Tim Cook ends Apple CEO tenure; John Ternus takes over
Tim Cook has ended his tenure as Apple's chief executive, telling staff in a farewell memo that he was handing leadership of the company to incoming CEO John T…
Business & Markets — August 2026
UAE defence firm EDGE says war lifted arms demand
Abu Dhabi-owned defence group EDGE says the Middle East war has increased demand for its weapons as it pushes into European markets. EDGE executives told AFP that nearly 3,000 missiles and drones targeted the UAE during six months of US-Iran conflict, damagin…
Shein closes nearly flat in Hong Kong IPO debut
Shein shares closed almost unchanged on Tuesday in their Hong Kong trading debut, ending down 0.1% at HK$48.5 after falling by as much as 10% at the open. The online fast-fashion retailer raised US$1.7 billion in its initial public offering. The listing price…
TAP Air Portugal falls to €59.3m quarterly loss
TAP Air Portugal reported a €59.3 million, or $68.8 million, net loss for the second quarter as fuel costs weighed on the airline before its planned reprivatisation. The Portuguese carrier had made a €38.3 million profit in the same period last year. TAP said…
Huawei profit falls 36% as AI costs rise
Huawei said net profit fell 36 percent in the first half of 2026 as the Chinese technology company increased spending on AI-related research and faced rising costs. The company reported net profit of 23.8 billion yuan, or $3.54 billion, for January to June, d…
John Ternus takes over Apple as AI challenge looms
John Ternus took over as Apple's chief executive on Tuesday, ending Tim Cook's 15-year run and putting a longtime hardware engineer in charge as the company fa…
Nex Playground passes one million sales amid screen fears
Nex Playground has passed one million sales as its maker pitches the motion-gaming console as a more active form of screen time for families. The blue-and-yel…
Club Med owner Fosun files for Hong Kong IPO
Club Med owner Fosun said on August 28 that it had filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong for the travel operator and related tourism-focused busine…
Oil prices jump as Trump warns Iran of response
Oil prices rose about 1.5% Tuesday and stocks mostly fell as investors watched the risk of renewed US-Iran fighting after President Donald Trump warned that Washington would hit Iran “hard”. At around 0810 GMT, West Texas Intermediate was up 1.5% at $87.02 a…
Nvidia jumps 7.3% as US stocks open higher
Nvidia shares jumped 7.3% in early trading on Thursday after the chip company reported another quarter of revenue growth tied to artificial intelligence demand, helping major US stock indexes open higher. The company reported quarterly revenue of $96.2 billio…
Gianni Infantino backed by Saudi football federation
Saudi Arabia's Football Federation backed FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Thursday after FIFA abandoned a proposal to bring private investment into a commercial vehicle for some of its biggest competitions. The federation, from the country that will host t…
Pernod Ricard profit falls 26% on US, China weakness
Pernod Ricard said Thursday that annual profit fell 26 percent to 1.2 billion euros, or $1.4 billion, blaming weak markets in the United States and China and higher tariffs. The French drinks group, whose brands include Beefeater gin and Absolut vodka, said t…
Nvidia to buy Hugging Face for $12.9bn, report says
Nvidia is set to buy artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, The Information reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified person with knowledge of the agreement. The reported deal would mark a large increase from the $7 billion valuatio…
Kashmir carpet industry shrinks as young artisans leave
Kashmir's handwoven carpet industry is shrinking as younger generations turn away from the long hours and low pay of a craft once central to the region's exports. The carpets, traditionally woven from mulberry silk or pure sheep wool, can involve between 300…
Nvidia lifts tech stocks as Fed caution weighs
Nvidia’s earnings lifted technology stocks on Thursday, but broader market moves were muted as investors waited for Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh’s Friday speech at the Jackson Hole central bankers’ conference. Nvidia, described as the world’s largest com…
Sumo to cut summer tour and avoid venues without AC
Sumo officials are planning to reduce summer tour dates and avoid venues without air conditioning as Japan faces more dangerous heat. Tour chief Takadagawa said events could not be held in summer at venues without air conditioning. He also said sumo chiefs pl…
Qantas profit falls 19.7% as fuel costs rise
Qantas said annual net profit fell 19.7% to Aus$1.29 billion ($930 million) in the financial year to June 30 as fuel costs rose 14.4%. The Australian airline forecast jet fuel prices would remain elevated from July to December and said it would use measures i…
Nvidia forecasts $108bn quarter as revenue doubles
Nvidia reported quarterly revenue of $96.2 billion for the quarter ending July 26 and forecast about $108 billion for the current quarter, pointing to continued demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Revenue rose 106% from a year earlier and 18% f…
Stocks mixed as US inflation stays high, oil falls
Global stocks were mixed on Wednesday as Wall Street ended lower after US inflation stayed elevated and investors waited for Nvidia earnings and a widely watched Federal Reserve speech. The US personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.7% in July fr…
Anthropic IPO may top SpaceX record debut
Anthropic is expected to go public within weeks in a Wall Street listing that could exceed SpaceX's record debut in June. Bloomberg says the OpenAI rival inte…
