WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fiji is joining U.S. President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the White House said on Thursday, making it the first Pacific Island country in the plan that is part of a U.S. effort to push back on China’s growing regional influence. The announcement comes as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins…
By Stephen Culp (Reuters) – Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday after optimistic retail earnings outlooks and waning concerns about overly aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve put investors in a buying mood. All three major U.S. stock indexes posted solid gains, with economically sensitive consumer discretionary and microchip stocks beating the…
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian retail sales climbed to record highs in April as consumers spent big for the holidays, though surging inflation and rising interest rates are steadily sapping spending power. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed retail sales rose 0.9% in April to a record A$33.9 billion ($24.09 billion), matching…
By Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) – Oil prices eased slightly in early Asian trade on Friday, after surging to a two-month high in the previous session as investors focused on signs of tight global supply. Meanwhile, a top Hungarian aide said the country needs 3-1/2 to 4 years to shift away from Russian crude and make…
DETROIT (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed former California pollution regulator Steven Cliff to run the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. President Joe Biden’s pick to run the agency was confirmed by consent without objections or a formal roll call vote. Cliff takes over the road safety agency at a critical time, about a…
By Ananya Mariam Rajesh (Reuters) – Costco Wholesale Corp reported a fall in gross margins on Thursday, hit by soaring freight and labor costs across the United States, sending shares of the membership-only retailer down 2% and overshadowing an otherwise upbeat quarterly report. U.S. companies across the board have been struggling with higher costs due…
By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) -The United Steelworkers union (USW) on Thursday afternoon signed a tentative agreement to end a nine-week-old strike at Chevron Corp’s Richmond, California, refinery, the company said. Terms of the agreement were not immediately available. It is subject to ratification by members of USW Local 12-5 representing the 500 workers who…
(Reuters) – Ernst & Young is evaluating options to improve their audit quality, Chief Executive Carmine Di Sibio said on Thursday in an internal memo seen by Reuters, at a time when the Big Four accounting firms are often blamed for their lack of independence. The memo was sent in response to a report by…
HOUSTON (Reuters) – The United Steelworkers union (USW) on Thursday afternoon signed a tentative agreement to end a nine-week-old strike at Chevron Corp’s Richmond, California, refinery, said sources familiar with the negotiations. The terms of the tentative agreement were not immediately available. The agreement is subject to ratification by the membership of USW Local 12-5,…
By Chavi Mehta and Krystal Hu (Reuters) – Broadcom Inc said on Thursday it will acquire cloud computing company VMware Inc in a $61 billion cash-and stock deal, the chipmaker’s biggest and boldest bid to diversify its business into enterprise software. The acquisition is the second biggest announced globally so far this year, trailing only…
