By Byron Kaye and Sameer Manekar (Reuters) -Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, the country’s No. 4 lender, beat estimates for first-half profit as it set aside less money for COVID-19 related loan defaults and flagged an end to shrinking margins as interest rates start to rise. The Melbourne-based retail lender set an upbeat tone…
By Elizabeth Culliford (Reuters) – Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc is opening up access to a large language model for artificial intelligence research, the social media company said on Tuesday. Meta said its model was the first 175-billion-parameter language model to be made available to the broader AI research community. “Large language models” are natural language…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New orders for U.S.-made goods increased more than expected in March and shipments rose solidly, but supply constraints following new COVID-19 lockdowns in China could slow manufacturing activity in the months ahead. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that factory orders rose 2.2% in March after edging up 0.1% in February. Economists…
HOUSTON (Reuters) – The United Steelworkers union (USW) seeks this week to renew talks with Chevron Corp over a six-week-old strike at the company’s Richmond, California, refinery, said a USW official. The company and union haven’t met at the bargaining table in two weeks after each rejected the other’s proposal. “We are going for a…
By Sameer Manekar (Reuters) -Australia and New Zealand Banking Group beat estimates for first-half profit on Wednesday, helped by a pandemic-fuelled housing boom that spurred lending at Australia’s no. 4 bank, and forecast improved second-half margins as interest rates rise. The lender expects margins to be partly helped by higher deposit-driven earnings growth as the…
(Reuters) -Elon Musk said on Tuesday Twitter Inc will always be free for casual users but may charge a slight fee for commercial and government users, as the billionaire entrepreneur tries to boost the social media platform’s reach from ‘niche’ to most Americans. “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight…
By Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) – Oil prices rose at the start of Asian trade on Wednesday after industry data showed drawdowns in U.S. crude and fuel stockpiles, raising supply concerns. The gains come on the back of news from Tuesday that the European Union is working on new sanctions against Russia for waging war on…
By Tina Bellon (Reuters) -Lyft Inc on Tuesday gave lackluster targets for operating earnings due to its need to spend more heavily to attract drivers back to its platform, sending its shares plummeting. The ride-hailing company forecast second-quarter revenue and adjusted operating earnings below Wall Street expectations, causing its shares to sink 25% after-hours. Shares…
By Medha Singh and Lisa Pauline Mattackal (Reuters) – Venture capital is making a big move on crypto in 2022. Scared of being left in the digital dust, private equity investors are stampeding towards crypto projects – blockchain-based apps and platforms fuelled by cryptocurrencies that are native to the virtual economies of the metaverse and…
Airbnb sharply narrowed its first-quarter loss to $19 million, as the rebound in travel after two years of pandemic caused bookings to jump and revenue to rise 70% from a year ago. The short-stay home-rentals company predicted Tuesday that revenue in the second quarter will top Wall Street expectations. It said bookings are strong for…
