2024-06-26 20:45

NHTSA finalized tighter vehicle fuel economy rules through 2031 New rules require 50.4 mpg by 2031, up from 39.1 mpg currently Republican AGs argue the rule exceeds statutory authority and is arbitrary WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - A group of 26 state attorneys general led by West Virginia and Kentucky on Wednesday challenged the Biden administration's new fuel economy rules, calling the requirements unworkable and saying they would force automakers to build more electric vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this month finalized tighter vehicle fuel economy rules through 2031 that are significantly less stringent than first proposed. NHTSA said it would hike corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) requirements to about 50.4 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2031 from 39.1 mpg currently. The new requirement is barely above the 49 mpg it previously required for 2026. Republican state attorneys general and oil industry groups have challenged a number of regulatory efforts by the Biden administration to boost vehicle efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase EVs, while Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to rescind the Biden administration's EV regulations. The lawsuit by the state attorneys general, filed in the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, argues that the rule "exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and otherwise is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law." NHTSA did not immediately comment. In July 2023, NHTSA proposed boosting CAFE requirements by 2% per year for passenger cars and 4% per year for light trucks from 2027 through 2032. The final regulation, however, has no increase for light trucks for 2027 and 2028 and will require only 2% increases from 2029 through 2031. Last year, NHTSA said its proposal to hike fuel economy standards through 2032 would cost the industry $14 billion in projected fines over a five-year-period. Under the final rule, the auto industry is collectively expected to face a total of $1.83 billion in fines from 2027 through 2031 - or it could be as little as nothing, NHTSA said. It was the third action that President Joe Biden's administration has taken in recent months that tightened vehicle regulatory proposals less than originally promised. New compliance calculations for EVs that were less strict than proposed, and new tailpipe rules would ultimately require automakers to make fewer EVs than they had originally forecast. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/republican-state-ags-challenge-new-us-fuel-economy-rules-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 20:41

SANTIAGO, June 26 (Reuters) - Chile's state mining giant Codelco, one of the world's largest copper producers, fell further behind its production target in May, an internal document obtained by Reuters showed, underscoring the challenge to revive output at a 25-year low. The mining firm, which has yet to publicly release data for May, produced 103,100 metric tons of the red metal in the month, some 8.6% below its target of 112,800 tons, the previously unreported June document revealed. The firm produced 484,500 tons of copper in the first five months of the year, 6.1% off its target, the document showed. Codelco, which is battling hard to revive production, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Codelco, which posted production in April below 100,000 tons for the first time in at least 18 years, has been hit by a deadly accident at its Radomiro Tomic in March, which led to a stoppage at the site amid the investigation of the incident. The company's CEO has pledged that it will boost output this year after its worst performance in around a quarter of a century in 2023, affected by delay to major projects. The company has shaken up its leadership in recent months. It is also pushing ahead with its new Rajo Inca project to extend the life of its small Salvador division and plans to begin partial operation of an expansion of its El Teniente underground mine in October-December this year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/codelco-copper-output-falls-behind-target-may-document-shows-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 20:28

