2024-08-27 19:37

SAO PAULO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Some of the suspects arrested for setting fire to sugarcane fields in Sao Paulo state told police they are linked to an organized crime gang and were retaliating for anti-crime actions by the government, a senior state official said on Tuesday. The fires that started last week spread rapidly through parched fields during the weekend, at the peak of the country's dry season, and destroyed thousands of hectares of sugarcane plantations, sending clouds of smoke that cloaked nearby cities. State Agriculture Secretary Guilherme Piai told Reuters that fires started at different locations at the same time, which indicated that they were not accidental. The government suspects that one of Brazil's largest crime gangs, Primeiro Comando da Capital - commonly known as PCC - was behind the fires, seeking to retaliate against measures to combat the criminal trade in adulterated fuels. "We don't really know the motivation, but some said they were linked to PCC. Others naively wanted to take revenge against agribusiness, which is the driving force of Brazil's economy," Piai said. Organized crime has bought bankrupt fuel plants and hundreds of gas stations, he said, adding that the fires could be a way of retaliating against government actions combating organized crime. PCC was set up in 1993 by inmates at a maximum security prison in Sao Paulo and moved from drug trafficking to become Brazil's most powerful and feared a criminal gang. Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro earlier described the fires in sugarcane fields as criminal, but he gave no details. More than 2,100 fires blazed in sugarcane fields, resulting in the burning of 59,000 hectares (146,000 acres) of sugarcane areas and crop regrowth areas. Sao Paulo accounts for about half of Brazil's sugarcane planting. The fires caused losses estimated at 350 million reais ($63.59 million), according to the Organization of Cane Producers Associations Orplana. State Governor Tarcisio de Freitas estimated the overall losses in damages to crops and other properties and activities at more than 1 billion reais. Since Thursday, four men have been arrested after being caught red-handed in possession of containers of gasoline to set fields on fire, Freitas said. On Tuesday, police reported the arrests of two more men caught on security cameras setting fire to vegetation. A federal prosecutor investigating the fires, Luis Fernando Rocha, said that so far there was no proof of coordinated arson. "It was criminal. But so far we don't have elements to say that this was organized crime," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/crime-gang-pcc-is-prime-suspect-setting-brazil-farmland-fires-official-says-2024-08-27/

2024-08-27 19:36

Aug 27 (Reuters) - Shares of cannabis companies sank on Tuesday after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) postponed its cannabis reclassification hearing to Dec. 2, after the U.S. presidential election. The Department of Justice, which oversees the DEA, said Attorney General Merrick Garland recommended cannabis be reclassified as a Schedule three drug instead of Schedule one earlier this year. Schedule one is reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Shares of Curaleaf (CURA.TO) , opens new tab and U.S.-listed shares of Canopy Growth fell over 10%, while Illinois-based Verano Holdings (VRNO.NLB) , opens new tab was down 12.9%. The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF dipped 9.1%, having fallen as much as 12% earlier in the session. Canada-listed Green Thumb Industries (GTII.CD) , opens new tab, Tilray Brands , and Trulieve Cannabis (TRUL.CD) , opens new tab were down 8.6%, 6% and 5% respectively. "We believe both candidates are likely to let rescheduling advance, though we have more confidence in Kamala Harris than in Donald Trump," said analysts at TD Cowen in a note. Analysts also noted that the outcome would heavily depend on Trump's choice for key positions such as Attorney General, the director of the DEA, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, should he win. The HHS' National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2023 showed that marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug , opens new tab, with 21.8% of people aged 12 or older, or 61.8 million people, reporting use. Reclassifying marijuana would represent a first step toward narrowing the wide policy chasm between state and federal cannabis laws. Medical cannabis is legal in 38 states and various U.S. territories, while recreational use is permitted in 24 states and Washington, D.C.; however, it remains federally illegal. Until then, "the extended wait for rescheduling decisions could maintain the status quo, leaving businesses to navigate a patchwork of state regulations and ongoing federal ambiguity," said Pete Sahani chief executive officer of the cannabis hardware firm, the Blinc Group. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/pot-stocks-fall-us-dea-pushes-cannabis-reclassification-hearing-december-2024-08-27/

2024-08-27 19:33

Aug 27 (Reuters) - Top U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab is looking to sell oil assets in the U.S. Permian Basin that could fetch $1 billion, Bloomberg Law reported on Tuesday. Exxon, which purchased Pioneer Natural Resources for $60 billion in May, wants to sell a collection of conventional oil and gas properties in the Permian across west Texas and New Mexico to focus on higher-growth assets. Reuters first reported on the planned sale in June. The company is offering 14 asset groups, eight operated by Exxon and stakes in six non-operated groups, according to a company prospectus. Exxon said the sale is consistent with its strategy to continually evaluate its portfolio. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-sell-some-permian-assets-bloomberg-law-reports-2024-08-27/

