BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese developers desperate to offload unsold homes are resorting to “fancy” ways to lower prices, seemingly circumventing rules against excessive discounting, a government-backed newspaper reported on Thursday. Developers in some small cities have offered to accept food including wheat, garlic, watermelons and peaches as down-payment substitutes, reducing the amount of cash buyers…
By Allison Lampert (Reuters) -Piles of luggage beside baggage belts in airports from Canada to Europe are driving further demand for ground handlers, and adding to summer travel chaos as airlines scramble to bring back workers lost during COVID-19. Once a cost-cutting and outsourcing target for aviation, ground handlers are now being offered raises, as…
By Arathy Somasekhar HOUSTON (Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as markets weighed a rise in U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories and worries about slower economic growth amid concerns of supply tightness. Brent crude futures for August dropped 25 cents, or 0.2%, to $116.01 a barrel in light trading as the August…
By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended a seesaw session slightly down on Wednesday as investors staggered toward the finish line of a downbeat month, a dismal quarter, and the worst first-half for Wall Street’s benchmark index since President Richard Nixon’s first term. The three major U.S. stock indexes spent much…
By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury yields eased for a second consecutive day and the dollar rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said there is a risk the U.S. central bank’s interest rate hikes will slow the economy too much, but the bigger risk is persistent inflation. The S&P…
By Henriette Chacar JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Unilever on Wednesday sold its Ben & Jerry’s ice cream business in Israel to its local licensee for an undisclosed sum, aiming to smooth over a potentially damaging diplomatic row over the company’s political stance. The deal comes after the U.S. ice cream brand announced last year it would stop…
By Medha Singh (Reuters) – Executives at electric car marker Tesla, drug maker Novartis and retailer Bed Bath and Beyond are cutting spending or jobs while others are shelving projects or deals as inflation rages and confidence in the world economy wanes. Manufacturing growth is slowing worldwide as China’s COVID-19 curbs and Russia’s invasion of…
By Julie Gordon and Rod Nickel OTTAWA/WINNIPEG (Reuters) – Surging oil and wheat prices are allowing commodities exporter Canada to weather an economic storm threatening to tip many of its fellow G7 rich nations into recession. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February stranded the region’s wheat stockpiles and triggered Western sanctions on Russian crude, sending…
By Joice Alves and Hannah Lang LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The euro gave back earlier gains on Wednesday after European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the era of ultra low inflation that preceded the pandemic is unlikely to return. Speaking at a panel at the ECB Forum in Sintra, Portugal, alongside U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new head of the government’s road safety agency says it will intensify efforts to understand the risks posed by automated vehicle technology so it can decide what regulations may be necessary to protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians. In an interview Wednesday, Steven Cliff, who was confirmed last month as head of…