FedEx leaps after upbeat profit forecast Whirlpool surges 17.1% Rivian up on Volkswagen joint venture Amazon crosses $2 trillion in market value Indexes up: Dow 0.04%, S&P 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.49% June 26 (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes closed with modest gains on Wednesday after a choppy trading session, with investors holding their cards close to the vest ahead of a presidential debate and an inflation report closely watched by Federal Reserve policy makers. "We're in this kind of holding pattern while we wait to see on Friday's personal consumption expenditure report to get more information," said Michael Green, portfolio manager at Simplify. Leading chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) New Tab, opens new tab closed up 0.25%, surging just before the closing bell to erase losses. Other megacaps such as Apple (AAPL.O) New Tab, opens new tab, Amazon.com (AMZN.O) New Tab, opens new tab and Tesla (TSLA.O) New Tab, opens new tab also posted gains. Several economic data releases are due this week, leading to Friday's release of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge used to decide on the path of monetary policy. The Fed has been projecting only one interest rate cut this year, in December. But investors see a 56.3% chance of a 25-basis point rate cut in September, and about two cuts by the year-end, LSEG's interest rate probabilities app showed. At 04:00 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab rose 16.10 points, or 0.04%, to 39,128.26, the S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab gained 8.61 points, or 0.16%, to 5,477.91 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab gained 87.50 points, or 0.49%, to 17,805.16. "Investors are sitting on their hands, waiting for tomorrow's presidential debate and for additional economic news in particular this Friday's PCE," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. Positive earnings and benign inflation data could encourage more rotation from tech to sectors that have lagged this year, said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson Group. Earlier this week, investors had increased bets on non-technology sectors. "We're probably going to see this choppiness continue until there is a catalyst," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. Appliances manufacturer Whirlpool(WHR.N) New Tab, opens new tab surged 17.1% after Reuters reported that German engineering group Robert Bosch is weighing a bid for the U.S. appliances maker. FedEx (FDX.N) New Tab, opens new tab jumped 15.53% after the delivery giant forecast fiscal 2025 profit above estimates, boosting the Dow Jones Transport index (.DJT) New Tab, opens new tab to its highest in over a month. Apple (AAPL.O) New Tab, opens new tab rose nearly 2% after Rosenblatt upgraded the iPhone maker's stock to "buy" from "neutral". Tesla gained 4.81% as Stifel initiated coverage with a buy rating. Shares of Amazon Inc (AMZN.O) New Tab, opens new tab rose 3.90%, bringing the company's market value above $2 trillion, the fifth U.S. corporation to cross that level. Shares of major U.S. banks including Morgan Stanley (MS.N) New Tab, opens new tab, Citigroup (C.N) New Tab, opens new tab, and Bank of America (BAC.N) New Tab, opens new tab slipped ahead of the Fed's release of results from its annual banking sector stress test. The broader S&P 500 financial index (.SPSY) New Tab, opens new tab fell 0.47%. Rivian (RIVN.O) New Tab, opens new tab soared 23.24% as German automaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) New Tab, opens new tab said it will invest up to $5 billion in the U.S. electric-vehicle maker. General Mills(GIS.N) New Tab, opens new tab fell 4.59% after the Cheerios cereal maker forecast annual profit below estimates and posted a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly sales. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.41-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 106 new highs and 89 new lows on the NYSE. The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and 171 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.59 billion shares, compared with the 11.83 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/nasdaq-sp-500-futures-rise-tech-recovery-strengthens-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 19:52

June 26 (Reuters) - Financial regulators in 25 U.S. states announced on Wednesday a settlement with cryptocurrency investment platform Abra and its CEO for operating without required state licensing. As part of the settlement, Abra last year agreed to stop accepting crypto from U.S. Abra Trade account customers into its products and services, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) said in a release, after agreeing to stop making cryptocurrencies available for buying and trading. Abra had said last year that it was winding down operations for U.S. retail customers, after facing a slew of enforcement actions from state securities regulators. Under the terms of the settlement announced Wednesday, Abra CEO Bill Barhydt will not be able to participate in the business or affairs of any money transmitter or money services business licensed in the 25 states for five years. Abra will also be required to refund up to $82.1 million to customers in the 25 states. The states involved in the settlement - including Washington, Texas, Georgia and Ohio - agreed to forgo monetary penalties in order for customers to be fully repaid. “Abra is pleased to enter into a Term Sheet negotiated with a working group from the Money Transmitters Regulators Association regarding the Abra App that Abra previously offered in the U.S.," an Abra spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson noted that Abra continues to operate in the U.S. through Abra Capital Management, an SEC-registered investment advisor. Barhydt said the company is "pleased that the state negotiations are behind us." “State financial regulators take their role to protect consumers and prevent unlicensed activity seriously,” said CSBS Chair and Washington State Department of Financial Institutions Director Charlie Clark in a statement. “Companies that do not operate within the bounds of state laws will be held accountable.” Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-firm-abra-reaches-settlement-with-us-states-operating-without-licenses-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 19:39

