Swatch first-half profit falls short of expectations
Swiss watch group Swatch said on Tuesday that its net profit fell in the first half of the year, while sales rose and the company expected performance to impro…
Business & Markets
Published stories in Business & Markets.
Novartis reports higher second-quarter sales and lower profit
Swiss pharmaceuticals group Novartis said its sales exceeded expectations in the second quarter of 2026, helped by a range of new products. The Basel-based co…
South Korea president urges action on leveraged stock funds
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged financial regulators to take quick action over leveraged single-stock exchange-traded funds tied to Samsung Electron…
SpaceX says first public earnings report is set for August 4
SpaceX said on Monday that it will release its first quarterly earnings report as a publicly traded company on August 4. The Elon Musk-led rocket and AI company said on its investor relations website that it is scheduled to report results after markets close…
California judge pauses Paramount-Warner Brothers merger for 14 days
A federal judge in California has ordered Paramount Skydance and Warner Brothers Discovery to temporarily pause their planned merger while a lawsuit brought by multiple states moves forward. The companies are barred from closing the $110 billion deal for 14 d…
US stocks rise at start of busy earnings week
Wall Street stocks rose early Monday as investors started a busy week of company earnings and watched the latest fighting in the US-Iran conflict. This week's earnings calendar includes reports from Google parent Alphabet, Tesla and General Motors. Companies…
EU accuses cement additive makers of price-fixing
The European Commission accused several manufacturers of additives for cement and concrete of colluding to charge customers higher prices. The products are chemical additives commonly used in construction to improve the properties of concrete, cement and othe…
EU fines AliExpress 550 million euros over illegal products
The European Union fined AliExpress 550 million euros, about $630 million, after saying the online retailer allowed illegal products to be sold on its platform, including unsafe toys and cosmetics. The EU said AliExpress also failed to do enough to prevent co…
Ryanair says quarterly profit fell as fuel costs and weaker fares hit results
Ryanair said net profit fell 34% in its first quarter after the Middle East conflict pushed up jet-fuel costs and weighed on ticket sales. The Irish no-frills airline said profit after tax was 538 million euros, or $616 million, in the three months to the end…
Wall Street ends lower as Middle East fighting lifts oil prices
Wall Street stocks fell on Monday after early gains faded, as escalating fighting between the United States and Iran pushed oil prices higher and investors waited for major technology earnings. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described Iran as being engag…
Ivory Coast backs local firms in 2030 growth plan
Ivory Coast is promoting selected local companies as “national champions” to help drive its economic development plan through 2030. The companies include Kaera, a shea butter-based cosmetics maker that began in a small apartment in the late 2000s and now has…
Starbucks Korea workers form first union after promotion controversy
Workers at Starbucks Korea have formed a labor union, the company confirmed Sunday, after a marketing controversy linked to memories of a 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy activists. Starbucks Korea, described in the report as the coffee chain's third-largest m…
Jingye demands compensation after UK takes control of British Steel
China's Jingye Steel demanded compensation and threatened the UK government with legal action on Sunday after London took control of British Steel from the Chinese firm. Jingye said in a statement on its official WeChat account that it reserved its legal righ…
TIM board backs Poste Italiane’s €10.8 billion offer
Telecom Italia said its board unanimously approved Poste Italiane’s voluntary public tender and exchange offer worth €10.8 billion, or $12.4 billion, and judged the offer to be fair. Poste Italiane, Italy’s state-controlled postal service and TIM’s largest sh…
Panama to buy remaining private stake in Petroterminal pipeline company
The Panamanian government said Friday it would buy the remaining 41 percent private stake in Petroterminal from a US company, a move that would give Panama full control of a strategic oil pipeline. The government said that once the transaction is completed, P…
Cairo recyclers gain from plastic supply squeeze linked to Iran war
Plastic recyclers in Cairo's Manshiyet Nasser district are receiving more orders from factories looking for alternatives to imported raw materials during supply disruptions linked to the Iran war and restrictions affecting the Strait of Hormuz. The eastern Ca…
ConocoPhillips to take 42 percent stake in BP Iraq oil venture
ConocoPhillips announced that it had reached a deal with BP to join the British company’s oil production venture in northern Iraq as a minority partner. The US company said it will acquire a 42 percent interest in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited. The sign…
Reliance profit beats estimate despite year-on-year decline
Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries reported quarterly profit above analyst expectations, helped by steady performance in its oil-to-chemicals business and consumer-facing divisions. The company said net profit attributable to owners was 209.46 billion ru…