Video game success: how to judge a hit or flop
Video game success can be difficult to judge because publishers often disclose selective figures, including wishlists, pre-orders, player counts and online eng…
US Open tickets: New York offers residents $100 seats
New York residents will be able to buy 1,000 US Open tickets for $100 each under an offer announced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the US Tennis Association on Tu…
Wall Street rises as Nvidia earnings loom
Wall Street stocks opened higher on Tuesday as oil prices and bond yields eased ahead of Nvidia's earnings report. About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jone…
Luxottica founder's son quits EssilorLuxottica amid row
Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, the son of Luxottica founder Leonardo del Vecchio, is set to leave all his roles at EssilorLuxottica, a spokesperson said Tuesday,…
Gamescom opens with Final Fantasy and The Witcher previews
Gamescom opened in Cologne on Tuesday with Final Fantasy and The Witcher among the main draws, as the video games industry seeks attention during a year of job…
Ethiopia submits bid to host 2028 AFCON
Ethiopia has formally submitted a bid to host the 2028 Africa Cup of Nations, the Ethiopian Football Federation said in a post on X late Monday, August 24. If chosen, Ethiopia would stage AFCON for the first time since 1976. The federation said the bid showed…
Lego profit rises 32%, revenue up 26% in first half
Lego's net profit rose 32% in the first half of the year to 8.6 billion Danish kroner, or $1.34 billion, while revenue rose 26% at constant exchange rates to 41.9 billion kroner. Chief executive Niels Christiansen told AFP the result was stronger than expecte…
Saudi Arabia to invest $7bn in Paris-area theme parks
Saudi Arabia is to invest six billion euros, about $7 billion, to create three theme parks near Paris under a memorandum of understanding signed with France, t…
Braskem approves $10.9bn debt restructuring
Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem said on Monday that its board had approved a court-supervised plan to restructure $10.9 billion in debt as it deals wit…
Volkswagen workers boo CEO over job cut warning
Volkswagen workers booed and jeered chief executive Oliver Blume at the carmaker's Wolfsburg factory on Tuesday after he warned of more job losses and said abo…
Tesla recalls nearly 3m cars in China over door handles
Tesla is recalling nearly three million cars in China because emergency interior door handles could be difficult to identify and use in a crash, China's State…
Dragon Ball park deal eyed during Saudi crown prince visit
French authorities said they hoped an agreement on a Dragon Ball-themed amusement park would be signed on Monday during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman'…
Oil prices fall, Brent below $90 on Iran sanctions
Oil prices fell for a second day on Tuesday, with Brent crude below $90 a barrel, as traders judged the risk of renewed military strikes on Iran to have recede…
Shein announces $1.7bn listing despite EU backlash
Shein has announced a $1.7 billion stock market listing aimed at international expansion while facing mounting regulatory pressure in Europe over ultrafast fas…
Shein to list in Hong Kong at near $27bn value
Shein, the Chinese-founded fast-fashion retailer, is set to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange in September 2026 in a listing that values the group at close…
Shein Hong Kong IPO seeks $1.7bn in September debut
Shein will make its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on September 1 in an initial public offering that could raise up to HK$13.86 billion, or US$1.7 billi…
Volkswagen CEO warns carmaker is 'more than critical'
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has warned that the company is in a “more than critical” state as he prepares to defend savings plans in meetings with staff. Blum…
Alibaba plans $10.2bn share sale for AI expansion
Alibaba plans to issue HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion) in new shares in Hong Kong to fund global artificial intelligence expansion, the Chinese technology company said Sunday. The Hangzhou-based company said all net proceeds from the equity placement would be u…
Greece tourism gets US boost from stars and films
Greece's tourism industry is getting a fresh push from American visitors after celebrity holidays and screen exposure gave the country prominent publicity in t…
Gandhi notes sell for record $1.7m, auction house says
A collection of notes attributed to Mahatma Gandhi has sold for $1.7 million in Mumbai, setting what auction house Saffronart called a world record for an Indi…
Samsung plans up to $80bn share buyback
Samsung Electronics said Friday it would buy back up to $80 billion of its own shares as part of a shareholder return plan for 2026. The South Korean chip com…
Monte dei Paschi makes €34bn twin bank bids
Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena launched all-share bids Friday to buy Banco BPM and Banca Generali, seeking to fend off a hostile takeover by rival Inte…
Hyundai reaches tentative deal after rare strike
Hyundai Motor and the union representing its workers have reached a tentative agreement on wages and bonuses after a rare full-day strike at South Korea's larg…
Paris FC turns to Liam Rosenior for Ligue 1 push
Paris FC are starting a new Ligue 1 season under English coach Liam Rosenior as the LVMH-linked club tries to build on an 11th-place finish and move closer to…
Amazon Prime Video to invest $2bn in Latin America
Amazon said it will invest $2 billion in Latin American productions for its Prime Video streaming service through 2030, covering original and licensed programm…
