Category: Business

Six U.S. retailers will no longer require hourly employees to check whether they are still needed for work and risk having their scheduled shifts canceled with little notice, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will announce on Tuesday.Schneiderman and his counterparts in seven states, including California and Illinois, have sent letters to a number of companies in the last year requesting information about their scheduling practices. But in the letters, state officials said workers can be harmed by "unpredictable" schedules

Honda Motor Co Ltd said customer deliveries of its hydrogen fuel-cell car, dubbed Clarity Fuel Cell, began on Monday at select Honda dealerships across Southern California.Honda is one of the latest automaker to bring a small number of hydrogen-powered vehicles to market amid increasing zero emission vehicle mandates from California and other U.S. states.The company said that retail leasing of the car is now available through Honda's 12 approved dealerships in certain California markets, including six in Southern California.

SEATTLE Boeing Co's (BA.N) commercial airplanes unit said on Monday it would cut more jobs in 2017 after slashing the workforce by 8 percent in 2016 as it battles to sell planes.The job cuts come as Boeing and rival Airbus (AIR.PA) face slowing demand for new aircraft, particularly twin-aisle jetliners such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330.Boeing said last week that it would cut 777 production to five a month in August 2017, a 40 percent reduction from the

U.S. stocks were higher on Monday in light trading, with the three major indexes hovering near record levels, driven by a rise in technology shares.The S&P technology index .SPLRCT rose 0.94 percent, leading the 11 major sectors. Microsoft (MSFT.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and Apple (AAPL.O) were up between 1-1.8 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Nasdaq and the S&P 500."Traditionally, as you head into the week before Christmas, you see volumes slow down and a somewhat trendless market as people

Lennar Corp (LEN.N), the No. 2 U.S. homebuilder, reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue and said the housing market continued to make a "slow and steady recovery." An improving job market and attractive mortgage rates continue to fuel demand for housing in the United States, helping homebuilders such as Lennar and PulteGroup Inc (PHM.N).U.S. home prices are set to rise almost 5 percent next year, despite the prospect of several interest rate increases, according to the

TOKYO Asian shares slipped to four-week lows on Monday as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates and a strong dollar stemming from the incoming Trump Administration's purported policies of cutting taxes and spending heavily threatened to suck capital out of emerging markets. European shares are seen having better luck, following recent gains in shares of banks, resource companies and some automakers.Spread-betters see a rise of about 0.1 percent in the main indexes including Britain's FTSE .FTSE, Germany's

By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices rose on Monday in anticipation of tighter crude supply going into 2017 following the decision by OPEC and other producers to cut output to prop up prices.Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.57 per barrel at 0401 GMT, up 36 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last

By Brenda Goh, Allison Lampert and Brad Haynes | SHANGHAI/MONTREAL/SAO PAULO SHANGHAI/MONTREAL/SAO PAULO New rules governing Chinese airline startups are fueling hopes at Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA), Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) and other regional jet makers for a spike in orders next year, but local competition and doubts about size restrictions still loom as major obstacles.The new policy is aimed at encouraging fledgling

LONDON Talks aimed at averting a planned Christmas strike by British Airways (ICAG.L) cabin crews will be held on Monday, conciliation service Acas said.Last week, British Airways said the Unite trade union had called a strike involving one of its five cabin crew fleets on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Dec. 26.More than 2,500 Unite members who serve as crews on long- and short-haul routes to dozens of destinations could eventually walk out. The union said last week that cabin

BERLIN Daimler (DAIGn.DE) does not expect Donald Trump to favor U.S. carmakers over their European counterparts, the carmaker's chief executive told a German paper, shrugging off concerns over the president-elect's protectionist rhetoric during his campaign."I find it hard to believe that it would come to punitive tariffs," Dieter Zetsche told Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday, adding he did not expect any negative consequences for Daimler's factory in Alabama.Zetsche said any protectionism favoring U.S. carmakers would