US consumer sentiment rises in July after oil price dip
US consumer sentiment rose in July to its highest level since February after a temporary drop in oil prices, preliminary University of Michigan data showed. The survey's consumer sentiment index reached 54.4 points, nearly 10 percent above June's reading. The…
Nvidia and Apple trade places as top-valued company during chip selloff
Nvidia briefly lost its position as the world's most valuable publicly traded company to Apple early Friday during a selloff in semiconductor shares and amid doubts about whether the artificial intelligence boom can keep its pace. Nvidia shares fell as much a…
US tech investor pauses Malaysia projects after immigration raid
US tech investor Balaji Srinivasan said he was putting planned projects in Malaysia on hold after authorities raided Network School, his start-up campus in southern Johor state, over claims that it was hosting foreigners illegally, including Israelis. Sriniva…
Saab says orders more than doubled after Polish submarine deal
Swedish defence group Saab said its order bookings more than doubled in the second quarter, helped by a Polish order for three new submarines, and said it was working to increase capacity. Chief executive Micael Johansson said demand for defence and deterrenc…
Volvo Cars reports lower second-quarter sales but expects recovery
Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars reported lower sales in the second quarter and described the business environment as very challenging, but said it expected sales to improve in the second half of the year. Chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said the second quarter e…
Tech shares slide as oil jumps on US-Iran fighting
Wall Street stocks fell on Friday, joining most global markets in retreating as weakness in artificial intelligence-linked shares continued and oil prices rebounded. Technology shares have been under pressure in recent days as investors question high valuatio…
Nikkei falls more than 6% as technology shares extend losses
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell more than 6% on Friday as technology companies extended recent heavy losses and investor concern grew about how long the artificial intelligence boom will last. In afternoon trade, the index was down 6.02%, or 4,026.47 points…
Netflix shares fall after results raise growth concerns
Netflix shares fell as much as 8 percent on Thursday after results disappointed investors already concerned about slowing engagement at the streaming company. The Los Gatos, California-based company is facing strong competition from YouTube, TikTok and other…
Wall Street mostly falls as investors weigh AI valuations
Wall Street stocks were mostly lower early on 16 July as investors weighed slower US retail sales growth and concerns about high valuations for artificial intelligence-related shares. About 15 minutes after trading began, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was…
US retail sales growth slows in June as gasoline spending falls
US retail sales slowed in June as consumers spent less at gasoline stations, Commerce Department data showed. Sales rose 0.2 percent from May to $768.6 billion, matching analysts' expectations, after a 1.0 percent increase in May. Excluding motor vehicles and…
Uber agrees 12.7-billion-euro deal for Delivery Hero
Uber and Delivery Hero said Thursday that Uber had agreed a 12.7-billion-euro, or $14.6-billion, deal to take over the German food delivery group, in the latest consolidation move in the food delivery industry. Delivery Hero operates in more than 60 markets a…
ABB agrees $5.5 billion deal to buy UK group Rotork
Swiss engineering group ABB said Thursday it had agreed to buy UK rival Rotork in a deal worth about $5.5 billion as it seeks to strengthen its automation division. Zurich-based ABB also reported higher second-quarter earnings, citing record-high orders acros…
Asian tech shares rebound while oil prices edge lower
Asian stock markets mostly rose on Tuesday as technology shares recovered from recent losses, while oil prices eased slightly despite renewed tension in the Gu…
Delivery Hero says it agreed to €12.7 billion Uber takeover
German food delivery group Delivery Hero said it had agreed to be taken over by US ride-hailing company Uber in a deal worth 12.7 billion euros, or $14.6 billion. Uber is offering 41.50 euros per Delivery Hero share. After the announcement, Delivery Hero shar…
TSMC posts record quarterly profit as AI demand grows
Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC reported a record net profit for the second quarter, saying demand for artificial intelligence hardware helped drive the result. Net profit for April to June rose 77.4 percent from a year earlier to NT$706.6 billion, or US$22 billion.…
Asian stocks mostly fall as AI valuation worries hit technology shares
Most Asian stock markets fell on Thursday as technology shares came under renewed pressure from concern that the rally linked to artificial intelligence had pushed valuations too high. Seoul was again the hardest hit major market in the region, with the Kospi…
United Airlines profit falls as fuel costs rise
United Airlines reported lower second-quarter profit after higher jet fuel prices lifted its costs. The airline said profit fell 17.3 percent to $805 million, while revenue rose 16 percent to $17.7 billion. The carrier said operating expenses grew faster than…