Walmart shares fall 9.2% as US sales growth slows
Walmart shares fell 9.2 percent on Thursday after the retailer reported slower US sales growth as higher gasoline prices put pressure on shoppers, even as it r…
Zuckerberg buys Irish Gothic castle, spokesman says
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have bought Strancally Castle in County Waterford, Ireland, a spokesman for the Meta founder and CEO said on Augu…
Bitcoin jumps 6% as stocks bounce on Treasury action
Bitcoin climbed more than 6% to about $77,188 and global stocks recovered some recent losses on Friday as investors assessed the US Treasury's efforts to lower…
Boohoo fined €2.33m in France over fake discounts
Boohoo has been fined 2.33 million euros in France after regulators found deceptive trade practices including fake sale prices on the UK fast-fashion site. France's anti-fraud and consumer watchdog, the DGCCRF, said Thursday that an inquiry found clothes and…
Bangladesh Premier League suspended this year
The Bangladesh Premier League will not be held this year while the country’s main T20 cricket competition undergoes an overhaul, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Tamim Iqbal said Thursday. Tamim said some franchises had breached rules and regulations. He sa…
Walmart raises forecast as profit falls 9.4%
Walmart raised its full-year profit and sales forecast after second-quarter revenue rose 5.9% to $187.9 billion, even as profit fell 9.4% to $6.4 billion and US sales growth slowed. The US retailer said comparable sales in the United States grew 2.6% in the q…
Alibaba revenue rises 9% as AI boosts cloud growth
Alibaba reported revenue of nearly 269 billion yuan ($40.0 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, up 9% from a year earlier, as demand linked to artificial intelligence lifted its cloud business. The Hangzhou-based company said net profit fell 76% year on ye…
JD.com Ceconomy bid: China rejects EU subsidy probe
China said Wednesday that the European Union lacks jurisdiction to investigate Chinese e-commerce company JD.com over its bid for German electronics retailer C…
SK hynix plans record $28.9bn share buyback
South Korean chipmaker SK hynix said on Wednesday it would buy back and cancel 40 trillion won, or $28.9 billion, of its own shares after a slide in technology…
HKEX profit hits record as Hong Kong IPOs surge
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing reported record first-half profit on Wednesday, helped by stronger initial public offering demand from technology and artificial intelligence companies. HKEX said attributable profit rose 24 percent from a year earlier to HK$1…
Unitree shares close up 460% in Shanghai debut
Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree closed 460 percent above its offering price in its Shanghai market debut on Wednesday, after its shares briefly rose as mu…
Premier League chief criticises FIFA World Cup stake plan
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has criticised FIFA president Gianni Infantino's plan to bring private investment into the World Cup, saying FIF…
German investor morale rises for fourth month, ZEW says
German investor morale rose for a fourth consecutive month in August, with the ZEW institute's economic expectations index climbing 7.9 points to 34.2, ZEW said on August 18. The survey of 185 analysts and institutional investors found that sentiment improved…
Baidu revenue falls for fifth straight quarter
Baidu reported a fifth straight quarterly revenue decline on Tuesday, as the Chinese technology company said growth in artificial intelligence services support…
Viking longship stars in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey
A Viking longship was used as Odysseus's vessel in Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey, despite the Viking era beginning about 2,000 years after the Bronze Age setting of Homer's epic. The ship, Draken Harald Harfagre, is the largest modern replica of a Viki…
BHP profit rises 9% as copper becomes top earner
BHP reported a 9% rise in annual net profit to US$9.8 billion for the financial year to June 30, helped by higher copper prices. The Australian mining group said revenue rose 14.6% to US$58.8 billion. Copper prices were 26% higher on average during the financ…
Paramount Skydance seeks $1.9bn in merger lawsuit
Paramount Skydance has asked a court to require California, 11 other US states and the Writers' Guild of America to put up $1.9 billion while they sue to block its proposed merger with Warner Bros. In a lawsuit filed on August 17, Paramount said the money wou…
US stocks fall as oil and Treasury yields rise
US stocks closed lower Monday as higher oil prices and a rise in long-term US Treasury yields weighed on equities while investors watched stalled US-Iran diplomacy over the Strait of Hormuz. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% to 7,745.06, the Dow Jones Industrial Average…
Homer cave in Turkey eyes tourists after Odyssey film
A cave on a hillside outside Izmir in western Turkey is drawing fresh attention from people who say it may be linked to Homer, although nobody knows where the ancient poet composed "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". The cave, in an area known locally as Homer's V…
Spider-Man: Brand New Day tops $2bn, estimates show
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has brought in more than $2 billion globally since its July 31 release, according to industry watcher Exhibitor Relations, after another estimated $70 million weekend in North American cinemas. The superhero film, starring Tom Holl…
Opel job cuts worry Ruesselsheim as China ties grow
