BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Growth of global trade in goods is likely to remain weak in early 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Monday, adding that the below-trend performance could be reduced even further by the new coronavirus. The WTO said that, bas... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The euro struggled near 3-year lows on Monday as investors worried about weakening growth in the region, while Chinese efforts to limit the damage from a coronavirus outbreak appeared to calm markets, with the yuan and Australian dollar gain... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – French train maker Alstom (ALSO.PA) has confirmed it is in talks on the possible acquisition of the train business of Canada’s Bombardier (BBDb.TO), a potential $7 billion deal that could help it build scale in the increasingly competitive ra... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain does not need any special arrangements in its future relationship with the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Monday, adding that it wants a trade agreement similar to other deals the EU has struck. Prim... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers are set to discuss on Monday a document that calls for a more growth-friendly fiscal policy, a move that could lead to Germany’s spending more amid fears of a downturn. The 19-country euro zone has for years stu... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German economic growth will remain weak in the first quarter of 2020, weighed down by weak exports and the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Bundesbank said in a regular economic report on Monday. Europe’s largest economy stagnated in th... More »
(Reuters) – 1/CHINA ON SICK LEAVE A leap in coronavirus cases in Hubei gave markets pause, for all of 24 hours. Then attention shifted back to the global case-count and the rally resumed. But while investors are focused on containment, the world’s second-bigge... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian headline inflation rate is forecast to ease in 2020 to 1.5 percent for the year from 2.2% in 2019, a publicly appointed commission said on Monday. With members from labor unions, employers’ federations and Statistics Norway, the comm... More »
(Reuters) – Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK) is expecting a significant drop in its first-half results and has also cut capacity due to the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Monday. Severe travel restrictions as a result of a coronavirus outbreak in China, whic... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A gauge of how Britons feel about their household finances hit its highest level on record this month, the latest sign of a confidence bounce since Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decisive election win in December. The IHS Markit Household Fi... More »
(Reuters) – European shares hit a record high on Monday, with automobile stocks leading gains amid fresh attempts by China to limit the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Automobile stocks .SXAP, which are highly sensitive to Chinese demand and indus... More »
(Reuters) – NMC Health (NMC.L) said on Monday its founder BR Shetty had resigned as the Emirati healthcare group’s joint non-executive chairman, leaving UK businessman H.J. Mark Tompkins as sole chairman. NMC, the United Arab Emirates’ largest private healthca... More »
(Reuters) – NMC Health (NMC.L) said on Monday its founder BR Shetty had resigned as joint non-executive chairman, months after the UAE healthcare group was thrown into turmoil by doubts over its finances. NMC is the largest private healthcare company in the Un... More »
(Reuters) – British bookmaker William Hill (WMH.L) on Monday named cardboard maker DS Smith’s (SMDS.L) Chief Financial Officer Adrian Marsh as its finance head. Marsh will join William Hill later this year, taking over from Ruth Prior whose departure was annou... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone economic growth slowed as expected in the last three months of 2019 as gross domestic product shrank in France and Italy against the previous quarter, but employment growth picked up more than expected, official estimates showed ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices slipped lower on Monday as traders assessed China’s oil demand following the coronavirus outbreak and waited to see if major producers will cut output further to balance markets. Oil is off more than 20% from peaks struck in Ja... More »
(Reuters) – European shares inched lower on Monday as concerns over the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak weighed on sentiment, while markets also came off a rally from last week. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.3% by 0803 GMT, with the trave... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s consumer prices rose sharply in January from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, strengthening the crown currency ahead of a major policy speech by the central bank governor on Thursday. Core inflation, a key measure for m... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares fell on Monday as the death toll from a coronavirus outbreak exceeded the SARS epidemic of two decades ago, though Chinese shares gained as authorities lifted some work and travel restrictions, helping businesses to resume opera... More »
