2024-09-04 20:50

Airbus, Rolls prepare to brief airlines on Cathay A350 incident Cathay Pacific found 15 of its 48 A350s had damaged fuel lines Some other carriers have made precautionary checks Initial investigation highlights pierced pipe, cause unclear-sources Too early to rule out findings requiring further action-sources PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) , opens new tab and Rolls-Royce (RR.L) , opens new tab are preparing to brief airlines on the fallout from an engine emergency that prompted Cathay Pacific to review its fleet of A350s as pressure from airlines mounts for clarity, two people familiar with the matter said. Barring fresh evidence as investigators examine the fuel system of a jet forced to return to Hong Kong on Monday, manufacturers have been leaning against recommending worldwide checks but the final word lies with regulators, the people said. Briefings could go ahead as early as Thursday, they said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Some carriers including Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) , opens new tab and Japan Airlines (9201.T) , opens new tab had been conducting precautionary checks of their entire A350 fleets after Cathay Pacific (0293.HK) , opens new tab said it had found 15 of its 48 A350 jets needed repairs to fuel lines. Airbus declined comment and referred queries to Hong Kong investigators, who could not be reached. Rolls-Royce and Cathay Pacific did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Although the stance so far suggests there is no immediate discovery of a widespread flaw, it is too early to rule out further findings or analysis that may eventually require action by other airlines, the people said, asking not to be identified. It was not immediately clear whether the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) would endorse any decision to refrain from recommending fleet action, which threatens costly downtime as the industry wrestles with maintenance delays. "We have no further comment at this stage as we are still completing our assessment," an EASA spokesperson said. The A350-1000, the larger of two models in the Airbus A350 family, and its Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines have been under the spotlight since a Zurich-bound jet was forced to return to Hong Kong after an engine problem, later traced to a fuel leak. Initial investigations have revealed that a flexible pipe feeding a fuel injection nozzle in the XWB-97 engine was pierced, the people said. Hong Kong investigators are now expected to focus on whether that hole was the origin of the fuel leak or was itself caused by a different problem, yet to be identified, they added. Hong Kong's Air Accident Investigation Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cathay Pacific said earlier it would return all Airbus A350s, including the smaller A350-900 version, to operation by Saturday following inspections and fuel line repairs on 15 jets, having cancelled dozens of flights to examine the planes. It did not say what criteria it had used to decide whether the lines should be replaced nor whether the changes had been approved by Rolls-Royce, which typically oversees maintenance under long-term engine service contracts. Neither company responded to a request for comment on the repairs. So far no other airline has reported damage to fuel lines. Some have carried out voluntary checks since the incident while others have said they are awaiting clarity from Rolls-Royce. In London, shares in Rolls-Royce rose 1.8% on Wednesday, extending a partial recovery after steep falls on Monday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/airbus-rolls-brief-airlines-pressure-a350-checks-eases-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 20:44

S&P 500 and Nasdaq close a hair lower, Dow ends up Job openings indicate labor market easing Nvidia edges lower after report of DOJ subpoena Dollar Tree dives after cutting annual forecasts AMD rises after hiring former Nvidia executive NEW YORK Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks finished slightly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday following labor market data and comments from a Federal Reserve official that bolster the case for an interest rate cut. Labor Department data showed that U.S. job openings fell to a 3-1/2-year low in July, indicating continued easing of labor market tightness that could strengthen the Fed's hand to begin cutting rates at its next meeting later this month. The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged to a lower close while the Dow ended slightly higher. Utilities and consumer staples stocks led the gainers while energy and technology equities were the main drag. Six out of 11 S&P 500 sectors ended lower. "This is always a rocky period in September but the economy is holding up," said Bill Strazzullo, chief markets strategist at Bell Curve Trading in Boston. "The consumer is fine, the labor market is fine. I'm still bullish overall." Shares of Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab, which suffered a massive $279 billion drop in market value on Tuesday, closed 1.7% lower. Shortly before the close of trading, the company denied a media report that it received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice. Other megacap growth stocks fell, including Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab which ended 0.9% lower. Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab dipped 0.1%, Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab dropped 0.5% and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) , opens new tab slipped 1.7%. Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab shares rose 4.2%. Raphael Bostic, Atlanta Fed president, said on Wednesday the central bank must not keep interest rates too high much longer or it risks causing too much harm to employment. He added that waiting until inflation falls back to the Fed's 2% goal before cutting rates "would risk labor market disruptions that could inflict unnecessary pain and suffering." In the previous day's session, all three Wall Street indexes slumped to their biggest one-day loss since early August as investors dumped technology-related stocks in a dour start to September - which is historically the worst month for equities. "Utility stocks are up today because of weak data in jobs that just bolsters the case that when the Fed meets in about two weeks they are going to cut rates by at least 25 basis points," said Eric Beyrich, co-chief investment officer at Sound Income Strategies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 38.04 points, or 0.09%, to 40,974.97, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 8.86 points, or 0.16%, to 5,520.07 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab lost 52.00 points, or 0.30%, to 17,084.30. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX) , opens new tab rebounded from its biggest one-day drop since the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous session and ended up 0.25%. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) , opens new tab rose nearly 3% after it named former Nvidia executive Keith Strier as senior vice president of global AI markets. Zscaler (ZS.O) , opens new tab fell nearly 19% after the company forecast fiscal 2025 revenue and profit below estimates. Dollar Tree (DLTR.O) , opens new tab slumped 22% after the discount store operator trimmed its annual sales and profit forecasts. Total volume across U.S. exchanges was about 10.5 billion shares, down from a 20-day moving average of nearly 11 billion shares. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-slip-economic-growth-worries-ahead-labor-data-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 20:37