Opel's job cuts and growing partnership with China's Leapmotor are raising concern in Ruesselsheim, the German city long shaped by the carmaker. Stellantis, Opel's parent company, said in April that it would cut 650 engineering jobs from a workforce of 1,650…
PayPal sale talks with Stripe group reported by WSJ
PayPal is considering a new deal to sell itself to a group of investors that includes Stripe, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The talks follow a previous joint offer in July from Stripe and private equity firm Advent International to buy the digital…
India fighter jet engines planned by Reliance, Rolls-Royce
Reliance Industries and Rolls-Royce announced plans Friday to jointly design and manufacture engines for India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft fighter jet programme. The companies said they intended to partner on a sovereign indigenous combat engine for the…
Jamshedpur FC set for $1 sale by Tata Steel
Tata Steel said Friday it had approved the transfer of its entire stake in Indian Super League club Jamshedpur FC to Churchill Brothers Sports Club Private Limited for 100 rupees ($1.05), days after announcing its exit from the top-flight competition. The dea…
US stocks little changed after July retail sales fall
US stocks were little changed early Friday after July retail sales fell 0.6 percent from June to $763.6 billion. About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 53,808.29. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1 percent to 7,806.21, w…
European stocks hit records despite heatwave costs
European stock markets have reached record highs in August even as summer heatwaves raise costs and disruption risks for agriculture, transport, tourism and other industries. The Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid and Milan exchanges all hit records, in line with recen…
US stocks mostly lower before Fed minutes
Wall Street stocks were mostly lower early Monday as investors opened a week that includes Federal Reserve meeting minutes and earnings from large retailers.…
Colosseum night tours sell out in Rome heat
The Colosseum in Rome has extended night opening hours this summer to let more visitors tour the amphitheatre in cooler temperatures after sunset. The night tours run until 11:00 pm and are sold out. The Colosseum had already offered tours two nights a week,…
Commerzbank staff's UniCredit complaint rejected
German prosecutors have rejected a complaint by Commerzbank staff representatives alleging market manipulation by Italy's UniCredit during its hostile takeover…
US stocks edge higher before SK hynix listing
US stocks edged higher shortly after trading opened on July 10 as investors awaited SK hynix's US listing and the start of earnings season. The Nasdaq Composi…
Boeing expands 737 MAX output with Everett line
Boeing is expanding 737 MAX production with a new line in Everett, Washington, as the company tries to raise output under close federal regulatory oversight.…
Volkswagen sales fall 9% amid job-cut reports
Volkswagen said vehicle deliveries fell almost 9% in the second quarter from a year earlier, as the German carmaker faces pressure from weak demand in China an…
Gagan Gupta expands Arise industrial zones in Africa
Indian entrepreneur Gagan Gupta is expanding industrial and logistics projects across Africa through his Arise group, with a focus on processing raw materials…
EasyJet accepts £5.7bn Apollo takeover offer
EasyJet said on July 10 that it had accepted a £5.7 billion takeover offer from US private equity firm Apollo, topping a rival proposal from American investor…
SK hynix raises $26.5bn in US stock sale
South Korean chipmaker SK hynix has priced a US stock sale at $149 a share, saying it will raise about $26.5 billion through a Nasdaq listing. The company said it will sell 177.9 million American Depositary Shares on the tech-heavy exchange, with trading expe…
US stocks edge up despite renewed US-Iran fighting
US stocks edged up in early trading Thursday as semiconductor shares lifted Wall Street despite renewed fighting between the United States and Iran. Shortly after the open, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.5% to 25,991.92. The S&P 500 added 0.3% to 7,505.39,…
Barry Callebaut Q3 volumes rise after two-year fall
Barry Callebaut said its sales volumes rose in the March-to-May quarter, the first increase in two years, as some customers replenished stocks after a period of high prices. The Swiss-based chocolate and cocoa products group said volumes rose 5.7 percent in t…
TCS revenue rises 13.9% as banking demand helps
Tata Consultancy Services reported a 13.9 percent year-on-year rise in revenue for the April-June quarter, helped by a weaker rupee and higher spending from banking customers. The Mumbai-based IT services company said revenue reached 722.75 billion rupees, or…
SK hynix set for Nasdaq after expected $28bn sale
South Korean chipmaker SK hynix is due to begin trading on New York's Nasdaq index on Friday after a share sale expected to raise $28 billion, in what could be one of the world's largest listings. The company has not yet set its listing price. It is already t…
Taylor Swift fans buy wedding-area trash for $25
Taylor Swift fans have paid $25 each for pieces of trash collected near the pop star's wedding to NFL player Travis Kelce in New York. Artist Justin Gignac said he gathered the items last Friday from streets around Madison Square Garden, where the wedding was…
Air Canada names French-speaking Anko Van der Werff CEO
Air Canada named Anko Van der Werff, the current chief executive of Scandinavian Airlines, as its next chief executive and president on Wednesday. The Canadian carrier said Van der Werff will take charge by the end of January 2027 and join its board. He will…
