(Reuters) -Ratings agency Fitch on Wednesday downgraded U.S. mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) and senior unsecured debt ratings to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ after the U.S. rating downgrade on Tuesday. The agency said the cut was a result of Tuesday’s downgrade and was “not being driven by fundamental…
By David French (Reuters) -Wall Street finished lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite down for a second straight day as investors took profits on five months of gains a day after rating agency Fitch cut the U.S. government’s credit rating. Fitch downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA late on…
By Nate Raymond BOSTON (Reuters) -An industry-backed group and a labor union on Wednesday proposed letting voters decide whether Uber Technologies and Lyft ride-share drivers in Massachusetts should be treated as independent contractors or allowed to unionize. Flexibility and Benefits for Massachusetts Drivers, a group whose contributors include Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, filed a proposed…
By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates to a 15-year high of 5.25% from 5% on Thursday, though there is a risk of a repeat of June’s surprise half-point increase as inflation remains the highest of the world’s major economies. The U.S. Federal Reserve and the…
By Trevor Hunnicutt (Reuters) -The United States and Mongolia will sign an “Open Skies” civil aviation agreement, Vice President Kamala Harris and Mongolian Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene said on Wednesday at the start of discussions focused on Russia, China and economic development. Their meeting in Washington on Wednesday came as the Biden administration works to…
SANTIAGO (Reuters) -LATAM Airlines expects “record” net earnings in 2023 after posting stronger second-quarter results and improved forecasts, company executives said on Wednesday, hoping to bolster investor confidence after the company’s exit from bankruptcy in November. Speaking at a news conference, the Santiago-based airline’s chief financial officer, Ramiro Alfonsin, said the company had enjoyed a…
By Mrinalika Roy and Arathy Somasekhar (Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum on Wednesday raised its full-year production forecast by 1%, but missed second-quarter profit expectations due to a slide in oil and gas prices and took a writedown to exit some operations. Weak oil and gas prices have hit earnings of U.S. oil producers after a bumper…
By Steve Holland and Heather Timmons WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former Vice President Mike Pence, who confounded attempts by then-President Donald Trump to remain in power after losing the 2020 election, features prominently in the indictment charging Trump with orchestrating a plot to overturn the result. On Jan. 6, 2021, Pence’s role was to take part in…
By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) -Russia attacked Ukraine’s main inland port across the Danube River from Romania on Wednesday, sending global food prices higher as it ramped up its use of force to prevent Ukraine from exporting grain. The drone attacks destroyed buildings in the port of Izmail and halted ships as they prepared to…
(Reuters) – Apple’s high-yield savings account offered by its partner Goldman Sachs has reached over $10 billion in customer deposits, the technology giant said on Wednesday. The deposit account, which was launched in April, lets Apple Card users earn an annual percentage yield of 4.15% on savings accounts. U.S. lenders have had to offer higher…