June 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could approve exchange traded funds (ETFs) tied to the spot price of ether as soon as July 4, as talks between asset managers and regulators enter the final stages, industry executives and other participants told Reuters. Eight asset managers, including BlackRock (BLK.N) New Tab, opens new tab, VanEck, Franklin Templeton (BEN.N) New Tab, opens new tab and Grayscale Investments, are seeking SEC approval for the funds. Most of them had rolled out spot bitcoin ETFs in January, the culmination of a decade-long tussle with regulators. Grayscale again hopes to convert an existing trust into an ETF. Executives at two firms, who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions, said the process of amending the offering documents has progressed to resolving only "minor" issues. Those documents must be approved before the ETFs can be launched. A lawyer working with one of the issuers, who also requested anonymity, said it was "down to the finishing touches" and that approval is "probably not more than a week or two away." The SEC declined to comment. In an interview with Reuters earlier this month, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the launch date depends partly on how quickly issuers respond to the regulator's queries. The January launch of funds tracking the spot price of bitcoin was one of the most successful in the ETF market, drawing some $8 billion in assets, Morningstar Direct data showed. As of late June, those nine new products have nearly $38 billion in assets, although the holdings of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust - which converted its $27 billion bitcoin trust into an ETF at the same time - dipped to $17.8 billion. Many ETF and cryptocurrency analysts believe the launch of the new spot ether ETFs will be less impressive. "Ethereum is not the same size in terms of market cap, nor does it have the same volumes," said James Butterfill, head of research at Coinshares. The price of ether has languished this month, falling more than 11%, alongside a 9.8% drop in bitcoin. Moves in bitcoin typically impact the price of ether. Given the differences in market size and nature of the two cryptocurrencies, inflows may be much more muted when the ether ETFs launch, said Bryan Armour, an ETF analyst at Morningstar. "With bitcoin, there had been pent-up demand for a decade and investor interest was off the charts," he said. "This just isn't going to command the same excitement." The SEC has already approved the rule changes required for the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and Cboe to list and oversee trading in the new products. That means that once SEC staff sign off on the filings, the products could start trading in as little as 24 hours. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-regulators-could-approve-spot-ether-etfs-launch-by-july-4-sources-say-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 19:15

JERUSALEM, June 26 (Reuters) - Israel, under pressure from Western allies to ease a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, is preparing to boost electricity to a desalination plant so it can produce more water for people in the enclave, an Israeli security official and a western official told Reuters on Wednesday. An Israeli offensive launched on Gaza in response to an October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas has left millions in Gaza with little food, scarce water, and failing sanitation, Western aid agencies say. Washington and other allies are pressing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ease the military offensive and allow in more aid and supplies to relieve the humanitarian crisis. The Israeli plan, the details of which were shown to Reuters, is to directly supply electricity from Israel to a large water desalination facility in Khan Yunis, the two sources said. The facility was established with United Nations funding in 2017 to provide drinking water to areas in Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis and the Mawasi area, where many Gazans have fled due to fighting. The facility has a production capacity of about 20,000 cubic meters of water per day, while today the facility provides only some 1,500 cubic meters due to the lack of electricity. Gaza depends on Israel for much of its electricity supply. That power has been cut since the fighting started. The Israeli source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the planned supply of electricity to the water plant could provide water for just under a million people. The source did not give a deadline for when the power supply would come on line. Current power is coming from generators and solar. The source said the plan has been approved by both the Israeli prime minister and the Israeli minister of defense but still requires approval from other ministers in the government. "There are parties who are trying to cancel the process," the source said without providing details. The Israeli prime minister's office declined a request for comment. A Western official familiar with the plan, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said preparations were being made to restore the power to the plant. The official said that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant approved the reopening of the power line when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with him in Israel earlier this month. “The Israelis are ready on their side," said the official. "Right now, Palestinian engineers are inside the strip checking the integrity of the line.” The official said restoring power to the line that feeds the desalination plant was a crucial element in alleviating the water crisis in Gaza, but would not solve the issue. There was still a need to get in equipment to fix the sanitation system, and this was hampered by the fighting, the official said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-preparing-increase-water-supply-gazans-sources-say-2024-06-26/