Porsche Taycan production to end by 2030, report says
German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche reported Thursday that Porsche plans to end production of the Taycan, its flagship fully electric model, by 2030 after falling sales. The magazine, citing company sources, said Porsche's works council had agreed in prin…
US stocks rise after producer inflation cools
US stocks rose early Thursday after producer inflation slowed in July, easing some market concern that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates to counter inflation. The Producer Price Index was unchanged from June and rose 4.7% from a year earlier, dow…
Thyssenkrupp says Rhine drop could hit results
Thyssenkrupp said falling water levels on the Rhine could affect its results if shipping on the river comes to a standstill, though the German steel group said customer supply is not currently at risk. The company said Thursday it was monitoring the river and…
Orsted profit falls after US wind writedowns
Danish energy group Orsted reported a fall in quarterly profit after project write-downs linked to its offshore wind business in the United States. Net profit for April to June was 848 million kroner, or $131 million, down from 3.35 billion a year earlier. Re…
Maersk raises guidance as Q2 profit doubles
Maersk raised its full-year earnings guidance on Thursday after reporting second-quarter net profit of $1.3 billion, more than double the $614 million it made a year earlier. The shipping group said strong demand, especially in Asia, helped drive growth from…
Tencent Q2 profit misses Bloomberg forecast
Tencent reported second-quarter net profit of 56 billion yuan, or $8.3 billion, below a Bloomberg forecast, as the Chinese technology company works to build revenue from artificial intelligence. The Shenzhen-based company said in a filing posted on the Hong K…
TKMS raises outlook as shares rise 14%
German naval shipbuilder TKMS raised its outlook for the second time this year on Wednesday, forecasting stronger sales growth and a higher core profit margin as its shares rose 14 percent. The maker of submarines and frigates said it now expects sales to gro…
TUI profit falls 44.7% as Mideast booking hit fades
German travel group TUI said on Wednesday that bookings were returning toward normal levels despite the ongoing Mideast war, even as its quarterly profit fell 44.7% from a year earlier. TUI reported net profit of 124.2 million euros, or $143.1 million, for th…
Tata Trusts panel to seek next Tata Sons chairman
Tata Trusts said Thursday that a selection committee will be set up to recommend the next chairman of Tata Sons, a day after N. Chandrasekaran said he would not seek reappointment when his term ends. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, one of the group's charity inst…
Foxconn profit jumps 35% on AI server demand
Foxconn reported a 35 percent rise in second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, helped by demand for artificial intelligence servers used in data centres. The Taiwanese company, officially Hon Hai Precision Industry, said net profit for April-June reached NT$59…
Hiroshi Okuda, Prius champion at Toyota, dies at 93
Former Toyota head Hiroshi Okuda, who was credited with championing the Prius hybrid and helping turn the Japanese automaker into a global company, has died aged 93, Toyota said Wednesday. Okuda became Toyota president in 1995, when the company was struggling…
Paramount threat to leave California is blackmail, AG says
California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Paramount of "blackmail" Tuesday over a reported threat to move the company out of the state unless lawsuits seeking to stop its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. are settled. A dozen US states have launched l…
Cooper Flagg card could fetch $5m at auction
A one-of-a-kind basketball card featuring NBA star Cooper Flagg could sell for up to $5 million at auction, according to a New Jersey sports collectibles company that offered the buyer a $1.5 million cash advance for auction rights. The card was unveiled by a…
Benoit Castel wins World Confectioner of the Year
Benoit Castel, a Paris-based French pastry chef, has been named World Confectioner of the Year by the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners, while keeping his focus on daily work in his shops. The 54-year-old received the UIBC award on July 14 in Si…
Hydro cuts Brazil alumina output by 50% over gas shortage
Norwegian company Hydro said Tuesday that its Alunorte refinery in Brazil has cut production by 50 percent because of disruptions to gas supplies. Hydro said the difficulties involved deliveries from Brazilian supplier CELBA and its ability to source gas for…
Hang Seng Tech Index plans AI and robotics expansion
Hang Seng Indexes Company has proposed expanding Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index from 30 to 50 companies and adding artificial intelligence and robotics themes as the city's technology sector broadens. The index, launched in 2020, tracks the 30 largest techn…
Trump Media sells early access to Trump's Truth Social posts
Trump Media & Technology Group said it has signed more than 10 customer agreements for a product that gives paying clients early access to US President Donald Trump's Truth Social posts, while reporting a $238.1 million second-quarter loss. Interim CEO Kevin…
Trinidad steel mill reopens with US eye on China
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau attended the recommissioning ceremony of a steel mill in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday as Washington seeks to limit reliance on China for vanadium. The former ArcelorMittal plant was liquidated in 2016 and has s…
