Category: Business

By Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin | SEOUL SEOUL A South Korean judge questioned Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee and another executive behind closed doors on Thursday to decide whether they should be arrested over their roles in a corruption scandal that has engulfed President Park Geun-hye.Dozens of protesters surrounded by riot police met Lee, 48, who was wearing a

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. Boeing Co defeated a union drive by workers at the company's aircraft factory in South Carolina on Wednesday, as workers voted to reject union representation.The secret ballot vote, conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at polling locations throughout the North Charleston plant, was the first for Boeing and a high-profile test for organized labor in the nation's most strongly anti-union state.

By Michael Flaherty and Siddharth Cavale Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N), maker of Tide detergent and Gillette razors, will face ever greater pressure to slice costs and slow-growing divisions now that activist investor Trian Partners is a major shareholder.P&G's shares hit a two-year high on Wednesday after Trian disclosed a stake in the consumer products behemoth, which is already trying to

By David Shepardson and Jessica Toonkel Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) is close to a revised deal to buy Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O) core internet business for $250 million to $350 million less than the original agreed price of $4.83 billion, according to a source briefed on the matter.Since last year, Verizon had been trying to persuade Yahoo to amend the terms of

WASHINGTON Feb 15 U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest increase in nearly four years in January ashouseholds paid more for gasoline and other goods, suggesting inflation pressures could be picking up.The Labor Department said on Wednesday its Consumer Price Index jumped 0.6 percent last month after gaining 0.3 percent in December. January's increase in the CPI was the largest since February 2013. In the 12 months through January, the CPI increased 2.5 percent, the biggest year-on-year gain since March 2012.

LONDON Britain has contacted the president of General Motors (GM.N) to express concerns after the American firm opened talks to sell its European operations, including the Vauxhall plants in England, to France's PSA Group (PEUP.PA). Britain's Department for Business said the government remained in close contact with GM and was monitoring the situation after the two companies said on Tuesday that they were in talks over a possible deal.The talks have raised fears from unions in Britain and Europe that

TOKYO Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Wednesday it was recalling all of the roughly 2,800 zero-emission Mirai cars on the road due to problems with the output voltage generated by their fuel cell system.Toyota said that under unique driving conditions, such as if the accelerator pedal is depressed to the wide open throttle position after driving on a long descent while using cruise control, there was a possibility the output voltage generated by the fuel cell boost converter could

TOKYO Shares in Toshiba Corp (6502.T) tumbled on Wednesday after the conglomerate said it would book a $6.3 billion hit to its U.S. nuclear unit and may sell more of its prized flash-memory chip business than planned to urgently raise funds.Scrambling for capital, Toshiba said it would consider selling most, even all, of its stake in the chips business - a decision that has investors questioning whether the company has a long-term future without the unit."Usually in a corporate turnaround

Major U.S. stock indexes established record highs on Tuesday, led by bank stocks after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it would be unwise to wait too long to raise interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 91.43 points, or 0.45 percent, to 20,503.59, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 9.21 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,337.46 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 18.62 points, or 0.32 percent, to 5,782.57.

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. producer prices recorded their largest gain in more than four years in January amid increases in the cost of energy products, but a strong dollar continued to keep underlying inflation at the factory gate tame.Rising raw material costs are boosting producer prices across the globe, notably in China, which is the biggest source of

By Pamela Barbaglia and Edward Taylor | LONDON/FRANKFURT LONDON/FRANKFURT PSA Group (PEUP.PA) is holding talks with General Motors (GM.N) about buying its European Opel division, the French carmaker said on Tuesday, a deal which would increase competition for market leader Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE).The maker of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars is "exploring a number of strategic initiatives with GM with the aim

SEOUL South Korean special prosecutor's office said on Tuesday it is seeking an arrest warrant for Samsung Group [SAGR.UL] leader Jay Y. Lee as part of its investigation into a graft scandal that could topple President Park Geun-hye. The special prosecution said it would also seek an arrest warrants for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) President Park Sang-jin. It did not elaborate or say

SYDNEY Asian shares inched to 19-month highs on Tuesday as the potential for economic stimulus in the United States underpinned the dollar, bond yields and Wall Street stocks.Yet caution bled into markets ahead of testimony by the head of the Federal Reserve, which could highlight the likelihood of two or more U.S. interest rate hikes this year.Japanese shares also ran into trouble after Toshiba Corp (6502.T) delayed an anxiously-awaited earnings release, including details of a multibillion dollar charge related to

By Nate Raymond | NEW YORK NEW YORK The trial of two men was delayed on Monday in a case stemming from a probe into a bitcoin exchange and a data breach at JPMorgan Chase & Co after prosecutors revealed a new witness.Jury selection was set to begin in Manhattan federal court in the case of Yuri Lebedev, whom authorities call

By Noel Randewich | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Apple (AAPL.O) rose to a record high close on Monday, buoyed by Wall Street's expectations that the release of a 10th-anniversary iPhone and pent-up customer demand will shore up lackluster sales.The largest component of the S&P 500 and a core holding on Wall Street, Apple's stock climbed 0.9 percent to end

DuPont and Chemours Co have agreed to pay $671 million in cash to settle thousands of lawsuits involving a leak of a toxic chemical used to make Teflon, the companies said on Monday.Shares of Chemours jumped 13 percent. The company said it would pay half of the settlement, although liability for litigation connected with the chemical was passed onto it when DuPont spun it off in 2015. In addition, Jefferies analyst Alexander Laurence said the liability was $300 million below

Allergan Plc (AGN.N) on Monday said it would buy Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc (ZLTQ.O) for about $2.48 billion to gain access to its flagship body contouring technology.The Botox maker agreed to pay $56.50 per Zeltiq share, or a premium of 14.4 percent to the company's Friday close.

