Category: Business

NEW YORK The S&P 500 ended flat on Tuesday as gains in healthcare and financials offset a drop in energy shares, while the Nasdaq hit another record high close.A drop in shares of IBM (IBM.N) weighed on the Dow. Based on the latest available results, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 31.85 points, or 0.16

WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve on Tuesday said it would turn over $92.0 billion in profits to the U.S. Treasury in 2016, down from the $97.7 billion the central bank's 12 regional banks paid back to the U.S. government in the previous year.The Fed earns interest on government bonds that it holds as well as from securities tied to mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Through the purchase of such investments, the central bank can help push down borrowing costs in

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N) said sales at established restaurants likely fell 4.8 percent in the fourth quarter and that costs came in higher than it had previously anticipated.Chipotle's shares were down 3.2 percent at $381.99 in premarket trading.The company said it incurred higher-than-expected expenses due to higher promotional spending and costs related to television advertising, as it fights to recover from a string of food safety lapses late last year.

PARIS French cosmetics group L'Oreal (OREP.PA) is acquiring three specialized skincare brands - CeraVe, AcneFree and Ambi - from Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) for $1.3 billion in cash to expand into one of the fastest growing areas of the beauty industry.The French cosmetics giant paid nearly eight times the brand's combined annual revenue of $168 million. "These three brands, built on strong relationships with health professionals and widely distributed, will nearly double the revenue of our Active Cosmetics Division

By Jessica DiNapoli | NEW YORK NEW YORK Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL.TO) has won a bankruptcy auction for U.S. fashion retailer American Apparel LLC after raising its offer to around $88 million, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.Gildan's takeover marks the end of an era for the iconic Los Angeles-based company, which was founded in 1998

Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) said Monday that it would rename itself Altaba Inc and Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer would step down from the board after the closing of its deal with Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N).Yahoo has a deal to sell its core internet business, which includes its digital advertising, email and media assets, to Verizon for $4.83 billion.The terms of that deal could be amended - or the transaction may even be called off - after Yahoo last year disclosed

By Zachary Fagenson and David Shepardson | MIAMI/DETROIT MIAMI/DETROIT Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) suffered a new setback on Monday when an executive was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States over the company's diesel emissions cheating and the automaker was accused of concealing the cheating from regulators.Oliver Schmidt, who was general manager in charge of VW's environmental and engineering office in

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss | HARTFORD, Conn. HARTFORD, Conn. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren on Monday called for the U.S. central bank to step up its pace of interest rate increases from the once-a-year pattern it has pursued since 2015, warning of inflation risks if it does not. "I expect that appropriate monetary policy will need to normalize more quickly than over

DETROIT Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) executive Oliver Schmidt will appear in Federal Court in Miami, Florida, on Monday, a spokeswoman for the United States Attorney's office in Detroit said.The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Schmidt on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with the automaker's emissions cheating scandal, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters on Monday.The arrest was first reported by the New York Times.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) executive on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, the New York Times reported on Monday.Oliver Schmidt, who headed the company's regulatory compliance office in the U.S. from 2014 to March 2015, was arrested on Saturday by federal investigators in Florida, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter. nyti.ms/2iTA73SVW admitted in September 2015 to installing secret software known as "defeat devices" in 475,000 U.S. 2.0-liter diesel

By Bernie Woodall and David Shepardson | DETROIT DETROIT Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) on Sunday said it will invest $1 billion to modernize two plants in the U.S. Midwest and create 2,000 jobs, upping the ante as automakers respond to threats from President-elect Donald Trump to slap new taxes on imported vehicles.FCA's announcement that it would retool factories in Ohio

By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices fell early on Monday as Iran increased exports undermining efforts by other oil producers to curb a global fuel supply overhang and as U.S. drillers increased activity for a 10th week.Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $56.97 per barrel at 0019 GMT, down 13 cents from

