicit endorsement of market pricing," said Button. Traders are also expecting a second and possible third cut by year-end. The dollar index fell as low as 103.92 and was last down 0.34% at 104.09. It is on track for a monthly loss of 1.7%. The next major U.S. economic release that is likely to drive Fed policy will be Friday’s government jobs report for July. It is expected to show that employers added 175,000 jobs during the month, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Reuters. (USNFAR=ECI) , opens new tab The ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday showed that private payrolls rose by 122,000 jobs this month, below economists' expectations for 150,000 in jobs gains. The Japanese yen hit a four-month high against the dollar on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan raised rates to the highest since 2008 and indicated that more hikes may follow. The BOJ raised the overnight call rate target to 0.25% from 0-0.1%, the largest increase since 2007. “A lot of market participants were preparing for this as if it was a possibility, but very few actually expected the BOJ to raise more than 10 basis points,” said Helen Given, FX trader at Monex USA in Washington. “This upside surprise is giving yen a huge boost.” Japan's rate increase came just months after the BOJ ended eight years of negative interest rates as the bank's chief seeks to dismantle his predecessor's unorthodox policies. The Japanese central bank also announced plans to halve its monthly Japanese government bond (JGB) purchases to 3 trillion yen as of January-March 2026. The yen has rallied since hitting a 38-year low of 161.96 against the greenback on July 3, in large part boosted by interventions by Japanese authorities. Traders unwinding bets that were short the yen and long the dollar has added to the move. Japanese authorities spent 5.53 trillion yen ($36.8 billion) intervening in the foreign exchange market this month to boost the currency, official data showed on Wednesday. The dollar was last down 1.87% at 149.91 yen and got as low as 149.63, the lowest since March 19. It is on track to post a monthly loss of 6.9% against the Japanese currency, the largest since November 2022. The Australian dollar fell to a three-month low of $0.6480 and was last down 0.08% at $0.6532, following a softer reading on core inflation. Markets abandoned bets of a further rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia after the data. The euro gained 0.05% to $1.082 and is set for a roughly 1% gain in July. Euro zone inflation unexpectedly edged up in July, data showed on Wednesday, although a widely watched gauge of price growth in the services sector eased. The pound was up 0.11% at $1.2848 and is heading for a monthly gain of 1.5%. Sterling options volatility rose to its highest in almost a year, reflecting the degree of nervousness ahead of Thursday's Bank of England rate decision where markets are pricing in 66% odds of a rate cut. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 0.77% to $65,668. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/yen-braces-boj-decision-with-risk-events-aplenty-2024-07-31/

2024-07-31 00:10

NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - An annual power market auction by the largest U.S. electrical grid operator resulted in prices more than 800% higher than last year as supply dwindled and demand increased, the operator said on Tuesday. PJM Interconnection, which covers parts of 13 states from Illinois to New Jersey, revealed the results of its 2025 to 2026 capacity auction. Prices for power plants landed at $269.92 per megawatt-day, compared to $28.92 per megawatt-day for year-ago auction, the grid operator said in a statement. "The significantly higher prices in this auction confirm our concerns that the supply/demand balance is tightening," said PJM Chief Executive Officer Manu Asthana said. "The market is sending a price signal that should incent investment in resources." The auction secured 135,684 megawatts for the period from June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026. The power mix from generators included 48% gas, 21% nuclear, 18% of coal, 1% of solar, 1% of wind, 4% of hydro, 5% of demand response and 2% from other resources, PJM said. Shares of independent power producers with nuclear fleets, including Constellation Energy (CEG.O) , opens new tab, Vistra (VST.N) , opens new tab and Talen (TLN.O) , opens new tab, jumped in after-hours trading following the auction. Constellation shares were up about 10% to $185.10, Vistra rose 12% to $77.50 and Talen gained roughly 18%, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pjm-power-auction-results-yield-sharply-higher-prices-2024-07-31/

2024-07-30 23:49

July 30 (Reuters) - Match Group (MTCH.O) , opens new tab will let go about 6% of its staff as part of plans to discontinue live-streaming services on its dating apps, the Tinder parent said on Tuesday, as activist investors push for changes. Shares jumped more than 8% in extended trading after the company also beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue as Tinder marked a smaller decline in paying users than in the prior quarter. Dating app operators such as Match and smaller rival Bumble (BMBL.O) , opens new tab have remained under pressure from a post-pandemic slowdown in growth, with Match also facing delays in the launch of new features for key apps such as Tinder. "While Tinder Y/Y payer growth remains challenged, the improved trends reported by management and that we observe in our data do suggest that user experience and brand perception improvements are contributing to sequential payer growth," M Science research analyst Chandler Willison said. Paying Tinder users declined 8% to 9.6 million in the second quarter, compared with a 9% fall in the prior quarter. The news comes about two weeks after activist investor Starboard Value built a 6.6% stake in Match, urging it to explore a sale if it is unable to revitalize its business. Elliott Investment Management and Anson Funds Management have also been pushing for changes this year at Match. Match expects third-quarter revenue to be between $895 million and $905 million, compared with estimates of $915.4 million. "Despite some encouraging signs, there is still a lot of work to do to keep the business on track," Third Bridge analyst Jamie Lumley said. Tinder downloads fell 12% globally, marking its fourth consecutive quarter of declining downloads, data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower showed on Monday. Match's second-quarter revenue grew 4% to $864 million, compared with analysts' average estimates of $856.4 million, according to LSEG data. Total paying users fell 5% to 14.8 million, the seventh straight quarter of decline. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/tinder-parent-match-forecasts-quarterly-revenue-below-estimates-2024-07-30/

2024-07-30 23:48

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - A global accounting body on Wednesday proposed guidance on how companies can do more to show the impact of climate change on their financial performance, saying standalone disclosures do not give investors the clarity they need. Norms written by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are applied by listed companies in more than 140 jurisdictions, including the European Union, Canada, Japan and Britain, though the United States has its own rules. The IASB launched a consultation on Wednesday on proposed guidance for companies to apply the board's existing rules for reporting climate change impacts or other uncertainties in their financial statements. Regulators have already begun to roll out sustainability disclosures for listed companies, but these are published outside financial statements and audited less rigorously. The examples aim to show investors how such sustainability disclosures, such as net-zero carbon emissions commitments and plans on how to transition to them, impact a company's financial figures on assets, liabilities, income and expenses. Investors have said they want to know whether assets will retain their value going forward as climate change impairs them, such as through flood damage. "They expressed concerns that information about climate-related uncertainties in financial statements was sometimes insufficient or appeared to be inconsistent with information provided outside the financial statements," the IASB said in a statement. Oil and gas companies already reflect the impact of climate change in notes attached to their financial statements. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/global-accounting-body-wants-more-rigour-showing-climate-impacts-2024-07-30/