By Jamie McGeever | LONDON LONDON World stocks and bond yields rose on Monday, lifted by a re-emergence of so-called "Trump trades" as investors bet that the U.S. president's tax reform plans will boost economic growth and corporate profits.Following on from Friday's record high closes on Wall Street, Asian stocks rallied to 1-1/2-year peaks and European stocks rose for the fifth

By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White | TOKYO TOKYO Japan's economy grew for a fourth straight quarter in the final three months of last year as a weaker yen supported exports, but tepid private consumption and the risks of rising U.S. protectionism cast doubts over a sustainable recovery.Data on Monday showed the world's third-largest economy grew an annualized 1.0 percent in

SEOUL Samsung Group [SAGR.UL] leader Jay Y. Lee appeared at the South Korean special prosecutor's office on Monday for questioning as part of a wider investigation into an influence-peddling scandal that could topple President Park Geun-hye. Lee is accused of pledging 43 billion won ($37.31 million) to a business and organizations backed by Park's friend, Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for support for a 2015 merger of two Samsung companies.Park, Lee, Choi, and Samsung Group have all denied bribery charges.Proving illicit

BERLIN Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) said it has no plans to keep a large number of temporary workers on its books following a media report saying management at the carmaker's VW brand would retain about 2,000 of them as labor leaders and executives wrestle over the company's turnaround plan. Labor leaders at VW last week halted cooperation with top managers on issues such as overtime work and apprenticeships after accusing executives of pushing for greater savings on the back of a cost-cutting

By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The chief executives of 18 major automakers and their U.S. units urged President Donald Trump to revisit a decision by the Obama administration to lock in vehicle fuel efficiency rules through 2025.In a letter sent late Friday and viewed by Reuters, the chief executives of General Motors Co (GM.N), Ford Motor Co, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

SEOUL South Korea's special prosecutor said it would again summon Samsung Group scion Jay Y. Lee on Monday to question him on suspicion of bribery, as it investigates a graft scandal that has engulfed the country's president.Last month, special prosecution officials questioned 48-year-old Lee for more than 22 hours straight, but a court rejected a warrant to arrest him in the inquiry into a scandal that led parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye.Lee Kyu-chul, a spokesman for the special prosecutor,

DUBAI Compliance with a global supply cut deal by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers has been high in January and that level of commitment is expected to improve over the next months, the United Arab Emirates Energy Minister said on Sunday."The first month I see the commitment around OPEC has been there from the various independent sources. The level of commitment is high and we are expecting to see more commitments in the months to come," Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui

TOKYO Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp probably suffered a group net loss of about 400 billion yen ($3.52 billion) in the nine months through December, the Nikkei reported on Sunday.The loss is largely due to a goodwill impairment of around 600 billion yen on a U.S. nuclear unit that came to light in late 2016.During the year-earlier period, Toshiba lost a similarly significant 479.4 billion yen.The company hopes to keep the amount it owes from exceeding the value of its assets

By Helen Reid and Abhinav Ramnarayan | COVENTRY, England COVENTRY, England U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said there was significant uncertainty about U.S. fiscal policy under the Trump administration, but the Fed would be strict in meeting targets of creating full employment and getting inflation to 2 percent.Speaking at the Warwick Economics Summit on Saturday, Fischer also said he

Major U.S. retailers Sears and Kmart this week removed 31 Trump Home items from their online product offerings to focus on more profitable items, a spokesman said on Saturday.The decision follows retailer Nordstrom Inc's announcement this week it had decided to stop carrying Ivanka Trump's apparel because of declining sales, prompting President Donald Trump to take to Twitter to defend his daughter. White House spokesman Sean Spicer characterized the Nordstrom move as a "direct attack" on the president's policies.

MOSCOW Russia will decided in April or May whether an agreement on global oil output cuts between OPEC and non-OPEC producers, set to end on June 31, should be extended, TASS news agency quoted Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Saturday.Novak also said that he planned to meet his Saudi Arabia counterpart Khalid al-Falih during the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston in

SYDNEY Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group opened its Australian and New Zealand headquarters in Melbourne on Saturday, its first expansion in the region as it seeks to tap growing global demand for products from the two countries.The group's billionaire founder Jack Ma, who spent time in Australia as a young man, said he hoped the e-commerce giant would help Australian and New Zealand businesses "share their world-famous products with billions of customers around the world".There are more than 1,300 Australian

By Mike Stone | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) announced on Friday an agreement worth about $8.5 billion for 90 F-35 jets, the lowest price to date for the Pentagon's most expensive program.The deal for the tenth lot of the stealthy fighter aircraft brings the price per jet to below $95 million for the first

By Chuck Mikolajczak | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing just short of a record high, boosted by gains in financial shares as President Donald Trump moved ahead with deregulation action and by a strong payrolls report.The S&P financial sector .SPSY jumped 2 percent to score its best day since mid-November after Trump

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. job growth surged more than expected in January as construction firms and retailers ramped up hiring, but wages barely rose, handing the Trump administration both a head start and a challenge as it seeks to boost the economy.Nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 jobs, the largest gain in four months, the Labor Department said on

Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) shares fell as much as 4.2 percent on Friday after the company missed Wall Street targets for its closely watched cloud computing business.Shares fell to $804 in early trading, a day after the company reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and said it would continue to spend heavily this year, as it looks to take control of its delivery chain and expand its video service around the world.At least six brokerages cut their price targets on the stock, bringing

By Emily Stephenson and David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will huddle with chief executives of major U.S. companies on Friday as the business community finds itself increasingly split over how to respond to his policies.Uber CEO Travis Kalanick on Thursday quit the business leaders' group, a panel selected by Trump in December, under pressure from activists over Trump's