British home-buyers, facing higher interest rates, retreat in April – RICS

By Suban Abdulla LONDON (Reuters) – British property surveyors reported a drop in demand in April as new buyers turned more cautious ahead of the Bank of England’s latest expected interest rate increase, an industry survey showed on Thursday. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said its measure of new buyer enquiries fell to…

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UK’s Sunak may fall short on 2023 inflation goal, NIESR forecasts

By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak risks missing his goal of halving inflation this year as underlying inflation shows little sign of having peaked in Britain or abroad, according to new economic forecasts published by a think-tank on Thursday. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimated annual…

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Disney shares slip as streaming losses narrow but some subscribers leave

By Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co reduced streaming losses by $400 million from the prior quarter but also shed subscribers, the company reported on Wednesday as quarterly earnings landed in line with Wall Street expectations. Shares of Disney fell 4.4% in after-hours trading. A price increase and reduced…

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Nasdaq rallies as investors cheer inflation data, Alphabet

By Carolina Mandl and Shristi Achar A (Reuters) – The Nasdaq ended Wednesday at its highest intraday level in more than eight months, boosted by a slightly lower-than-expected increase in April inflation and Alphabet Inc’s latest artificial intelligence rollout. The Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.9% in April from a year ago, compared…

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US oil lobby blasts EPA emissions cuts plan, California likes it

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The largest U.S. oil and gas trade lobby group said on Wednesday it believes sharp emissions cuts proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would result in the elimination of new internal combustion vehicles. But a California air regulator said the EPA plan “will benefit the climate, air…

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Debt ceiling battle delays sweeping annual defense policy bill

By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. congressional leaders on Wednesday put off debate on the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, an annual bill setting policy for the Pentagon, as the must-pass legislation got caught up in debate over raising the country’s borrowing limit. House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittees had been scheduled to…

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