By Rodrigo Campos | NEW YORK NEW YORK Investors puzzled over whether U.S. interest rates are rising due to a stronger economy or because of fears about inflation might want to look at the recent gains in REITs for some useful guidance.Real estate investment trusts typically perform poorly in an environment of rising interest rates, as they are used by some

CHICAGO A push by Washington for more business-friendly regulation and fiscal support for the economy could improve America's mix of policies which in recent years have relied too much on the Federal Reserve, Fed Governor Jerome Powell said.Powell, speaking on Saturday at a conference, did not mention the incoming Trump administration by name but his comments suggest some Trump policies will be welcomed by U.S. central bankers who have been urging other institutions to do more to help the economy."We

NEW YORK China's Anbang Insurance Group is in talks to invest in a project to redevelop a flagship New York City building owned by Kushner Companies, the family real estate business run by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to a person familiar with the discussions.The talks to revitalize the 41-floor building located at 666 Fifth Avenue, were first reported by the New York Times on Saturday in an extensive article about Jared Kushner that detailed a November

Britain's three quoted major supermarkets are expected to report this week that they enjoyed solid Christmas trading, though investor concern about a potential squeeze on consumer spending in 2017 means the focus is on their outlooks.Shares in market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) and Morrisons (MRW.L), the UK's fourth biggest grocer, soared 38 percent and 55 percent respectively in 2016, reflecting a recovery in trading.That coincided with a slowdown in sales growth at German discounters Aldi ALDIEI.UL, which will update on Christmas

HELSINKI HMD Global, the Finnish company that owns the rights to use Nokia's brand on mobile phones, announced on Sunday its first smartphone, targeted for Chinese users with a price of 1,699 yuan ($246).The launch marks the first new smartphone carrying the iconic handset name since 2014 when Nokia Oyj (NOKIA.HE) chose to sell its entire handset unit to Microsoft (MSFT.O).The new device, Nokia 6, runs on Google's (GOOGL.O) Android platform and is manufactured by Foxconn (2354.TW). It will be

BERLIN German luxury-car brand Audi said its deliveries rose to a new record last year despite the diesel emissions scandal, although that would likely not be enough to save it from dropping into third place behind luxury rivals Mercedes-Benz (DAIGn.DE) and BMW (BMWG.DE) in global sales rankings. The key contributor to Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) group profit increased sales of luxury cars and sport-utility vehicles to 1.87 million units from 1.80 million in 2015, a spokesman said on Saturday.Ingolstadt-based Audi raised deliveries

By Christine Murray | SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico Ford Motor Co's (F.N) abrupt move to scrap a planned $1.6 billion car plant in central Mexico has spooked a network of suppliers who bet on a growing customer base and dramatized the risk that Donald Trump's agenda poses to the country's broader economy. Many auto parts makers had

By Ann Saphir and Jason Lange | CHICAGO CHICAGO Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Friday the central bank could raise interest rates three times this year, faster than he had expected just a few months ago and in line with the majority of his colleagues.The comments from Evans, a voting member of the Fed's policy committee this year,

TOKYO U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) over its Mexican-built cars, but the biggest risk from a punitive tariff would be for its compatriot Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), the largest automaker operating in the country.Trump has criticized U.S. companies like General Motors (G.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) which manufacture abroad, accusing them of costing U.S. jobs. On Thursday he took on Toyota, warning the world's largest automaker that it would face a "big border tax"

By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks edged lower on Friday after data showed employment in December rose less than expected but a rebound in wages suggested sustained growth in the labor market.The public and private sectors together added 156,000 jobs last month, a U.S. Labor Department report showed, compared with 204,000 jobs added in November.Average hourly earnings increased 10 cents, or 0.4

PARIS Airbus (AIR.PA) reached a target for at least 50 deliveries of its A350 wide-body jetliner in 2016, two industry sources said on Friday.Widely watched deliveries of the newest European long-haul jet had been delayed by problems in supplies of cabin equipment, notably from France's Zodiac Aerospace (ZODC.PA).Airbus declined to comment ahead of an annual news conference on orders and deliveries on Jan 11.

