By Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States dismissed Russia’s allegation on Thursday that Washington was behind what it said was a drone attack on the Kremlin, saying Moscow’s assertion was a lie. “Obviously it’s a ludicrous claim,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said hours after Russia blamed the…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. worker productivity fell more than expected in the first quarter after growing in the second half of 2022, boosting labor costs, which could see the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates higher for a while. Nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, dropped at a 2.7% annualized rate last quarter, the…
By Toby Sterling, Christoph Steitz and Markus Wacket AMSTERDAM/BERLIN (Reuters) – Talks on a planned sale of Dutch state-owned electricity grid operator TenneT’s German unit to Berlin have hit a hitch over price, the company’s outstanding bonds and offshore infrastructure, people familiar with the matter said. The sale would be one of Europe’s biggest deals…
LONDON (Reuters) – The European Central Bank eased the pace of its interest rate hikes on Thursday and kept its options open on future moves as it continues its fight sticky inflation. The 25-basis-point increase to the ECB’s three policy rates was the smallest since it started lifting them last summer and the central bank…
By Andrey Sychev (Reuters) -Adecco Group beat first-quarter sales expectations on Thursday as companies turned to temporary workers after laying off staff to cope with economic uncertainty. The group reported an 8% rise in quarterly sales to 5.89 billion euros ($6.53 billion), beating analysts’ consensus forecast of 5.83 billion euros. Sales in its biggest unit…
LONDON (Reuters) – Euro zone government bond yields fell along with the euro on Thursday after the European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), as expected. The two-year German yield, which is sensitive to interest rate expectations, was last down 10 bps to 2.58%, its lowest level in a month, compared…
LONDON (Reuters) – The European Central Bank eased the pace of its interest rate hikes on Thursday and kept its options open on future moves as it continues its fight sticky inflation. The 25-basis-point increase to the ECB’s three policy rates was the smallest since it started lifting them last summer and the central bank…
By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia has lowered its forecast for the cost of servicing government debt over the next three years, though the government still sees annual repayments rising to a peak in fiscal 2025/26 before declining slightly. Interest payments on Australian government securities are forecast to total A$85.8 billion ($57.18 billion) between…
By MacDonald Dzirutwe LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigerian law student Umar Yusuf Yaru was relaxing in his apartment when he first heard gunfire last month in his Khartoum neighbourhood. For the next nine days, Yaru hunkered down alone as the Sudanese armed forces clashed with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), hoping the fighting would end….
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank will stop reinvesting cash from maturing bonds bought under its 3.2 trillion Asset Purchase Programme from July, it said on Thursday, taking another small step towards shrinking its oversized balance sheet. The ECB has been allowing 15 billion euros’ worth of bonds, mostly government debt, to expire since…