Fed says higher fuel costs are weighing on some US consumer spending
The US Federal Reserve said Wednesday that consumer spending edged up, but higher prices, especially for fuel, dampened sales in other categories and led some consumers to cut back on non-essential purchases or choose cheaper alternatives. In its Beige Book s…
SpaceX shares drop below debut price
Shares of SpaceX fell below $135 on Wednesday, moving below the price of the company's Wall Street debut for the first time as investor demand weakened. Near 1615 GMT, shares in Elon Musk's rocket company were down 2.0 percent at $133.35. The price was far be…
Merz says Chinese takeovers of German car plants could be emergency option
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was not opposed in principle to Chinese carmakers taking over struggling German car plants, but he said such moves would not solve the industry's deeper problems. Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, Merz said ind…
BASF raises profit forecast but warns of uncertainty
German chemical group BASF raised its earnings forecast for 2026 on Wednesday after increasing prices for some products following the outbreak of the Iran war, but warned that uncertainty remained high. BASF said it now expects EBITDA before special items, a…
China’s CXMT seeks up to $9.8 billion in Shanghai IPO
China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies is seeking to raise up to $9.8 billion in an initial public offering as China tries to strengthen its domestic chip industry for artificial intelligence. The Anhui-based memory chipmaker said it would raise at least 57.9 b…
New Zealand reports first H5 bird flu case in wild seabird
New Zealand officials said on 15 July that the country had detected its first case of H5 bird flu after a migratory brown skua was found on Petone beach in Wellington and tested positive. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard said New Zealanders were being aske…
Wall Street closes higher after US inflation report
Wall Street stocks closed higher on Wednesday after another reassuring US inflation report, while oil prices edged up after the latest escalation in fighting between the United States and Iran. Major US indexes recovered from a midday move into negative terri…
China retail sales rise in June as industrial output beats forecast
China's retail sales rose 1.0 percent year on year in June, official data released Wednesday showed. The figure marked the first rise since December 2022 and improved from a 0.6 percent fall in May. The National Bureau of Statistics also said industrial produ…
Spain tourism revenue rises as visitor spending increases
Tourism revenue rose in Spain in the second quarter of 2026, helped by higher visitor spending and the country’s reputation as a safe destination, tourism industry group Exceltur said on Tuesday. Exceltur said tourism-related gross domestic product rose 3.4 p…
Nasdaq leads Wall Street gains as US inflation cools
Wall Street stocks rose Tuesday after large US banks reported stronger profits and US inflation slowed more than expected, weighing on the dollar. JPMorgan Chase led a series of major US lenders reporting higher profits, supported by financial markets and inv…
Wall Street mostly rises after US inflation data and bank earnings
Wall Street stocks mostly rose early Tuesday after improved US inflation data and strong earnings from large banks. The US consumer price index rose 3.5 percent in June from a year earlier, down from 4.2 percent in May. The slowdown was sharper than expected.…
IBM shares drop after company says AI infrastructure spending shifted customer demand
IBM shares plunged 25 percent on Tuesday after the US technology company released preliminary second-quarter results that disappointed investors. IBM said customers changed their spending plans because they expected higher prices for memory chips and other ar…
Ericsson says quarterly profit fell as sales and costs weighed
Swedish telecoms group Ericsson reported a 12 percent fall in second-quarter net profit to 4.1 billion kronor, or 370 million euros, as sales declined and component costs rose. The company said turnover fell 6 percent to 52.7 billion kronor, or 4.8 billion eu…
South Korea raises 2026 growth forecast to 3% on chip strength
South Korea raised its 2026 growth forecast by one percentage point to 3%, citing strong results from memory chipmakers as demand linked to artificial intelligence grows. Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol told a cabinet meeting that the government had initially…
Aditya Birla Group to buy Shell renewable energy unit in $1.8 billion deal
Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group announced that it is buying Sprng Energy, a renewable energy business that is part of British oil company Shell, in a deal worth $1.8 billion. The group said the transaction is among the largest acquisitions in India’s r…
Volkswagen CEO says 50,000 more jobs could be at risk
Volkswagen chief executive Oliver Blume has told employees that a further 50,000 jobs could be at risk, according to an internal memo seen by AFP, confirming reports that the group is targeting 100,000 cuts worldwide. Blume told workers that Volkswagen must “…
Oil rises again after new US strikes on Iran
Oil prices rose again on Tuesday after fresh United States strikes against Iran increased concern about a fragile truce, possible disruption to the Strait of Hormuz and renewed inflation pressure. The latest attacks followed an Iranian strike on a commercial…