TOKYO Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), Renault SA (RENA.PA) and Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) will combine their electric vehicle platforms in an effort to slash prices down to levels comparable to conventional gasoline cars, the Nikkei newspaper said.The strategy comes as auto giants Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) are also aiming to mass-produce battery electric vehicles amid tightening emissions and fuel-economy regulations around the world.Franco-Japanese alliance partners Renault and Nissan have been among the most vocal proponents of

By Stanley White and Izumi Nakagawa | TOKYO TOKYO Japanese workers put up with long hours and unpaid overtime under pressure from cost-saving companies, and figures from government, which wants more money in workers' pockets to boost consumer spending, appear to underestimate the problem.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to enact labor reforms as part of his "Abenomics" plan to end

By David Stanway | PINGDINGSHAN, China PINGDINGSHAN, China China has ordered state firms to smash the decades-old system of providing cradle-to-grave welfare support, known as the country's "iron rice bowl".But the order, part of a plan to reduce financial pressure on bloated and heavily indebted state-owned enterprises (SOEs), is likely to be easier said than done as cities navigate the social

LONDON Scotland will publish proposals this week for how it can remain in the European single market after Britain leaves the European Union in order to avoid the "national disaster" of a "hard Brexit", the Scottish government said on Sunday.British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process of leaving the EU, by the end of March to kick off two years of exit talks.However, her plans for those negotiations

ATHENS Greece's decision to give pensioners a one-off bonus has delayed the conclusion of its second bailout review but an agreement can still be reached in the coming months, EU Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis was quoted as saying on Saturday.Greece angered its lenders this month by announcing it would spend about 600 million euros on a Christmas bonus for low income pensioners after beating its fiscal targets for the year.The ESM, the euro zone's bailout fund, said Athens should have

PARIS French telecoms boss Stephane Richard was sharply criticized by one of the judges and by a witness during the negligence trial of IMF chief Christine Lagarde in Paris this week.Richard, the chief executive of Orange (ORAN.PA), is a target of investigators in a related inquiry which has yet to conclude.He was Lagarde's chief of staff when, as French finance minister, she approved a payout to businessman Bernard Tapie in a rare out-of-court settlement which cost the French taxpayer 400

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in November, tumbling from a nine-year high as construction activity declined broadly, the latest sign of slower economic growth in the fourth quarter.But the housing market remains on solid ground, with Friday's report from the Commerce Department showing permits for the future construction of single-family homes, the biggest segment

By Chuck Mikolajczak | NEW YORK NEW YORK Benchmark U.S. stock index rallies, in anticipation of fiscal stimulus measures by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, could also be laying the seeds for equity market troubles from a stronger dollar and rising bond yields.The S&P 500 stock index .SPX has surged over 8 percent since the Nov. 8 election, due

NEW YORK Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) has agreed to pay $56.5 million to resolve a U.S. class action lawsuit accusing it and other banks of rigging an interest rate benchmark used in the $553 trillion derivatives market.The proposed settlement was disclosed in papers filed in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. It came after seven other banks agreed in May to pay a

By Sam Forgione | NEW YORK NEW YORK The U.S. dollar edged lower against a basket of major currencies on Friday, but still held near 14-year highs touched after Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting, with profit-taking halting the greenback's rally. The dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was last at 102.900, not far from

By Lisa Baertlein and Svea Herbst-Bayliss Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N), under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman, named four new board members on Friday, paving the way for a reunion of sorts between its chief executive and a former top executive at McDonald's, which once owned the burrito chain.Matthew Paull, a former McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) chief financial officer, will join

Wells Fargo & Co reported another decline in monthly consumer account openings, indicating that the bank is having trouble rebuilding its reputation after a sales scandal.The bank agreed in September to pay regulators $185 million to settle charges that its staff opened as many as 2 million accounts without customers' knowledge.Wells Fargo said on Friday consumer checking account openings fell 9 percent in November from the previous month, and were down 41 percent from a year earlier.The bank started reporting

