Category: Business

By Jessica DiNapoli | NEW YORK NEW YORK A U.S. bankruptcy court judge granted Avaya Inc approval on Friday to tap $425 million of the $725 million loan proposed to carry the telecommunications company through its restructuring, funds the company said were essential to continue operations.Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday to cut its debt of about $6

By Noel Randewich | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is only hours old, but already a small parade of S&P 500 companies' chiefs have voiced optimism that his promised tax cuts, stimulus spending and deregulation will boost corporate profits.In the days ahead of Friday's inauguration, senior executives from Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) and other

By Jamie McGeever and Marc Jones | LONDON LONDON For financial markets, the Trump era begins on Monday, and if history is any guide the following month should be a rocky one for Wall Street but positive for the dollar.The S&P 500 .SPX has fallen a median 2.7 percent in the month after each new president has taken the keys to

By Diane Bartz and Stephen Nellis Apple Inc filed a $1 billion lawsuit against supplier Qualcomm Inc on Friday, days after the U.S. government accused the chip maker of resorting to anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly over key semiconductors in mobile phones. Qualcomm is a major supplier to both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for "modem" chips that connect

Morgan Stanley (MS.N) Chief Executive Officer James Gorman's overall pay rose 7 percent in 2016 to $22.5 million, according to a securities filing.While rising 7 percent against the previous year, Gorman's total pay for 2016 was flat compared with his compensation in 2014.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is not satisfied with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc's (WBA.O) plan to divest stores to win antitrust clearance for its acquisition of Rite Aid Corp (RAD.N), Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.The FTC isn't convinced that Walgreen's proposal to sell 865 drugstores to Fred's Inc (FRED.O) would do enough to preserve competition that would be lost in the $9.4 billion tie-up, Bloomberg reported on Friday. (bloom.bg/2iJXpwf)The FTC is also unlikely to complete its review

By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures treaded water on Friday ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th U.S. President.* Futures also got a lift after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen backed her stance for gradual interest rate increases on Thursday.* Trump, a New York businessman and former reality TV star, is scheduled to be sworn in around midday

BEIJING China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, said on Friday it has sought the U.S. anti-trust regulator's approval for its planned $43 billion acquisition of Swiss crop protection and seed group Syngenta AG (SYNN.S)."We have filed an HSR Act with the FTC after good communications with the case team. We believe the U.S. anti-trust process is on track," ChemChina said in an email, referring to the U.S. anti-trust Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees mergers.Sources close to the

By Kevin Yao and Elias Glenn | BEIJING BEIJING China's economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, boosted by higher government spending and record bank lending, giving it a solid tailwind heading into what is expected to be a turbulent 2017.But Beijing's decision to raise spending to meet its official growth target could exact a high price, as

PALO ALTO, Calif. With monetary policy still modestly accommodative, the U.S. central bank should continue to raise interest rates slowly to keep jobs plentiful and inflation low, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday."I think that allowing the economy to run markedly and persistently “hot” would be risky and unwise," Yellen said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. While there are no signs as yet that the Fed is behind the curve

American Express Co's (AXP.N) quarterly profit fell 8.2 percent as the credit card issuer boosted spending on marketing and promotion to fend off rising competition.Net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $825 million, or 88 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $899 million, or 89 cents per share, a year earlier.

By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. regulators are expected on Thursday to close a six-month-old investigation into the death of a man whose Tesla collided with a truck while he was using its semi-autonomous driving system and not seek a vehicle recall, according to a source briefed on the matter.The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not find evidence

By Anjuli Davies and Andrew MacAskill | LONDON LONDON Global banks have begun signaling how they will put plans into action to cope with a "hard" exit by Britain from the European Union.Until now, banks have considered varying degrees of upheaval to their British-based businesses, depending on whether the outcome of Brexit was "hard" or "soft." But after Prime Minister Theresa

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK This past November, Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) hired a helicopter to film Manhattan's skyline using Snapchat's new video-camera sunglasses and sent the aerial footage to its social media followers. The New York Stock Exchange - its arch-rival - on the same day tweeted a video shot from the floor of its exchange, showing that it too was using the social media giant's gadget. The scramble to promote Snapchat's "spectacles" is revealing the

BEIJING China and the United States can resolve any trade disputes through talks, the government said on Thursday, as a Chinese newspaper warned U.S. business could be targets for retaliation in any trade war ushered in by President-elect Donald Trump.Trump, who is sworn into office on Friday, has criticized China's trade practices and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Trump's choice for commerce secretary, voiced sharp criticism of China's trade practices on Wednesday, telling senators

By Lisa Richwine and Anya George Tharakan Streaming video pioneer Netflix Inc added over a third more subscribers than expected in the last quarter of 2016, a sign of success for its ambitious global expansion that sent its shares up 8 percent in extended trading.Netflix signed up 7.1 million new subscribers globally, far more than the 5.2 million analysts had expected,

SEOUL A South Korean court on Thursday dismissed a warrant to arrest the head of the Samsung Group, the country's largest conglomerate, a court spokesman said, amid a graft scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. The decision by the Seoul Central District Court to allow Jay Y. Lee to go home is likely to come as a major relief to the company and for Lee, who has tried to fill the vacuum in the group's leadership

NEW YORK General Motors Co has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accounting case related to a faulty ignition switch linked to 124 deaths and 275 injuries, the regulator announced on Wednesday.The SEC said the deal would resolve charges that accounting control failures at the automaker prevented GM from properly assessing the potential financial impact of the

FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) expects a negative impact of $1.2 billion on its fourth-quarter pretax profit from a civil monetary penalty of $3.1 billion agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice, its chief executive said in a message to staff.Germany's biggest bank on Tuesday finalised a $7.2 billion settlement with the DoJ over its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, which also included $4.1 billion of consumer relief."Given other lawsuits, it is still

By Saikat Chatterjee | HONG KONG HONG KONG Asian stock markets held near three-month highs on Wednesday as investors scooped up exporter shares after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump expressed concerns over a stronger dollar.In Asia, MSCI's ex-Japan Asia-Pacific shares index .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.3 percent, just shy of a three-month high hit last Thursday. Stock markets in Hong Kong .HSI and China

SACRAMENTO San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams on Tuesday called for gradual U.S. interest-rate hikes over the next few years to keep the economy from overheating and ultimately falling into recession.With the unemployment rate at 4.7 percent, the U.S. economy has reached full employment, Williams said, adding that inflation is on track to reach the Fed's 2-percent goal over the next couple of years. "Looking ahead, further gradual increases in the target fed funds rate will likely be

By Caroline Valetkevitch | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as financials and other big post-election gainers lost ground.Biotech and pharma stocks declined after President-elect Donald Trump said in a Washington Post interview over the weekend that he would target companies over drug pricing and that he was ready to unveil a plan to replace Obamacare. The Nasdaq

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said it would create about 10,000 jobs in the United States this year, about the same as in previous years, as President-elect Donald Trump puts pressure on companies to hire more U.S. workers.Most of Wal-Mart's new jobs will be in 59 new stores planned for the fiscal year beginning in February as well as in e-commerce services, the retailer said on Tuesday. The new stores will also support about 24,000 construction jobs.The additional retail jobs would

BOSTON JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has been no fan of Institutional Shareholder Services and once called investors "lazy" if they cast votes in corporate elections based on recommendations from the leading proxy adviser or its rival.But JPMorgan itself turns out to be a close follower of ISS, at least when it comes to proxy votes on pay, new data show.JPMorgan (JPM.N) funds voted in line with ISS 95 percent of the time when U.S. companies

By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil dipped on Tuesday on lingering concerns over global fuel oversupply due to rising U.S. output and doubts that OPEC and other producers would adhere to commitments to cut output in an effort to balance markets and prop up prices.Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $55.55 per barrel at 0643

BEIJING Cadillac, General Motors Co's (GM.N) luxury brand, is predicting a double digit growth rate in China sales this year, the brand's country chief Andreas Schaaf told Reuters on Tuesday.The brand - which opened its first dedicated factory in China last year, helping boost Cadillac sales in the country by 46 percent - expects China to become its top market in less than five years, Schaaf added.Cadillac and Ford's (F.N) Lincoln are among a second wave of luxury car brands

CARACAS OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo forecast on Monday that stability would return to oil markets this year while price hawk Venezuela said it hoped its crude basket would rise to $70 in coming months. The head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was back in Caracas for a second meeting in two months with President Nicolas Maduro whom he lavishly praised for an "inspirational" role in the producers' pact to cut output."We remain optimistic Mr. President that with

By Jessica DiNapoli and Lisa Richwine American Apparel LLC started to lay off staff on Monday after Canada's Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL.TO) withdrew its initial plan to buy some of the bankrupt U.S. fashion retailer's manufacturing operations, company employees said.Gildan won the rights to American Apparel's brand with an $88 million bid in a bankruptcy auction last week. It had previously

By Nigel Stephenson | LONDON LONDON Investors sold sterling and stocks on Monday, seeking shelter in gold and the Japanese yen as uncertainty over Britain's departure from the European Union and the policies of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump curbed appetite for risky assets.U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King Day holiday, crimping market activity and potentially exacerbating price

By Noah Barkin | DAVOS, Switzerland DAVOS, Switzerland A trade war between the United States and China and a strengthening dollar are among the biggest threats to a brightening global economic outlook, according to leading economists at the World Economic Forum in Davos.As political leaders, businessmen and bankers converge on the resort in the Swiss Alps this week, they can draw

LONDON British luxury brand Burberry (BRBY.L) said on Monday its incoming chief executive Marco Gobbetti will initially join the company on Jan. 27 as executive chairman, Asia Pacific and Middle East, before joining the board and taking the top job on July 5.Italian Gobbetti, the former boss of French brand Celine, was named as Christopher Bailey's successor as CEO last July. Bailey will take on the new role of president and chief creative officer.

SYDNEY Plans to provide government support to keep open a 30-year-old aluminum smelter in Australia owned by Alcoa (AA.N) have made "progress", parties involved in talks said on Monday without giving details.The government is offering financial support to help supply the Portland smelter in southern Australia with sufficient power in the wake of a blackout late last year that left it running at only one-third of its 300,000-tonnes-per-year capacity. However, details are still being discussed."Significant progress has been made over

DAVOS, Switzerland - The global economy is in better shape than it's been in years. Stock markets are booming, oil prices are on the rise again and the risks of a rapid economic slowdown in China, a major source of concern a year ago, have eased.And yet, as political leaders, CEOs and top bankers make their annual trek up the Swiss Alps to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the mood is anything but celebratory.Beneath the veneer of optimism over

BRUSSELS The European Union and the United States agreed on Friday to reduce legal and capital barriers to boost the $3 billion transatlantic insurance and reinsurance market.The accord has been under negotiation for more than a year and follows an agreement last year on derivatives.U.S. and EU representatives said in a joint statement they had reached a deal "that will ensure ongoing robust insurance consumer protection and provide enhanced regulatory certainty for insurers and reinsurers operating in both the U.S.