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems Ltd (ESLT.TA) said on Monday it won contracts worth $136 million to provide customers in Asia-Pacific with airborne laser direct infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) systems. These systems are designed to prot... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Gathered in a German mountain castle last November for an evening retreat that ended with a whiskey-tasting, rebel European Central Bank policymakers and Christine Lagarde, their newly confirmed president, made a pact. Lagarde pledged to ... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s parliament will soon begin debating a sweeping new bill that proposes corporate tax cuts and seeks to make internet giants pay more taxes, as part of a wider plan to simplify laws and boost investments in Southeast Asia’s bigges... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey has reduced the range and the levels of fees and commissions that banks can charge clients, according to central bank and banking watchdog regulations announced on Monday. The measures will cut the various charges banks can charge f... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s economic growth in the fourth quarter is expected to have slowed to its weakest since mid-2016 on weaker private consumption and external demand, a Reuters poll showed. The median forecast from the poll of 13 economists was ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian airlines face “drastic” cuts in their planned growth because of the coronavirus crisis, an industry group warned, adding gloom to an already depleted Singapore Airshow as more companies scaled back plans on Monday. The Singapore Air... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian currencies lifted a little on Monday amid hints that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing down and as some big businesses resumed work in China after the Lunar New Year break. Workers began trickling back to offices and fa... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian antitrust investigator who helped bring criminal cartel charges against Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) denied acting with “impropriety” when presented with communications between the regulator and informant... More »
(Reuters) – Australia’s Boral Ltd (BLD.AX) said on Monday delays to building projects due to bushfires will likely cause a plunge in its second-half results, while revealing an investigation had found inflated earnings at its North American window-making busin... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock futures fell on Sunday after China’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak exceeded the global total from the SARS epidemic and as authorities prepared for millions of people to return to work after an extended Lunar New Year... More »
(Reuters) – Boeing narrowly missed a “catastrophic failure” during its December flight test of an unmanned space taxi that was cut short by an unrelated problem, a NASA safety review panel said Thursday, recommending that the agency examine Boeing’s software v... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude prices fell on Monday to their lowest in more than a year, dragged down by worries about lower demand in China, the world’s largest oil importer, following a coronavirus outbreak there. There are signs fuel demand has plunged ... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s consumer price inflation rose a bit more than expected to 12.15% year-on-year in January, official data showed on Monday, climbing for the third consecutive month after a dramatic drop last year. A currency crisis in 2018 sent inf... More »
SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Investors erased $420 billion from China’s benchmark stock index on Monday, sold the yuan and dumped commodities as fears about the spreading coronavirus and its economic impact drove selling on the first day of trade in China si... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s securities regulator has urged some mutual fund managers not to sell shares unless they face investor redemptions, four sources told Reuters, as the country’s stock markets plunged on Monday amid a growing virus outbreak. T... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The impact from a virus epidemic on China’s economy will be limited and temporary, and the country’s financial markets will return to normal in the long run, a commentary in a newspaper owned by the central bank said on Monday afternoon. T... More »
(Reuters) – Cigarette maker Imperial Brands Plc (IMB.L) on Monday appointed Stefan Bomhard as its chief executive officer, replacing Alison Cooper, as the industry faces a regulatory backlash against e-cigarettes and declining tobacco sales. Bomhard will join ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Credit card firms must review how they treat customers that have been in persistent debt to help them save up to 1.3 billion pounds a year in lower interest charges, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority said on Monday. New rules came into f... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank appeared to remain on the sidelines as the Swiss franc surged to its highest level in nearly three years on Monday, driven by concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. The franc fell to 1.069 versus the euro EURCH... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Crude prices fell more than 2% to multi-month lows on Monday as the rising number of cases of the new coronavirus in China and city lockdowns there deepened concerns over oil demand. Brent crude LCOc1 fell by $1.28 a barrel, or 2.1%, to $59.4... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund estimates that Kuwait’s financing needs will amount to some $180 billion over the next six years given the Gulf state’s “modest” fiscal measures and expectations of lower oil prices. Kuwait said earlier this mo... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – New York remains the world’s top financial center, pushing London further into second place as Brexit uncertainty undermines the UK capital and Asian centers catch up, a survey from consultants Duff & Phelps said on Monday. Britain will leav... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The yuan fell in offshore trade on Monday to its lowest level in three weeks as the death toll in China from the spread of a new coronavirus mounted, raising worries authorities are struggling to contain the outbreak and sparking a bout of ri... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There is an even balance in the share of U.S. businesses reporting decreases and increases in employment for the first time in a decade, a survey showed on Monday, the latest suggestion that the labor market has likely peaked and job gro... More »
FRANKFURT/ZURICH (Reuters) – The Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) spying debacle risks tipping the bank into a crisis that could engulf its top executives. Switzerland’s market supervisor is scrutinizing Credit Suisse’s oversight of chief executive Tidjane Thiam and his... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. S&P500 e-mini futures ESc1 fell more than 1% in Asian trade on Monday on mounting worries the new coronavirus outbreak could severely disrupt the Chinese economy, an engine of global growth. China’s cabinet said it would extend the week-... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices rose slightly on Monday as investors shift their focus away from easing Mideast tensions to this week’s scheduled signing of an initial U.S.-China trade deal which could boost economic growth and demand. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 2... More »
(Reuters) – European shares were little changed on Monday as investors shifted their focus to the signing of an interim Sino-U.S. trade deal later this week, while technology stocks rose on a clutch of brokerage upgrades and price-target bumps. The benchmark E... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese firms implemented 1.4 trillion yuan ($203 billion) in debt-to-equity swaps and disposed of 2 trillion yuan in soured debt last year as they moved to allay financial risk, the country’s banking and insurance regulator said on Monday.... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – World stock markets ticked higher on Monday, hovering just below record levels ahead of the expected signing of a Phase 1 China-U.S. trade deal, although markets have yet to see details of the agreement. After Asian shares touched 19-month h... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – China’s yuan led a rally in trade-sensitive currencies on Monday and the Australian dollar recovered some recent losses as the imminent signing of a preliminary U.S.-China trade deal boosted sentiment. The U.S.-China Phase 1 agreement, due t... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Automakers in China need to get used to a new normal of “low speed growth” in the world’s largest car market, the country’s top auto body said on Monday, as it reiterated predictions that sales will likely shrink for the third cons... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The shift to electric vehicles could cost 410,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, daily Handelsblatt reported on Monday, citing government advisers. In engines and transmissions’ production alone, around 88,000 jobs will be at risk, the newspaper s... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Flybe, a regional British airline, is in talks to secure new financing to help it survive reported Sky News. When asked about the report, Flybe said it didn’t comment on rumor or speculation, while the UK government’s Department for Transpor... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Walmart Inc, the world’s largest retailer, has fired 56 of its executives in India as it restructures in the country. The move underscores the challenges Walmart has faced in expanding its wholesale business in India. The Bentonville, Ark... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Consumer lending is expected to propel profits for big U.S. banks when they unveil fourth-quarter results this week, though stress in corporate lending and uneven capital markets may cast a shadow over results. Balances for individual borr... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Walmart Inc (WMT.N), the world’s largest retailer, has fired 56 of its India executives including eight from senior management, Krish Iyer, President and CEO of its India unit, said on Monday. In a statement emailed to Reuters, Iyer said ... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co’s (F.N) China vehicle sales fell for a third consecutive year, by 26.1%, as it battles a prolonged overall sales decline in its second-biggest market that has hit demand for its mass-market Ford brand and sports utility vehic... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ) said on Monday it has appointed Kevin Wale, former General Motors (GM.N) (GM) China President, as a senior adviser to the electric car maker’s chairman. BYD, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Bu... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s commitments in the Phase 1 trade deal with the United States were not changed during a lengthy translation process and will be released this week as the document is signed in Washington, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sai... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – State-owned oil company Saudi Aramco said on Sunday it had exercised its “greenshoe option” to sell an additional 450 million shares, raising the size of its initial public offering (IPO) to a record $29.4 billion. Aramco initially raised a $... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A delegation of U.S. officials will arrive in Britain on Monday to try to persuade Britain not to use Huawei equipment in the upgrade of its telecoms network, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday. Britain is expected to mak... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Thousands of small-scale traders in India are planning to organize protests against Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) founder Jeff Bezos, who will visit the country next week for a company event and potential meetings with government officials. Bez... More »