By Andrés González | MADRID MADRID French media tycoon Vincent Bollore is bidding for a stake in Spain's largest sports broadcasting rights firm at the same time as facing off with former Italian president Silvio Berlusconi for control of Mediaset (MS.MI).Bollore's Vivendi (VIV.PA) is one of 10 bidders, alongside a number of Chinese and U.S. investors, hoping to land either a

By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices were stable on Friday as evidence increased that producers in the Middle East were informing customers of upcoming supply cuts as part of a coordinated effort to drain a global glut.But since any production cuts will only hit markets early next year and Iraq is still raising sales to Asia, analysts at Goldman

YOKOHAMA, Japan Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Friday he expected the Japanese automaker to post record sales in 2017, which would be a strong year for the auto industry despite volatility in currency and commodity markets.Ghosn also said he was confident that U.S. trade policy under President-elect Donald Trump would continue to promote strong ties with Mexico, where Nissan operates production plants."I think 2017 should be a good year. I think we will see reasonable

DETROIT General Motors Co (GM.N) Chief Executive Mary Barra said on Thursday the automaker will expand testing of self-driving vehicles to Michigan, and will build its next generation of self-driving cars in the Michigan plant that builds the Chevrolet Bolt electric car.Separately, Barra declined to discuss a statement by a Chinese government official that a U.S. automaker could be subject to penalties for price-fixing."I don't think anyone benefits from speculating on that," Barra told reporters at the event in GM's

By Diane Bartz and Sarah N. Lynch | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Two years after high generic drug prices became a public controversy, legal cases are starting to land.Twenty states filed a lawsuit Thursday against Mylan NV (MYL.O), Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA.TA) and four other generic drug makers, saying they conspired over steak dinners and "girls nights out" on pricing of two common generic

WASHINGTON/BEIJING China's plan to punish a U.S. automaker accused of price-fixing is a sign of how Beijing could retaliate if President-elect Donald Trump upends decades of relations between the two nations.Trump's assertion that the United States need not be bound by the policy that Taiwan is part of "one China" would erode a bedrock of U.S.-China ties that has underpinned the vast increase in trade and cooperation between what are now the world's two largest economies.Few expect the disagreement will

By Natalie Schachar | MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY Some Mexican banks are lowering credit card spending limits and raising consumer lending standards in the face of an economic slowdown, rising interest rates and the U.S. election victory of Donald Trump.After a period of robust overall credit growth, Mexican banks are cutting credit card exposure to counter a potential rise in consumer

By Howard Schneider and Lindsay Dunsmuir | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday and signaled a faster pace of increases in 2017 as central bankers adapted to the incoming Trump administration's promises of tax cuts, spending and deregulation.The increase in the federal funds rate to a range of between 0.50 percent and 0.75 percent was widely

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Ron Bousso | COPENHAGEN/LONDON COPENHAGEN/LONDON Talks between shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) and DONG Energy (DENERG.CO) to merge their oil and gas business have stalled after the two Danish firms could not agree on a price, industry and banking sources said on Wednesday.The breakdown in talks aimed at creating a joint company worth more than $10 billion

By Julia Love and Ginger Gibson | SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON Alphabet’s Google is racing to hire more conservatives for its lobbying and policy arm, trying to get a foothold in President-elect Donald Trump’s Washington after enjoying a uniquely close relationship with the administration of President Barack Obama.In the weeks since the Nov. 8 election, Google has ramped up efforts to

HONG KONG HSBC has launched a $290 million lending facility aimed at technology start-ups and other new industries in China's Pearl River Delta region, intensifying the battle for a slice of a business that is growing despite a slowing economy.Showered with money from private investors over the last few years, the promising technology start-ups in China, the world's second-largest economy, have shunned traditional lenders, seeking to instead raise funds directly from equity investors.But global banks no longer want to be

IBM Chief Executive Ginni Rometty pledged to hire and train workers in the United States ahead of a Wednesday gathering where she and other technology executives will meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump."We have thousands of open positions at any given moment, and we intend to hire about 25,000 professionals in the next four years in the United States," Rometty said in a USA Today editorial published on Tuesday afternoon.IBM spokesman Adam Pratt declined to say how that hiring might