BRASILIA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Firefighters succeeded on Wednesday in reducing the extent of a massive wildfire that blazed for two days and destroyed 20% of a forest in the Brazilian capital, cloaking the city in clouds of gray-white smoke, according to officials, who suspect that it may have been started by arsonists. The National Forest of Brasilia is a conservation area that extends over 5,600 hectares of woodland that protects the springs that are the source of 70% of the city's freshwater. The fire broke out at the peak of the dry season when vegetation is parched and temperatures high allowing flames to spread fast. "We have put out three of the four blazes and we hope to have the fire under control by the end of the day," said Fabio dos Santos Miranda, who manages the forest. "We are sure this was an environmental crime, but we haven't confirmed if it was intentional or not," he said in an interview, adding that three suspected arsonists were seen in the area where the fire started. Firefighters struggled to contain the forest fire and stop it spreading to adjacent orchards where farmers grow tomatoes and flowers. "We are working to protect the orchards, but the wind is blowing the fire towards them and the sparks fly a long way." said fireman Major Godoy. Emilia Vasconcellos, who raises cattle and chickens on a farm at risk of being caught in the blaze, said she thought people had set off the fire to clear land for themselves, but she had no evidence. The forest was cut in size by almost half in 2022 to give way to urban development by the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who reduced environmental controls and allowed deforestation to surge in the Amazon rainforest. A record drought in the Amazon increased fires in the rainforest for the month of August to the highest level since 2010, government data showed on Sunday. Last year's rains came late and were weaker than usual because a weather pattern, known as El Nino, was supercharged by climate change, leaving the rainforest especially vulnerable to this year's fires. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/wildfire-destroys-20-brasilia-forest-arson-suspected-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 20:24

MONROVIA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Liberia conditionally lifted a shutdown order on China Union's iron ore Bong Mines, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. The West African country's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shut down operational activities on Aug. 28, saying the company had violated environmental regulations. The Liberian government said China Union had requested a temporary reprieve following the shut down and committed to adhering to applicable laws. It said the EPA had conditionally permitted the company to operate for the next three months while it regularises its status. China Union took over the Bong Mines, located around 150 km (94 miles) northeast of the capital Monrovia, with a $2.6-billion investment in 2008. It made its first shipment of iron ore in 2014. On Aug. 28, the EPA said it shut down Bong Mines for operating without an effluent discharge license, building a processing plant without a permit and discharging tailings into a wetland. Iron is abundant in Liberia but the sector was decimated by decades of under-investment. Production at the Bong Mines stopped during Liberia's 1989-2003 civil war. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/liberia-conditionally-lifts-shutdown-order-china-union-iron-ore-bong-mines-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 20:20

NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas producers' appetite for dealmaking is closing in on last year's record, with rising interest in smaller oilfields offsetting slower activity in the top oil-producing Permian Basin, analysts at consultancy firm Rystad said on Wednesday. Nearly $100 billion has been spent by U.S. producers on mergers and acquisitions so far this year, and another $46 billion in assets are currently for sale, according to a Rystad analysis through late August. A record $155 billion worth of production and exploration focused deals were signed in 2023, according to Rystad's tally. Consolidation in the industry reached a fever pitch last year as top oil producers unveiled mega-deals to boost both their output and their backlog of drilling locations. For private owners, it has presented a rare window to exit investments profitably. "Private equity-backed oil producers are likely to continue selling off assets to capitalize on public companies' appetite for inventory and secure premium valuations as competition among potential buyers increases," said Atul Raina, vice president of upstream M&A analysis at Rystad.. While last year's dealmaking rush focused almost exclusively on the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, intense competition for acreage in the top U.S. oilfield has sent opportunistic buyers to look elsewhere. SM Energy (SM.N) , opens new tab, which is extending its footprint in the Uinta basin in Utah by acquiring XCL Resources for $2 billion, said good deals have become harder to find in the Permian. "We would love to add that kind of asset in the Permian, but getting something of that size anywhere near that price is really hard right now," SM Energy Chief Financial Officer Wade Pursell said at a conference on Tuesday. Deals focused on the Permian were just 46% of the first half total this year, versus 92% in the second-half last year, according to Rystad's analysis. Deals in the Bakken basin of North Dakota grew to 12% in the first-half this year, from virtually none in the second half last year. The Marcellus basin in Pennsylvania made up 14% of the deals in the first half this year, while the Eagle Ford basin in Southeast Texas represented 13%, according to Rystad data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-oil-gas-ma-nears-2023-record-focus-shifts-away-permian-rystad-says-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 19:30

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Hunger reached its highest point in the United States in nearly a decade last year, with 18 million households, or 13.5%, struggling at some point to secure enough food, a Department of Agriculture report released on Wednesday said. Hunger has been on the rise in the country since 2021, after years of decline. U.S. Census Bureau data last year showed a rise in food insecurity after the end of programs that expanded food aid during the Covid-19 pandemic. The report did not provide an explanation for the increase. Anti-hunger group Feeding America found in May that hungry people in the United States were facing a $33.1 billion shortfall in money to meet their food needs, in part due to higher food prices. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that Congress was to blame for failing to pass an expanded child tax credit , opens new tab this year and expanding work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation's largest food aid program, last year. "For anyone to go hungry in America is unacceptable," he said. Expanding federal food aid and the child tax credit would help address the problem, anti-hunger groups have said. "Reducing and eliminating hunger in America will not happen overnight, but the policies necessary to do so are not a mystery," Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger, said in a statement. One million more households were food insecure in 2023 than in 2022, the USDA report said. About 6.8 million of the 18 million households suffering food insecurity experienced very low food security, meaning the diets of one or more household members were disrupted during the year because they could not afford to buy enough food. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hunger-us-continued-multi-year-rise-2023-says-farm-agency-report-2024-09-04/