(Reuters) – Alphabet’s new Chief Executive Sundar Pichai on Friday gained the opportunity to reshape the leadership of Google’s parent with the exit of Chief Legal Officer David Drummond, whose outsized strategic role was overshadowed by employee concerns abou... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group Inc (BX.N) has secured $3.4 billion from investors for its first fund dedicated to investments in the life sciences sector, targeting $4.6 billion in total, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday. At its ta... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen retreated on Thursday as the United States and Iran backed away from further conflict, with markets flipping back to a more risk-taking approach on hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal. U.S. Preside... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – ABN Amro (ABNd.AS) said on Thursday that Robert Swaak, a former chairman of accounting firm PwC in the Netherlands, is to succeed Kees van Dijkhuizen as the Dutch bank’s chief executive. Swaak will take over from Van Dijkhuizen at the com... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways-owner IAG (ICAG.L), will step down from the airlines group he helped to build later this year and hand the reins to a key lieutenant, Luis Gallego. Walsh had said in November that successi... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Thursday a day after tumbling on concerns raised by an Iranian missile strike on Iraqi bases hosting U.S. forces. Brent crude futures were down 5 cents at $65.40 a barrel by 0728 GMT after a 4.1% fall on Wednesday. They... More »
(Reuters) – European shares touched a record high Thursday, tracking broader gains in global equities, after the United States and Iran backed away from further military escalation in the Middle East. Also lending support was confirmation from China on the sig... More »
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Thousands of Cambodians working for a Hong Kong-listed casino company have gone on strike for higher pay and better working conditions, they said on Thursday. About 3,000 workers joined the strike in front of the NagaWorld hotel and casi... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Vice Premier Liu He, head of the country’s negotiation team in Sino-U.S. trade talks, will sign a “Phase 1” deal in Washington next week, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. Liu will visit Washington on Jan. 13-15, said Gao Feng... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s markets watchdog proposed on Thursday a single interest rate for cash savings products, a move it says would bump up interest payments to consumers by 260 million pounds ($340.96 million) a year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FC... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Thursday that it has signed a currency agreement with Laos, allowing direct local currency settlement for transactions under the current and capital accounts. The agreement was aimed at boosting financial cooper... More »
BUDAPEST/WARSAW (Reuters) – Eastern Europe is a new frontier for private medical care, and insurers and tech startups are racing to steal a march on their rivals by harnessing the region’s health data. Growing numbers of people in Eastern European states, from... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks had their best session in weeks on Thursday, as the United States and Iran backed away from the brink of conflict in the Middle East and investors reversed their flight to safety. U.S. President Donald Trump responded to an I... More »
(Reuters) – The diverging fundamentals of U.S. oil and natural gas can be seen dramatically in the markets, where the oil-to-gas price ratio has surged to its highest in six years. The oil-to-gas ratio, or the level at which oil trades compared with natural ga... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s FAW Group [SASACJ.UL] aims to double its annual sales of Chairman Mao Zedong’s carmaker of choice, Hongqi, or Red Flag, to 200,000 units this year and grow them further to 1 million cars in the next decade, its chairman Xu ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Samsung Group, whose leader faces trials over a bribery scandal involving former president Park Geun-hye, has appointed external experts to a new oversight panel to stamp out criminal conduct, the chief of the committee said on ... More »
(Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc on Wednesday informed its California customers that it would switch to providing estimates as opposed to fixed prices for its rides in response to a new law that makes it harder to qualify its drivers as contractors. In an ema... More »