2024-08-27 18:38

Aug 27 (Reuters) - Members of the boards of directors overseeing the Chicago and New York Federal Reserve banks voted in favor of lowering by a quarter percentage point the central bank’s discount rate during July, according to meeting minutes released on Tuesday. The Fed said in a press release that while 10 of the 12 regional Fed banks wanted to maintain the discount rate at 5.5% in votes taken last month, the Chicago and New York Fed directors wanted that borrowing rate to move down to 5.25%. The discount rate is what deposit-taking banks pay to borrow directly from the central bank. It is a rate that is generally set in relation to where the central bank's interest rate target range is also set. At the month-ending July Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the Fed maintained its interest rate target range at between 5.25% and 5.5%, with the discount rate steady at 5.5%. The discount window meeting minutes offer an insight into the likely direction of monetary policy. With inflation pressures easing and risks around the job market rising, the Fed is almost certain to cut its rate target at the September policy meeting. Fed leader Jerome Powell said as much when he spoke on Friday at the Kansas City Fed's annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Released last Wednesday, meeting minutes from the July FOMC noted the "vast majority" of policy makers are on board with a rate cut for next month. The discount rate meeting minutes said that as of last month the Fed's Board of Governors expressed no view on the level of the rate. In the minutes, regional Fed directors "generally reported stable economic activity, with many directors noting moderating inflation." The directors also said "labor market conditions reportedly continued to move into better balance, and wage growth stabilized or slowed in most districts." The 12 regional Fed banks are overseen by directors drawn from the private sector. The minutes noted they were approved on July 22. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/chicago-ny-fed-directors-favored-discount-rate-cut-july-2024-08-27/

2024-08-27 17:03

Canadian dollar gains 0.2% against the greenback Touches its strongest since March 23 at 1.3452 Price of U.S. oil decreases 2.3% 10-year yield touches a 2-week high at 3.106% TORONTO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened to a five-month high against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, helped by recent broad-based selling of the American currency and ahead of domestic GDP data this week that could guide bets on Bank of Canada rate cuts. The loonie was trading 0.2% higher at 1.3460 to the U.S. dollar, or 74.29 U.S. cents, after touching its strongest intraday level since March 23 at 1.3452. "The Canadian dollar is rallying based on broad-based U.S. dollar selling and the moves are a little exaggerated just because of thin summer markets," said Rahim Madhavji, president at KnightsbridgeFX.com. Currency moves remain driven by the prospect of upcoming U.S. interest rate cuts. Investors see a rate cut at the Federal Reserve's September meeting as all but certain, with debate now focused on the possibility of a 50-basis-point cut instead of 25. "All eyes are on the Fed but also Canadian economic data," Madhavji said. "A weak (GDP) data print would weaken the loonie with the expectation that the Bank of Canada is going to cut rates faster than the Fed." Economists expect Canadian gross domestic product data, due on Friday, to show the economy expanding at an annualized pace of 1.6% in the second quarter. The BoC's most recent forecast is for a gain of 1.5%. The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, was down 2.3% at $75.67 a barrel on Tuesday on worries that slower economic growth in the U.S. and China could reduce demand for energy. Canadian government bond yields moved higher across the curve. The 10-year was up 2.5 basis points at 3.082%, after earlier touching its highest level since Aug. 12 at 3.106%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/c-notches-5-month-high-against-under-pressure-us-counterpart-2024-08-27/

2024-08-27 16:08

LONDON/JERUSALEM, Aug 27 (Reuters) - An all-out military conflict with Hezbollah or Iran could have significant "credit consequences" for Israeli debt issuers, credit ratings agency Moody's said on Tuesday. "We continue to assume that the ongoing tensions will not escalate into an all-out military conflict between the two sides or extend to involve Iran, thus limiting the immediate credit-negative impact on the region," the ratings agency said in a statement. "However, an all-out military conflict with Hezbollah or Iran could have significant credit consequences for Israeli debt issuers." Moody's in February downgraded Israel's credit rating to A2 with a negative outlook, citing material political and fiscal risks for the country from its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In a separate report, S&P Global Market Intelligence - separate from its Global Ratings division - said it was unlikely that the Israeli government, Hezbollah or Iran intends to escalate this round of confrontation into a wider conflict. The "stance on both sides, combined with the very limited number of Israeli casualties and apparent lack of significant material damage from the attacks in Israel, are likely to provide a sufficient off-ramp from additional escalation," it said. Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel on Sunday, while Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger attack, in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare. S&P Global Ratings cut Israel's rating in April and Fitch followed suit in August. The S&P report said that while Hezbollah is likely deterred from a full-scale war, Iran was still likely to seek a military response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, but most likely it would be limited in scope. "Iran’s leadership has, we assess, even more incentive than Hezbollah to avoid a regional war that would be likely to involve direct Israeli and US military strikes on Iran," it said. An Israeli-Hamas ceasefire deal that would bring back Israeli hostages held in Gaza, it added, "would allow Iran’s leadership to present it as a result of effective Iranian military pressure." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/moodys-warns-significant-ratings-impact-israel-all-out-conflict-2024-08-27/