Boeing to swap air taxi ventures for Archer stake
Boeing announced an agreement on Monday to divest its air taxi and two other technology ventures to Archer Aviation in exchange for a stake in the startup. The transaction would transfer Boeing's Wisk autonomous aircraft venture, SkyGrid and Insitu businesses…
Embraer raises 2026 profit outlook after record revenue
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer said Monday it had raised its 2026 profit outlook after record second-quarter revenue and an all-time high order backlog. The company said it now expects about $110 million more in profits than previously forecast. Chief finan…
Liverpool stake sale near 40%, The Athletic reports
A consortium including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought close to 40% of Liverpool, The Athletic reported on August 18, increasing the reported size of the mino…
US stocks mostly rise as July inflation cools
US stocks mostly rose Wednesday after US consumer inflation slowed in July, though rising Treasury bond yields showed continuing concern about price pressures. Consumer inflation eased to 3.4% in July from 3.5% in June. Analysts cited by AFP said the report l…
Ithaca hopes Odyssey film will bring tourism boom
Ithaca businesses and officials are hoping Christopher Nolan's Odyssey film will draw more visitors to the Greek island long associated with Odysseus. The island, in the Ionian Sea off western mainland Greece, has about 3,000 inhabitants and is not usually am…
ZXMoto targets global motorbike market after race win
Chinese motorcycle maker ZXMoto is pushing for global growth after a March race victory helped lift orders and attention for the two-year-old company. ZXMoto won at the Supersport World Championship in March, and the company has since doubled its workforce. I…
Dollar falls, S&P 500 hits record after jobs drop
The dollar fell and global stock markets rose on Friday after US jobs data showed the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, easing market concern that the Federal Reserve could soon raise interest rates. The S&P 500 gained 0.6% to close at a record 7,757.64. The…
Accell bike maker files for insolvency in Netherlands
Accell, the Dutch bicycle maker behind Batavus, Babboe and Raleigh, said Thursday it had filed for insolvency after a suspension of payments was granted to its Dutch entities. Accell Group Holding B.V. and its Dutch subsidiaries said the move followed a revie…
Rheinmetall sees €300m hit from cancelled frigate plan
German weapons maker Rheinmetall said on August 6 that it expects a roughly 300 million euro, or $346 million, hit from Berlin's decision to cancel the F-126 naval frigate programme, even as first-half sales and profits rose. Germany announced in mid-June tha…
US stocks little changed before July jobs report
US stocks were little changed early Thursday as investors watched talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and waited for the July US employment report due Friday. About 15 minutes after the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% at 54,381.53. Th…
EasyJet confirms £5.7bn Apollo takeover
British budget airline EasyJet confirmed on Thursday a recommended £5.7 billion, or $7.7 billion, cash takeover by US private equity firm Apollo after rival bidder Castlelake said it would not make a higher offer. EasyJet said its board and Apollo had reached…
Diageo plans $1bn cost cuts after profit falls 26%
Diageo said Thursday it will cut costs by $1 billion over three years after annual net profit fell 26 percent to $1.74 billion. The maker of Guinness, Don Julio tequila and Smirnoff vodka said total group sales fell nearly 1 percent to $27.76 billion in the y…
SoftBank logs $8.4bn Intel investment gain
SoftBank reported a 1.3 trillion yen ($8.4 billion) return on its investment in Intel on Thursday, saying the US chipmaker's higher share price helped support first-quarter earnings even as profit fell from a year earlier. The Japanese tech investor said net…
Nintendo profit jumps 53.5% despite slower Switch 2 sales
Nintendo said its net profit rose 53.5% year on year to 147.4 billion yen, or $930 million, in the April-June quarter, helped by increased video game sales and refunds of US tariffs, while sales of its Switch 2 console slowed. The Japanese gaming company kept…
Commerzbank profit nearly doubles as UniCredit nears 48%
Commerzbank said its net profit nearly doubled in the second quarter as Italian rival UniCredit continued to build its position in Germany's second-largest lender. The Frankfurt-based bank said net profit reached 898 million euros, or $1.03 billion, in the th…
Swiss Re says first-half profit rose 9%
Swiss Re said Thursday that its net profit rose nine percent in the first half of the year to $2.8 billion, as the reinsurer said it remained watchful ahead of the peak of hurricane season. The Swiss group, which provides insurance to insurance companies, rep…
Siemens shares fall after AI-led outlook raise disappoints
Siemens shares fell six percent in early Frankfurt trading on Thursday after the German industrial group raised its annual profit outlook for the second time this year, with analysts saying the new forecast fell short of investor hopes. Siemens said demand li…
Oil prices jump as Wall Street slips before jobs data
Oil prices rose again Thursday as traders watched developments around the Strait of Hormuz, while Wall Street slipped before key US employment data. Around 2020 GMT, Brent North Sea crude was up 3.8% at $82.49 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the main US…
Electronic Arts $55bn buyout joins gaming merger wave