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Wednesday signaled strong support for self-driving vehicles as it released new guidance from federal agencies at the annual CES tech conference. U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao unveiled the administra... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell almost 1% on Tuesday, surrendering some recent gains as investors reconsidered the likelihood of immediate supply disruptions in the Middle East after the United States killed a top Iranian military commander last week. Bre... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) and law firm Homburger will continue their investigation into employee observation at the bank, a spokesman said, after the bank on Monday confirmed a second former executive was tailed. [nL8N28X0TX] “We are looking in... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – The logistics unit of Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc (JD.O) has held early discussions with banks about a potential overseas IPO that could raise $8 billion to $10 billion, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuter... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp’s talks to secure $3 billion from Japan’s three biggest banks have stalled as the lenders have hit internal lending limits to the firm, two people said, complicating a $9.5 billion rescue package for WeWork. The Japanese t... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) on Monday cleared CEO Tidjane Thiam and other top executives from knowledge of a second spying incident, saying former Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee had the Swiss bank’s then-head of human resources foll... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – U.S. asset manager BlackRock Inc, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp (CCB) have agreed to set up a wealth management joint venture in China, said people with direct knowledge of the... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – The Bank of Italy “positively” fulfilled its supervision duties and is ready to account for its actions on failing lender Banca Popolare di Bari, Governor Ignazio Visco told Corriere della Sera daily in an interview published on Monday. Prose... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday, but were holding near recent three-month highs amid expectations that the United States and China will soon agree on a trade deal, with President Donald Trump saying an agreement would be signed “very shortly”. Bren... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – French oil company Total (TOTF.PA) said on Monday that it would pay a bonus of $100 million as part of its previously announced deal with U.S. peer Apache (APA.N) to develop an offshore block off Suriname. “Total is pleased with this signific... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s central bank has not shut the door to further monetary policy easing should the economy worsen, the governor said on Monday, after two rate cuts this year to support flagging growth. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) last week left its ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – From Harley Davidson to Colgate-Palmolive, U.S. companies are flocking to borrow in euros and their record issuance is breathing life into a market where yields have been hammered by the European Central Bank’s renewed stimulus push. Offshor... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Roche (ROG.S) entered into a $1.15 billion licensing agreement with Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT.O) to obtain the right to launch and commercialize Sarepta’s investigational gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) outside the United... More »
(Reuters) – The $2.2 trillion repurchase agreement market – part of the inner workings of the U.S. financial system – is facing what could be another strain as the year comes to a close. That could have wider implications than just Wall Street. WHAT IS THE WOR... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian markets idled near 18-month highs on Monday as trading volumes weakened ahead of the Christmas holiday break, with investors taking profit on gains made earlier this month. In early European trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will lower tariffs on products ranging from frozen pork and avocado to some types of semiconductors next year as Beijing looks to boost imports amid a slowing economy and a trade war with the United States. Next year, China will imple... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Interest rates in the euro zone could remain historically low for years, but the European Central Bank’s (ECB) ultra-loose monetary policy risks becoming counterproductive, ECB governing council member Klaas Knot said in an interview publ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s customs-cleared exports in November fell 7.39% from a year earlier, after falling 4.54% the previous month, the commerce ministry said on Monday. November’s export numbers came in worse than a Reuters poll forecast for a decrease... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s industrial output is expected to grow around 5.6% in 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Monday. Industrial production rose 6.2% year-on-year in November, quickening from 4.7% in October. It was also th... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft landed in the New Mexico desert on Sunday, the company said, after faulty software forced officials to cut short an unmanned mission aimed at taking it to the International Space Station. The 7:... More »
(Reuters) – The Boeing Co Starliner spacecraft that failed to hit the right orbit to reach the International Space Station is healthy, in a stable orbit and expected to land in New Mexico on Sunday morning, NASA said. Boeing’s (BA.N) CST-100 Starliner astronau... More »