ZURICH Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and Actelion (ATLN.S) have asked Switzerland's takeover board about the viability of a complicated takeover deal the U.S. healthcare company is discussing with the Swiss biotech firm, newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Friday, without saying how it got the information.The two companies asked about the proposal under which Johnson & Johnson would acquire Actelion while separating its commercialized portfolio from its research and development assets, a deal structure first reported by Reuters last week.The panel's preliminary

Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is preparing for an initial public offering and has hired banks to plan the debut, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Frontier Airlines has hired Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Evercore to manage the debut, the newspaper reported. nyti.ms/2jgXFCTThe Denver-based airline is aiming to raise about $500 million, valuing the company at about $2 billion, NYT said, citing sources.

By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump targeted Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Thursday, threatening to impose a hefty fee on the world's largest automaker if it builds its Corolla cars for the U.S. market at a plant in Mexico."Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY!

Donald Trump remains opposed to AT&T Inc's (T.N) planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N), Bloomberg reported, citing people close to the president-elect.Trump, who has been silent about the transaction for months, told a friend in the last few weeks that he still considers the merger to be a bad deal, Bloomberg reported. (bloom.bg/2jfkJlx)He believed the deal would concentrate too much power in the media industry, Bloomberg said.Shares of AT&T were down 0.2 percent, while Time Warner's stock

By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as a drop in banks and discretionary stocks were offset by gains in technology names.Investors are also assessing a host of economic data including the ADP payrolls report, which showed that 153,000 jobs were added in the private sector in December compared with economists' expectation of 170,000.The report sets a precedent

By Alexandria Sage and Paul Lienert | LAS VEGAS LAS VEGAS Electric vehicle start-up Faraday Future showed off in Las Vegas on Tuesday a prototype of a vehicle set for production next year as the China-backed company strives to win credibility in the crowded sector and weather its funding challenges. The "FF 91", described by its designer Richard

SYDNEY The U.S. dollar crept nearer to 14-year peaks on Wednesday as an abundance of upbeat global economic data boosted Wall Street and signs of quickening inflation dented fixed-income debt.The strength of the U.S. currency pressured commodity prices and helped drag oil off an 18-month top, but gave Japan's exporter-heavy stock market a fillip.The Nikkei climbed 2.1 percent, recovering from two sessions of losses as domestic data showed factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in a year.Markets elsewhere in

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O) said on Tuesday fourth-quarter deliveries fell 9.4 percent due to short-term production hurdles from the transition to a new autopilot hardware.Deliveries fell to about 22,200 vehicles in the fourth quarter from 24,500 vehicles in the preceding quarter.Total deliveries for 2016 of 76,230 also fell short of the company's projection of 80,000 to 90,000.Shares of the company, led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, were down nearly 2 percent at $212.90 in extended trading.

By Bernie Woodall and David Shepardson | FLAT ROCK, Mich./WASHINGTON FLAT ROCK, Mich./WASHINGTON Ford Motor Co (F.N) said Tuesday it will cancel a planned $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and will invest $700 million at a Michigan factory, after President-elect Donald Trump had harshly criticized the Mexico investment plan. The second largest U.S. automaker said it would build new electric,

By David Morgan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Big Oil could be in a unique position to protect its interests against a Republican proposal to tax imports, given that President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet is studded with oil champions sensitive to the risk of higher gasoline prices. Trump's emerging leadership includes Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson as secretary of

LONDON Upbeat data from China helped lift global markets as 2017 trading started in earnest on Tuesday, with the dollar notching its biggest gain in three weeks, oil on a tear and European stocks setting a one-year high.Base metal prices and bond yields also advanced, as the better-than-expected factory growth in China dovetailed with higher inflation data in Europe to give investors a solid start to the new year.Much of Europe had been open on Monday but it was the