Electronic Arts confirmed on August 4 an agreement to be bought by investment partners including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners in a deal valuing the US video game publisher at around $55 billion. The transaction take…
Glencore plans Australian secondary listing
Glencore said Wednesday it plans a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange to broaden its investor base, alongside its main London listing and an existing secondary listing in Johannesburg. The Swiss mining and commodity trading company said i…
KNDS denies Franco-German nationalisation talks
Franco-German tank maker KNDS denied reports on Wednesday that France and Germany were discussing a full nationalisation of the company after it delayed a planned stock market listing. Handelsblatt reported, citing German government sources, that Paris and Be…
Air India names Tewolde Gebremariam as CEO
Air India appointed former Ethiopian Airlines Group head Tewolde Gebremariam as chief executive officer on Wednesday, as the carrier continues its revival under Tata Group ownership. Tewolde succeeds Campbell Wilson, who resigned after leading Air India since…
US stocks rise as SpaceX falls 12.5%
US stocks opened higher Wednesday, extending recent gains as mostly strong corporate earnings supported Wall Street while SpaceX fell 12.5 percent early in the session. About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.9 percent at 54,5…
Disney TikTok deal lets users add film extracts
The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday it had signed a deal with TikTok allowing users of the video platform to add extracts of Disney films and characters. Disney described the arrangement as a “first-of-its-kind agreement” and said it would bring creators to Di…
Disney profit falls to $2.6bn as parks grow
Disney reported third-quarter profit of $2.6 billion on Wednesday, about half the year-earlier level, while revenue rose 6.8% to $25.2 billion as its theme park and streaming businesses grew. The company said the year-earlier profit had been lifted by a large…
Siemens Energy core profit triples on AI power demand
Siemens Energy said its core profit tripled as rising electricity demand linked to artificial intelligence lifted orders for the German turbine-maker. The company said profit excluding one-off items rose to 1.62 billion euros, or $1.87 billion, in the three m…
Heineken profit rises 10.2% before CEO change
Heineken said net profit rose 10.2% on a like-for-like basis in the first half of the year to 1.26 billion euros, or $1.45 billion, as the brewer continues restructuring before a new chief executive arrives in October. Overall sales by volume, including beer,…
Cathay Pacific profit jumps 71% to $795m
Cathay Pacific reported net profit of HK$6.2 billion, or US$795 million, for the first half of the year, up 71% from a year earlier, as strong travel demand helped offset higher fuel costs linked to the Iran war. The Hong Kong carrier said revenue rose 25.3%…
Dow hits third record as markets weigh Hormuz deal
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a third straight record on Wednesday, even as other major Wall Street indexes lost ground while investors weighed company earnings and prospects for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The Dow ended up 0.5% at 54,349.12.…
UAE's first licensed casino expected in Sept 2027, Wynn says
Wynn Resorts now expects the United Arab Emirates' first licensed casino to open to the public in September 2027 after delays linked to the Middle East conflict, CEO Craig Billings said Tuesday. Billings told analysts that construction of the project was prog…
Paramount's $110bn Warner takeover wins UK approval
Britain approved Paramount Skydance's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday, removing a UK barrier to the media deal while legal challenges in the United States continue to delay it. The UK government and the Competition and Markets Auth…
Novo Nordisk raises 2026 forecast on Wegovy pill
Novo Nordisk raised its full-year 2026 forecast on Tuesday and reported higher second-quarter operating profit, citing strong sales of new forms of its weight-loss drug Wegovy. The Danish pharmaceutical company, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, launched a tabl…
McDonald's US sales growth slows to 0.8%
McDonald's said US comparable sales grew 0.8 percent in the second quarter, down from 3.9 percent in the first quarter, as executives blamed too many simultaneous promotions. The fast-food chain reported profit of $2.4 billion, up five percent, while revenue…
Oil prices rise as Strait of Hormuz worries grow
Oil prices rose further on Friday and most stock markets fell as optimism faded over a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran's Fars news agency said Tehran would seek to stop US and Israeli vessels using the waterway in any deal with Oman. West Texa…
Spotify reaches 777m users as growth warning hits shares
Spotify said Tuesday it had 777 million monthly active users at the end of June, up 16 million from the previous quarter, but warned that growth would slow in the third quarter. The Swedish streaming company said it expected about 11 million new net subscribe…
Pfizer posts $248 million loss on clinical setbacks
Pfizer reported a second-quarter loss of $248 million on Tuesday after writedowns linked to unfavorable clinical results, even as overall sales rose. The US drugmaker's loss compared with a profit of $2.9 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue ro…
Manchester United signs reported £20m Betway training deal
Manchester United announced a new training kit sponsorship deal with Betway on Tuesday, reportedly worth a record £20 million, or $26 million, per year. Betway's logo will appear on the training kit for United's men's and women's teams and around Old Trafford…
