2024-05-24 18:16

NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - Officials from 19 Republican U.S. states urged major money managers on Thursday not to vote against ExxonMobil's (XOM.N) New Tab, opens new tab directors at a meeting next week where some shareholders plan to voice their opposition to a lawsuit launched by the oil company against climate activists. The group, including Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming, said in a letter to companies including BlackRock (BLK.N) New Tab, opens new tab, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) New Tab, opens new tab and JPMorgan (JPM.N) New Tab, opens new tab that Exxon's board "deserve our thanks and support... for seeking to rein in activist shareholders". Exxon's pursuit of the case against Arjuna Capital and Follow This over a proposal the company push for stricter climate targets, even after the investor groups withdrew it, has split opinion among shareholders and state officials. A group of Democratic officials asked some of the same asset managers to vote against the board earlier this week, saying the suit would undermine shareholder rights. Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund said on Friday it would vote against the reappointment of Exxon director Joseph Hooley. Not all signatories to Thursday's letter have direct control over voting at companies where state pensions are invested, but their taking a position marks a change from a previous shareholder battle at Exxon, in which Democratic state pension funds sided with a climate-focused hedge fund. They did not explicitly call for a vote in favour of the board at the May 29 meeting. "These activists have been flooding corporate proxy statements with politically motivated proposals thinly veiled as business risk mitigation measures," the letter said. BlackRock did not respond to a request for comment. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan declined to comment. Exxon, Arjuna Capital and Follow This did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Republican officials took particular issue with Arjuna and Follow This asking Exxon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its suppliers and end-users, known as Scope 3. "The only way that Exxon can eliminate Scope 3 emissions is to shut down its operations, cap its wells, shutter its windows, and fire its employees," the letter said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-republican-states-support-exxon-shareholder-activism-row-2024-05-24/

2024-05-24 18:00

May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for the fourth time in five weeks, energy services firm Baker Hughes (BKR.O) New Tab, opens new tab said in its closely followed report on Friday. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by four to 600 in the week to May 24, the lowest since January 2022. , , Baker Hughes said that puts the total rig count down 111, or 16%, below this time last year. Baker Hughes said oil rigs were unchanged at 497 this week, while gas rigs fell by four to 99, their lowest since October 2021. That cut the rig count in a couple of states and one basin to their lowest levels in years. In Texas, the state with almost half of the country's operating rigs, the count fell by three to 287, the lowest since February 2022, while in West Virginia, drillers cut two rigs, leaving just six active units, the lowest since August 2020. In the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, the nation's biggest shale gas-producing basin, the rig count fell by three to 26, the lowest since October 2021. The oil and gas rig count dropped about 20% in 2023 after rising by 33% in 2022 and 67% in 2021, due to a decline in oil and gas prices, higher labor and equipment costs from soaring inflation and as companies focused on paying down debt and boosting shareholder returns instead of raising output. U.S. oil futures were up about 9% so far in 2024 after dropping 11% in 2023. U.S. gas futures have inched up about 2% so far in 2024 after plunging by 44% in 2023. That increase in oil prices should encourage drillers to boost U.S. crude output from a record 12.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to 13.2 million bpd in 2024 and 13.7 million bpd in 2025, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) outlook. But a drop in gas prices to 3-1/2-year lows earlier this year led several producers to slash spending and reduce drilling activities, which should cause U.S. gas output to drop to 103.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2024 from a record 103.8 bcfd in 2023, according to the EIA. That reduction in gas drilling activity is visible in the decline in rig counts in West Virginia and the Marcellus shale. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-drillers-cut-oil-gas-rigs-fourth-time-five-weeks-baker-hughes-2024-05-24/

2024-05-24 17:55

Kanda: Japan in frequent, close contact with US on markets Tokyo ready 'any time' to counter excess yen volatility Japan justified to act on excessive yen moves, Kanda says Says he will push for G7 communique to reaffirm FX stance STRESA, Italy, May 24 (Reuters) - Japan stands ready to take appropriate action in the market "any time" to counter excessive moves in the yen, its top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said on Friday, issuing a fresh warning on the chance of renewed exchange-rate intervention. Kanda also said he was in frequent and close contact with overseas counterparts, particularly in the U.S., on issues including financial markets. "Under a flexible exchange-rate regime, we won't need to intervene if currency moves are stable. But if there are excessively volatile moves that have an adverse effect on the economy, we need to take action, and doing so would be justified," Kanda told reporters. "We are ready to act any time as needed against currency moves," he said after accompanying Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki for the first-day session of the G7 finance leaders' meeting in the northern Italian city of Stresa. Kanda made his remarks a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said currency interventions should be used only rarely and in a well-communicated way. At the Group of Seven meeting, Japan told its counterparts that vigilance was needed against excessive volatility in the currency market that was driven by speculative moves, Kanda said. Japan also told the meeting it was important to "respond appropriately" to excessive, disorderly moves in the currency market that would hurt the economy, he added. Japan will push for the G7 finance leaders' communique to include language reaffirming the group's stance that excessive and volatile currency moves were undesirable, he said. Kanda, who oversees Japan's currency policy as vice finance minister for international affairs, declined to comment when asked about the yen's recent declines. The yen has lost 11% against the dollar this year on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will be in no rush to cut interest rates, which would keep the divergence between U.S. rates and Japan's ultra-low rates large. SUSPECTED INTERVENTION A weak yen has become a headache for Japanese policymakers as it hurts consumption by inflating the cost of raw material imports. Japan is suspected to have intervened in the currency market to prop up the yen on April 29 and May 2 to arrest what authorities described as excessive, speculative currency moves. While the suspected intervention has kept the yen from falling below the psychologically important 160-to-the-dollar line, the Japanese currency has yet to stage a clear rebound. It stood at 156.98 to the dollar on Friday, not far from the more than three-week low of 157.19 touched on Thursday. Markets see the 160-to-the-dollar level as a line in the sand for authorities that heightens the chance of yen-buying intervention. Tokyo stepped into the market when the Japanese currency slid below that level. The G7 group of advanced nations share a common understanding that stable currency moves are desirable and that countries have authority to take action in the market when exchange-rate moves become too volatile. Tokyo has argued this G7 agreement gives it freedom to intervene in the currency market to counter excessive yen moves. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-ready-act-vs-excessive-fx-moves-says-currency-diplomat-kanda-2024-05-24/

