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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Senate said Friday they had resolved their differences over unemployment aid in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill, enabling them to move forward with the sweeping package after hours of delay.
The deal would scale back the level of jobless benefits provided in the version of the bill that passed the House of Representatives last week and set up new tax breaks for people receiving them, according to Democratic aides.
“We have reached a compromise that enables the economy to rebound quickly while also protecting those receiving unemployment benefits from being hit with (an) unexpected tax bill next year,” said Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a key centrist who had pushed to scale back the aid.
A gauge of global equity markets was little changed on Friday and Wall Street gave back some of its early gains as investors took stock of a report that at first blush showed faster-than-expected U.S. jobs growth but was also a reminder that the recovery will still take.
BOJ must deepen understanding of climate change risks -Kuroda Kuroda cautious about BOJ targeting green bonds in asset buying Comments underscore BOJ’s growing focus on climate change (Recasts)
TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda highlighted climate change on Friday as one of the key themes in guiding monetary policy, but kept his distance from the idea of the central bank buying green bonds.
The comments underscore the bank’s growing focus on climate change, a key topic of debate among central banks, some of which are stepping up purchases of green bonds used to finance clean energy and environmental projects or are considering doing so.
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HOUSTON (Reuters) - Texas’ state power regulator on Friday unanimously vetoed a request to cut about $16 billion from state power charges during the final day of the state’s February cold snap, saying even a partial repricing could have unintended effects.
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The Public Utility Commission deferred voting on a separate proposal to slice service fees that would have saved retail electric providers about $1.5 billion for power never provided. Both proposals were recommended by the state’s independent power market adviser.
Total electricity charges jumped by about $47 billion during a winter storm that knocked out nearly half of Texas power plants, hiking prices for gas and power that have roiled the state’s energy sector. Storm-related costs sent one company into bankruptcy and a dozen more face being unplugged from the state’s grid for non-payment.
By Reuters Staff
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FILE PHOTO: A sign is seen outside the 11 Wall St. entrance of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
(Reuters) - U.S.-based stock funds in the week ended Wednesday posted $3.3 billion outflows, according to Lipper.
U.S. taxable bond funds attracted $8.2 billion, the 11th straight weekly inflow and money market funds drew $23.6 billion, the largest inflow since May, Lipper data published late Thursday showed.
U.S. municipal bond funds shed $605 million, the first outflow since November.
Reporting by Alden Bentley; Editing by Toby Chopra