Category: Business

By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian equities advanced on Tuesday as the return of risk appetite following a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election lifted several regional markets to multi-year highs, while the euro retained most of its overnight gains.Safe-haven assets, including the yen and gold remained under pressure, while the Canadian dollar fell after

By Sam Nussey and Ritsuko Shimizu | TOKYO TOKYO Japan's growing labor shortage threatens the nation's ubiquitous convenience stores, whose business model relies on an army of part-timers packing bento lunch boxes, manning cash registers and delivering goods 24/7.The big three "combini" operators 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson, which have expanded through Japan's long slump, are scrambling to ease the pressure

By Toby Sterling | AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM U.S. paint maker PPG Industries (PPG.N) raised its proposed offer for Akzo Nobel (AKZO.AS) by about 8 percent to 26.9 billion euros ($28.8 billion) on Monday, increasing the pressure on its Dutch rival to enter into talks.PPG said its proposal was a "final" invitation to Akzo to enter negotiations and included a break fee in

By Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON With a deadline looming this week to avert a U.S. government shutdown, Congress returns to work on Monday as President Donald Trump leans on Democrats to include funding for his promised border wall with Mexico in spending legislation.The Republican president took to Twitter on Sunday to warn Democrats that the Affordable Care Act, popularly

By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Monday, tracking European and Asian stocks, as investors breathed a sigh of relief after Centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French election.* Polls showed pro-EU Macron is expected to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote next month, reducing the chances

LONDON British luxury retailer Jimmy Choo (CHOO.L) is seeking offers for the company as part of a review of its strategic options to maximize shareholder value, it said on Monday.The firm, which specializes in shoes and accessories, said it had discussed the strategic review process with its majority shareholder, JAB Luxury, which has confirmed it is supportive of the process.JAB Luxury holds 67.7 percent of Jimmy Choo, which trades from over 150 stores globally.

By Rodrigo Campos and Megan Davies | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Sunday on relief that centrist Emmanuel Macron took the first round of voting in the French presidential election, reducing the prospect of an anti-establishment market shock.Macron will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a May 7 runoff and opinion polls on Sunday

SHANGHAI/BEIJING Global security companies and their smaller Chinese rivals are jostling for business along Beijing's modern-day "Silk Road", the grandiose plan for land and sea routes connecting the world's second largest economy with the rest of Asia and beyond.Representing investments of hundreds of billions of dollars, the pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen boosting economic growth at home, and as positive for everything from steel prices to cement makers.Security firms also expect to tap the rush, offering

ZURICH LafargeHolcim (LHN.S) is close to announcing that its chief executive Eric Olsen is to step down following an internal investigation into activities at a former Lafarge cement plant in Syria, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.The source said there would be a change in leadership at the cement company following reports in the Financial Times and French newspaper Le Figaro that Olsen would be stepping down, citing sources.LafargeHolcim declined to comment on the matter.

ZURICH Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) will not decide on how it wants to raise fresh capital until after this week's annual general meeting, SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.The Swiss bank is considering a quick-fire share sale or listing 20 to 30 percent of its Swiss business in order to raise between 3 and 6 billion Swiss francs ($3-$6 billion) in new capital, the Swiss newspaper said, citing sources close to Chairman Urs Rohner.The newspaper also reported that Rohner expects all the banks'

BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is not worried by the prospect of cuts to corporate tax rates in the United States he told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday promised a big announcement about tax reform shortly and ordered a review of Obama-era tax rules written to discourage U.S. companies from relocating overseas to cut their tax bills.

WASHINGTON U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that the Trump administration's tax reform plan would produce some "short term issues" when viewed under traditional "static" budget analysis rules.His comments during an interview by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde suggested that the plan would not be revenue-neutral and would increase deficits in the short term.

By Ginger Gibson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's promised "big announcement" next week on overhauling the U.S. tax code, a top campaign pledge, will consist of "broad principles and priorities," an administration official said on Saturday.The president unexpectedly said on Friday at a Treasury Department event that there would be "a big announcement on Wednesday having to do with tax

By Leika Kihara and Francesco Canepa | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON International Monetary Fund members on Saturday dropped a pledge to fight protectionism amid a split over trade policy and turned their attention to another looming threat to global economic integration: the first round of France's presidential election.Concerns that far-right leader Marine Le Pen and far-left rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon, both critics of the

WASHINGTON Member countries of the International Monetary Fund on Saturday pledged to work to reduce global imbalances but failed to repeat their past pledge to resist all forms of protectionism.The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF's steering body, also repeated its past commitments on currency exchange rates. "We will refrain from competitive devaluations, and will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes," the IMFC said in a statement.

BOSTON Officials of two large California public retirement systems said Friday they are voting against nine of 15 Wells Fargo & Co directors up for election at the bank's annual meeting next week, citing the bank's phony-account scandal.Leaders of the largest U.S. state pension system, known as CalPERS, said in an email it is voting about 13.9 million shares against the bank nominees, including its chairman, Stephen Sanger, ahead of the bank's April 25 meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

NEW YORK United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N) said on Friday Chief Executive Oscar Munoz will not become chairman in 2018, under an amendment to his employment agreement approved after an uproar over the treatment of a passenger.In a reversal of his earlier employment agreement, Munoz has opted to leave "future determinations related to the Chairman position to the discretion of the Board," United said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.The company also said it would revise its 2017