Aramco profit jumps 44% as war lifts oil prices
Saudi Aramco reported a 44% rise in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday as higher energy prices during the Middle East war lifted results at the world's biggest oil exporter. The Saudi company said net income for April to June was 122.6 billion Saudi riyals,…
Bayer returns to profit as legal costs fall
German agrichemical group Bayer said Tuesday it returned to profit in the second quarter, helped by stronger agricultural business and a smaller legal bill. Bayer reported net income of 219 million euros, or $252 million, for the three months to the end of Ju…
BP profit more than doubles to $3.91bn as shares fall
BP said its profit after tax more than doubled to $3.91 billion in the April-June quarter as oil and gas prices rose during the Middle East war, but its shares later fell after an initial rise. The British energy company reported profit after tax of $3.91 bil…
Lufthansa shares fall 11% after outlook cut
Lufthansa shares fell more than 11% in Frankfurt on Tuesday after the German aviation group cut its 2026 profit outlook, citing volatile jet fuel costs during the Mideast war. The company now expects core profit of between 1.7 billion and 2.2 billion euros, o…
SpaceX shares fall 12.5% on AI spending worries
SpaceX shares fell 12.5% after the company reported second-quarter results, with investor worries focused on its artificial intelligence spending. The company said revenue rose 92% in its first earnings report since going public in June. It said AI computing…
Aramco CEO says Houthi attacks had no material impact
Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin H. Nasser said Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia had "no material impact," after the company reported a 44% year-on-year rise in second-quarter profit. The Saudi state-majority-owned oil company said net profit reached 122.6 bil…
Toyota raises profit forecast, plans 1tn yen buyback
Toyota raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday and announced a one-trillion yen share buyback, saying currency effects and other measures helped offset pressure from the Middle East situation and competition in China. The Japanese automaker now expect…
HSBC plans $1 billion buy-back and dividend
HSBC said on Tuesday that it plans a share buy-back of up to $1 billion and that its board has approved a second interim dividend of $0.10 per share. The bank said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it intends to start the buy-back and expects t…
HSBC resumes up to $1bn buyback as profit jumps
HSBC said Tuesday it would resume share repurchases with a buyback of up to $1 billion after first-half profit attributable to shareholders rose around 27% to $14.6 billion. The bank reported profit before tax of $19.5 billion for the six months to June, up 2…
Amazon tops $3tn market value for first time
Amazon's market value rose above $3 trillion for the first time on Aug. 3 as its shares gained for a second straight session after last week's earnings report. The technology company's shares were up 5.2% at $285.75 in early trading, lifting its valuation to…
AstraZeneca, BMS weigh $400bn merger, FT says
British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca has held talks with US rival Bristol Myers Squibb about a merger valued at nearly $400 billion, the Financial Times reported. AstraZeneca declined to comment Monday. Its share price fell more than seven percent in earl…
Hormuz deal hopes send oil prices down over 6%
Hopes for a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices down more than 6% on Tuesday, after US officials said an agreement with Iran could be reached soon. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that “there is a chance we may have a deal” in th…
TotalEnergies agrees Shell Europe renewables deal
TotalEnergies said Monday it had signed a deal to buy Shell's European onshore renewable energy businesses for an officially undisclosed amount. The French energy company said the acquisition covers around four gigawatts of electricity production, mainly sola…
Whey protein boom reshapes US dairy industry
Rising demand for whey protein is changing the US dairy business as high-protein diets spread through social media and into supermarket products. Whey, once treated as a cheesemaking byproduct, is now used in protein powders, bars, cereals, bagels, pretzels,…
Spider-Man breaks domestic box office debut record
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” broke the all-time domestic box office debut record after updated figures for the United States and Canada showed a $360 million opening weekend, Sony Pictures said Monday. The total was up from Sunday's $355 million estimate and p…
Baltic startup hubs now count 17 unicorns
The Baltic states now have 17 startup unicorns as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania promote themselves as innovation hubs after decades of economic change since Soviet rule. The three countries, with a combined population of just over six million, had about 33,00…
Baltic defence startups target Russia deterrence
Baltic defence startups are building drone and battlefield technologies as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia seek stronger deterrence against Russia on NATO's eastern flank. Lithuanian entrepreneur Rapolas Markevicius founded Pdkinematics after Russia's full-scal…
Oil prices fall as Brent drops below $80
Oil prices fell Tuesday after a top US official said Washington could soon reach a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns over crude supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate, the main US oil contract, dropped five percent to $76.32…