By Arathy Somasekhar and Arunima Kumar HOUSTON (Reuters) -SLB on Friday flagged weakening North America oilfield activity even as the company topped analysts’ estimates for second quarter profit, helped by a rebound in offshore and international drilling. SLB, the largest oilfield service company and former Schlumberger, joined rivals Halliburton and Baker Hughes in forecasting tepid…
By Matt Tracy (Reuters) – The U.S. commercial property market has faced severe challenges since the pandemic due to lingering office vacancies, diminished retail activity and higher interest rates. That stress has caused banks and other lenders to tighten their standards for new loans and scrutinize existing ones. While regional banks carry the greatest exposure…
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -JPMorgan will expand its online bank Chase to Germany and other European Union countries, CEO Jamie Dimon told German newspaper Handelsblatt, a move that increases competition for European rivals in a crowded market. Reuters has reported preparations for the move, but the CEO’s comments to Handelsblatt published on Friday mark the first official…
(Reuters) – Russia’s central bank said on Friday it would resume foreign exchange interventions based on its National Wealth Fund (NWF) investments from Aug. 1, in addition to mirroring the finance ministry’s operations within the budget rule framework. It said the limit on such FX interventions was set at 300 billion roubles ($3.33 billion) per…
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s cabinet has approved guidelines on transforming underdeveloped areas in megacities, in the government’s latest move to support the economy, state media said on Friday. The post-COVID recovery in China, the world’s second-largest economy, is faltering as demand weakens at home and abroad, adding pressures on policymakers to roll out more support…
(Reuters) – California’s power grid operator said it does not plan to ask consumers to conserve power on Friday after declaring an energy emergency late Thursday as homes and businesses cranked up their air conditioners to escape a lingering heat wave. The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which operates the grid serving more than 32…
By Olena Harmash KYIV (Reuters) -The World Bank’s private investment arm is considering $1.5 billion in investments in Ukraine’s banking, agribusiness and infrastructure sectors, a senior official with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) said on Friday. Alfonso Garcia Mora, IFC’s Regional Vice President for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, hailed the resilience of Ukraine’s…
By Ismail Shakil OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian retail sales underperformed expectations in May and were likely unchanged in June, data showed on Friday, pointing toward a slowdown in economic growth that would allow the Bank of Canada to leave interest rates unchanged. Sales rose 0.2% in May from April, less than the 0.5% increase forecast…
By Clare Jim HONG KONG (Reuters) -Golfers have stepped up their fight to stop the Hong Kong government from taking back land in a 100-year-old golf course for public housing, saying that the move scheduled for Sept. 1 could hurt the Chinese-ruled city’s international image. The government is set to repossess a fifth of the…
By Amy-Jo Crowley and Valentina Za LONDON/MILAN (Reuters) – A number of international groups are in the running to buy TUA Assicurazioni from Generali, sources with knowledge of the matter said, as Italy’s top insurer aims to streamline assets inherited in a deal in 2021. TUA Assicurazioni, a non-life company founded in 2003, is valued…