By Francesco Canepa and Gernot Heller | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Global economic leaders on Friday continued downplaying possible friction with the Trump administration over currencies, trade and other potentially contentious issues, even while acknowledging that much about the U.S. president's plans remains unclear. On a day when Donald Trump himself seemed focused on domestic matters - promising a new U.S. tax plan

DETROIT A federal judge in Detroit on Friday sentenced Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) to three years' probation and independent oversight for the German automaker's diesel emissions scandal as part of a $4.3 billion settlement announced in January.The plea agreement called for "organization probation" in which the company would be overseen by an independent monitor. The sentencing was one of the last major hurdles to VW moving past a scandal that led to the ouster of its chief executive and tarnished the

By David Morgan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Friday promised a big announcement about tax reform next week and ordered an administration review of Obama-era tax rules written to discourage U.S. companies from relocating overseas to cut their tax bills."We'll be having a big announcement on Wednesday having to do with tax reform. The process has begun long ago,

Honeywell International Inc (HON.N) said on Friday its commercial aviation after-sales business was benefiting from robust air travel, while its energy division was getting a lift from stable oil prices, sending shares to a record high.The diversified U.S. manufacturer's shares rose as much as 3.6 percent to $128.30 in afternoon trading.Honeywell, which made an unsuccessful bid for rival United Technologies Inc (UTX.N) last year, also said it had an active pipeline for M&As across its portfolio of businesses, but remained

LONDON Oil held near $53 a barrel on Friday, but was on course for its biggest weekly drop in a month due to doubts that an OPEC-led production cut will restore balance to an oversupplied market.Brent futures LCOc1 were at $53.01 a barrel at 1107 GMT, up 2 cents from their last close and set for a 5.15 percent weekly drop, their biggest fall since the week of March 10.U.S. crude futures CLc1, which rolled over on Friday, were at

General Electric Co (GE.N) reported a 1 percent decline in quarterly revenue on Friday, hurt by lower sales in its oil and gas and lighting businesses. However, earnings from continuing operations attributable to

By Kate Holton and William Schomberg | NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON Before last year's Brexit vote, Scott McCready was struggling to fill his holiday cabins on the coast of southwest England. Now the site is fully booked with British tourists avoiding more expensive foreign trips following a plunge in the pound.This turnaround in the 10 months since Britons decided

MELBOURNE Chevron Corp lost an appeal on Friday against the Australian tax office in a landmark case in which the U.S. energy giant contested a tax bill of A$340 million ($260 million), including penalties and interest.The full bench of the Federal Court dismissed the appeal against an earlier ruling that Chevron underpaid taxes by setting up a A$2.5 billion intercompany credit facility with an abnormally high interest rate which effectively lowered its taxable income within Australia.Chevron said it was disappointed

By Maiya Keidan and Jemima Kelly | LONDON LONDON Hedge funds lost out on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May shocked markets by calling a snap election, but those led by humans outsmarted those led by machines, in a reversal of fortunes from the Brexit referendum. While computer-driven hedge funds garnered plaudits for their outperformance in the wake of Britain's

By David Lawder | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON World financial leaders gathered in Washington on Thursday with pledges to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to fix lingering trade problems while vowing to keep their commitments to free trade and global integration.Worries over Trump's approach to trade, taxes, financial regulation and climate change clouded the start of the International Monetary Fund and World

By Jake Spring | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI When Chinese automaker GAC Motor was preparing to enter the United States market it foresaw challenges in product localization and regulation, but didn't see any issue with the name of its flagship brand, Trumpchi.Executives at the firm and its parent Guangzhou Automobile Group (601238.SS) say they may now change the Trumpchi brand - which was

By Adam Jourdan | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI German sports apparel brand adidas AG (ADSGn.DE) expects its huge operating margin in China to shrink slightly in the long term, while its small U.S. margin grows markedly in the near term, its new chief executive officer said on Thursday.Kasper Rorsted, on his first visit to China since taking the helm in September, said adidas'

ABU DHABI Kuwait's oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said on Thursday he expected a global pact to cut oil supplies to be extended beyond June, supported by higher compliance from non-OPEC producers. "We have

CARACAS General Motors (GM.N) said on Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had illegally seized its plant in the industrial hub of Valencia and vowed to "take all legal actions" to defend its rights.The seizure comes amid a deepening economic crisis in leftist-led Venezuela that has already roiled many U.S. companies. "Yesterday, GMV's (General Motors Venezolana) plant was unexpectedly taken by the public authorities, preventing normal operations. In addition, other assets of the company, such as vehicles, have been illegally taken from

By Pallavi Dewan and Nikhil Subba American Express Co's (AXP.N) first-quarter profit fell less than expected as its card members spent more and the company expressed more confidence over its full-year results, amid fierce competition in the industry.AmEx's shares rose 2.5 percent after the bell on Wednesday as the results and guidance indicated the company was starting to mitigate some of

LONDON OPEC plans to meet with non-OPEC oil producers on the same day as its scheduled May 25 conference, sources familiar with the arrangements said, as they decide whether to extend supply cuts into the second half of the year.Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will convene at their Vienna headquarters. Joint talks with non-OPEC oil ministers will also take place that day, two sources said.A number of key OPEC members including top exporter Saudi Arabia support

By Norihiko Shirouzu | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI The automotive industry's seemingly inexorable drive towards electric cars - and especially Chinese polices pushing new energy vehicles - has forced Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), the world's No.2 automaker by sales, into what one executive calls an "agonizing" strategy U-turn.Until recently, Toyota was one of the industry's major hold-outs against full electrification, and planned to