Business

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the pace of decline appears to have stalled amid a second wave of layoffs as companies battle weak demand and fractured supply chains, supporting views that the economy faces a long and difficult recovery from the COVID-19 recession. Hundreds of

SYDNEY/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Australia’s antitrust regulator warned Google’s planned $2.1 billion acquisition of fitness tracker maker Fitbit (FIT.N) may give it too much of people’s data, potentially hurting competition in health and online advertising markets. FILE PHOTO: Fitbit Blaze watch is seen in front of a displayed Alphabet logo in this illustration picture taken November

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday as news of spiking pandemic data and the prospect of a new round of economic lockdowns dampened investor optimism over signs of economic recovery. FILE PHOTO: Traders exit the 11 Wall St. door of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City,

(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has been “stonewalling” senators conducting an investigation into the design and development of Boeing Co’s (BA.N) 737 MAX in the wake of deadly crashes, a top Republican senator told a hearing on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Steve Dickson, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, speaks at the UK Aviation

LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC (HSBA.L) is resuming a redundancy plan it put on ice after the coronavirus outbreak, and will cut around 35,000 jobs over the medium term, a memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed. FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past a logo of HSBC bank at the financial

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the facade of the historic headquarters of the German pharmaceutical and chemical maker in Leverkusen, Germany, April 27, 2020. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo CHICAGO (Reuters) – Bayer AG said on Tuesday it will scrap a nearly $1 billion project to produce the chemical dicamba in the

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A full U.S. economic recovery will not occur until the American people are sure that the novel coronavirus epidemic has been brought under control, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday as he began the first of two days of hearings before U.S. lawmakers. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome

TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices made marginal gains on Tuesday, reversing out of earlier losses, as hopes for further cuts in crude supplies took the sting out of concerns that a resurgence of new coronavirus infections around the world could hamper fuel demand. FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack

SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA) said on Monday it had secured a $600 million loan, partly backed by Brazil’s government, at the same time as a key executive departed the planemaker weeks after a potentially transformational deal with Boeing Co (BA.N) fell apart. FILE PHOTO: Embraer’s commercial aviation chief John Slattery

FILE PHOTO: A woman runs past the Charging Bull sculpture in the Financial District as streets remain less busy due to the continuing outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Manhattan borough of New York U.S., May 5, 2020. Picture taken May 5, 2020 at 6:42PM. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson NEW YORK (Reuters) – Manufacturing activity

MILAN (Reuters) – Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) has increased the number of branches and amount of assets it will sell to rival BPER (EMII.MI) if its proposed takeover of UBI Banca (UBI.MI) goes through in an effort to overcome antitrust objections to the deal. FILE PHOTO: Intesa San Paolo bank headquaters is seen in

FILE PHOTO: Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan speaks at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, U.S., October 11, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Saphir WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Systemic racism and high unemployment levels among black and Hispanic Americans create a drag on the U.S. economy, Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said on Sunday. “A more

NEW YORK (Reuters) – As the U.S. economy begins to emerge from the sharp slowdown during the coronavirus pandemic, some fund managers have been drawn to value stocks, a sector that underperformed during the recent rally. FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians walk past the New York Stock Exchange as the building opens for the first time since

(Reuters) – The corporate response to a wave of protests over the treatment of African Americans has included pledges to increase diversity, donations to civil rights groups and, in some cases, changes in policies or practices long sought by critics. Here is a sampling: FILE PHOTO: Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody

FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a mask walks past the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo/File Photo SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s central bank has given the final nod to a

FILE PHOTO: A logo of CVS Health is displayed on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (Reuters) – Drugstore chain CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) joined Walmart Inc (WMT.N) in announcing it will stop keeping beauty and

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump signs the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act financial response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal authorities administering business payroll loans as part of U.S. coronavirus relief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Zoom Video Communications, whose remote meeting app made the obscure California company a hub for global communications during the coronavirus pandemic, now finds itself fighting political battles in Washington and Beijing. FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Zoom logo is placed between small toy people figures and a keyboard in this illustration taken

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street plummeted on Thursday as investors reacted to renewed fears of a pandemic resurgence and digested dour economic forecasts from the U.S. Federal Reserve. All three major U.S. stock indexes lost well over 5%, posting their worst one-day percentage drops since March 16, when markets were sent into freefall by

FILE PHOTO: Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Christophe Weber attends a news conference in Tokyo, Japan May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo (Reuters) – Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T) has agreed to sell a portfolio of over-the-counter and prescription drugs marketed in the Asia Pacific region to South Korea’s Celltrion Inc (068270.KS)

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares swung lower on Thursday while bonds rallied after a downbeat economic outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve stoked speculation it would have to add to already historic levels of stimulus to underpin a recovery. FILE PHOTO: An employee of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) works at the bourse in Tokyo,

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar would probably come under further pressure if the Federal Reserve adopts targets for U.S. Treasury yields that would limit their rise and ensure that interest rates remain near zero for some time. FILE PHOTO: A bank employee counts US dollar notes in this file photo from May 16,

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil fell more than 1% to below $41 a barrel on Wednesday after a report showed a rise in crude inventories in the United States, reviving concerns about oversupply and weak demand because of the coronavirus crisis. FILE PHOTO: A pump jack operates at a well site leased by Devon Energy Production

FILE PHOTO: An Emirates passenger plane comes in to land at Heathrow airport during the coronavirus pandemic, London, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville DUBAI (Reuters) – Emirates, one of the world’s biggest long-haul airlines, will lay off more pilots and cabin crew on Wednesday, sources said, in what would be a second day of

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A recent run of optimism in markets hit the brakes on Tuesday as investors mostly pulled back from stocks, though the Nasdaq extended its record run to a new high, while the safe-haven yen, Swiss franc and gold rallied. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City

LONDON (Reuters) – Stock market bulls were forced to a halt on Tuesday and high-flying currencies like the euro and Australian dollar lost altitude, as a weeks-long risk rally ran into some turbulence. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain, December 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville It

NEW YORK/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Global banks are seeing renewed appetite from wealth management clients to borrow money to buy stocks as markets rebound, bankers said, which comes just months after the strategy burned some investors. FILE PHOTO: A U.S. dollar note is seen in front of a stock graph in this November 7, 2016

FILE PHOTO: The General Electric Co. logo is seen on the company’s corporate headquarters building in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alwyn Scott (Reuters) – General Electric Co (GE.N) said on Monday it reopened portions of its prior debt offerings for $3 billion in total proceeds to boost its cash reserves amid the coronavirus

FILE PHOTO: New Fiat Panda and Fiat 500 mild-hybrid cars are seen in piazza Maggiore, in Bologna, Italy, February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/File Photo BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler’s (FCHA.MI) planned $50 billion merger with Peugeot maker PSA (PEUP.PA) has hit a bump after EU regulators voiced concerns about the companies’ market share in

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan should focus on back-stopping struggling businesses rather than trying to spark overall demand in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, its economy minister said, suggesting the central bank should avoid pushing interest rates deeper into negative territory. FILE PHOTO: Japan’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura attends a news conference at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s