2024-05-24 17:51

May 24 (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) New Tab, opens new tab has asked its 600 U.S. employees, who are eligible to work remotely, to return to office fulltime, it said on Friday as regulatory requirements make it hard for Wall Street banks to allow offsite work for roles such as trading. Regulators had eased some of the stringent requirements to allow traders the flexibility of remote work during the pandemic. But in the coming weeks, the primary watchdog for U.S. brokerage firms and exchange markets, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is set to bring back pre-pandemic rules to monitor workplaces. "The majority of Citi employees will continue to work on a hybrid schedule, with at least three days per week in the office and up to two days remotely," the third-largest U.S. lender said in an email statement. The private securities industry regulator had earlier this week pushed back against banks, saying its new rules provide member firms with greater flexibility — not less — to allow eligible registered persons to work from home, following the expiration of temporary COVID-19 relief. Bloomberg News first reported Citi's move along with shifts in work policies at HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) New Tab, opens new tab and Barclays (BARC.L) New Tab, opens new tab. London-based Barclays has mandated that its global investment banking staff must work in the office or travel to meet clients five days a week from June 1, the Bloomberg report said. Meanwhile, HSBC is talking to almost half of its workforce in New York, around 530 employees, about shifting regulations, the report said, citing an interview with the bank's head of human resources for the U.S. and Americas. The lender is trying to let as many people as possible retain the option of logging in from home if they would like to, the report said. All three firms have had some of the most flexible post-pandemic working policies compared to their Wall Street counterparts. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/some-big-banks-ask-more-staff-return-office-five-days-week-bloomberg-reports-2024-05-24/

2024-05-24 17:47

BRUSSELS, May 24 (Reuters) - Lobbying groups representing airlines, hotels and retailers have urged European Union tech regulators to ensure that Google takes their views into account, and not just large intermediaries, when making changes to comply with landmark tech rules. Airlines for Europe group that has Air France KLM (AIRF.PA) New Tab, opens new tab and British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L) New Tab, opens new tab> as members, hotel group Hotrec, European Hotel Forum, EuroCommerce, Ecommerce Europe and Independent Retail Europe had in March expressed their concerns about the impact of the new rules. EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) imposes a list of dos and don'ts on Google and five other tech giants aimed at giving users more choice and rivals a better chance to compete, but the groups voiced concerns the the adjustments could hurt their revenues. In a joint letter to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager and EU industry chief Thierry Breton dated May 22 they said their worries have mounted since then. "Our industries have serious concerns that currently considered solutions and requirements for implementing the DMA could further increase discrimination," they wrote. "Initial observations indicate that these changes risk severely depleting direct sales revenues of companies by giving more prominence to powerful online intermediaries due to the preferential treatment they would receive," they said. The Commission, which is now investigating Google for possible DMA breaches, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Google, which in a March blog post said changes to search results give large intermediaries and aggregators more traffic and less for hotels, airlines, merchants and restaurants, had no immediate comment. "We are concerned that the non-compliance investigation refers only to the need to treat third-party services in a fair and non-discriminatory manner, without any acknowledgement of European businesses that also offer their services on Google," the groups said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/airlines-hotels-retailers-fear-being-left-out-googles-search-changes-2024-05-24/

2024-05-24 17:25

May 24 (Reuters) - Feeding raw milk contaminated with bird flu to mice infected them with the virus, adding to evidence that consumption of unpasteurized milk is not safe for humans, according to a study published on Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Bird flu has caused serious or fatal infections globally among people in close contact with infected wild birds or poultry, and scientists have long viewed the virus as being capable of causing a global health crisis. U.S. officials this week said that a second human infection had been confirmed in a Michigan dairy worker after the bird flu virus was first detected in dairy cattle in late March. Both workers' symptoms were limited to conjunctivitis, or pink eye. In the study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory fed droplets of raw milk from infected dairy cattle to five mice. The researchers said the mice showed signs of illness, including lethargy, on the first day. They identified high levels of virus in the animals' nasal passages, trachea and lungs and moderate-to-low virus levels in other organs, consistent with bird flu infections found in other mammals. Most U.S. milk is pasteurized, but 30 U.S. states permit the sale of raw milk, which accounts for less than 1% of nationwide sales. A nationwide survey of pasteurized milk - heated to kill pathogens - found bird flu virus particles in about 20% of samples tested. The study also found that levels of the bird flu virus fell slowly in raw milk stored at refrigeration temperatures. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, funded the study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised against drinking raw milk and U.S. officials have asked dairy farms to pasteurize milk that is being discarded. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/raw-milk-containing-bird-flu-virus-infects-mice-study-2024-05-24/